Question for someone with a Corsair Air 540.

[JM Popaleetus]

Will the right non-windowed panel mount on the left side if rotated?

I don't like windows, and Corsair sells replacement sides for $10. Seeing an easy fix for a case I otherwise love.

(Other option is limo tint.)

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Will the right non-windowed panel mount on the left side if rotated?

I don't like windows, and Corsair sells replacement sides for $10. Seeing an easy fix for a case I otherwise love.

(Other option is limo tint.)

Hmm. Limo Tint. Do you mean . . . the reason you don't like the window . . . is the visibility of the computer innards? I used automotive "mirror" window film, myself. It just requires special attention to soaping the surface and film, keeping it from creasing, and applying it uniformly.

Tedious.

If they can't get you a solid metal replacement, you could get perf-steel at the local metal store -- perforated like vent-holes for fans in side-panels. You'd have to cut it to size, leaving tabs that would be carefully bent to pop into the hole left by the window. If -- that is -- you wanted to vent your case better.

 

[JM Popaleetus]

Tedious.

Yeah, my parts aren't color coordinated or uniform. So while my wiring may be neat, I have no desire to see the innards.

As I said, Corsair sells replacement panels, but nothing with a solid side to replace the window. Which is why I'm curious if the right-side would mount on the window-side (left).

The other option is ~5% VLT window tint (which would allow the indicator LEDs to barely shine though...would be neat) or vinyl wrap.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Will the right non-windowed panel mount on the left side if rotated?

I don't like windows, and Corsair sells replacement sides for $10. Seeing an easy fix for a case I otherwise love.

(Other option is limo tint.)

I could have sworn that someone else asked this question recently, and the answer was "yes".

I'll try to dig up the thread to be sure.

Edit:
Found it!
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2397225

Two posters get in a pretty silly argument, don't be distracted by that, it sounds like the answer is "yes".

The sides are identical stampings, which makes a whole lot of sense from a production and economic standpoint. The panels are identical except for one having a window and one having venting for the power supply pressed into it. Otherwise, rails, holes, even the semi-circular cutout to clear the rear fan grille are identical side-to-side.

 

[JM Popaleetus]

Perfect! Thanks

Amusing that even our thread titles were similar.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Perfect! Thanks

Amusing that even our thread titles were similar.

Only thing about that . . . [note: I've been considering the Carbide Air 540 as an option for myself, but don't have one to get firsthand observation] -- With any other case, I'd think you'd have to flip the right side-panel upside down to make it fit on the left. My experience tells me, given "usual" case designs, that the top and bottom sheet-metal fittings are different.

On the matter of a "perf-steel" vent-screen fitting to replace the window. The stuff is cheap; you can primer it and enamel it; it shapes with some ease, and cuts easily. Do precise measurements, and I'd bet that a "pop-out" design would be rather easy. The most tedious part would require precision bending of the edges -- as I suggested, with little tabs to secure it to the case side-panel interior. Barring that, I've seen the stuff used in case mods in which it was merely secured to the inside surface of a case panel.

 

[cbrunny]

Only thing about that . . . [note: I've been considering the Carbide Air 540 as an option for myself, but don't have one to get firsthand observation] -- With any other case, I'd think you'd have to flip the right side-panel upside down to make it fit on the left. My experience tells me, given "usual" case designs, that the top and bottom sheet-metal fittings are different.

this was almost the exact thing I was cautioning in the other thread with the silly argument, except I was specifically referring to the screw holes rather than the other fittings. I was either unclear or others didn't understand, hence the silly argument, but there are pictures in the other thread of it working.

Glad to see that I'm not wrong and that is a valid concern.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

this was almost the exact thing I was cautioning in the other thread with the silly argument, except I was specifically referring to the screw holes rather than the other fittings. I was either unclear or others didn't understand, hence the silly argument, but there are pictures in the other thread of it working.

Glad to see that I'm not wrong and that is a valid concern.

There are other options of a DIY flavor which might be made to look reasonably elegant if done with some level of precision. For instance, you could manufacture your own sidepanel out of cut sheet steel, without the "folded edges" or "tongs" which fit in the case frame. You would simply tap screw holes in the case frame and drill looser holes in the sheet-steel panel to fit 6-32 screws or thumbscrews to secure the plate.

Or, you could use 1/8" or 1/4"-thick Lexan plastic to make the same sidepanel.

There are a lot of options and possibilities, some of which (as those above) would not require any significant modification to the original case and its parts.

At the same time, when I shop for a case, I try to imagine the various mods I might want to make, and figure the inconvenience of modding into my selection.

 

[JM Popaleetus]

I actually ended up walking out of the store with an Obsidian 750D. Luckily, it looks like the solid-panel flips and mounts perfectly on the window-side as well.