My review of the Corsair Graphite 380T

Ever since Corsair launched the Obsidian 250D at CES this year, I have seen all sorts of comments from people- too small, too big, too plasticky, too heavy, too flimsy, no handles! Well this one is going to be even more polarizing- the Graphite 380T is larger, costs more, heavier, and has cooling options natively out of the box. What, then, does it have?

Unboxing

http://i.imgur.com/Me0XLUyl.jpg

The box itself weighs 44 cm long x 36 cm wide x 43 cm tall (17.3" x 14.1" x 16.9") and has no cut out handles which I would have liked to see- ironic given that the case itself has one. There are some PR details on the box in English and French on the side shown above with the other sides having more information on the case dimensions and features- so much so that the box is a better source of information than the included manual.

http://i.imgur.com/UQvVKGPl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/bKcYKNKl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/nyY2rOJl.jpg

The case is packed in a sheet of thin plastic for dust protection and wrapped in 2 pieces of soft foam. I like the foam personally and the case came in safe enough- or so I thought anyway:

http://i.imgur.com/hrb0W3hl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/pCAl5jDl.jpg

The right side panel wasn't closing no matter what I did. I took it off and inspected the hinge mechanism. 2 minutes with a flat head screwdriver and everything was fine again!

http://i.imgur.com/dVHpfzhl.jpg

That's better. The case is 39.3 cm long x 29.2 cm wide x 35.6 cm tall at the widest places ( 15.5" x 11.5" x 14"). Given that the case is not a cube and the feet extend outwards as well, the internal volume is not a multiple of these three dimensions so don't go about complaining that the internal volume is 40.8 liters and dismiss the case immediately. The case itself is made mostly of steel and plastic (the good kind of plastic- trust me).

Internals and disassembly

The first thing I noticed was the built-in lighting. I have the Hornet Yellow edition so the lighting provided is white:

http://i.imgur.com/9DREevRl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/FzWprXjl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/IY2wtG2l.jpg

There is an internal LED inside just above the motherboard tray (controlled by an ON/OFF switch), and another one below the fan controller/front I/O hub. The hub itself also has lighting with the 3 levels of fan control also indicated by lighting. Finally, the front stock AF140 fan is a white LED fan. If you get the case in black, you get red LED lighting and if you get the white case then you get the same white lighting. Given the nature of the case, one can choose to install 3rd party LEDs/cathode lighting as well without much problem.

Now let's disassemble the case. It is a modder's delight to paint or even take off what you don't want. Note that the pictures below are not necessarily in the order I describe below as I was figuring things out still. Starting off with the front fan which had a stripped screw right out of the box:

http://i.imgur.com/KW1HOn2l.jpg

Nothing that a Dremel can't solve though:

http://i.imgur.com/tLRbkRSl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/HTrAZ9dl.jpg

That's better. On the side we see 2 mounts for 2x 120mm cooling solutions. Each mount is held on by 2 screws:

http://i.imgur.com/WRbzxCEl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yDbQLr5l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/zmZHjXal.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I7jzFFhl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/AW6Ajdel.jpg

That was easy enough. The back fan is also held by just 4 screws and a philips screwdriver is plenty enough here to remove it. Ditto with the PSU bracket:

http://i.imgur.com/ek8JSvNl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/PYjAIivl.jpg

May I just say at this point that I am really glad about the PSU bracket implementation? While it isn't as convenient in this case (hehe), when you have a bigger case with a custom loop around the PSU then the ability to take it out without affecting the loop is priceless. That was one of the things I wasn't happy about with the Obsidian 900D and I am glad to see this feature. Having removed the PSU bracket, we need the 2.5" HDD cage fixed in there. You can put in 2 2.5" drives (SSDs or laptop HDDs) without needing any tools. But seeing how laptop HDDs don't like having no air flow around them and this cage being out of the airflow way, I recommended only having SSDs there. To remove this, simply slide off the 4 hooks as so:

http://i.imgur.com/X6Y388Zl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/N48xm8rl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/gUtHhZNl.jpg

and she is out:

http://i.imgur.com/QlePcgyl.jpg

Now for the 3.5" HDD cage closer to the front. Let's remove the 2 drive caddies in there first:

http://i.imgur.com/wWyOLlll.jpg

Inside one of the caddies is a accessory box containing 2 cable ties, some M3 screws for your motherboard (and potentially also radiators/AIOs), some 6-32 screws for securing your hard drives if need be or even using them to secure your PSU if it didn't come with them and some fan screws.

