Corsair Graphite 600T Mid-Tower Case Review

1. Introduction2. The Corsair 600T (1)3. The Corsair 600T (2)4. Installation5. Testing Methodology and Performance6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

Corsair have been building on their success in the memory business, expanding into many other areas of tech in the past few years.  But they haven't done so in a half-hearted way – each new product they have launched has been class leading  like their  H70 watercooler which we reviewed recently.

Today we're going to look at Corsair's latest PC case, the Graphite 600T, which fits in at the bottom of their range beneath the popular Obsidian series.  But being at the bottom of the range doesn't mean this is a low-end case; it is a feature packed mid tower case, aimed at enthusiasts who don't have an unlimited budget.

Features

• Twin 200mm cooling fans with white LEDs for excellent cooling
• Eight expansion slots provides you flexibility for multiple graphics card solutions
• Unique cable routing holes guarantees you a clean and clutter-free installation
• Integrated fan controller, for up to four fans, gives you the choice of noise vs. performance
• Tool-free optical drive installation makes building your system faster than ever
• CPU backplate cutout makes upgrading your CPU heatsink easy
• 2.5” and 3.5” hard drive compatibility for up to 6 drives — straight out of the box!
• Two year warranty with Corsair’s world-class customer service and technical support

Specification

Dimensions	20″ (H) x 23.3″ (L) x 10.4″ (W) – (507mm x 592mm x 265mm)
Material	Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces
Color	Graphite Grey and Black
Model	CC600T
Drive Bays	(x4) 5.25″ (x6) 3.5″/2.5″ Drive Caddies
Cooling	(x2) 200mm Fans w/White LEDs (x1) 120mm Fan
Expansion Slots	8
Motherboard	ATX, mATX
Front I/O	(x4) USB 2.0 (x1) USB 3.0 (x1) IEEE1394 (x1) Headphone, (x1) MIC
Power Supply	ATX (not included)

The 600T is supplied in a sizable brown cardboard box which is decorated only by a drawing of the case and some information about it.  Inside the box, we find the case wrapped in a plastic sheet and sandwiched between two slabs of polystyrene.  This should provide ample protection for the case during transit.

Corsair include the accessories within the case itself – these consist of a quick start guide, a selection of screws and some cable ties.

Like the rest of Corsair's case range, the 600T has a steel construction.  But unlike the others, Corsair have chosen to finish it in a combination of plastic and steel mesh which gives it a sophisticated visage.  The sleek curves that Corsair have incoporated into the design disguise how wide this case actually is compared to other mid-tower cases.  This width isn't a bad thing though; it gives us more room for cable routing behind the motherboard tray which is something mid-tower cases often lack.

The width of the case has also allowed Corsair to accommodate two mammoth 200mm white LED fans into the front and top of the case.  The speed of these can be adjusted using a large knob on the top of the case – and you can hook up other fans to this system to be controlled using the same knob.

We find all the front panel connections alongside the fan control knob on the top.  Corsair have catered for just about everything we could ask for in this area; four USB2.0 ports, 3.5mm headphone and microphone jacks, a full-size firewire port and a single USB3.0 port.  As there isn't yet a standard motherboard header for front panel USB3.0 ports, there is a USB3.0 cable which has to be plugged into the back of the motherboard.  Corsair have implemented one of the less elegant solutions for this that we've seen, running the cable through the top add-in card cover.  We would have preferred to see a dedicated hole at the top of the case and a slightly longer cable.

Pressing down on the mesh section on the top allows us to remove it completely.  This reveals a space which can be filled by two 2x 120mm fans, freeing up space where the 200mm fan is for a 240mm radiator.  But for those who plan to watercool their system on any serious level, the Corsair 600T isn't really appropriate as there is only room for a slim radiator here.  There is also a lock in here which secures the side panel, meaning no one can steal your components at LAN events.  There is also a removable mesh section in the front which houses a dust filter for the front intake fan.

Corsair have opted for the tool-less approach to side panels.  Each one is secured by two latches which allow speedy access to the inside of your case and secure the side panel as effectively as screws.

Opening up the 600T reveals a beautiful black-painted interior which is sure to make your kit look great too.  The motherboard tray has a huge cutout for CPU backplate installation which should allow you to install any cooler without issue.  This is accompanied by no fewer than eight rubber cable routing grommets, meaning you don't actually get much motherboard tray at all.

