Every PC component manufacturer at some point has branched out into new areas of expertise. Recently, we saw Antec launching its very first 2.1 speaker system, the Rockus 3D as well as Corsair unveiling its SP2500 2.1 system. Along with that, Corsair also launched its own line-up of high-end cabinets in two flavors, the Graphite series and Obsidian series. Today, we'll be reviewing the 600T mid-tower chassis from the Graphite series which is comparatively cheaper than the Obsidian series. At Rs.10,900, it isn't exactly inexpensive and will compete with veteran brands in this business like CoolerMaster, Lian-Li, NZXT and Antec. Corsair has made a name for itself in the power supply business for its rock solid products. Let's see if it has pulled it off today with this new venture.
Build and Design
The 600T is much better looking that the Obsidian series and even though it lacks the side window, it looks elegant and stealthy. The entire front is covered by a full mesh cover with four 5.3-inch drive bays in the front. There's a massive 200mm LED fan for the front intake to cool the hard drives. One good thinking on Corsair's part was that it has added a removable dust filter for the front intake which is easy to clean.
The 600T is much better looking that the Obsidian series and even though it lacks the side window, it looks elegant and stealthy. The entire front is covered by a full mesh cover with four 5.3-inch drive bays in the front. There's a massive 200mm LED fan for the front intake to cool the hard drives. One good thinking on Corsair's part was that it has added a removable dust filter for the front intake which is easy to clean.
The side panel mechanism is very easy to open - simply pull the two latches and the side opens up. The side panel is incredibly light despite being made of steel and not aluminum.
All the front panel connectors are placed in a cluster on the top. Instead of the two USB ports, we now have four USB 2.0 ports which is good as most of the headers in the motherboard go unused any ways. There's even a USB 3.0 port on the top. Other than that, we have a Firewire (1394), headphone and microphone jack, power and reset buttons. The large knob in the center is the fan control for the two 200mm LED fans.
Coming to the rear, we see a single 120mm exhaust fan along with two circular grommets for water cooling. The power supply goes in the bottom like in all high-end cabinets for better air circulation.
On removing the side panel, we can see massive cutouts in the motherboard tray for optimum cable management. The large square atop is for quickly swapping out the back plate without having to unmount the entire mobo. There are also plenty of grommets all over for cable management.
As you can see, there's plenty of space in the cabinet even after stuffing it with a full ATX motherboard and three graphics cards.
The 600T can accommodate up to six hard drives including SSDs. The tray mechanism is very easy to use as we've seen this before on many CoolerMaster cabinets. The trays also have small rubber washers for absorbing vibration from the drives. Corsair doesn't provide any SSD mounting bracket since you can attach them directly on the hard drive bays itself.
The operation of the 200mm fans is very silent since they don't spin at a very high RPM. You can certainly hear a whirring sound when they are spinning at full speed but other than that, the cabinet does a good job of isolating the sound from the CPU and graphics card fan.
Verdict
With MRP set at Rs.10,900 and a two year warranty, you should be able to find the Corsair 600T for a little less in shops. At this price range, there are just two real competitors in the market for this chassis, the CoolerMaster HAF 932 and HAF X. The Corsair 600T sits right in the middle of them.
On thing to note is that the competition offers full-tower cases for this price while the Corsair is still a mid-tower. The HAF X is a bit more expensive at around 12K but it has features similar to the 600T like USB 3.0 support. The HAF 932 is priced somewhere around 9K but it isn't the most attractive looking case which is why the Corsair 600T is a good choice.
With MRP set at Rs.10,900 and a two year warranty, you should be able to find the Corsair 600T for a little less in shops. At this price range, there are just two real competitors in the market for this chassis, the CoolerMaster HAF 932 and HAF X. The Corsair 600T sits right in the middle of them.
On thing to note is that the competition offers full-tower cases for this price while the Corsair is still a mid-tower. The HAF X is a bit more expensive at around 12K but it has features similar to the 600T like USB 3.0 support. The HAF 932 is priced somewhere around 9K but it isn't the most attractive looking case which is why the Corsair 600T is a good choice.
The build quality is really good, something we've come to expect as a given from Corsair products. It also looks ten times better than the HAF series while still keeping the same features. The rounded edges and symmetrical design would easily appeal to any enthusiast with a good taste. It also has plenty of features like fan control, USB 3.0 front header, good cable management, powder coated interiors and a slick matt paint job. There are a few minor concerns like the hard drive trays feel a bit flimsy and the fact that you can't add more fans. But the main issue is the price which is a bit high for a mid tower case. If Corsair can drop the price to around Rs. 6,000, it would make an amazing chassis for your next gaming rig.
Specifications
