Corsair Graphite 230T Review

👤by David Mitchelson Comments 📅15-10-13
Conclusion

It’s certainly been a while since we have seen anything from Corsair’ Graphite Series but today we finally have something to explore and report upon. Corsair have plenty of cases in and around the £100 mark but have few cases that satisfy those at the lower-end and this is where the 230T comes in.

230T is available in three options – orange, grey and black. Today we had the delight of taking a look at the vibrant orange choice. If you are wanting to make a statement, then this case will certainly capture plenty of attention. Regardless of this, we found the chassis to be an attractive addition to Corsair’s product-line.

Although 230T is quite a small mid-tower it still manages to accommodate a wide array of high-end hardware. Large CPU coolers up to 160mm in height can be installed and pretty much any graphics card currently on the market will present no clearance issue – especially if you are only using the top PCI-E slot. We like that Corsair have given 230T a dedicated 2.5” adapter at the top of the HDD cage to house SSDs and such like. Having up to eight slots for storage drives in such a small area is a bonus, airflow is unhindered and graphics card clearance has the freedom it needs.



Our experience with 230T is largely positive but there are a few areas which are worth taking note of. There is no rubber padding for the PSU – this helps to prevent scratching since both the case and the device are metal, and assists in preventing unwanted vibration. There is also no rubber grommets for the cable management, although this isn’t a requirement it does make the job look cleaner, especially on an orange background with our sample. The other aspect is the PSU filter – due to the small gap given by the feet on 230T there is very little space to remove this filter. As a result it was necessary for us to tilt the case to extract the filter and this really defeats the object of having a removable filter.

230T is priced at £65 / 70EUR, projecting it into direct competition with the likes of BitFenix Shinobi and amongst others: Cooler Master’s HAF 912 and 690-II cases. We can safely say that Corsair have the low-mid range covered with this new addition to the Graphite series.

Corsair have designed a tasteful mid-tower in the 230T. System builders who are on a tight budget do not need to compromise. 230T brings with it stylish aesthetics, flexibility and good cooling performance.

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Pros
+ Three exciting colour options
+ Attractive design
+ Great value for money
+ Can accommodate high-end hardware
+ Condensed storage options
+ Decent cooling performance
+ Tool-free installation throughout

Cons
- No rubber padding for PSU
- No rubber grommets for motherboard cut-outs
- PSU dust filter hard to reach



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