Page 4 – Installation and Conclusion
Executing a good cabling job was pretty straightforward on this ATX mid-tower. Unlike some cases with tempered glass side panels I have used in the past, the 4000D White has only one tempered glass panel, so you do not need to worry too much about how things work out behind the motherboard tray. That said, Corsair has a very good cable management section here, as shown in our photo above. Therefore, organizing the modular cables from my FSP Hydro G Pro 1000W power supply was a breeze. The Hydro G Pro is only 15cm long, but the drive cage will be a little bit tight if you have a longer power supply, which will leave little room for connecting the cables. If you have a longer PSU, it will be easier to just remove the storage cage first before plugging in the wires.
For the purposes of demonstration, I put a SATA SSD in the case. Installation of most components will require you to keep your screwdriver handy unless you count thumbscrews as tool-free. I do not have much beef against this though, since it is usually much more secure, and it is not like I will take my computer apart occasionally anyway. The thumbscrews that attach the SSD trays to the back of the motherboard tray are captive thumbscrews for added convenience.
After connecting all the wires needed for the installation, I put the storage cage back into the PSU chamber. I also installed a Western Digital Red Pro WD141KFGX 14TB, which goes onto the tray tool-free and slides into the drive cage.
Since the interior of the 4000D White is separated into two chambers, it does not matter whether you install the PSU or motherboard first, since they will all work out just as well in the end. Pushing all the case I/O cables through one of the two openings close to the motherboard on the panel separating the two chambers delivered excellent accessibility to anything that requires a connection to my motherboard. Furthermore, the entire area on the right side of the motherboard is completely open, but is covered so the gap is only visible at 90 degrees, making it very effective at hiding cables. The thick motherboard power cable can be fitted through with plenty of room for other cables. There is no opening near the outside edge of power supply chamber ceiling for easy power delivery to your graphics card though, so you will need to push it through a regular opening.
The rest of the installing process was really smooth. Since there is already a 120mm fan installed behind the front dust filter, it is only a matter of plugging the connector in to get it to work. In general, everything was appropriately placed for routing cables through, whether they are from your power supply, case, or storage devices. The large motherboard tray cutout also made the installation of any aftermarket CPU coolers like my Noctua NH-D15S chromax.black totally painless.
After everything has been installed properly, it is time to press the power switch. Out of the box, the only thing that lights up is white LED on the power switch. After the power is on, the 4000D White keeps a minimalist look. I am the kind of person who really cares about the noise level of my computer. In this build, I had three fans running in the case -- two included with the case and one on my CPU. As it turned out, my computer was really quiet. On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is totally silent and 10 is a jet taking off, I would rate my system inside the Corsair 4000D White at 2.0/10 regarding noise emissions during normal operation. Please note the fan speed control on the motherboard can further bring down the noise level by reducing the RPM of the fans when the computer is not under a high load. It is too bad the fans are not PWM, but they work.
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My colleague Hai reviewed the Corsair 4000D in December of last year and came to a pretty positive conclusion. Even though I got the white version and he had the black one, it is still the same chassis, so is the 4000D still a good mid-tower in 2021? I would say so. Its clean, modern looks and great build quality are good points to start with. The Corsair 4000D comes in a familiar layout with lots of openings to route cables through. The wide 25mm gap between the motherboard tray and right side panel makes the build process even better. Furthermore, the side panels can be easily removed and reattached thanks to the ball-and-socket joints. Dust filters can be found in all the right places; the top one is even magnetic with a tab for easy removal. For connecting your peripherals, there is a USB Type-C port in front as a part of the standard array. Combine all these elements together, I can understand why Hai was such a big fan of the 4000D. Of course, there are some areas for improvement. The included fans are 3-pin voltage controlled rather than 4-pin PWM controlled; the latter of which is expected in 2021. All included fans are only 120mm, despite the fact this is a 230mm wide case and the front is designed to accommodate 140mm fans. On the smaller design details, adding cable guides under the 2.5" SSD trays, having an extra cable opening on the PSU shroud for GPUs, and adding a second USB Type-A port in front will make this mid-tower even better. For about $95 at press time, the Corsair 4000D White is a great case for the discerning enthusiast. If there are some stuffs about the 4000D you do not like, be sure to check out the updated Corsair 5000D as well.
Corsair provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Numeric Rating is 7.5/10
Please note that the APH Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other sites.
The Corsair 4000D White is a high quality, clean looking ATX mid-tower with a nice tempered glass side panel for the discerning enthusiast.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
