The Carbide Series Air 240 - High Airflow MicroATX and Mini-ITX PC Case

Official Website

Corsair

Announced at Computex June 2014

Corsair Blog

Features

• dual-chamber design
• unobstructed airflow design
• easy installation & upgrades
• tool-free
• 240mm radiator support on top, bottom & front
• full panel window
• supports up to 9 fans
• all intake fans are meshed to minimise dust
• supports up to three 3.5” drives and three 2.5” drives
• standard ATX power supply

The Raison d'être

Simple... creating a mATX version of the Carbide 540 Air in response to enduser demands, 

In doing so, Corsair is simply just being Corsair, the sensitive corporate entity with deep and wide community participation. And they are just as good at creating the electric air of anticipation and excitement in the discussion forums before each product release, as is very much evident in the following FAQ links.

FAQ

• Corsair George, Product Manager
• Why is it not smaller... ?
• Why is it not aimed at the HTPC crowd... ?
• Why the White model costs more than the Black...
• The long and short of it... the works!

The Maximums

Maximum discrete card length 290mm
Maximum CPU cooler height 120mm

Maximum power supply length 200mm

Carbide Air 240 vs 540

Extraordinary small?

Packaging

Specs On Paper

Unboxing

yes, it's a white sample this time round...

Different Angles

As a result of the design, the 240 Air can be placed in different orientations depending on your needs. Even the magnetic case badge can be easily rotated as desired. So which is the actual top or side panels will ultimately depend on your choice of positioning... for ease of discussion, let's stick to the orientation with the viewing window facing up ie. desktop orientation.

Top

with its large viewing window, secured by 2 captive thumbscrews (nice touch!). On my sample, the top panel fitting isn't quite up to the usual Corsair standards seen in the other panels though

Close-up showing the captive thumbscrew and window mounting clips

The Front Panel

unclips easily, tool-free, showing the Power/Reset buttons/LEDs, audio and USB3 plugs 

Stock case badge orientation, seen between the front panel grilles

Flipped over

Close-up showing the 2 magnetic bulges

Transformation in process... transforming, transforming...

Snap, it's done! lol

Back of the power/reset buttons on the front panel as seen above the front dust mesh

Side Panels

both are similar looking with  long straight lines over the dust grilles

Close-ups of the outer grille and inner dust mesh

Bottom

secured by 2 captive thumbscrews too and showing the external dust mesh (for the power supply intake)

Back

showing the optional 2 x 80mm exhaust fan mounting holes, 3 x 3.5" HDD bay (bottom left), PSU bay (bottom right) and fenestrated reusable I/O plates (top right)

More on the white Corsair box later...

Interiors

Mobo Chamber

showing full grommets, sleeved cables and the 3 x 120mm bundled fans

Let's throw in the Asrock mATX H81M-HD5 model to see how much space is leftover with the mobo in-situ bearing in mind that any mITX model will simply have even more room!

Front fans

Close-up Of Fan Markings

Sides
showing the 3 x 2.5" device trays (bottom left)

Other side showing the possible fan/radiator mounting positions

Storage/PSU Chamber
check out the humongous amount of space available for the PSU and for hiding excess cable lengths

Rubber dampeners for the PSU

The White Corsair Box

rubber feet, various screws, cable ties, mobo stand-off

Initial Impressions

Likes

• Wonderful successful job of shrinking the 540 Air
• As good looking as the 540 Air
• Dual chamber design - offers possibly the best (straight thru') ventilation & best cable management
• Great paint job which is effectively finger print free
• Efficient usage of a smaller space - actually allows 1 more 3.5" device than the larger 540 Air
• Fully meshed intake fans
• Tool free
• Large polycarbonate viewing window
• Thoughtful usable bundle - 3 x 120mm fans, full grommets, fully sleeved/flat ribbon cables

Can be improved...
Windowed panel fitting - can do with more catches for a more secure streamlined fit