Carbide Series Air 540

The Carbide Air 540 features a rather anarchistic pattern that isn't shared by other Carbide series cases. Externally the case looks unusual because of the 332mm width, well-nigh 60% wider than the 450D, yet the Air 540 is almost equally tall (415mm) and long (458mm) as the 450D, giving the Air 540 a roomy 63L capacity, 23% more than the 450D and comparable to the 650D. The Air 540 besides weighs 7.4kg which is similar to the 450D.

The reason for the anarchistic design is because the Air 540 employs dual chambers. It's a bit like stacking two normal tower cases side-past-side. What Corsair has done is dedicate the left side of the case to the motherboard and all its components such every bit CPU and GPU. Meanwhile the backside which is typically only used for cable direction has also been used to house the power supply and storage devices.

Corsair says this design maximizes operation past increasing air-menses over critical components without the power supply and difficult drives getting in the way. Information technology's a sound idea and in fact it reminds us a lot of the Cooler Master HAF XB which essentially does the aforementioned thing. However whereas the HAF XB can exist considered the desktop version of this design, the Air 540 is the tower version.

The advantage the Air 540 has over the HAF XB is that it should be much easier to work with. The HAF XB offers limited access to the components under the motherboard tray and to remove certain parts, much of the organisation needs to be dismantled. While we still very much like the HAF XB, the Air 540 seems to take a more practical approach to this design by providing easy admission to everything.

Externally, the Air 540 looks like a box, admitting a fancy one. Looking from the front, the left is dominated past a thick black plastic strip that serves as the instance's primary source of ventilation. This strip extends from the front of the case to the top.

Reverse the ventilation are a pair of vertically mounted external 5.25" drive bays followed by the I/O panel. The I/O console features power and reset buttons forth with an activity LED. In that location are besides ii audio jacks and two USB 3.0 ports.

On the left side panel there is a massive window tinted blackness while the opposite side door is solid with a pocket-sized grill in the bottom right corner to provide the power supply with cool air.

In back, the bottom left corner is a power supply mounting bracket, above that is a large honeycomb grill, and to the right of that are 8 expansion slots along with the motherboards I/O and a grill for a 140mm fan.

Underneath the case are four large feet consummate with prophylactic protectors that enhance the enclosure virtually 10mm off the ground. At that place are iv rectangular holes in the bottom of the Air 540 though they aren't designed to provide ventilation and they aren't covered with a dust filter. Rather, information technology seems they serve as rails for sliding in drive cages, and then if 3.5" drives are installed hither the holes will be covered.

Finally, while the Carbide Air 540 is an impressive looking instance from the outside, it'southward non every bit sleek as an Obsidian example... though that has kind of been the point of the Carbide Series. The Air 540 seems to offering a squeamish blend of sleek styling with aggressive grills, like a dialed down HAF XB.