Two years ago, Corsair released the Carbide 200R and the $59 case proved to be a remarkable budget-friendly solution. Back then we were wondering "how low can you go" and the Carbide 200R served as the least expensive enclosure Corsair had in their ranks for a long time. That changes today, as Corsair announced the 100R, a slightly smaller version of the 200R that has a MSRP of $49. The small 100R can still hold normal ATX motherboards and PSUs, as well as 5.25" devices and up to four 3.5" drives.

The 100R will be available in two versions. The windowed and windowless (silent) versions will have an MSRP of $49 and $59 respectively. No, that is not a typo, the windowless version is a little more expensive because it includes a layer of sound-dampening material. Visually, the 100R is very similar to its larger, older brother, the 200R. From the pictures that Corsair provides with their press release, we can tell that the major differences lie with the drive cages; there is one less 5.25" bay and the 3.5" cage has been remodeled to use plastic trays. The top exhaust fans are limited to 120mm as well, but they ought to be more than sufficient for a budget-level system.

"The Carbide 100R shatters the stereotype that budget-friendly cases have to be gaudy and poorly designed, " said George Makris, Product Manager for Cases and Cooling at Corsair. "Now gamers and PC enthusiasts have a subtle, functional, and affordable foundation for their next PC." A presentation of the 100R by George Makris can be seen in the following video.

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  • The_Assimilator - Tuesday, January 6, 2015 - link

    "Carbine"? Maybe Anand left because he couldn't deal with you guys' inability to write anything without (ab)using spell check.
  • barleyguy - Tuesday, January 6, 2015 - link

    Spell check wouldn't have helped. Carbine is a word.
  • todlerix - Tuesday, January 6, 2015 - link

    Prick.
  • justaviking - Monday, January 19, 2015 - link

    An easy enough mistake to make.
    But...
    Pointed out in Comment #1 almost TWO WEEKS AGO,
    and the TITLE IS NOT FIXED.
    Hello?
  • garadante - Friday, February 20, 2015 - link

    I've noticed this particular reviewer is very sub-par when it comes to Anandtech quality. And they tend to ignore/make excuses to readers who make comments/suggestions. At least that's my personal experience on the several occasions I've tried to suggest anything on other articles they've done.
  • savagemike - Tuesday, January 6, 2015 - link

    Looks like it'd make a nice freenas box.
  • Alexvrb - Tuesday, January 6, 2015 - link

    With the option to install up to three 120mm exhaust fans and two 140mm intake fans, I'd say it's quite obviously aimed at budget gaming rigs. Even if they didn't specifically say as much in the press release. You could use literally ANYTHING for FreeNAS so long as it houses a lot of drives. I have a couple of old cookie sheets and a cardboard box that I could make into a perfectly good FreeNAS box. ;)
  • Samus - Tuesday, January 6, 2015 - link

    I appreciate it isn't gaudy looking. Most cases now days are just stupid looking. I remember a few months ago walking into Microcenter for a basic mATX case and with a selection of 50+ cases ended up going home and ordering a basic Silverstone PS07. But even Silverstone is getting wacky with the Raven line. What happened to just traditional rectangle cases with a flat front cover?

    The windowless version has a clean, basic look that could make a suitable business-class workstation
  • DanNeely - Wednesday, January 7, 2015 - link

    From looking at corsairs specs these cases are 471mm x 200mm x 430mm vs the 200R's 497mm x 210mm x 430mm; so they're just as tall despite losing a 5.25" bay. The 28mm front to back loss probably on matters if you're trying to cram a large GPU in beside the 3.5" bays at the bottom of the case. Large handed builders might want to connect their sata cables before installing the mobo; but there appears to be enough room for the cables themselves to fit once the board is screwed down. The 10mm of width removed is more worrying, comparing the 100 and 200 series cases from the rear. Their PR shots show a system built using a PSU with flat cables; as tight as the space between the mobo tray and side of the case is going to be that's probably your only option if you want to avoid the 24pin cable bulging the side out.
  • Hrel - Wednesday, January 7, 2015 - link

    I look forward to reading the review and seeing the db levels, especially compared to the $100 "silent" cases from Fractal and Nanoxia and the like.

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