Any Corsair Air 540 Owners?

McSasquatch II

Basically, what do you think?

I'm looking for a case that's a little different for my upcoming build, and I like the aesthetics of the 540, especially the huge window on the side panel. I'll also be air cooling, which is one of the areas where the case excels apparently. My only concern is build quality really - I've heard the side panels are pretty flimsy, and the drive caddies in the floor are easy enough to break. Any thoughts from former/current owners? Overall thoughts?

Calibos

Bought one last year but haven't built in it yet. Life and finances got in the way. Still can't wait to get started on the build though. I'm happy with the build quality. the side panel might by a little bit wobbly when removed from the case but is solid in situ.

Here's some renders I did of my plans earlier this year.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=89754813&postcount=2603

Serephucus

Oooh, this nutcase build! Can't wait to see that get started!

I'm looking to move to a semi-passive air cooled build, for a change, and the 540 was one of the cases I considered (ended up going with a 730T), I just don't really like big windows. Other than that (with is a very personal thing) it looks like an awesome little case. Very well laid out.

McSasquatch II

Calibos wrote: »

Bought one last year but haven't built in it yet. Life and finances got in the way.

Same here. I bought a Silverstone FT02 a couple of years ago and just never got the finances together for the rest of the build. And now my criteria for a chassis have changed, so the Fortress is no longer a good fit for my upcoming build.

The rest of your build looks nuts! Will look forward to seeing it!

Serephucus wrote: »

I'm looking to move to a semi-passive air cooled build, for a change, and the 540 was one of the cases I considered (ended up going with a 730T), I just don't really like big windows. Other than that (with is a very personal thing) it looks like an awesome little case. Very well laid out.

I like the window on this. Reminds me of a mini fridge. :pac: Airflow looks to be great though, and just what I want for my new rig.

Thanks both for the feedback!

Calibos

Serephucus wrote: »

Oooh, this nutcase build! Can't wait to see that get started!

I'm looking to move to a semi-passive air cooled build, for a change, and the 540 was one of the cases I considered (ended up going with a 730T), I just don't really like big windows. Other than that (with is a very personal thing) it looks like an awesome little case. Very well laid out.

It taunts me sitting on the top of my Wardrobe I fear that tech advances are making the overall plan obsolete though the longer it takes me to get it built like Oak76. Less and less need for 27 HDD bays as HDD's get larger and cheaper!!

While I have no doubt I'll still use the Air 540 for something else even if the 'Nutcase' build didn't come to fruition, I do fear that €300 worth of Corsair 900D Hotswapp HDD bays I bought for it might mostly go to waste.

I've ideas for custom and semi custom builds, for m-ITX HTPC's and full size Oculus Rift rigs etc coming out of the yazoo. My limitation isn't ideas. Its bloody money or time to build them.

Its amazing the possibilities that open up when one considers using PCIe extenders to re-orient GPU's. I'm amazed more people don't know about them or think of using them.

Don't know if I ever posted these renders:









I nearly jacked in the Air 540 and started thinking about a desk build

Calibos

Serephucus

What are you rendering that in? Looks really nice.

McSasquatch II

Love the casual girlie mag and box of tissues. :pac:

Calibos

Serephucus wrote: »

What are you rendering that in? Looks really nice.

Oak76 wrote: »

Love the casual girlie mag and box of tissues. :pac:

SketchUp and Indigo Renderer.

99% of each scene is 3D models downloaded from their 3D warehouse. The Air 540, The GPU's etc etc. I basically culled the parts I needed from other models and became proficient with the Clone and move tools in sketchup to create my own custom build. Ditto with the bedroom. Room, skirting, bed base, floating shelf/desk, I made myself and the most complicated thing I built myself in sketchup was the wardrobe. Everything else is downloaded models basically. For the rendering of the sketchup models I used the included materials in Indigo and rendered with the default settings basically.

I really wouldn't even know where to start, modelling most of the objects in the scenes. Ditto with the rendering in Indigo. I barely know what I am doing and have been very pleasantly surprised at what came out the other end of Indigo after a few hours.

I've put the playboy and kleenex easter egg in all my PC renders. I started doing it as a joke in another forums "Post Photo's of your Computer Desk/Room" thread. People would always joke about seeing kleenex in someones waste paper bin in the photo of their room they posted. I thought it would be a bit funny and meta to post renders of my future computer desk/room but still have the kleenex

McSasquatch II

Right, have decided I'll go with the 540. Just ticks most of the boxes for me. Hopefully will start ordering parts in 2-3 weeks.

Serephucus

Just to throw a spanner in the works...

Have you looked at Fractal Design's Node 804 at all? It's a cube case again, but quite a bit different in layout.

McSasquatch II

It's a nice case alright, but I need full ATX.

Serephucus

No worries, just figured I'd mention it. What's the build going to be anyway?

McSasquatch II

At the moment, the plan is for a 4690K with one GTX970, but I want to upgrade the monitor in the summer at which point I'll either get another 970, or replace it if something better has been released (at a similar price point). So nothing OTT, but a damned sight better than my current PC!