Corsair has been one of the leading makers of computer cases for years, delivering some of the most striking designs on the market. That’s exactly why we continue to see Corsair cases used in showpiece builds. The 5000T RGB is a connected case with style to spare and aims to be one of the premier cases for RGB lovers to build their PCs in. At $399, it’s also one of the most expensive cases in its bracket. Let’s take a closer look and see how it fares for that high cost of entry.
Specifications
- Current Price: $399.99 (Amazon)
- Form Factor: Mid-Tower
- Maximum GPU Length (mm):400
- Maximum PSU Length (mm): 250
- Maximum CPU Cooler Height (mm): 170
- Expansion Slots: 7 vertical + 2 horizontal
- Case Drive Bays: (x2) 3.5in (x4) 2.5in
- Case Windowed: Tempered Glass
- Color: Black or White
- Radiator Compatibility: 120mm, 140mm, 240mm, 280mm, 360mm
- Compatible Corsair Liquid Coolers: H55, H60, H75, H80i, H90, H100i, H105, H110i, H115i, H150i
- Radiator Mounting:
- Front: 360mm / 280mm
- Top: 360mm / 280mm
- Rear: 120mm
- Motherboard Tray: 360mm
- Fan Mounting:
- Front: 3 x 120mm, 2 x 140mm (3 x LL 120mm Included)
- Top: 3 x 120mm, 2 x 140mm
- Rear: 1 x 120mm
- Motherboard Tray: 3 x 120mm (Requires removal of cable cover)
- Case Front IO: (1x) USB 3.1 Type C, (4x) USB 3.0, (1x) Audio in/out
- Case Power Supply: ATX
- Dimensions: 560mm (H) x 530mm (L) x 251mm (W) (22 x 20.9 x 9.9 inches)
- Weight 14.53 pounds
- Case Warranty: 2 Year
Corsair iCUE 5000T RGB - Features and Overview
The Corsair 5000T RGB is the latest in Corsair’s 5000 series of PC cases. Like the others in the line-up, it’s a mid-tower case but it’s a big one. At 22 x 21 x 10 inches, it comes close to being a full-tower but pulls back at the last second. With flagship graphics cards and motherboards coming in bigger than ever, that may be exactly what you’re looking for, and the 5000T is here to support all of it.
While the 5000T shares the same overall design, it’s still unique in the line-up and offers some compelling features for its top-tier cost of entry. In fact, it almost seems like the designers looked at both the 5000X and 5000D, took the best design features, and combined them to come up with the 5000T. With that done, they added extra RGB flair and some quality-of-life improvements to really make it stand out as the flagship in this series of cases.
Take cooling, for example. Rather than be encased with glass on all four sides, the 5000X has a smoked glass side panel to show off all of your components but a mesh front for improved airflow from its three intake fans. The right side is now standard metal to hide your cables and wiring. Take care with cable management and it will look good on all sides.
Like the others, it still supports up to ten 120mm fans. Three come pre-installed on the front as intake. Three more can be installed on the top of the case (or two 140mm fans for each side). Another can and should be placed as a rear exhaust. In an interesting twist, you can remove the cable management shroud from the right of the motherboard and install another three there, to draw cool air in from the back. The top, bottom, and side fans all have their own dust filters which can be removed and cleaned with simple thumb screws or magnetic strips.
If you’re more the water-cooling sort, these mounts can also be used for mounting radiators. The front and top panels can support either 280mm or 360mm radiators, while the rear and motherboard panels can support 120mm and 360mm respectively. You’ll need to look toward a full-tower for 480mm radiator support, but that’s not unusual for a mid-tower case. If your radiator is more than 40mm thick, you’ll need to use the included low-profile PSU shroud.
The interior is spacious, supporting even E-ATX motherboards (you’ll need to remove the cable management shroud for this), so you should have enough room for everything from standard build to full custom water cooling loops. There should be enough room for most coolers and GPUs, but note that the maximum CPU cooler height is 170mm while the maximum graphics card length is 400mm.
The extra width of the case is also helpful for cooling. Prior to this review, my main test rig was built inside of the Corsair 680X Crystal. I loved that case, but with its dual chamber design, the component area was narrower and would heat up more quickly. The Corsair 5000T takes longer to heat up and runs several degrees cooler thanks to its more spacious design.
The other (and most noticeable) major improvement comes with the visual flair. Before the 5000X, you had three choices: full-tempered glass (5000X), a solid front with ventilation slats (5000D - $164.99), or mesh with a metal grate (5000D Airflow - $174.99). Here, you get the unobstructed mesh front panel that does a great job of showing off the pre-installed Corsair LL120 RGB fans. There are also four RGB strips along the top and bottom edge of the case on the outside, in addition to two more that glow out from the edges of the front panel. I didn’t quite understand the exterior strips at first, but seeing it in action, it all makes sense.
This is an RGB showcase PC chassis. The light loop fans mounted to the front look expectedly fantastic. These are the best of the best RGB fans and are completely customizable within iCUE. While I did upgrade mine to a set of QL120 fans that have even lighting on the front and back, the 5000X looks great right out of the box. The RGB strips on the outside are also fully customizable and are quite bright. Together they syncopate to create a flowing effect that screams “showcase” before you’ve even done the dirty work of managing cables.
I won’t lie. When I first saw exterior light strips, I planned to turn them off. They didn’t quite seem to fit, but in real life, they look much better than in pictures. More importantly, if your PC is against a wall, they create a wash effect where your PC chassis has its own ambient backlight. It’s genuinely cool and something I didn’t expect until I had the computer fully lit up.
