Corsair Crystal iCUE 465X RGB CC-9011188-WW Black Steel / Plastic / Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: >It is -really- pretty >Lots of pass-throughs for cables to behind the mobo tray >Lots of water cooling radiator support (Front, Top, and Rear) >Fill port cutout available at top of the case (back-right, looking in the window) >The SSD mounting kit has a lot I liked about it >Build quality feels solid, powder coating uniform and thick >Most things you might want to remove are held in with screws; fewer rivets you might want to drill out if modding >HDD cage cover has cut outs that are just large enough for some smaller water cooling lines to pass through. If you're going to be building your own water cooling loop with a dedicated pump, the you will almost certainly have to remove the HDD cage and put the pump in its place, and Corsair seems to have anticipated this with this cutout - as long as you don't put in too long of a PSU

Cons: >Cleaning front dust filter requires removing front facade; held on with 4 screws that look like thumb screws, but in practice need a screw driver to remove >Glass can fall out of the front facade when you remove it if you are not careful; I got lucky and notice it was just kind of 'sitting in there' when I was playing with it >RGB fans require separate controller for full effect, and the included one doesn't interact with the computer itself; limited to front panel push-buttons >Removing the PSU and HDD cage shrouds requires opening the metal side panel to remove some thumb screws >Cramped behind the motherboard tray, going to be a trick to manage cables >Cables from font panel are way too long for this case, compounding the problem with limited space behind motherboard tray >Cables going into the front panel hookups could use a cover, they're a little distracting with a white interior to the case if you're going for a 'clean, minimalistic' look as it seems to be common with white cases >Directions talk about a rear exhaust fan, but it seems to be missing in my unit

Overall Review: All-in-all, I like this case. I am just being really nit-picky with all the points in the "Cons" section. The only thing I can -really- complain about is that you need to completely remove the front cover in order to clean its dust filter, and its plainly obvious that Corsair intended that this be the primary air in-take for cooling the system. So that is going to be a lot of removing the front panel, taking care with the glass, just to clean a filter that will start looking dirty sooner thanks to be being well-lit, lit from behind, covered only in glass, and made entirely of white material. A slide-in-slide-out dust filter, like the kind used underneath most PSU air in-takes in modern cases these days, from the top of the case, would have been super appreciated. So this was the single reason for removing an egg from the rating. Everything else was me just being picky, or pointing out things that someone else may find annoying - but I myself may not really care about (like the RGB controls for the fans). Though, I will admit, the excessive cable length from the front panel hookups does bother me a little, but I would rather the cables be too long and me trying to figure out where to stuff the extra length over them not being long enough. The particular case will be a challenging one to work inside of, but if you plan things carefully and take your time, it will produce some visually impressive results. Personally, I am planning on turning this into a media center/Steambox PC . The HDD cage will have two big drives in RAID0 for local media storage. The SSD cage will be fully populated, 1 for the OS and software, 1 for game libraries, 1 for particularly large media files that might be cranky on old rust spinners (4K HDR bluray ISOs, etc), add in a GPU with AIO cooling, a dedicated sound card, and I'll have a pretty sweet looking media box.

Pros: I just completed a build in this case, and I must say it looks very attractive with its tempered glass front and side panels, which show off the three front RGB fans behind a distinctively patterned dust filter, and my RGB motherboard. The 3-pin fans are not silent but pretty low noise, and there are sufficient color variations for my taste. I like the fact that it has a relatively small footprint compared to some of my other rigs. While light, it does not seem flimsy. There is plenty of ventilation from the three included RGB front fans, with space on the roof for three more, and a 120mm at the rear. Air flow is pretty good with ample clearance between the front tempered glass panel and the fans so the side vents can intake sufficient air. The magnetic filter (black) on the roof is a nice touch and is of good quality. Another nice touch is the holes in the case aligned with the PCI covers, which allow for easy screwdriver access. Three large cutouts by the motherboard allow for cable routing and have substantial grommets to protect cables against fraying. I was glad to see a well-placed cutout for the 8-pin CPU cable so it did not have to be routed across the motherboard. Buttons on the front panel for lighting modes, reset, and power have a satisfying feel and don't seem flimsy at all. The power supply shroud comes in two detachable parts, the front part also hiding the 2-bay hard drive cage. It has a hole in the middle, mainly intended for GPU power cables. You could route fan and front panel cables through it, but they would lie messily across the back half of the shroud. Since I have a white case, it would show these up clearly so I used the lowest side cutout in the motherboard tray. Behind the motherboard are three SSD bays in which you just slot your SSDs to be held in place by a spring and a latch. A small removable dust filter slides in under the PSU from the rear and is of adequate construction and quality.

