Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 (CC-9011048-WW) Arctic White

Ertaz

Senior member
Jul 26, 2004
599
25
81
Seriously considering this case for my new build. I like the Idea of all the cables being hidden behind the board.


I want air cooling, because I'm afraid to have water around this much of an investment.


Here is what I'm thinking:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MtBhHx


Any other suggestions for a case with similar features?
 

moonbogg

Lifer
Jan 8, 2011
10,635
3,095
136
Damn, that's a sexy build with sexy parts. It must be exciting to build a whole new rig like that. Its a thing of beauty, really. I like that case and think it will be great. Also, you don't need water cooling with that GPU. It has a good cooler on it and won't be too loud. Your CPU will be good to go as well with that big cooler. Looking pretty badass.
 

Ertaz

Senior member
Jul 26, 2004
599
25
81
Damn, that's a sexy build with sexy parts. It must be exciting to build a whole new rig like that. Its a thing of beauty, really. I like that case and think it will be great. Also, you don't need water cooling with that GPU. It has a good cooler on it and won't be too loud. Your CPU will be good to go as well with that big cooler. Looking pretty badass.

Thanks man. I am getting the case first, then the PSU.
 

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
11,848
2,051
126
I actually managed to fit a slim 240 rad and a rad/res combo into the case. From what I remember there are no filters on the front fans, upper area, or the PSU fan area which kinda sucked. While I really liked the case and the cable management (although the mess was moved to the closed compartment really), I didn't like how wide it is and in the end, I prefer to use more vertical space with a tower case than floor space with a case like the 540.

I managed to fit a 4670K system with THREE 7950s, watercooling for the CPU and one of the GPUs, 2x120 fans + 1x120 fan on the rads, 1 optical drive, 2 3.5" HDDs, and one 2.5" SSD, plus a somewhat long Corsair HX1050 PSU. Once I put the 3rd 7950 in, I had to mod the case to hold the 2 HDDs...I moved them to the closed compartment containing the PSU by drilling holes in the frame and mounting them on their sides with those rubber-grometed HDD screws. I then also put a fan back there to cool the HDDs as there is essentially no airflow in there.

If you have any questions about the case let me know and I'll try to answer them.
 

Ertaz

Senior member
Jul 26, 2004
599
25
81
I actually managed to fit a slim 240 rad and a rad/res combo into the case. From what I remember there are no filters on the front fans, upper area, or the PSU fan area which kinda sucked. While I really liked the case and the cable management (although the mess was moved to the closed compartment really), I didn't like how wide it is and in the end, I prefer to use more vertical space with a tower case than floor space with a case like the 540.

I managed to fit a 4670K system with THREE 7950s, watercooling for the CPU and one of the GPUs, 2x120 fans + 1x120 fan on the rads, 1 optical drive, 2 3.5" HDDs, and one 2.5" SSD, plus a somewhat long Corsair HX1050 PSU. Once I put the 3rd 7950 in, I had to mod the case to hold the 2 HDDs...I moved them to the closed compartment containing the PSU by drilling holes in the frame and mounting them on their sides with those rubber-grometed HDD screws. I then also put a fan back there to cool the HDDs as there is essentially no airflow in there.

If you have any questions about the case let me know and I'll try to answer them.


Thank you. It sounds like this unit isn't perfect but it does hold a lot of stuff. I have the perfect spot in my office for it.
 

MrTeal

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2003
3,554
1,658
136
I really like my Air 540, it's a very easy case to use. Not the quietest, but the system works well. I had water cooling in it as well, a Swiftech H220 on each of the two R9 290s (one 240mm rad mounted in the front, one on top) and then a Corsair H80i for the CPU mounted to the rear fan location.

The cube layout makes it a little wide, but it still seems small for how much internal space there is.
 

ClockHound

Golden Member
Nov 27, 2007
1,108
214
106
Have to ask - you've selected the D14 instead of the D15, why?

The D15 is a little cooler, with better, quieter PWM fans that can spin down below 300rpm at idle. The D14 fans are 3pin only.

Also, since you don't appear to be budget-constrained, suggest replacing the stock case fans with better, quieter 140mms, like the Noctua A14s.
 

YBS1

Golden Member
May 14, 2000
1,945
129
106
Let me make an aesthetic suggestion, since your are going with the white 540, why not spend a few more bucks and grab the Seasonic SnowSilent 1050W PSU?

I have a thing for nice looking cases that differ from the traditional standard tower. The white 540 is another that I've nearly bought with no particular use in mind, maybe if I ever catch a killer deal on one I'lll swap out the HAF XB for it. I also like the new Corsair mini-itx case. Good choice.
 
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lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,900
74
91
Let me make an aesthetic suggestion, since your are going with the white 540, why not spend a few more bucks and grab the Seasonic SnowSilent 1050W PSU?

You can't even see the power supply in Air 540
 

YBS1

Golden Member
May 14, 2000
1,945
129
106
You can see it from the back and through the panel venting. It's not like the SnowSilent is considerably more money or I wouldn't have suggested it, $20 difference at the Egg, though he found it cheaper elsewhere.
 

skipsneeky2

Diamond Member
May 21, 2011
5,035
1
71
Air 540 is a case i will sooner or later buy,i could see that case lasting many builds with me.

I have bought many cases for their good air flow,but usually disregard cable management but the 540 seriously looks like the case to end all cases at least for single gpu or sli/crossfire configured builds.
 

bonehead123

Senior member
Nov 6, 2013
559
19
81
I bought a black 540 a while back, and absolutely love it :)

I built a modest i7/R290 system with it, but there is tons of space to work with whenever I decide to start change things around or mod it somehow....

And on a whim one day, I painted the front and top grills orange, and installed some orange cougar fans in the front and back, along with the 2x LED fans on my 212evo cooler... IMHO it looks awesome when I turn out the lights in my office :)
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
I bought an Air 540 a while ago, and I was quite disappointed with it. Honestly, I've been quite disappointed with Corsair's case offerings for quite a while now. The only thing I still use from them is their keyboards and fans -- mostly because I'm too cheap to pay the "Noctua tax". I can't tell you how mad I was when I got my Corsair Obsidian 900D (a $350 case) and found some of the drive rails were rusted. They technically work fine, but such a blemish on a premium product... unacceptable.

Anyway, about the Air 540, I can't remember every complaint that I had with it, but I do remember a couple. I used both 3.5" mounts that are in the front, and I noticed one problem rather quickly... the mount near the back ran significantly hotter than the one in the front. If I had to guess, this was mostly caused by being directly below the video card and further from the intake fans. I'm pretty wary about letting my mechanical drive temperatures get too hot, so I was definitely not a fan of that.

Also, I really don't care for latching 2.5" drive mechanisms, which the case uses. The problem is that 2.5" drives have varying thicknesses. So, if your drive isn't the greatest thickness supported (I'm assuming the 15mm size?), then it can flop around a bit. While it won't hurt a SSD (I still don't like it), it isn't good for a mechanical drive. In other words, it's a nice idea that just doesn't pan out well.

I think I also recall some weird problems with the PSU and cabling, but I can't really remember. The last case that I bought that I was satisfied with was the Fractal Design R5. My only complaint about that case is that the rear SSD mounts just don't work for beans. I tried putting a Samsung EVO 840 in there, and it simply didn't fit. I wasn't as worried about it because trying to keep cable runs down to a minimum would've been harder with a single drive way over there.