Spec-01 Build Thoughts

[TheCaptain53]

So I bought myself a couple of parts for my PC the other day: a Corsair Carbide Spec-01 mid-tower case and an EVGA SuperNova 650W G1.

Picking it up today from someone else's house, I started the build.

It looks really good, but it is a lot smaller than I had anticipated. While this isn't a huge problem, anyone thinking of water cooling may have to do some careful planning or splash out on a new case. There isn't a huge amount of room at the top to mount a radiator and fans. It may work with an AIO water cooler, but I think a custom loop is pretty much off the cards (unless you're clever and get a dual 5.25" bay reservoir instead).

It only came pre-installed with one 120mm fan, which was mounted to the front. Having bought a Corsair AF140 at the same time, I mounted this to the front and moved the 120mm fan to the rear as exhaust. This is where I encountered my first problem.

The case and the fan I bought didn't come with rubber grommets, so I just had to do a botch job and torque some large screws into the fan, essentially threading it. Fortunately, the clear plastic did not crack or snap. Whilst I'm not overly happy with what I had to do, I'll probably be swapping it out at some point in the future anyway for a better 120mm fan. So, I'm not too fussed. 

The cable management was a bit of a ball ache on this one. Trying to mount the motherboard with the 4-pin CPU power already pre-cable managed was difficult, but I persevered and it was mounted.

Getting the side panel on was a bit of a nightmare as well. There isn't a huge amount of space behind the motherboard tray for cables to go. Cable tie was out of the question, so I just did some rearranging and popped the side panel back on. It's not bulging or anything, so at least that's a good sign.

Overall, I'm really happy with this case. Yeah, it was a slight challenge in parts of it, but it looks good and has a pretty clear path for air to flow. It looks clean as well.

Would definitely recommend. Maybe not to someone who's a first time builder as some botching had to be done (which is unfortunate considering where the product is placed in the market), but it is a great case.