Corsair Carbide SPEC-ALPHA

Corsair Carbide SPEC-ALPHA

 

Corsair, a world leader in enthusiast PC hardware and components, today announced the new Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-ALPHA mid-tower gaming case. With a striking angular design and an oversized window to show off its roomy interior, the SPEC-ALPHA offers a sleek look in either black or red to complement its efficient cooling features. Perfect for PC gamers’ next rig, the SPEC-ALPHA is equipped with three 120mm fans for Direct Airflow Path cooling, controlled by a three-speed switch on the case’s front panel. 

 

 

Uniquely styled with a sharp, stand-out design and LED fans, the SPEC-ALPHA gives gamers a stunning tower that looks as great as it performs. Featuring native USB 3.0 support and room for up to four SSDs, the SPEC-ALPHA is able to handle and hold the best performance PC hardware. With a large side window that perfectly frames the interior space, the case’s cable routing cutouts and tie downs ensure your system maintains a clean look inside and out. The case also allows for tool-free installation and side panel removal for easy building and access.

The neat interior combines with a Direct Airflow Path layout for optimal cooling and airflow. With no bulky 5.25” drive cage, the SPEC-ALPHA creates a clear path from the front intake straight to the CPU and GPU. The three-speed 120mm fans adapt to user needs, from near-silent operation to high-performance GPU cooling. The SPEC-ALPHA is also front 240mm radiator compatible, allowing for additional liquid-cooling upgrades.

The SPEC-ALPHA case comes in two distinct color options – black and red. The black build offers gamers a strong, sophisticated look with grey accents, while the striking red build features a contrasting red and white design that highlights the case’s angles.   

The Carbide Series SPEC-ALPHA will be available in early March 2016 for $79.99 MSRP from Corsair’s worldwide network of retailers and distributors and is backed by a comprehensive two-year warranty and Corsair’s worldwide customer support network.

 

     

 

 

Specifications

• Bold Exterior Design with front intake LED fans: The asymmetrical, hard-edged design of the SPEC-ALPHA gives it a bold, unique look.
• Direct airflow path to keep CPUs and GPUs running cooler: Modern systems don’t need bulky drive cages obstructing the airflow. By removing the 5.25” drive cage, the SPEC-ALPHA has a direct path from the front intake fan to the CPU and GPU.
• Large side panel window to show off your hardware: Why hide it? All that performance hardware looks great, so why not look at it through the huge side panel window?
• Three included 120mm fans and built-in three-speed fan controller: Watching a movie?  Flip the switch for nearly silent operation. Throwing on the headset for some online gaming? Flip it to high and keep the GPU cool for better framerates.
• Cable routing cutouts and tie downs: Nobody wants to see a rat’s nest of cables, so hide them behind the motherboard tray to keep cable routing neat, tidy, and out of the airflow path for better cooling.
• Easy to build: Tool-free drive installation and side panel removal means less time spent building and more time gaming.
• Front 240mm radiator compatibility: Upgrade to the power of liquid cooling for CPUs or GPUs with up to a 240mm Hydro Series cooler.
• Native USB 3.0 and SSD support for modern builds: Whether it’s a new external drive for storage or a new SSD for the user’s preferred OS or games, the SPEC-ALPHA is ready for anything.

  

    

     

 

My Thoughts

What corsair has brought to the table here is a new case design with aesthetics  similar to that of NZXT’s old Phenom line of cases but with the price suitable for Corsair’s Budget oriented SPEC line of cases. Upon first glance this case is a real stunner, demanding my attention and demanding that I give it a closer look.

While at first glance you may think this an expensive chassis, which I certainly did, I was surprised to see that inside is was very simple, functional and in basic terms is a Corsair SPEC Case without Optical Drive bays. While it is a very simple case on the inside the external looks of this case is something that I see winning over a lot of buyers especially if you can remove and paint the red bits what ever colour you like. 

We will certainly be giving this case a look when it releases in march of this year, so come back to OC3D later to see our full review of this cheap but striking case.   

 

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