Corsair has also made improvements elsewhere. The exterior of the chassis is more contoured and less boxy. It looks more refined. The front IO has been expanded to include four USB 3.0 ports instead of two (as well as a USB 3.1 Type C connector and a combo audio jack). The rear panel, which is usually held on by thumbscrews and positioning pins, is now on a hinge and opens like a door for much easier access.
Out of the box wiring is pretty tidy, but you do need to undo the straps to feed your own wires through
Inside, the 5000T boasts Corsair’s RapidRoute cabling system. All of the front panel and fan cables come pre-routed into a removable tray and are held in place with long velcro strips. I was worried that the tray would have trouble fitting additional power, SATA, and fan cables, but it turned out to work very well and simplified cable management (though you’ll still have to do some).
The rear chamber also has slots of multiple SSDs and full-size hard drives. There are three panels to attach 2.5-inch SSDs that attach behind the motherboard tray. Underneath the tray, to the left of the PSU, is removable hard drive bay capable of holding two 3.5-inch drives, as well as an additional SSD.
As a value-add, it also comes equipped with Corsair’s Commander Core XT fan controller. It’s a combination fan hub and RGB controller. The three included fans come pre-connected and labeled with their order, top to bottom, which leaves space for three more RGB fans. There are also slots for a pair of thermal probes that you can position at different points throughout your computer (like your GPU), to allow the controller to monitor specific temperatures and ramp fans up according to that location. This device usually retails for $59.99, so I was happy to see it factored into the price of this case from the get-go.
Corsair iCUE 5000T RGB - PC Building Experience
When I set about building this PC, I knew I needed something with lots of space, as I would be adding an RTX 4090 and an X670-E motherboard. I also wanted good airflow to keep my components cool. And, most important in the moment, I wanted the build to be easy. I’m busier than ever these days and devoting a whole day to a PC build isn’t as simple as it used to be.
The 5000T promises essentially all of these things, and for the most part, it delivers. The core of building my new system was straightforward. After removing the glass side panel, the main chamber offers enough room to get in and easily install a motherboard, as well as connect the cabling. One of my pet peeves with computer cases is when they don’t leave enough room to easily plug and unplug power cables after the PC is built. With a top-mounted radiator, it was almost impossible to unplug the CPU power connector in the 680X without also removing the entire radiator.
The 5000T avoids that issue entirely. It leaves ample room at the top of the motherboard to access the hardest-to-reach plugs. The bottom isn’t quite as spacious but routing and re-routing cables isn’t difficult thanks to large cutouts to pass them through. During my builds, I often plug and unplug connections multiple times as I manage cables, and that was never an issue here.
I did have one headache early on in the build process. While the 5000T supports E-ATX motherboards, it can only do so if you remove the cable management shroud. Getting this off is frankly a giant pain and requires removing the RapidRoute cable tray and fan mount first. Lots of screws, undoing cabling and then reattaching and sorting everything only to have hanging cables and empty fan slots now exposed in your system. I was able to route around the fan slots, and honestly, it doesn’t look bad as the mesh side panel shows behind those slots and creates a neat pattern, but the whole process felt much more difficult than it needed to be.
Thankfully, that was the only major headache I encountered. I chose to add a 360mm radiator to the top (a Corsair H150i Elite LCD), which has its own RGB fans and additional cables, another LL120 to the back, and a set of four internal RGB strips to brighten up the inner chamber behind the smoked glass. I also swapped out the four front LL120s for a trio of QL120s to shed more light inside the case. That’s quite a bit of extra cabling to manage, but if you’ve ever used an RGB fan before, you know it goes with the territory. Thankfully, there were plenty of hooks to route velcro strips and cable ties through to keep things tidy.
Installing the power supply was a bit tricky. I used the ASUS THOR 1200 watt, which is rather large and has cables that stick out rather stiffly. I had to temporarily remove unhook the hard drive bay, install the PSU and run my cables, then press the bay back into its slot. It works, but I wish there were just a centimeter or two more room to make that process easier.
With everything built, I was surprised by how much easier it was to manage cables in this case. When I saw the rear panel was actually a hinged door, I shuddered at the thought of fitting everything in neat enough for it to close. RGB builds are notoriously cable heavy and even though I pride myself on creating neat PCs, I’ve had to cram my fair share of rear panels on to get them to close. Here, RapidRoute really did its job. While I did have to tuck some excess length down below the PSU shroud, it closed on the first try.
Here is the final product:
Final Thoughts
The big question is whether the Corsair iCUE 5000T is worth the $399 cost of entry. It’s a great case, there’s no question about that, but you’re definitely paying extra for its visual flair more than anything else. The improvements are notable, but when the 5000X and 5000D are literally less than half the price, you really have to be in for the light show this case offers above all.
So, it’s not for everyone. But if you do want a showcase PC, this is a great case to base it on. The included RGB strips make customizing your build and having it look immediately impressive easy. I was able to jump it iCUE and sync all of my fans into my usual thunderstorm lighting scene within just a few minutes of loading the program. If you don’t want to create your own scene, there are plenty of presets to choose from that instantly take over all of the preinstalled fans and light strips.
And the wash on the rear wall… what a cool effect.
Easy to build in, feature-rich, and well-made, the Corsair iCUE 5000T is an excellent case for RGB lovers. If you’d rather drop the exterior strips and add your own fans over time, the 5000X and 5000D remain solid affordable alternatives.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes. Some articles may contain affiliate links and purchases made through this will result in a small commission for the site. Commissions are not directed to the author or related to compensation in any way.