http://i.imgur.com/uuXZRzFl.jpg

Now we see the HDD cage being held in place by a thumbscrew:

http://i.imgur.com/9Nds8oCl.jpg

Remove it and slide it off the rails:

http://i.imgur.com/Jueql3Ml.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0SikORHl.jpg

Now let's remove the back plastic piece.

http://i.imgur.com/smwrNHJl.jpg

First off, notice the two hook covers on each side, I am showing the one next to the LED switch on the left side:

http://i.imgur.com/Mn94uPzl.jpg

Remove it and press on the hook to dislodge it from the case frame:

http://i.imgur.com/t204dT5l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/aBuO8FLl.jpg

Keeping pulling off the piece from side to side carefully, there are little hooks as with the 2.5" cage all over and a big one at the bottom:

http://i.imgur.com/RqFF2DLl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/AaLDS40l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jrZFWD3l.jpg

Back panel is off! Now on to the bottom panel. Flip over the case:

http://i.imgur.com/tfOnzbUl.jpg

Remove the very convenient dust filter panel for the PSU:

http://i.imgur.com/JS2VilKl.jpg

There are 4 screws on each feet and an additional 2 holding the bottom piece in the middle:

http://i.imgur.com/QX9a8S4l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/VZAlBwml.jpg

There are some more hooks on the inside to take care of at each corner:

http://i.imgur.com/dtyEFO1l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/2PVz2iAl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/aMJpiYul.jpg

Bottom piece removed:

http://i.imgur.com/kK9BkIIl.jpg

Now the front. There are 2 long tabs on each side that can be slid out:

http://i.imgur.com/zbuxF2nl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4Eh3RoBl.jpg

Removing these reveals a series of hooks that need to be carefully dislodged either by hand if possible or using a large flat head screwdriver- trust me, the plastic is tough and assembling these back is way easier.

http://i.imgur.com/O1FSwoYl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/7sLzxtll.jpg

Finally the top piece. There are 4 screws on each side holding it in place:

http://i.imgur.com/bJehFMFl.jpg?1

Remove all 8 screws and the top piece is loose:

http://i.imgur.com/h3vrVryl.jpg

You can see the LED connector to the switch as well as power from the front hub:

http://i.imgur.com/HkHyjuNl.jpg

Flip it over and you see more screws holding the handle cover:

http://i.imgur.com/Gm3BMgQl.jpg

Remove them and the handle itself is revealed:

http://i.imgur.com/kreYD2jl.jpg

1 more screw and you are done:

http://i.imgur.com/DRStAbml.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/LcFaT1Nl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ZNvzUDjl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ljxeXK7l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/WqZOyrol.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/kqRx4zol.jpg

Here are the pieces you are able to easily remove:

http://i.imgur.com/Xw2rQphl.jpg

Now let's take a look at that front hub:

http://i.imgur.com/nZET0Yvl.jpg

2 screws and the cover comes off:

http://i.imgur.com/ULrmTwbl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yJaYFwdl.jpg

This is designed in conjunction with BMW as per Corsair George, that start-stop button is especially familiar.

http://i.imgur.com/6GULIvLl.jpg

You get 2 USB 3.0 ports, audio/headset and mike inputs along with a 3 speed fan controller for 3 fans- very cool for when you have an ITX board with next to no fan headers like I did. You can also see the front LED here:

http://i.imgur.com/BXEoGaKl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/j6DiTGBl.jpg

Reverse the process to re-assemble the case after any mods done.

