The Crystal 280X: A Gaming PC Case Review

I recently had the opportunity to get my hands on the Crystal 280X, and I was excited to see how it would perform in terms of building and cable management. As soon as I opened up the case, I was impressed by its spacious interior and the amount of room available for components. The micro ATX form factor is quite small, but the case still manages to accommodate a standard 11-inch GPU like my Sapphire Pulse Vega 56, leaving about 80mm of clearance from the front.

The bottom section of the case is an interesting design choice, as it does not allow for optimal air flow due to its low height. Additionally, with my motherboard cables all over the place, I had to work around them in order to access the fan mounts. However, this was not a major issue, and I was able to find alternative solutions to accommodate my components.

One of the standout features of the case is its cable management system. With three caddies that pull down for SSDs, as well as another one with two 3.5-inch bays, it provides ample space for storage and allows for easy access to components. The fact that both cages are removable means that users can install or remove them at will, providing flexibility in terms of component placement.

Cable management is truly flawless in the Crystal 280X, with a top rubber grommet that still has a small amount of clearance, allowing for cable passage through it. However, I would have liked to see a slightly more open rear exhaust section, as this limits airflow and makes it difficult to mount fans. To aid with this situation, I left the top exhaust fan on, which helps to improve air flow.

Overall, I was impressed by the building experience offered by the Crystal 280X, despite some minor compromises in terms of CPU tower clearance. The case is already quite small, so any limitations are somewhat mitigated. With its focus on cable management and flexibility, this case is well-suited for users who value ease of assembly and customization.

While I was pleased with my experience building with the Crystal 280X, I do think that there could be improvements made to make it more competitive in the market. The price point is not particularly competitive, especially compared to other micro ATX cases on the market. However, for users who value a unique and high-quality building experience, this case may be worth considering.

The Crystal 280X offers an excellent gaming PC building experience, with plenty of space for components and flexible cable management options. While it has some minor compromises in terms of airflow and price, it remains a solid choice for users who value ease of assembly and customization. With its unique design features and focus on user convenience, this case is sure to appeal to those looking for a premium gaming PC building experience.

