Corsair Support

[asquirrel]

Black Friday last year (2014) I ordered a Corsair 450D. I ordered the case after lots of poking and prodding for 6 months prior. One of the steps that helped me settle in on the 450D was that Corsair George replied to a PM of mine over at overclock.net and told me the 600T and the 450D used the same drive cage (I needed to house 5x3.5" hard drives), which resolved the only real problem I had with the 450D: not enough drive cages.

 

Before buying the 450D, I needed to know where I could actually acquire a 600T drive cage; their online store listed them, but also listed them as out of stock. I couldn't find any third party retailers carrying the same cage. I took the advice of a friend and opened a ticket to Corsair customer support. They replied promptly and said if I could provide a proof of purchase they would simply send me the drive cage free of charge. With that in hand, I went ahead and bought the case.

 

It's now March 18th, I have three drive cages, but none of them fit in the 450D. All three are for the Vengance C70. Two are a single metal plate with two flexible cages, and the third is an actual metal cage with 3 trays. The problem with the third is there is no way to screw it onto the existing cage. I'm not enough of a hardware person to make an adapter to make it work.

 

So yea, 4 months and I still don't have a drive cage. My ticket gets replies only when I poke it. It's always "I'm talking to my manager" "There was a conflict with the part number" etc. Here's what I suspect is the actual truth: They are out of stock and don't plan to get more in anytime soon. If you read other Cosair Support threads, you see this is actually a common trend:

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/313114-is-corsairs-tech-support-useless/

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/106412-problem-contacting-corsairs-customer-service/

 

Corsair will say "Sure, we'll support you!" and seem to bank on their QA being so good they don't actually have to keep any/many parts in stock. When someone like me comes along, it's one of those rare times someone gets screwed. They have no real incentive to help me; the 30-day return from Amazon has long since past and they got their money. It's a very short sighted view, but I am thinking I will try to avoid Corsair in the future.

 

Oh, and for those who might say "well they gave it to you for free..." I've offered many times to both pay for a new cage (I have no problem buying it! Just let me!) and also to send the useless cages I already have back (on my own dime). Both offers/requests have been turned down. I make this post so that others can be aware that Corsair will do whatever they can to make a sale, and then worry about the customer support whenever it's convenient to them. Unless you are buying their real moneymakers (AIOs, 900D, etc) they likely won't have many/any spare parts.

 

Buyer beware. Never again will I make a purchase based on a promise. That was silly of me and I have a 450D sitting on my floor, empty, because of it. >.<

[Enderman]

Just use strong double sided foam tape or velcro...

seriously, how hard is it to stock one piece of metal to another using velcro...this is what professional modders do

[asquirrel]

Just use strong double sided foam tape or velcro...

seriously, how hard is it to stock one piece of metal to another using velcro...this is what professional modders do

I move a lot, when I move the fully assembled computer is put back into its box with the original foam and placed in the trunk of my car. My current system was built in 2009 and has moved with me 4 times. Velcro/doublestick foam won't hold 5-10 lbs of metal (well, it *could* but I'm not willing to risk it) bumping around on a car ride.

[NothingSpeaks]

How about a 5.25" adapter? Not the best solution for your case but, i find these to be quite helpfull for when additional/alternative storage is required.

Check out the SilverStone SDP10. Here's the link: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=407&area=en

[Enderman]

I move a lot, when I move the fully assembled computer is put back into its box with the original foam and placed in the trunk of my car. My current system was built in 2009 and has moved with me 4 times. Velcro/doublestick foam won't hold 5-10 lbs of metal (well, it *could* but I'm not willing to risk it) bumping around on a car ride.

If you have it stuck on two opposing sides (like top and bottom) it will hold

If you only stick one side it could rip off

[asquirrel]

After 4 months I FINALLY got the correct drive cage. I spent the weekend migrating into the new case.

 

Thoughts on the case (since this is a review afterall):

 

Pros

1. The case comes with anchor points so that not only can the second cage be secured to the first in both the vertical and lateral directions, but it can also be secured to the case frame itself, greatly increasing rigidity and bounce tolerance.
2. The supplied case fans are quiet and move a reasonable amount of air (reasonable, in this context, means 'my stuff isn't hotter than it was in the old case')
3. There are markings imprinted into the metal that show which holes to use if you are mounting a H100i, H80, etc.
4. The power cables on the supplied case fans are long enough to be routed behind the motherboard and still reach the fan headers on the MOBO.
5. The mobo standoffs for ATX come pre-installed. My old case required you to screw them in manually.
6. Overall, nothing got in my way while I was building. The biggest issue I ran into was that there was a lack of good handles to pick the case up with (by handle I mean, well, basically anywhere to grab the darn thing to lift it) and also my own cables being too short on the 8-pin connector. 
7. Once put into service it is *very* quiet. Not silent by any means, but quiet like a 9" fan would be on its lowest setting; just a gentle 'whoosh' of air.
8. The included fans do not 'whine' when the system is plugged in but turned off (old case's fans did).

Cons

1. Unlike on the 750D, there is only one position the hard drive cage can be placed in. You can't mount two single-height hard drive cages in this case. Specifically, there are not holes in the bottom of the case for the plastic base. That said, you can hang one hard drive cage off the optical bay and another can sit at the bottom, if you need that.
2. The tool-less optical drive bay didn't work for me. I still needed screws. That said, my drive is from 2009, so it may be a design difference in newer drives that prevented it from working.
3. They include 16 screws for both the MOBO and hard drive cages. This would be enough if you only had one cage, but with two, I ended up re-using the mobo screws from my old case. Note: you'll use 4 of these screws to secure the power supply to the case as well.
4. There is only a single cable tie-down on the back of the motherboard tray that isn't used by default. Another tiedown or two in front of the SSD carriers would have been very helpful.
5. No rubber grommet around the 8-pin power connector cutout.
6. Corsair's own power supply cables were not long enough to get to the 8-pin power slot on the motherboard. Granted, the PSU is from 2009, so I can understand that. It's still amusing to me though. (HM-850 model PSU)
7. The dust filter on the bottom cannot be removed for cleaning without at least tilting the case onto one side or lifting one end.
8. I may be too stupid to understand how it was meant to be used, but there is one mobo standoff in the middle of the motherboard which is a male screw instead of a female screw-hole. I'm...not sure how I'm supposed to use that one. The included documentation for the case is of no help.
9. In order to fully anchor the drive cages to the case chassis, you'll need to unscrew the front fans to access a screw behind the fan blades. That said, this screw hole is optional. The cage will work perfectly fine without it.

Overall: I'm happy with it. I'm really really annoyed it took 4 months to get the part I needed, but I'm happy with the case itself.