Installing components

The PSU bracket only goes in one way. So I can only really go PSU fan side down in this case:

http://i.imgur.com/E3CVE2Sl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yCG2F1el.jpg

This PSU is a BitFenix Fury 750G which comes in at 160mm long. What happens if you try a longer PSU, say after removing the 3.5" drive cage?

http://i.imgur.com/O8B3eZsl.jpg

This EVGA SuperNova 1300G2 is 200mm long so we shall find out:

http://i.imgur.com/WEb6Oz7l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/9b2NdRYl.jpg

Nope, not happening. Let's see why:

http://i.imgur.com/7AdW68cl.jpg

Ah! The PSU cage is held in place on rails by a thumbscrew that goes into this extension off the motherboard tray:

http://i.imgur.com/YxtzTjBl.jpg

I wish Corsair had put this on the other side of the drive cage! Sure you can cut it off but then you lose the drive cage securing altogether. I can't fault Corsair much given that a 1300G2 is really not what consumers will put in this case. There are also plenty of alternatives for 160mm long PSUs such as the ax860i. There is another reason I don't recommend cutting off the drive cage support which we will come to soon.

Incidentally, the PSU fit is very snug. A PSU with a coarse finish may end up with some scratches like the 1300G2 did:

http://i.imgur.com/YY9QGOKl.jpg

An ITX motherboard fits in quite easily, in fact you begin to see the amount of room in here:

http://i.imgur.com/LmtXZChl.jpg

Yes, that's an Intel stock cooler.

http://i.imgur.com/j5u6yM0l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/AcFkSJRl.jpg

So let's check out some cooling options:

1) Air cooling

At the back you get an AF120L with the case which can be replaced with any 120mm sized fan as I did. The front comes stock with an AF140 LED so Corsair provides positive pressure already. Remember that positive pressure is not really worth it without every intake being filtered. In this case, the front and both sides along with the PSU fan are all filtered so props for that.

http://i.imgur.com/vkHb002l.jpg

You can replace the single 140mm fan with either a single 200mm fan or 2 120mm fans that fit in snugly:

http://i.imgur.com/efkHbXpl.jpg

Check out the cable management holes for the front fans there! That's new, at least for me.

The right side is where you have space for more fans. Remove the mounts for easy installation outside the case:

http://i.imgur.com/A1FQ88El.jpg

But don't be an idiot like me and put on the mounts the other way round, else this will happen:

http://i.imgur.com/smJ5qeXl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/GuJ7hWRl.jpg

Live and learn! Let's get this done the right way now:

http://i.imgur.com/3FUOyX1l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ERdhfvsl.jpg

I would have liked to see the same rail system being implemented here as in the Air 240, especially if using AIOs which we will come to later.

I am a big fan of positive pressure. So if air cooling and with no discrete GPU, I would have the stock 140mm in front, 2 more 120mm fans in intake on the right side and a single 120mm on the back for exhaust. If there is a discrete GPU being air cooled, then I would switch around the 120mm fans on the side to exhaust.

There is ample room for any ITX CPU cooler and even decent sized tower coolers. I measured just under 5.5 inches of space above the CPU before any issues pop up.

2) Liquid cooling

There is no way to put in a 120mm radiator in the back even with my near barebones ITX board:

http://i.imgur.com/IvkRD5ql.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/PXtgPbul.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/OM49arjl.jpg

Oh well. What about the side?

http://i.imgur.com/pHSPiAPl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/gFkr6gPl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/xfhSHOpl.jpg

I don't have a 240mm rad/AIO but you can see where I am going here. That particular radiator is 34mm thick so the total package is 59mm thick. This is an extreme case of your mileage may vary- depending on the CPU/24 pin ATX cable position on your motherboard, the RAM chosen and the presence/absence of any VRM daughterboards you can fit in an AIO such as the Corsair H105 as well. To be on the safe side, AIOs like the H100i are perfect and will go with just about any motherboard/RAM combination. As far as custom loops go, a careful choice of 120/240mm rads (Alphacool ST30, Darkside LP Extra Slim, Swiftech MCRx20-XP) will fit in with standard 25mm thick fans. This is your best bet at liquid cooling so make it count.

On the front, there is no native support for radiators. But let's go back to this picture:

http://i.imgur.com/h9yfss0l.jpg?1

Don't even think about 200mm rads unless you have a short GPU/no GPU in there. Best way is to cutout for 120mm/140mm rads. In fact there is well over 140mm space behind the fans so you can do push pull on a Monsta 86mm thick radiator if need be. Of course this also means just about any 120/140mm AIO should fit (unless the GPU backplate interferes with 140mm sized rads). I would personally cut out a little bit into the tray to get enough space to fit in a 120/240mm radiator that is 40mm thick or less and then use the rest of the space for a slim reservoir such as the Swiftech Micro reservoir. Then you can drill in a passthrough to your pump underneath in front of the PSU.

