When you think of Corsair what springs to mind? Of course good quality hardware is likely up there, but for most, me included, it’s RGB lighting. Every show or expo we visit there tends to be a Corsair stand, with a handful of different Corsair built PC’s, with fans set to different colours. It’s an interesting look, it’s not how we would set the lighting, but we can see the appeal. With that said, Corsair has reached out to see if we can be tempted to do our first build using the Corsair ecosystem. Of course we’ve used some of their components and cases before, but not typically as an ensemble. We wanted to take a look at the Frame 4000D chassis, featuring the ‘Inifinirail’ fan mounting system. Reviews seem positive and the bold design and airflow focus piqued our interest. We know their hardware is good quality, but we wanted to do something a little different. For this one lets do the unthinkable, lose the RGB and embrace the darkness: make this a true Mr Matt Lee build. The idea is an enticing one, it’s going to be interesting to see how it works out!
Case Overview
The Corsair Frame 4000D has a familiar mid-tower stance, with the airflow focused front panel framed by the main chassis, a lightly tinted tempered glass panel on the side, and mesh panel running the length of the top of the unit. It bears a lot of similarities to its competition, though that is no bad thing, cases like the NZXT H7 Flow or the TUF Gaming GT302 are outstanding airflow cases - if this performs similarly then we’re on to a winner! Aesthetically it does manage to stand out from the usually minimalist crowd by implementing a fairly aggressive looking grille on the front. We’re not usually big fans of such bold designs, but Corsair has managed to blend it with a certain modernity which has brought us back on side. Behind the front panel is a large, but removable dust filter. It’s a very tight weave so we have no concerns about it letting in dust, it’ll be interesting to see if it has any bearing on airflow though.
Once the front and top panels were removed we got our first look at the ‘Infinirail’ mounting system. It’s a very simple concept, there are 2 rails on the front on which fans will be attached. These rails can be adjusted to take 120mm, 140mm or 200mm fans. It does away with the typical multi-rail mounting points which can restrict airflow a little when using larger fans, and it does give the user more agency as to where the fans are positioned specifically. A similar system is in place at the top of the case, though this time with only 1 moveable rail and a maximum fan size of 160mm. It’s a neat idea, and we’re always for a more customisable airflow path - you could really min/max this case using these, minimum fans in the right places for maximum cooling.
Talking of cooling, in the accessory kit there is another mount for up to 3 120mm fans or a 360mm radiator which can be positioned on the side of the case if the interchangeable panel is removed.
There were a few other very welcome features in the Frame 4000D, mainly involving the graphics card. Firstly inside the case is a premounted anti-sag support. It seems run of the mill on the surface, but this is a budget friendly case so its inclusion is unusual. The anti-sag has a stand out feature too, it tightens into position from the front by turning a single screw. I cannot tell you, as PC builders, how refreshing it is to see little quality of life design tweaks like this. Not having to reach around the build to get the placement right makes things so much easier! Secondly the PCIe covers are on a rotatable plate, which can be unscrewed and moved to allow for simple vertical graphics card mounting. There is no riser cable included, but nor would we expect that at the cases’ price point. It’s a very thoughtful addition, and one we did not expect!
I guess we should have a talk about hardware support next. As you’d expect of a mid-tower it’ll basically fit anything designed with ATX in mind, but here are the headlines:
Motherboards: up to E-ATX (305mm x 277mm)
Graphics cards: max length 430mm
Power supply: ATX up to 220mm
Air Cooler: max 170mm tall
Radiator support: top - up to 360mm / front - up to 360mm / side - up to 360mm
Fan support: top - 3x 120mm, 2x 140mm / front - 3x 120mm, 2x 140mm, 2x 200mm / side - 3x 120mm, 2x 140mm / rear - 1x 120mm, 1x 140mm / PSU shroud - 2x 120mm
Case dimensions: (L)490mm x (W)239mm x (H)486mm
Weight: ~10kg
Parts List
How Was The Build?
