Wednesday, October 28th 2015

Corsair Unveils the Carbide Series 88R Micro-ATX Chassis

Corsair unveiled the Carbide Series 88R micro-ATX tower chassis. Although made from steel with plastic and brushed aluminium-like inserts, the case is designed to be affordable and targeted at the micro-ATX gaming build crowd. To begin with, the 88R has a conventional, roomy layout, with a bottom-oriented PSU bay, and a high-clearance forward area. The motherboard tray serves up a 383 mm of clearance for video cards (even a lengthy R9 295X2 should fit), up to 150 mm for the CPU cooler, and up to 160 mm for the PSU.

Storage areas include a single 5.25-inch drive bay, and two each of 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch trays. Its cooling system includes two 120 mm front intakes, which can hold on to 240 mm long radiators, two 120 mm top exhausts, and a 120 mm rear exhaust. Front-panel connectivity includes one each of USB 3.0, USB 2.0/1.1 ports; and HDA audio jacks. Measuring 440 mm x 198 mm x 378 mm (DxWxH), the case weighs 3.65 kg. It is priced at US $49.99.
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13 Comments on Corsair Unveils the Carbide Series 88R Micro-ATX Chassis

#1
RejZoR
Pretty neat design. CPU radiator on intake is especially good idea. I've tried it twice on exhaust and it just doesn't work. It just stuffs itself and the motherboard with hot air. With intake, it gets the coolest air and also spreads it more evenly through the case which then gets exhausted out of the case. The effect on graphic card is so minimal it doesn't even matter.
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#2
tabascosauz
Now CM can say "been there, done that".

The N200 is basically identical, while having build quality that is as good as or better than this Corsair case. The direct airflow path to the GPU was done in the N200; the 2 vertically placed SSDs are also in the exact same position. A 240mm rad can easily be placed in the front too.

There's no window in the N200 but it does get better ventilation, even with the 120mm side mount covered up. Here, the front intake is reminiscent of the H440, and perhaps even worse (at least you could take the mesh out in the H440 for some more airflow), and there is no ventilation on the side.
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#3
Joss
CM cases put to shame Corsair's particularly in the quality department.
Corsair must have an excellent Marketing operation though because their cases always get a lot of attention, contrary to the best mid tower now available (CM 690 III) which hardly gets mentioned.
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#4
SherwoodForest
So this is the Xigmatek Spirit M imgur.com/4qiSiG4, www.xigmatek.com/product.php?productid=234 A couple companies have picked this chassis up. Having built in this case before, it is VERY cheap rolled steel, and definitely not worth $50 or the Corsair name honestly and feels like a cop out on their part at Corsair. This case is maybe worth $30, which is what I paid for it, outside of that there is plenty of fan room, though to top mount the rad you will have to remove the drive cage. That's just my 2 cents on this though so take it for what it is an opinion.
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#6
silapakorn
It's a good thing they still add the good old 5.25" slot in modern cases (I'm looking at you, NZXT).
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#7
Rockarola
silapakornIt's a good thing they still add the good old 5.25" slot in modern cases (I'm looking at you, NZXT).
WTF are you using a 5.25" slot for?
Fan controllers comes in 3.5" and if you need an OD most externals are as good as the internal ones.
I'm not being a smart@ss (at least not more than usual), I am genuinely curious.
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#8
Chaitanya
tabascosauzNow CM can say "been there, done that".

The N200 is basically identical, while having build quality that is as good as or better than this Corsair case. The direct airflow path to the GPU was done in the N200; the 2 vertically placed SSDs are also in the exact same position. A 240mm rad can easily be placed in the front too.

There's no window in the N200 but it does get better ventilation, even with the 120mm side mount covered up. Here, the front intake is reminiscent of the H440, and perhaps even worse (at least you could take the mesh out in the H440 for some more airflow), and there is no ventilation on the side.
N200 does have a window version. Infact if anyone is concerned with single Usb 3.0 port CM also offers an advanced version which has Dual front usb 3.0 and currently the case I am using for my Pc.
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#9
Ruru
S.T.A.R.S.
Damn! Cheap, looks good, good water cooling support and side window!
RockarolaWTF are you using a 5.25" slot for?
At least I have an internal blu-ray drive and I have no need for an external one, since this works flawlessly.
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#10
Brusfantomet
RockarolaWTF are you using a 5.25" slot for?
Fan controllers comes in 3.5" and if you need an OD most externals are as good as the internal ones.
I'm not being a smart@ss (at least not more than usual), I am genuinely curious.
A good bay res for watercooling (with or without a pump), And there is no Lamptron fan controllers for 3.5"

The aqua aero also only comes in 5.25"
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#11
micropage7
looks simple and nice but yeah that hdd tray is kinda annoying since its pretty open, maybe they could move it somewhere like behind motherboard tray
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#12
tyrone747
So is the optical bay removable or not? In some pics it's riveted and in some pics it's screwed in.
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#13
sc
How about they make a premium MicroATX case with some design into it?

They should realize there is a market for that, and not everyone chooses MATX because of budget constraints, some people do that because they don't need massive towers but they still want something with some thought put into it and some nice design - no 350d or CaseLabs S5 don't cut it... That's why Apple has so many fans, because they make nice looking things.
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