Corsair Carbide 330R Titanium Edition Review

Corsair Carbide 330R Titanium Introduction:

Today we take a look at Corsair's 330R Titanium Quiet Mid-Tower, which is the newest part in the Carbine series. Originally starting in 1994 as a memory company, Corsair has since expanded its reach into other markets. These markets include keyboards, mice, power supplies, CPU cooling, and of course, computer chassis. This chassis is currently priced at $99.99, which is within the price range of many other mid-towers. With so many brands and models currently on the market, it's very hard for a higher priced mid-tower to stand out in the crowd. Luckily for Corsair, it's reaching into a small sub-market that deals with a common problem: fan noise.

With the recent review of the Corsair Graphite 780T, Corsair has shown its ability to create something that stands out in the current offerings. When Corsair originally branched out into other markets, It could have just became another generic company, making generic chassis. Corsair introduced the Carbine 330R last year and steed a few things up, by pushing yet again into something already established by another company. I am talking about the "Quiet" part of the case. NZXT has been the biggest case suppler and marketer of decently quiet computer cases. Yes, other companies like Thermaltake, Fractal Design, Cooler Master, and more have one "Quiet" case, but it's not the major part of the company.

While owning a few quiet cases myself over the years, it's a big enough difference to worth noting and the price difference can be justified. You will be surprised how much silencing foam and a good fan can do. The Titanium edition adds a few minor things including a built-in fan controller, so without spoiling the rest for those who can't remember last years review, let's dive right in!

Corsair Carbide 330R Titanium Closer Look:

For those who aren't already aware of the features in this chassis, I'll give some details. The front has three exposed 5.25" bays covered by a metal hinged door and behind that is a removable dust filter for the 140mm fan. Looking at the side, this case does not have any side window or options to mount fans. While that can be a bad thing depending on your preferences, this time it is not. The lack of a window or fan side mounting is mainly due to the internal silencing foam keeping the acoustics of everything inside the chassis low. The front of the chassis changes it up from the previous version with a silver colored front panel versus the original black panel on the 330R. Above that is the I/O panel, which includes a power / reset button along with two USB 3.0 ports, and headphone & mic jacks. On the other end, is the standard amount of slots for a full-size ATX motherboard. On the opposite side is a standard solid panel that follows the chassis' style.

Looking at the top of the chassis, Corsair as placed a large removable panel in place of a dust filter. With the panel attached, the noise volume is extremely low, which is great news for this chassis. Similar to last time, removing the panel brings the volume to normal and it nullifies the quiet selling point. This will limit the amount of extra features like water cooling support, if one desires to go this route. Up to two 140mm fans can accommodate the top and that should be enough for most users.

The bottom has a dust filter that is held in place by six weak magnets; it did fall off a few times while I was moving the case around. For the most part, if you do not move the case, then the filter does not come off. There is no option to install an additional fan on the bottom, but it has a spot open for a bottom mounted PSU, which is standard now in 2015.