Maximum PSU length ?

pitprok · February 10, 2015

I was looking at a case i was interested in buying and i noticed it said maximum psu length 180mm

http://www.corsair.com/en/carbide-series-200r-compact-atx-case

The psu i was about to buy was http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=120-G2-1000-XR
which has a length of 200mm

I dont understand how the case can support a graphics card with 400mm lengh but a psu with only 180mm.

Also in all the other cases, i never noticed a limit in psu lengths

Example: http://www.aerocool.com.tw/index.php/pgs/pgs-v/34-case/pgs-v/809-vs-92-black-windows-edition-specs

Edit: It get weirder, another case http://www.corsair.com/pt-pt/carbide-series-spec-03-orange-led-mid-tower-gaming-case
Both from corsair, around the same size, completely different psu size !

February 11, 2015

Most cases have removable drive cages that allow longer graphics cards to be installed.

My own case has a non removable floor mounted cage so the power supply doesn't have the same space as what the graphics card has. Also if the psu goes past the grommet holes then you are going to have problems routing the cables through.

pitprok · February 11, 2015

Most cases have removable drive cages that allow longer graphics cards to be installed.

My own case has a non removable floor mounted cage so the power supply doesn't have the same space as what the graphics card has. Also if the psu goes past the grommet holes then you are going to have problems routing the cables through.

Yea, it has a cage for the drives but corsair both models i linked have that and they still have 100mm different psu sizes but their case size is the same (actually the one in question is a bit bigger)

Maybe its a typo ?

RazrLeaf · February 11, 2015

-snip-

Well, their own showcase build uses an AX1200i, which is a 200mm PSU. I'm guessing that their 180mm PSU limitation assumes that the user would want to use the fan mount that is between the HDD cage and the PSU. If you use a longer PSU, you just can't use that fan mount.

TL;DR 200mm PSU will fit. 180mm PSU published limit in order to allow fan mount. Not a typo.

February 11, 2015

Yea, it has a cage for the drives but corsair both models i linked have that and they still have 100mm different psu sizes but their case size is the same (actually the one in question is a bit bigger)

Maybe its a typo ?

If you look at both those cases, you see that there is no drive cage in the middle section, so a graphics card can extend towards the front of the case. If you fitted a 2nd card then it might hit the bottom drive cage.

The power supply only has room up towards the bottom drive cage and you also need to allow room for the cables coming out of the psu. So the max psu length is going to be smaller than the graphics card.

If you also removed the bottom drive cage then the psu would have the same room as the graphics card/s.

You can put hard drives/SSD's in the 5.25 bay with an adaptor.

It is possible that Corsair made a typo on the spec-03 psu length, as this review below shows 280mm or so from the back of the case to the front of the drive cage.

5th pic - http://www.play3r.net/reviews/cases/corsair-carbide-spec-03-review/4/