Test System

Assembly

Installing a motherboard is done by traditional means, with spacers and screws. Corsair has pre-installed the spacers, including one with an alignment pin in the center to prevent any issues with placing the board properly. There is plenty of space above and towards the front of the board, with the two large routing holes in the shroud also nicely lining up with the connectors on the motherboard's bottom edge. That said, with a somewhat compact cable channel, things are a bit tight on the front-facing right edge. However, we had no tangible issues plugging everything in with a bit of extra attention and effort.


Adding an SSD to the 5000D Airflow is done by simply taking the frame off the case and screwing the drive down. Once filled, just pop it back into one of four possible locations.


You do not actually need any tools for a 3.5" drive as you can snap it into place before sliding it back into the cage underneath the shroud until the two latches on either side of the tray snap down to secure the drive.


That said, if you want to fit a bigger PSU, you either have to remove the side bracket for the fans/radiator or move the whole cage over right away. So, if there is a radiator on the side and you have a long PSU, this cage will have to go.


To add your PSU, slide it underneath the metal shroud and screw it down through the rear of the chassis, which is pretty straightforward as well. There is plenty of space, so fitting a potent unit to power all your gaming gear shouldn't be a problem.


With everything installed, the Corsair 5000D Airflow looks very clean on the inside, and all the wiring behind the motherboard tray has its proper place as well. Placing the inner cover works, but the pressure of the cables pops it off the magnets. It would have been better had Corsair instead gone with screws or some sort of clipping system. This could become a little annoying for those with the iCUE 5000X variant of the chassis—the 5000D Airflow just covers it up with its actual metal side panel anyways.

Finished Looks

With the system turned on, there is really not much to see. A clean, white power LED also lights up right underneath the button to let you know the system is up and running. Naturally, if you opt for the RGB variant of the chassis, you will have slightly more to play around with visually.


The subtle glow of the RGB components shines through the air vents of the case. These RGB-lit parts are also somewhat visible through the heavily tinted side panels. Some brands do go as far as offering different intensities for the tint of their glass side panel, but I think Corsair easing off on the tint just a bit for the hardware inside to show more would have been enough.