CORSAIR 3500X ARGB Mid-Tower Review – Finally a Corsair show case with an acceptable price-performance ratio!

Construction diary

Now we come to the pleasant part of the review: The practical test. At this point, I’d like to say “sorry for the sometimes excessive overexposure”! I’m currently doing some testing because I’m dissatisfied with the current “workshop situation” and really need to change something in the foreseeable future. In terms of hardware, the current test platform is being used again, which includes the NZXT B650E board with Ryzen 9 7900, 32GB DDR5 RAM from Corsair, a 2TB NVME from HP and the Sapphire Radeon 7700XT Pure.

As part of my Homelab project (which will probably finally continue in the fall), our friends at ARCTIC recently sent me a small care package, which also contained the MX-6 thermal paste that Igor recently tested. As I already knew the paste myself, I was particularly interested in the MX-Cleaner pads included in this case.

As there were still some residues of the old thermal paste left over from the last cooler installation, it was a perfect opportunity to test it.

I have to admit that I am delighted. The cloths are not only soaked with alcohol or other solvents that dissolve the heat-conducting paste residues in no time at all, the structure is also chosen so that the dissolved broth is absorbed directly and not just smeared in an ugly way. Wipe twice, clean! I initially found the extremely lemony scent of the wipes, which is supposed to be 100% natural on request, to be very pleasant… but it then lingered in the room air for almost two days despite ventilation, which perhaps overshot the mark somewhat. The MX-4 is a little “stickier” and is therefore a little easier to work with, but overall I also got on well with the MX-6 and Igor’s test also speaks in favor of the paste.

Once the CPU had been cleaned, it was time to install the power supply unit. I opted for a SHIFT power supply with side connectors to see if the 3500X had the space for it.

CPU, RAM and NVME were pre-assembled as usual and thanks to the centering Nubsi, the board was quickly installed.

To avoid breaking my fingers later, I prefer to connect the motherboard cables before the cooler (or in this case: the AIO) is installed.

The 360mm AIO water cooling system followed immediately. It was easy to install in the 3500X and there is enough space above the board to avoid collisions with high RAM or large VRM heat sinks.

Not entirely unimportant: the graphics card. Since I had already rotated the slot bracket and taken the riser cable out of the drawer, I installed the 7700XT vertically. The 5.5cm (2.5 slot) thick, 12cm wide and 32cm long card still has more than enough room to breathe in all directions, so even crushers of the caliber of a 4090 could be installed without any problems.

The cable management is not super clean, but considering the time invested (approx. 3 minutes) it is more than acceptable. There are lashing points everywhere and there is more than enough space in the important places. The cable outlets on the side of the SHIFT power supply unit also have space and are not kinked.

So there’s only one thing left to do: put the lid on..

… test run!