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Finally, I'd like to emphasize the importance of incremental changes towards a healthier lifestyle. Small adjustments, such as taking regular breaks or staying hydrated during long gaming sessions, can have significant benefits in terms of overall health and well-being. By incorporating these habits into your daily routine, you'll be able to maintain focus and perform at your best, even after extended periods of gaming.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello you people hope you're excitedtoday is gonna be awesome my neck feelsmuch better let's begin so we have thenew crystal 280x from Corsair oh I gotthe black one you know I love me a goodmic right X enclosure I think Fred wouldagree but the Corsair 280X is notentirely new because it's based on theair 240 frame design they have made somemodifications on the interior and on theexterior as you will see but before weget into the case review I want todiscuss an important topic so we gotcontacted by the Canadian men's healthfoundation to talk about little waysthat we've improved our lifestyle thathas overall benefit our health one ofthe most important things for me hasbeen to prioritize the time so actuallyfind the time to go to the gym twice aweek for the last five monthsand yeah I can finally do pull-ups theproper pull-ups which is how I hurt myneck but yeah don't overdo itI've also started taking cold showersbecause the boost your immune system andgreat for the muscles and let's notforget the food I have cut out myfavorite staple of all the potatoes andlet's not forget cucumber water it'ssuper easy to make it's refreshing it'shydrating it's good for your internalswhy not now this whole idea of don'tchange much campaign is awesome becauseit's all about the incremental littlechanges that you can make in your lifenow the benefit you overall in a longterm so two hours a week for me theworkout is not a significant amount oftime but I feel better I have moreenergy in from the camera I can writefaster boom so don't change much that'sthe message check out the links belowfor more information now let's go backall right good people so the system isnow assembled and the entire experiencehas been extremely satisfying and Ireally hope to see more dual chamberlayout cases in the future because thiswhole thing of moving your hard drivesand the power supply to the back of thecase instead of a bottom chamber it'ssure it widens the case but in terms ofactual like height the case it issignificantly smaller than your othermicro ATX cases and you know looking atsomething like this in next to theLeonie PCO 11 you can definitely seethat both them share that dual chamberlayout and are therefore extremelycompact cases when compared to standardmid towers now design wise this is partthe Crystal series which means it isloaded with glass panels the front thetop and the side I do like the frontglass panel how it sits on these likepegs at the bottom it is not removableyou have to remove the entire frontpanel in order to reach the dust filterand that fan mount while the top one ismounted via these really long thumbscrews and there you can access it dustfilter as well which I don't understandwhy it's there because this is tough foryour exhaust anyway so why would youhave a dust filter there especiallybecause you have a piece of glass in thetop you can further remove the topplastic piece which I don't understandwhy but yeah it is separate from theframe itself now the glass side panelhas the worst mount seriously I'm notsure why Corsair is doing this there areno pegs that hold the glass in place somounting it and removing it is superdifficult it always just falls on thetable and it scratches furthermore theglass has no blackout perimeter so youcan see the frame underneath and thegood thing is they've changed are therubber pegs that are actually kind ofbuilt into the glass mount so they don'tfall out like we saw on previous Corsaircases the i/o is basic in the top rightcorner we have 2 USB 3 power resetbuttons andJax now the 280x comes in two flavorsthe standard addition at the hundred andten dollars it's a little bit pricey formicro ITX enclosure sure there's a bunchof glass and two fans included but theRGB edition which has to RGB fans and alighting note Pro that's alreadypre-installed at the back which is verynice and you can control the lighting ofthose fans and you can connect otherlighting accessories from Corsair is ahundred and sixty dollar Edition so it'sa little pricey for micro ITX market butI guess it is all Rhenish anyway so itdoesn't hurt to bump up the price forthat premium now for airflow you caninstall two 120 or 140 s at the front atthe top and at the bottom so plenty ofairflow options here however the case isnot really tall enough to suck in anyair from the bottom although thatsection is dust filtered which is niceyou can install a 240 rad at the frontthe top or the bottom as well soradiator options are plenty there foroptions of plenty however this wholelike glass approach you know the glasshere is not separated enough from theframe so the front especially like it'sis gonna get choked up and the top heresure it is exhaust and if you can setyour fans to a low rpm it's not an issuebut the gaps here are just not highenough in my opinion so it would be nicefor them to raise it a little bit andlooking at the temperature data so thesystem runs cooler when the front paneland dust filter are removed that'sunderstandable so and this is what thekeys fans running at the hundred percentso the Delta here would be even greaterwith lower rpm but I found itinteresting that the GPU temperature iscooler with the stock configuration withthe front panel on and the dust filteron not sure why if you do let me know inthe comments coming inside I love theinterior plenty of space to work in androute to cables however a standard microATX motherboard will cover those tworubber grommets so you'll be just leftwith one unless you go with an ITXmotherboard or a non-traditional microATX form factor there's plenty of roomabove the motherboard for a radiator andthe set of fans the same thing in thefront and here I have mounted mysapphire pulse Vega 56 which is an 11inch GPU and I still have about 80 mmof clearance from the front so you canleft the route rad there and not reallycompromise your GPU clearance the onething I will say about this whole bottomsection is that it doesn't really makesense for air flow because it's not highenough and number two my motherboardcables are all over the place they kindof block access to those mounts sounless you're going for an ITXmotherboard that is significantlysmaller and allows that clearance at thebottom the only then you could use thosefan mounts now coming to the back I'dlove how much room we have for all thecables i even mounted my giant d quietpower supply we have to drive cages soone for SSDs that has three caddies andthey pull down so if you have any cablesthat are right there it might be alittle bit difficult but then we haveanother one that you can access from theback and that has two three and halfinch caddies and it's really awesomethat both of these cages are removableso you can install things outside thecase and then remount them back or justhave this entire section clear if youdon't need that area for storage as youcan see cable management is absolutelyflawless I do like how the top rubbergrommet that is covered by themotherboard still has a little bit ofclearance so you can pass some cablesthrough it but the other one is actuallya really good position for the 24 pincable and those SATA cables too now withmy cooler mounted in the standardorientation I wish that we had aslightly more open rear exhaust sectionbecause you cannot mount any fans herethat space is just too little so itwould be nice to have a slightly moreopen section so airflow can simply exitwhich is why I left the top exhaust fanto kind of aid with this whole air flowexhaust situation at the back alright sothose are my thoughts for the 280x Ireally want to see more dual chamberlayouts from Corsair and other companiesbecause it just makes assembly processso much easier and while we do have aslight extension in the width dimensionsthe whole idea of like compressing atheight wise I would say is a greaterbenefit than going for something slimmerand much taller and you know the O 11air and dynamic are quite popularbecause of that exact direction but withthe compromise of not having the bestCPU tower clearance with this micro ATXdirection I don't think that's a bigcompromise because the case is alreadyquitesmall so if you're going for somethingof a CPU tower clearance then you haveto stick with something that is below150 millimetres or go with a standard240 ohm on cooler at the front or thetop I will say the price point is notcompetitive sure the micro ATX market isquite a niche market and you do get afantastic building experience on herebut going with a simple mid tower that'slike 69 bucks 79 bucks that will giveyou all the same features in terms ofthe build quality and you know thevisual aesthetics - like the mesh if Isee the P 350 X and many others butagain those are ATX cases and I feellike for micro ATX direction there aren'tthat many specific micro ATX cases thatcould compete with something like thisbut then you could also argue thatbuying a standard mid tower and thenpopulating a micro ATX motherboardinside has benefits of cost savings forsure one of the best gaming headsets isnow available through mass drop the PC 37 X has fantastic drivers incrediblecomfort and the best microphone in classplus they look awesome for a gamingheadset check out the drop link belownow I would love to hear what you thinkabout the crystal 280X let me know inthe comments below don't forget tosubscribe make sure to check out our newboot sequence Channel and its otherrelevant content here too and yeah checkout those links about living a healthierlifestyle through those incrementalchanges thanks so much for watchingwe'll see you in next video\n"