Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T

[Khali]

I got the Corsair 600T case yesterday and I am pleased with it so far. Not that I could do anything with it since the rest of the hardware is still on the way from Newegg in California. The case came from Tennessee, just a bit closer to me in Ohio.It looks to be well built at first glance. I got the Special Edition White version, I have always liked white computer cases and its a nice change from the common black of recent years case offerings. Don't get me wrong, the black was better than the cream white color of the 80's and early 90's. I always hated that dirty white look of that era. This case is pure white with black highlights. Looks like case colors will follow the fashion world by going in cycles and bringing back old ideas with a new twist.

Here are my first impressions.

Pros

Looks great
Solidly built
Two options for left side door consisting of a window or a mesh grill that will take four 120 mm fans if you so choose.
Comes with two 200 mm fans installed, one intake fan in the front of the hard drive bays and one exhaust in the top of the case. Also has one 120mm exhaust fan in the back of the case.
Two dust filters, one for the front fan and one for the air intake to the PSU.
Two hard drive cages that will hold three drives each. One of the cages can be moved from on top of the other at the front of the case and move to the floor of the case beside the bottom drive cage. This will allow more air flow from the front case fan.
Bottom mount PSU keeps any heat from the PSU as far away from the Motherboard as possible.

Cons

The front USB 2.0 ports are right next to each other, so if you have a item that does not use the slim USB connector plugs, flash drives and such, your going to lose the use of a couple of these while that item is plugged in. Seriously, why can't they put some space, 1/2 inch or so would do it, between USB ports on the front of cases?
Only one USB 3.0 port on the front of the case. At this point why even put USB 2.0 on anything since any old USB 2.0 device will work in a USB 3.0 port? Just drop the 2.0 totally and use 3.0 instead there is no need for 2.0 ports.
The connector cable for the USB 3.0 port on the front of the case uses a normal USB 3.0 male plug, so you have to run the cable all the way out the back of the case and plug it into the motherboard that way. Why not use a cable with a USB 3.0 20 pin connector in the first place and keep everything in the case where it should be?
No dust filter for the optional side panel mesh grill, assuming you decide to use the mesh grill instead of the window.


That is my first glance views on the case so far. I was aware of the cons I mentioned before I decided to go with the 600t case. These issues don't just apply to this case but a vast majority of the cases offered right now. In the over all scheme of things they are minor issues that can be dealt with or ignored. Just pet peeves of mine more than anything else. From what I can tell, without having the motherboard here in hand yet, the front USB 3.0 cable issue can be fixed using a adapter on the motherboard. Just annoying is all.

I almost went with the COOLER MASTER COSMOS II. But I did not see where I would ever need 11 hard drive bays. Then there was the cost factor, at $350 it was a bit much for a case. Its a very nice case but beyond what I wanted to spend. If they made a smaller version (six to eight hard drive bays and shrink it down by 20 to 30 percent in size) and offered it in a white and black color scheme I would jump all over it.

I will add in a reply to this post, once the build is done, giving my final impressions on this case.

[Khali]

The build is done. Went rather well considering this is the first build I have personally done in about 10 years. So some general comments about the build itself then I will get to the case.

Thank you whoever finally came out with the first modular power supply. Being able to run a separate power cable to each component made life so much easier.

Side ways drive bays are another big improvement. So much easier hooking up cables to a drive when you can see what your doing from the side of the case and not having to reach around the back of the drive cage in the dark.

OK, back to the 600T case.

The build went real well. Plenty of room behind the motherboard tray for cables. Cables were probably the one area I had the most problems simple because the connectors have change a bit along with the shapes of some of the cables from what I was used to 10 plus years ago.

All the hardware went in easily and once in, was firmly set in place eliminating any chance of noise from part vibrating because they were just a little loose. This probably the quietest case I have ever owned. Not quite totally silent but real close. The little fan noise you can hear quickly fades into the background and you do not even notice it. I chose to leave the plastic window in the left side panel instead of using the mesh grill, that came as a option with this case. That probably had some effect on the noise level. Even with the fans turned all the way up, using the built in fan controller, the noise did not increase by any really noticeable level.

So far I have not had any heat issues. But I have yet to do a drawn out gaming marathon since I am still down loading software and updates.

After the build and having it up and running for a day here are my pros and cons.

Pro

Quiet
Cool running
Lots of room to run cables
Side ways hard drive cage.
Built in fan controller.

Cons

I don't really have any cons besides the ones I made note of in the fist look post before this one.