Corsair 3500X ARGB PC Case Review

Up Close with the Corsair 3500X

Up Close with the Corsair 3500X

As always, we will start off our look at the Corsair 3500X ARGB at the top of the case. Here, we have standard power and reset switches, a selection of USB ports, and an audio in/out jack. Specifically, this case features two USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Type-A ports and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C port.

At the top of the case we have a removable metal panel that features Corsair’s new mesh pattern. This mesh pattern can be seen throughout this enclosure, providing users with a nice level of consistency throughput. You’d be surprised how many case manufacturers mix and match mesh styles when moving to different areas of their cases.

Once you remove this top plate, you can see mounts for up to three 120mm fans or two 140mm fans. Ideally, users of this case will be mounting a 280mm or 360mm radiator onto these mounts, exhausting hot air out of the system.

Tempered Glass! Pretty!

The main aesthetic feature of Corsair’s new 3500X case is its panoramic tempered glass side/front panels. These provide users with a clear view into the case. Beyond that, both panels are removable to make hardware installation a breeze.

At the base of the 3500X, users have space to mount up to three fans. Towards the front of the case, we have a 120/140mm fan mounting location. Additionally, there are mounting positions for two 120mm fans on top of this case’s PSU tray. Note that these fans must intake air from above your PSU, giving these fans little room to breathe.

The Corsair 3500X ARGB doesn’t have well designed fans

Ok, maybe we are being harsh by saying they aren’t well designed. When considering them as fans alone, they perform well and function as expect. Aesthetically and build-wise, the cables uses for these fans deserve some work. These fans can be daisy-chained together easily, but they have cables that are barely long enough to stretch behind this caser’s motherboard tray. Had they added a little more length to these daisy-chain connections, Corsair could have make cable management much easier. If I am honest, this leads me to recommend buying the standard/cheaper model with no fans, or upgrade to the iCUE LINK model. That way you can choose your own fans, or get a much better set of fans.

Usually, I would complain about the lack of rubber grommets for these top cable routing locations. For most users, these will be covered by a top-mounted liquid cooling radiator. If you don’t go down that route, you could use this case’s Project Zero/BTF Back-Connect holes for cable management and sneak a bit of Plasticard in there to cover these holes entirely.

As mentioned before, the mesh design on the 3500X is consistent throughout the case. This makes this case feel well thought out and well designed. That said, we do have problems with this case’s cable management options.

Cable management – Corsair could have done better

While the case has plenty of room for cable management, we feel that the 3500X ARGB has some faults that need to be mentioned. These aren’t gamebreakers, but something that we feel is a miss that could have been easily avoided.

As mentioned before, the daisy-chain connection of this case’s included fans are too small. Even 1 centimeter of added length would have made all the difference here. Even better, a few inches could have allowed us to cable tie this cables down and better manage all of this PC’s fan cables.

Honestly, I almost feel like Corsair did this on purpose as a way to highlight the perks of their iCUE LINK fans and other products. Any PC builder could have told them that these cables are barely long enough.

Another miss with this case is the structural support at the rear of the chassis. I bet that this support is a lot of the reason why this case is as sturdy as it is without its glass attached. With this strut being located where we usually route our PSU power cables, our first instinct was to route our cables through this hole. Sadly, the area behind tis strut was slightly too small for cable management.

Had Corsair added a little more space behind this stut, the space behind it could have been valuable for cable management. As is, it’s just wasted space. They didn’t even put a cable tie mount on it to help tie down our 8-pin CPU power cables…