Corsair have used the now almost standard thumbscrews to secure the eight add-in card covers.  We would have preferred an advanced tool-less mechanism like the one from Lian Li but this isn't surprising considering the price point of the case.  Above the add-in card covers we find the Corsair-branded 120mm exhaust fan which a lot of users will choose to replace with a factory-filled watercooling loop like the Corsair H70 or Coolit Vantage.

At the bottom of the chassis we find an air intake for the PSU.  This is accompanied by a dust filter to prevent a mass of carpet being hoovered in.

On the right hand side of the chassis we find the six removable hard drive trays.  These are arranged into two racks of three which can be stacked in two different configurations; either on top of each other or side by side.  Positioning them side-by-side allows more room for longer graphics cards (presumably for future proofing as you can fit a 5970 in without repositioning) and for improving airflow.  The hard drive trays support both 2.5″ and 3.5″ drives without adapters.  Above this we find the four 5.25″ bays which are secured by a simple locking mechanism.

Firstly we installed the PSU into the 600T which was a refreshingly simple process.  The PSU slides into place and is secured by a tiny bracket and a few cleverly placed metal tabs.  We were surprised how stronly this secured the power supply in place – we wouldn't even be tempted to use screws if we were shipping it across the country.

Installing the motherboard is also a simple process as the motherboard standoffs are preinstalled into the motherboard tray.  We decided to use a Coolit Vantage CPU cooler for testing which was also very easy to install, in part due to the large cutout in the motherboard.

The hard drive trays are a little flimsy for our liking but once you fill it with a hard drive, it is far more rigid.  You can screw hard drives in if you like but it's not really necessary as there are four pins which hold it securely in place.  2.5″ drives do need to be screwed down, though.

At KitGuru we rarely use optical drives for testing as we use USB drives to install Windows.  But Corsair have implemented a simple tool-less mechanism for securing optical drives.

The right hand side panel is also secured using two tool-less latches.  Opening it up reveals a larger than usual space for routing cables through all those grommets in the motherboard tray.

In here we find the headers for the fan control knob which we have to connect to the three fan cables.  The front panel headers also have to be routed through the holes and connected up to the motherboard.  Then it's a simple matter of connecting up the rest of the cables, replace the side panels and you're ready to go!

For testing today we are using an Intel Core i7 920 processor in conjunction with a Coolit Vantage CPU cooler.  For testing we set the Coolit Vantage to Extreme mode and set the case fans to the highest setting.

Test System



Chassis: Corsair Graphite 600T
Processor: Intel i7 920 (D0)
Motherboard: Asus P6T
Cooler: Coolit Vantage
Memory: 6GB Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600 (3x 2GB)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB (7200rpm)
Power Supply: Corsair HX850W

Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Everest Ultimate Edition
Prime 95
Furmark

The diagram above shows how the airflow is set up out of the box.  The 200mm fan at the front of the case is the only intake with a further 200mm fan at the top of the case acting as an exhaust.  There is also a 120mm fan acting as an exhaust at the rear of the case which we replaced with the Coolit Vantage for testing.

The Corsair 600T managed to keep our test system cool, aided by the awesome cooling power of the Coolit Vantage which kept our i7-920 chip cool even when overclocked to 4.00GHz.  The Zotac GTX 470 reached 92c but this is a result of acoustically balanced automatic fan profiles.

The Corsair Graphite 600T has impressed us with the excellent build quality we've come to expect from Corsair, alongside attractive aesthetics.  It also performs well, keeping our test system cool even when overclocked, whilst remaining quiet throughout all our tests.

Corsair have obviously spent hundreds of man hours perfecting the interior design of the 600T which is one of the best we've seen with a mid-tower case.  It boasts almost every feature we could ask for from tool-less hard drive bays to a plethora of cable routing holes.  These allow us to achieve a very tidy looking build with no cables obstructing airflow.

As most of our readers will probably know, Corsair's products certainly don't come cheaply.  In fact the Corsair Graphite can be purchased  for £130 at Scan which is quite expensive for a mid-tower case, especially considering it's constructed from steel rather than aluminium.  But we're sure that those willing to pay this price won't be dissapointed as the 600T is a great all round product which packs in a great feature set and has no real drawbacks.

KitGuru says: Corsair have done it again, a well designed product that ticks all boxes.

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