Corsair Carbide Series Spec-01 Mid-Tower Chassis Review

Final Thoughts

Price

The Corsair Carbide Spec-01 is available from almost all major computer retailers for a snip under £40 here in the UK. With Overclockers.co.uk being the front-runner at time of writing with a price of just £37.99. Those in the US can find it at most major retailers too, with Amazon.com doing a great deal of just $44 and Prime eligible free shipping! This is a very competitive price for a chassis of this quality and is easily one of the best available right now for this price range.

Overview

I really like the Spec-01, it stands out from the crowd in terms of design, mostly due to the aggressive, yet somehow understated front panel. Budget friendly chassis are often a little cheap feeling, with glossy plastics and thin metal panels, but that really isn’t the case here. The Spec-01 looks and feel pretty tough and whilst the powder black finish doesn’t inspire, it’s hardly ugly either and it leaves the case with a fairly stealth like appearance, at least until you see the huge side panel window and red LED fan.

Build quality and design may not have been compromised at this price range, but there are certainly some glaring cut-backs to make this level of quality possible. Corsair haven’t fitted a middle storage bay in the front, this does free up space for a long graphics card and still leaves four drive bays (more than enough for most), but it also saves on materials and keeps costs down. Then we have just one pre-installed fan, a second would have been nice in the back, but again that would affect the price. There are no rubber grommets on the cable routing, and there are just two USB ports on the front panel, only one of which is USB 3.0. Then we have the dust filters, there is a slide out one for the PSU, which is great, but the front panel has glued in mesh that can be tricky to clean. It’s still a filter, but it’s much cheaper solution overall.

Yet even with the list of minor cut-backs, I still think you’re getting great value for money. If you want more USB ports, more dust filters, more fans, expect to pay around £60+ for a higher model. Chassis in the £40 price bracket that have all these features often sacrifice build quality and materials to keep cost down and it’s nice to see Corsair didn’t compromise in that respect. We have great aesthetics and just enough extra features to satisfy the needs of your average system builder. In terms of return on investment, you’ll struggle to find something of better quality within this price range.

“The Corsair Carbide series has proven very popular with system builders and even with their budget friendly Spec-01 it’s easy to see why. It looks great, has just enough features to suit most builds and it comes with a trusted brand name on the front. Overall this is one of the best budget gaming chassis on the market right now.”

Pros

• Good build quality
• Stylish design
• Room for a long graphics card
• Dust filtering on front intake and PSU mount
• Capable cable routing
• Very competitive price

Cons

• One one pre-installed fan
• More USB 3.0 ports on front panel would have been nice

Thank you Corsair for providing us with this sample.