The build itself was largely as you would expect from a mid-tower with a standard layout, everything fit as it should without much effort. The major differences with this one come from Corsair’s fans and fan mounting tech. I’ve already mentioned the Inifinirail system, and I’ll circle back to that in a moment.
Firstly, Corsair’s A115 air cooler, it’s a chunky fella, with 2 fin stacks and 2 x 140mm fans included. At first glance it looks like any other air cooler, but look a bit deeper and there is one clever touch. The fans mount on a rail system, which means each fan needs 1 rail on each side. One comes preinstalled, rails for the other, for whatever reason are in the coolers accessory box and need attaching. It’s not a big issue by any stretch, but it struck us as strange. It’s simply 2 screws per rail and it’s ready to go. So why is this important? Well…. It’s less about the means of attaching the fans and more about what that allows for. The rails on the cooler are notched so the fans can sit at different heights allowing the user to easily set the fan height to account for RAM clearance. Of course many other coolers use a wire bracket to achieve the same results, but this method is much simpler and allows for both fans to be at the same height easily.
Ok, so how was the Infinirail system in practice? It’s been much hyped, and a lot of early reviews were very pleased with it. Our experience was pleasant, adjustment of the rails to the required size was simple, just slacken off a screw and line up with the guide. Fitting the fans on the front did require the use of some plastic spacers included with the case that ensure the fans are not blocked in any way. Overall it’s a simple system, it’s well thought out and a nice addition to the case. It isn’t groundbreaking by any means, but we’re still happy with its inclusion.
Talking of fan mounting it is worth discussing the RX140 Max fans. They’re so magnetic that if you have 2 boxes of fans they’ll stick together through the box. To magnetically attach them there 2 plugs must be used. As far as we can tell one is to allow signal to pass through and the other is there simply for structural support. The fans once together then have a single cable coming off them which goes to a fan hub which in turn needs power from a PCIe connector and attaching to a USB header. There doesn’t seem to be a way to instead use a fan header, which is a bit of a shame.
Cable management space in the Frame 4000D is ample with enough cable mounting points, most of which have preinstalled velcro straps. Some of the anchor points did seem too small for even our smallest velcro straps to fit through though, which is a first. It’s not a deal breaker as a pair of scissors quickly narrowed the strap to fit.
Airflow
I’ve already alluded to this case's similarities to others on the market in relation to its airflow setup. Other cases in this class with a focus on airflow are tough to beat, and we’re fully expecting the Corsair 4000D to keep pace with them. We’ve got 2 x 140mm as intake with the same setup for exhaust. I guess some may argue only having 4 case fans does put it at a slight disadvantage vs other builds which have more of both, and that would be a fair and valid point!
During testing this build had zero issues with airflow, the visualisation took us minutes to film, which is always welcome. Yeah, more fans might equal more airflow, but is more always necessary to achieve the desired result? Evidence suggests that sometimes less can be enough.
Noise Testing
We've decided to bring back noise testing. Of course as we're testing the full build the results are indicative of that, changing out components would alter results. We use a decibel meter at a distance of 50cm from the PC - which is approx normal seating position in a set-up where the PC is on the desk. The lowest reading available from the device is 30db.
We were very pleased with the results from this one:
Ambient noise: < 30db
Fans at idle (400rpm): < 30db
Fans at 60% (1100rpm): 33db
Fans at 100% (1750rm): 47db
For context 33db is equivalent to a whisper and 47db is around the noise expected from a refrigerator.
We were a little taken-aback by how quietly the system ran, Corsair aren't really specialists in the quiet cooling sector, but they've done fantastically here!
Performance Testing
Well this week we’ve got an interesting combo powering the build. We’re back using an Nvidia GPU, this time the ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 5070. As it’s a mid-range offering we thought we’d pair it with the slightly older, but still fantastic AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D. We’ve not yet tested a 5070 so we’re intrigued to see how well it performs. Of course our testing is real-world gaming, based on what is witnessed while playing, if you’re looking for scientific testing there are better places to find it. Our results:
Ambient Temp 21.4°C
Cyberpunk 2077
2560 x 1440
Location: Dog Town
Custom Preset
DLSS Super Resolution Preset: Transformer Model
DLSS Super Resolution: Performance
Texture Quality: High.
