INTRODUCTION

   Thanks to the introduction of tempered glass panels and RGB lighting these past few years’ computer cases are no longer considered "dull" and in some rare cases one could even call them mini works of art. To many people however (ourselves included) exterior design and looks in general are not placed above available features and interior space and finding all of the above in a PC case may prove to be a somewhat difficult task especially if you have space restrictions where you plan on placing it. Over the years our friends over at CORSAIR has done their best to resolve this issue with their compact dual-chamber PC cases but to date these only included micro-ATX / mini-ITX form factor sized models which obviously weren't ideal for every consumer out there. Today CORSAIR changes that with their latest CRYSTAL Series 680X RGB ATX Smart Case so we decided to take a closer look and see what you can expect from it.

   Founded in 1994, CORSAIR supplies high-performance products purchased primarily by PC gaming enthusiasts who build their own PCs or buy pre-assembled customized systems. The company's award-winning products include DDR3 and DDR4 memory upgrades, computer cases, PC cooling products, gaming headsets, gaming keyboards, gaming mice, power supply units, USB flash drives, solid-state drives and system monitoring and control devices.

   Just like its smaller brother the CRYSTAL 280X RGB micro-ATX case the main selling points of the brand new CRYSTAL 680X RGB ATX Smart Case (available in black and white and compatible with micro-ATX, mini-ITX, ATX and E-ATX sized mainboards) are its three tempered glass panels, RGB lighting (three LL120 RGB fans with iCUE software control - a standard 120mm fan is also located at the rear of the case) and the innovative dual-chamber internal layout. Still thanks to its dual-chamber design the CRYSTAL 680X RGB has plenty of interior space for anything you may want to place inside including room for up to eight 120mm cooling fans (or seven 140mm ones) and/or three 240/280/360mm radiators (roof/floor/front), four 2.5" and three 3.5" drives (or seven 2.5" drives / all in tool-free drive trays), 330mm long graphics cards, 180mm tall CPU coolers and 225mm long power supply units. That's far from it however since the CRYSTAL 680X RGB also features a hinged left tempered glass door, total of 10 PCI expansion slots (8 horizontal and 2 vertical ones - optional vertical GPU bracket), removable air-filters (front/floor/roof/right panel) and fan/radiator mounting brackets (front/roof), fan hub for up to six fans, lighting node PRO RGB hub and even a USB 3.1 Gen-2 type-C port. The list is long so let's move forward with our review to see exactly what the CRYSTAL 680X RGB is really capable off.