Specifications, Availability and Pricing

Aesthetically, the 300R is quite the looker. The front of the chassis has an industrial look with the sides of the front bezel protruding from the rest of the front panel and on the four corners and in a couple places across the front of the chassis there are what appear to be Allen screw heads. They are just there for show, but with the incorporated mesh panel taking up two thirds of this area, there needed to be something to attract your eyes away from that. The top of the chassis is recessed and again offers a very large mesh insert to allow for passive convection or you can add some fans there.

On the sides, the right is plain as can be, but the left panel offers yet another mesh area for a pair of fans to be optionally installed. To support things, Corsair chose longer chunky feet that are incorporated into the design as they blend into the shaping of the chassis.

Functionally the 300R will hold an ATX or micro-ATX motherboard, up to three ODDs, four storage drives and an ATX PSU that mounts in the bottom. This doesn't mean that you don't get any wire management options, nor does it mean the motherboard tray is pressed back against the rear door. What the chassis does lack in this regard are the grommets and there are fewer tie points. There are seven expansion slots to allow for dual, even triple video card solutions and the option to install up to six 120mm or 140mm fans around the chassis will help to keep any monster build cool inside this chassis. Even though things are simplified, standards must be met. Corsair, even with trimming some of the fat, still offers a chassis that is easy to work with and still offers tool-free options so that only the motherboard, PSU and video cards up to 450mm long to need the use of a screwdriver during a basic installation while still offering native USB 3.0 connectivity as well.

Corsair will sell you the 300R from the Carbide series directly from their site at the price of $89.99 plus shipping. While that isn't a bad price at all for what Corsair delivers in this product, I am always on the hunt for the best deal possible at the time I deliver this information. Newegg is sticking to the same price as Corsair, but out of the 100 or so listings I am looking at, the chassis can be had for much less. If you are feeling frisky, you can try out an unknown e-tailer to me personally, but the listing price may be worth the attempt. A shop called BuyAAE.com has a $76.06 listing of the 300R and that is the delivered pricing from California to Ohio. So the advice here is to shop around, there was quite a few places to find this chassis currently, so shop around for the best deal with a company you feel your payment is safe and you know there won't be any issues.

Either way, whether paying near $80 or near $90 I think the chassis offers enough style and functionality that the weight reduction it had to make it go faster won't make an affect your decision.