If that's not your style, stick with the 240mm AIO/rad on the right side. Paired with a good set of fans, you will be surprised how well they can do. This case isn't meant for power hungry GPUs really. You can also do a hybrid 120mm air, 120mm AIO as I depicted above. Have the AIO further away from the motherboard so you can get active cooling for the rest of your components without any obstruction.

Speaking of power hungry GPUs,

http://i.imgur.com/RrrS36gl.jpg

That is a massive EVGA 780 Ti Classified KPE with an EK block on it. It stands at over 6" tall now and I wasn't surprised that this didn't fit in. What did surprise me was how close it came:

http://i.imgur.com/79ajSusl.jpg

So without the waterblock on, you can fit in tall GPUs in there if you so desire. There is about 12.5" of space for long GPUs and ~6" of space for tall GPUs in here. Just make sure your GPU isn't a 2.5-3 slot card to be sure. Any reference height card or cards a little taller such as the MSI 290x/780 Lightning will fit in here just fine, even possible with waterblocks too!

Summary and some more thoughts

The case is big for an ITX board. Ok now that that's taken care of, this case was touted as good for LAN parties or moving around by other reviewers. While I agree, there are some caveats- the handle is not for everyone. I have tiny hands relatively so I had no issues. If you can fit your hands in, then great- the handle is really good, provides grip and the case is pretty solid. Another potential issue is that the PSU and motherboard are all on the back on the case. With more and more people going in with just SSDs these days, they would likely remove the 3.5" drive cage at the front for cable management or weight saving. This means the case is now extremely back heavy and carrying it is not easy. Thankfully the feet are large enough to prevent any tipping over. I really recommend installing SSDs as well in the 3.5" drive cage just to make it a little more balanced weight wise. A 240mm AIO/rad on the side will also help there. But now we are getting to a stage where it is not as light as you would like.

Speaking of cable management, thanks to the nature of the side panels (Which are definitely not flimsy but needs some care putting them on) there is a lot of space to route cable around. There are no cutouts in the side of the motherboard standoffs which would have made things nice with boards like mine with all connectors on the right side of the board. There is a hidden hole in the top which is exposed when removing the top piece that you can use to route the case cables- which are all black and thin thankfully- but then them come down awkwardly right down the motherboard. I would also have liked to see a shorter USB 3 cable:

http://i.imgur.com/fhWMQsdl.jpg

The case isn't perfect by any means but with an integrated fan controller and lighing coupled with the unique looks I think Corsair definitely has done enough things right. I would have paid full price for the case if I was looking for an HTPC/LAN build and then done some of the above mentioned possible mods to paint/air brush and allow for more cable management/liquid cool.

Very nice review. Props for the details.

I fully intend to get this case when they release a blue one--the dark blue one shown in George's tweet a while ago. Not a big fan of the whole cerulean blue thing, so it is great to see a reappearance of a much darker blue case.

If not, I'll just have to buy the case and start plasti dipping it. Thankfully, this case is easy to disassemble. Though I kind of want blue leds as well, so painting the led lights may be cumbersome, especially with the io front panel.

I wonder if it's possible to install two H60 liquid cooling radiators on the side in a vertical setup rather than a horizontal. I know for sure a H80i radiator is way too thick based on your dimensions. I plan on water cooling my video card when the HG10 comes out.

Yes please! I made the disassembly guide so it would help others paint/plastidip/air brush etc to their desire. I look forward to seeing your work.

If you are handy with a soldering bench, you can switch LEDs on the case front and switch the entire LED assembly in the middle.

The thing with two H60s is each has an end tank with tubing coming in/out. I can't tell you for certain it would work out without having them on me. Perhaps someone from Corsair can? The H80i is definitely a big YMMV depending on your board/RAM etc.

Since the leds are white (for the yellow and white at least), it shouldn't be a problem of simply putting one or two coats of paint on the bulb. Plasti dip paint should be the most effective since they can handle those temps.

