A Closer Look - Inside

To gain access, simply unscrew the glass side panel and the thumb screws holding the metal panel in place. Once removed, you have unobstructed access to the main system side as it is only meant to hold the main components: motherboard, CPU, memory, cooling, and GPUs. All the secondary components will be hidden away nicely in the compartment behind the motherboard tray.


Here, you will be able to add a PSU of up to 180 mm in length, which is plenty for even the most demanding systems. Above that is the aforementioned 3.5" hard-drive cage.


Towards the front of the secondary compartment, you will find the Corsair Lightning Node PRO, which is a digital lightning controller that works with the Corsair iCUE software to allow for adjustments across all system components in terms of cooling, power tweaks, lighting, and much more. Essentially, the more Corsair components you have within the system, the more you can adjust things. Besides the actual Lighting Node Pro, you will also find a fan hub, which allows you to connect up to six RGB fans. This essentially means that Corsair bundles the case with a 2-pack of LL120 fans and the required extras to fully control everything. In comparison, the company also sells a 3-pack of the fans and the same extras for $80 on its own.


Turning our attention to the main compartment, you will find the front clear of any obstructions, allowing you to use it for cooling purposes, which is as it should be.


The floor and ceiling are shaped similarly to the front of the case and allow for the same cooling setups. However, the bottom area will only be accessible should you opt to use a single GPU configuration as a second graphics card would take up the space instead.


All the cables within the Crystal 280X RGB are of the standard variety. There is a USB 2.0 header to allow for iCUE to access the controller in Windows, while the two SATA ports power the controller and fan hub respectively.