Ray Tracing: On
Path Tracing: On
DLSS Multi Frame Generation: 4X
138-157 FPS
67°C CPU
60°C GPU
Typical Power Draw (full build): 350w
2560 x 1440
Location: Dog Town
Quick Preset: Raytracing Ultra
Resolution Scaling: DLSS Super Resolution
Frame Generation: Off
71-88 FPS
70°C CPU
58°C GPU
Typical Power Draw (full build): 350w
Marvel Rivals
2560 x 1440
Anti Aliasing and Super Resolution Type: Nvidia DLSS
Super Resolution Mode: Quality
Super Resolution Sharpening: 80
Frame Generation Mode: Nvidia DLSS x 4 Frame Generation
Graphics Quality: Ultra
232 - 342 FPS
68°C CPU
59°C GPU
Typical Power Draw (full build): 315w
2560 x 1440
Anti Aliasing and Super Resolution Type: Off
Frame Generation Mode: Off
Graphics Quality: Ultra
71-91 FPS
67°C CPU
60°C GPU
Typical Power Draw (full build): 330w
Furmark 2
2560 x 1440
204 FPS
61°C GPU Temp
CPU-Z
Max Temp 68°C
Fan Speed ~1500 rpm
Overall, we’re pretty happy with the thermal performance of the build. The A115 cooler has been doing a solid job keeping the CPU cool and airflow in the case is more than sufficient to keep the graphics card cool too.
Roundup
This has been a fun project, mainly down to building with quality components, but doing it in a different way to what one might expect. We have a lot of respect for what Corsair do for the world of RGB, and we’ll be looking to circle back and get hands on with that in the future. For now we’ve managed to achieve a super clean, no nonsense blackout build with more than enough gaming power to keep us satisfied.
Getting up close and personal with the Infinirail system has shown us that innovation in the tech space can be simple and effective. The system itself is not groundbreaking, but it is the icing on the cake of what would otherwise be an excellent, airflow focused, budget friendly, mid-tower PC case. It seems that when Infinirail is looked at alongside the fan mounting system used in the A115 Corsair are targeting clever mounting as their USP, and we hope they keep moving in this direction.
The RX140 Max fans have been an unusual stand out feature of the build. They were whisper quiet, but keep everything cool. It’s a bit of a shame they need a hub to function, but for me at least it is a price with paying.
Overall, we enjoyed the build process, it was super simple and had some genuine, pleasant surprises. If you’re planning a similar build, I say go for it!
Blog post written by Sam Thwaytes
Full Video Below:
Affiliate Links
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USA Links
Case: https://amzn.to/3DvJVz7
GPU (RTX 5070): not available
GPU (RTX 5070 Ti): https://amzn.to/41TmhEy
MOBO: https://amzn.to/4bQBz1w
Cooler: https://amzn.to/4hkkgHu
Storage: https://amzn.to/4ivwaiS
Cable Extensions: https://amzn.to/3FwMSA0
Fans: https://amzn.to/4kQaHCU
Keyboard: https://amzn.to/4kP17A6
Mouse: https://amzn.to/4iRSe76
Monitor: https://amzn.to/4hrs5vP
Espresso Machine: https://amzn.to/4apOwOY
UK Links
Case: https://amzn.to/3DKMX2r
GPU: not available
MOBO: https://amzn.to/4bPc80c
Cooler: https://amzn.to/4iukJb8
Storage: https://amzn.to/4kQDFT1
Fans: https://amzn.to/425cDjs
Keyboard: not available
Mouse: https://amzn.to/4kxL2yT
Lamp: https://amzn.to/4jBUbWs
Monitor: https://amzn.to/4hNz41P
Espresso Machine: https://amzn.to/40lcTsK
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