I just have to get some painter's plastic and tape to cover the rest of the io board from the leds to make sure there is no over spray. But of course, I can always ask a friend of mine whose a electrician to help me out if that goes under.

I think it should be fine if I rotate the radiators on a vertical orientation rather than horizontal. In addition, setting it on a pull configuration (fans installed on the mounts and then the radiator installed to the fans). That should give clearance from the panel. What I don't know is if there is enough clearance between the radiator and the itx board.

But yeah, if Corsair can try setting it up that component configuration without having me throw money to simply experiment then that'd be awesome.

And because I'm fairly crazy, I'm going to add some industrial Velcro straps to HDD drive cage to securely hold drinks, sandwiches, and the like.

I highly do not recommend anyone attempting this, but since I'll be naming my eventually to be new computer the "Lunchbox", I think it is appropriate that it is capable of high-end gaming, and housing my lunch to and from LAN parties.

As soon as I get a blue edition case (it better be dark blue), I'll straight away do some pretty stupid things to it.

Small update: I was informed by a member on another forum that this review is crossposted on about retailers posting maximum PSU length being 180mm as opposed to 160mm listed by Corsair themselves.

I tested it out with my EVGA 750G2 which is also 180mm long:

http://i.imgur.com/NT6atAzl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/G8W8lySl.jpg

160-175mm long PSUs (if any) might fit, but 180mm is not going in fully. If you see your local retailer listing 180mm instead of 160mm, I would call them up and ask them to double check.

I've been trying to find a yellow 380T without any luck but now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just get a white one and make it my own color.

Plastidip can peel off right? Could I use vinyl dye? Sorry for the newb questions, I haven't painted a PC case before.

I've been trying to find a yellow 380T without any luck but now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just get a white one and make it my own color.

 

Plastidip can peel off right? Could I use vinyl dye? Sorry for the newb questions, I haven't painted a PC case before.

Ya, plastidip can peel off if applied right. Your best bet is a paint coat though unless you really need it to be reversible.

Yellow should be coming in soon to retailers, talk to George and see if he can help.

Thanks for the tip.

CorsairGeorge says they're shipping them if retailers order them, so if nobody has them listed it's because they're not ordering them. I wrote to Newegg requesting that they stock yellow.

The Corsair online store itself should have it in yellow in less than 30 days.

I'm trying to decide whether I wait for that one or buy the White and try to paint it something crazy.

Hi guys,

I like very much this case and i wanna buy it to build a mini-ATX pc, but i wanna know if my psu EVGA supernova 1000w g2 will fit inside the corsair 380T ?

Thank you.

Since the leds are white (for the yellow and white at least), it shouldn't be a problem of simply putting one or two coats of paint on the bulb. Plasti dip paint should be the most effective since they can handle those temps.

 

I just have to get some painter's plastic and tape to cover the rest of the io board from the leds to make sure there is no over spray. But of course, I can always ask a friend of mine whose a electrician to help me out if that goes under.

 

I think it should be fine if I rotate the radiators on a vertical orientation rather than horizontal. In addition, setting it on a pull configuration (fans installed on the mounts and then the radiator installed to the fans). That should give clearance from the panel. What I don't know is if there is enough clearance between the radiator and the itx board.

 

But yeah, if Corsair can try setting it up that component configuration without having me throw money to simply experiment then that'd be awesome.

I'm wondering if two 120 mm radiators are only 120 mm wide, allowing you to put 2x 120 mm rads instead of 1x 240 mm... The issue with clearance towards the motherboard I guess would depend on the specific radiator chosen?

I've been considering a completely liquid cooled setup as well and was wondering to have 2x 120 mm radiators, but as I said, I'm in doubt as to how well these two radiators fit in the place where the 240 mm radiator would go.

I saw another post in here (The Loki-build) where the CPU was cooled by a 240 mm radiator mounted on the side and the GPU was cooled by a 120 mm radiator mounted in the front with the use of the HG10 I think.

The front fan attached to the radiator did however seem to interfere slightly with the intake of one of the 240 mm radiator fans.

Probably doesn't matter, but airflow wise it doesn't look perfect.