Corsair Crystal Series 280X RGB MATX Case Review

Corsair Crystal Series 280X RGB Review

Introduction 

The MATX form factor holds a lot of advantages, offering a compact design to minimise case size while providing users with almost all of the features available on standard ATX motherboards, offering a “best of bost worlds” middle ground between ATX and ITX.    

The primary problem with MATX is that the form factor is relatively neglected by case and motherboard manufacturers, so much so that there are only a handful of MATX motherboards available for high-end chipsets, with HEDT platforms like Intel X299 and AMD X399/TR4 having almost no representation. Today the only X399 MATX board available is ASRock’s X399M Taichi, showcasing how little most manufacturers care about the MATX form factor, especially in the high-end market. 

Corsair isn’t content to let MATX sit by the wayside and die off, not without a fight anyway. This gap in the market is where the Crystal 280X and 280X RGB come into play, offering users a compact dual-chamber chassis design that provides a clean external aesthetic and a lot of room to work with inside. 

Corsair Crystal Series 280X RGB Review

Corsair’s Crystal 280X comes in four flavours, shipping in both white and black with RGB and non-RGB models, with the RGB enabled variant shipping with two 120mm LL series RGB fans and a Lighting Node PRO RGB controller, which can be used to control these fans using Corsair’s iCUE software. 

The 280X’s non-RGB counterpart lacks Corsair’s Lighting Node PRO and ships with two standard 120mm fans, with one fan mounted on the top while the other is installed in the base of the case. Below are the full specifications of the chassis, 

  
Corsair Crystal Series 280X RGB Review Â