Page 2 - Physical Look - Outside
The Corsair 5000D is designed to provide smooth airflow throughout the case. The outer design has no curves, being very straight-edged and box-like. In fact, our white 5000D looks pretty much the same as the Corsair 4000D White. The color is consistent throughout the entire outside of the case aside from the center of the front panel, which contains the Corsair logo. This case contains a tempered glass side panel on the left side, which is completely transparent. While this is great for users who want to see their RGB components, it is important to note that fingerprints can easily be left on them. Keeping a cleaning cloth around is a good idea for maintaining the cleanliness of the tempered glass. The other side panel is made of steel with the same matte white finish that covers the rest of the case.
You can see the frame of the front panel is made out of plastic, and there is also a steel panel on top of the plastic frame. The gap between the plastic base and the steel panel provides airflow into the case, while the use of steel ensures the case is strong and durable. The front panel is held on by four ball-and-socket joints, which can be removed by a quick tug to reveal a large removable air filter held on by magnets at the top and clips at the bottom. The front panel has no opening for an internal 5.25" drive, which means no internal optical drives can be installed.
The Corsair 5000D is quite large with measurements coming in at 520mm depth, 245mm width, and 520mm height. It weighs in at 30.5 lbs, which is quite heavy. This is large for a PC case and both its measurements and weight experienced a noticeable increase compared to the 4000D.
At the top of the case, we can see the I/O panel, which is located near the top front edge. Going from left to right, we have a square power button, two USB 3.1 Type-A ports, a single USB Type-C port, a combined 3.5mm microphone and microphone jack, and a reset switch. A white power indicator LED is inside the power button, although there is no HDD activity LED present. The inclusion of a USB-Type C port is great to see here, especially for a case of this price. I really like that the design employs two USB 3.1 Type-A ports, as the 4000D only came equipped with one USB Type-A port. The single audio/microphone jack is another nice feature of this product. For most of us, we have both laptops and desktops, and laptops are commonly equipped with a single audio/microphone jack only. When purchasing a headset, we definitely want something compatible on both laptops and desktops, so it will be inconvenient if we have to deal with the situation where the laptop has a single jack, while the desktop has a dual jack. It is only fair to acknowledge many gaming headsets come with separate headphones and microphone plugs, leading to inconvenience to some. An included Y-split cable would rectify this situation, which the Corsair 5000D unfortunately did not come with.
The 5000D features an opening for fans or a water cooling radiator on top. It has accommodation for up to three 120mm or two 140mm fans or a radiator of equivalent size. Traditionally, case designers install top mounted fans to efficiently draw heat away from the processor and other heat generating internal components. This makes a lot of sense, since heat rises, so we are only adhering to the natural laws of physics. Unfortunately, this is a two-way street, as it is also very easy to get a lot of dust in the system that way when it is turned off. To prevent the dust from getting in, a removable dust filter is placed on top of the case directly underneath a steel panel very similar in build to the one placed in front of the case. This steel panel is also held on to the case using four ball-and-socket joints. The dust filter is held on by magnets and can easily be removed for cleaning by a convenient yellow tab with Corsair's branding at the back, which I am happy to see was kept from the 4000D. The gap between the filter and the chassis is hardly noticeable. Another thing worth mentioning about gap between panels is the connection between the tempered glass side panel and the front panel. The connection is pretty smooth. The gap is really small and there are no sharp edges between the two panels.
The back of the case is exactly what you would expect from a mid-tower ATX case. A pre-installed 120mm fan is mounted at the top right beside the cutout for the motherboard I/O shield. Seven horizontal expansion slots can be seen directly below the fan and the motherboard opening. All seven expansion slots can be taken off to make room for GPUs or any expansion cards that may take up an expansion slot on your motherboard. Two vertical GPU mounting expansion slots can be found on the Corsair 5000D, which is a nice option for users with larger and heavier cards, or for those who would simply prefer to see more of their GPU through vertical mounting. An opening for the power supply can be seen below the horizontal expansion slots held on by regular screws. The right side panel has ventilation holes near the front side to draw air from the fan mounts on that side, which we will be discussing later in this review. A Corsair AirGuide 120mm fan mounted on the exhaust port is included from the factory. This fan is smaller than the NZXT H710i's 140mm in the same location, considering both cases have the same width.
Tools are not required to remove the side panels. Four captive thumbscrews can easily be unscrewed, and the side panels can be popped off. Note the side panels of 5000D do not need to be pulled backward to remove them, since there is no rail mechanism to hold them in place. Instead, the ball-and-socket joints keep the side panels attached to the case. They do a great job that you could essentially keep the thumbscrews unscrewed and the panels would still be secure. A simple pop with a bit of strength is all you need to get the panels off the chassis.
Two sets of large feet can be seen at the bottom of the case. These feet raise the Corsair 5000D about 1.5cm above the resting surface. Raising a case above its resting surface serves the purpose of providing better ventilation for the case. The 5000D does not raise the case as high as its predecessor, which was raised about 3cm, but 1.5cm is still plenty of space. There is a small pad in the middle of each foot designed to reduce vibration. I feel they are a good size to reduce vibration at a reasonable level, measuring approximately 10mm in width and 20mm in length. The feet are not removable. A removable dust filter can be seen near the back. This dust filter will help maintain clean airflow for your power supply. I am also happy to see the slits are not terribly thick, meaning they will not block a lot of the airflow. The filter is nicely reinforced by a hard-plastic frame, so they are removable for easy cleaning and installation. Note the power supply of this case is bottom-mounted, therefore the ventilation area behind the filter is actually designed for the power supply.
Overall, the Corsair 5000D has excellent build quality. The steel and plastic material making up the case is very solid and does not feel cheap in any way. The surface and edges feel smooth on the fingers. The side panels fit very well and are tightly held in position by both thumbscrews and detachable ball joints, making the gaps between the panels very small and even. The tempered glass also exhibits quality attributes in terms of distortion or lack thereof. The USB Type-C port is great to see, and the additional USB Type-A port is a nice improvement from the 4000D model. Corsair did a great job with the outside build, putting a lot of care into many aspects that make for good construction.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