Cons: Now for the not so good part: This case, while it has well-placed cable management holes and several tie-down points, has inadequate space between the motherboard tray and side panel. Using custom cable extensions, particularly a 24-pin, will be difficult, if not impossible, due to the difficulty of closing the panel. Just half an inch more would have roughly doubled the gap and made things so much easier. I've seen reviews of the 460X complaining about this, but did not appreciate it fully until my time to build. While the RGB fans are nice, I suspect most users will want to add a fourth at the rear to complete the look and also have an exhaust fan. This would add to the cost though, so I can see why it is not included. Of more concern to me is the fact that the fans depend on the Corsair controller and cannot be controlled by my RGB motherboard headers to sync with its LEDs. It has to be done manually with the front panel buttons or the internal controller buttons (included with the case). Each fan has two cables, one for RGB and one for power, so that adds to the cable management mess as they cannot be daisy-chained. They are also 3-pin and not PWM fans, and the bearings are not of the highest quality. While not noisy, time will tell how they hold up. The front panel only has two USB3.0 ports and no USB2.0 ports, likely due to the space used by the fans' RGB control buttons. There is no USB C header, though this is not an issue for most users yet.

Overall Review: Note: This case was provided to me by Newegg for review purposes. While I hate to mark down such a nice looking case, I am deducting a full egg for difficulty of building in it due to cable clearance behind the motherboard tray and the low number of front USB ports. If you want better fans, e.g. PWM and/or ones that work from motherboard RGB headers, you could get the cheaper model case and substitute them yourself, though that would raise the final cost above that of this case with its included fans and controller. Its other attributes, like build quality, air flow, and looks hold it at four eggs despite the other shortcomings. It really is an attractive, compact case that would look good on any desk.

Pros: -Tempered glass on the Side AND front. -3 RGB SP120 Fans with the Controller and Hub. Those alone normally go for 60 dollars for the 3 pack. -The Fans/hub are already cable managed so you don't have to worry too much about wiring just simply need to power them. -No need to buy another hub/controller. If you want to add 3 more Sp120 rgb fans, you only will need the fans as they all can plug into the 6 slot hub. -Basically a 400c with glass which was already a great case. -Dust filters are easy to clean and remove. -PSU Shroud which I really like. Helps hide some wiring and is also removable if you wish to show your PSU. -Removable HD Cages if your only using an SSD then that frees up some room as the SSD fits in the back. -Can choose colors right on the case fan control making it easy to switch color schemes. No need to go into the case to use the controller.

Cons: -If you plan on putting a 240mm radiator on top then it might be a tight fit and some ram may not be able to fit with the radiator and the fans. It is possible that some ram can fit it though, mostly low profile ram. Otherwise you have to put the radiator in front which kind of blocks some of the fan lights from going inside the case. Not that big of a deal because the biggest draw is seeing the lights out in front of the case, but some people may not like that. This was also the case in the 400c case. -You have to be careful removing the side glass panel. There is nothing to stop if from falling so prepare to grab it before unscrewing the last screw. Tempered glass panels in general are a little more difficult to work with if your constantly removing it. Not a big deal once you get your machine up and running.

Overall Review: I would totally recommend this to anyone looking to jump into the tempered glass case market. The RGB fans and pretty design make this truly a unique looking case. I was considering either this or the S340 Elite but ultimately decided on this case due to the RGB fans and tempered glass in the front.

Pros: -Solidly built case with good thick unscratched coating, sturdy rubberized feet with good clearance. -Tempered glass looks fantastic. Rubber washers very helpful. -Front mounted 280mm H115i radiator fit perfectly, albeit tightly without removing HDD array or sleeve. -The three front fans are static pressure and push air through the radiator well. -High quality removable dust screens. -Personally dislike flashing so solid blue for me but RGB controller hub works well if you want to play. -Very clean build on the MoBo topside makes the torturous weaving on the bottom side tolerable. -Just drop dead gorgeous and very pleased when finished. (Swore a bit during build)

Cons: -No fan power hub. -Just a silly 1 centimeter more clearance beneath the motherboard and side panel would have made all the cable management headaches go away, hence the 1 star knocked off. -Magnetic front air filter cleaning is a bit cumbersome since the front glass must be removed first.

Overall Review: This is a Compact Mid-Size, sometimes not advertised as such, so be aware. Take your time with this one. It’s tight and no room for error. It’s not going to be a fast build rather a labor of love. Being snowed in for the weekend, I spent about 2 hours just admiring her beauty...getting to know her parts. Then took everything apart, looked again, and planned the construction. (be prepared to re-plan :-)) There is no space between the motherboard and PSU shroud so I ran the front panel audio connection underneath and found a cutout in the lower left corner to slip it through. Ran the other front panel connectors underneath and through the cutout in the PSU shroud. Same thing for the Link dongle into the USB 2. The underside got a bit hairy but there are plenty of ties. In retrospect the only real problem was the thick ATX cables from the Corsair PSU... had to wrestle those snakes to the ground. Mods: Added a Corsair ML120 PRO LED 120mm MagLev PWM fan on the rear. Cut out rear mesh grill and installed a black ring grill for increased exhaust flow. Keep a dedicated Windex nearby. :-) The build: MSI Z270 Xpower Titanium Intel i7 7700k Corsair H115i G. Skill TridentZ 32GB (2x16) 3200 MSI GTX 1070 Quick Silver Corsair AX860i Samsung 850 Pros

Pros: Looks great. Feet are large and grip well. Numerous grommets and cable tie down points. All air inlets are nicely filtered. The tint on the glass is just right. A+

Cons: -Tricky and time consuming to get cables routed well. -Sheet metal is thin, feels a little bit cheap but cuts down on weight. -Not a good, hidden place to put an RGB strip vertically on the front. -PSU shroud is quite difficult to install - my motherboard touches the shroud when it's installed. -SP120 fan's rgb are 5v common cathode (why??) which required a circuit to connect to my mobo's rgb headers. -The HD cage has two positions: closer to the PSU which leaves you with VERY limited space for excess cables, and closer to the front which for some reason the PSU shroud doesn't cover completely. I chose to leave it closer to the PSU so i wouldn't see an inch of the drives hanging out.

Overall Review: Would like to see usb3.1 on the front panel. Also please give the rgb controller the option to take a standard rgb pwm input from a motherboard header. Take your time with cable managment. It's difficult in this case but it pays off.

Pros: -Sturdy Design (steel, glass, and not much plastic). -Great Aesthetics. -Tempered glass covers are easily removable and manageable. -Easy access to dust filters. -I easily fit a mATX mobo with full sized GTX 1070.

Cons: -Cable Management is tight. I had to remove the rear SSD cage to make everything fit nicely. -2 of 3 fans were broken but luckily Corsair replaced them with very little hassle. -Fans aren't PWM (they're 3-pin). -No included rear exhaust fan.

Overall Review: -I wouldn't recommend trying to fit an ATX mobo in here, I think that this case is best used with mATX. -Definitely build this with a modular or semi modular PSU, there's not a lot of space for extra wires.

Pros: Includes 3 fans pre mounted looks amazing good airflow

Cons: The glass broke difficult for cable management

Overall Review: This was the first PC that ive ever built, ive always had prebuilts, so this build took me about 5 hours (granted i was at work while building it) after i spent all that time building it to what i believed was perfection, I was pulling the plastic off of the glass and it exploded. For Tempered glass this glass is super fragile. I reached out to corsair customer support and I couldnt even buy a new panel, my prebuilts that i tinkered with both had tempered glass side panels and they both had really strong glass but this one shattered while barely touching it, i even have video of it as i was at work. So since i cant even buy it let alone just get a replacement glass i have to deconstruct my entire build that took me hours to build to send it back and for it to process which will take a week at the minimum and then the case is on backorder and if its not available they just refund you and so i have to order a completely different case. its honestly ridiculous

Pros: firstly, obviously, this case looks magnificent. the tempered glass lets you perfectly see all the components in your build, and the RGB fans are vibrant and easily customizable. it is very well built and comes with a thick magnetic dust filter for the top of the case. it was relatively easy to build in.

Cons: it's awkward to work in. i get it, they wanted to make a compact case with not too much empty space. unfortunately, this makes it extremely hard to manage your cables, since the back panel is practically pressed against the case. many cables simply could not fit in the back, because they simply were not thin enough, and had to be routed through the case into the motherboard.

Overall Review: all in all, if you can handle a few cables hanging in front of your motherboard, i definitely recommend giving this case a go. it's very sturdy and you will not find a more beautiful-looking case at this price point, or perhaps on the market all together. very happy with my purchase.