Corsair slaps a tempered glass side panel on its affordable Spec-04 case

There is a growing number of cases that use tempered glass side panels and don't cost and arm and a leg. Corsair's new Carbide Series Spec-04, now with a glass panel option, is one of them.

Going with the glass option only comes at a $10 premium over the non-glass variant, which bumps the price to $60 instead of $50. That's pretty good for a name brand mid-tower.

The styling of the Spec-04 is what Corsair calls a "bold asymmetrical design." You can draw your own conclusion on the aesthetics, though one thing to note is that it is only available in black with red trim, whereas the non-glass model is available with gray, red, and yellow accent options.

You can fit up to three 3.5-inch drives and two 2.5-inch drives inside the Spec-04, which should be plenty for most builds. It can also accommodate graphics cards up to 370mm long and CPU coolers up to 150mm high.

There are five fan mounts inside the Spec-04, including two 120mm/140mm mounts up front, two 120mm mounts up top, and a 120mm in the rear. A single 120mm fan is included. Users can also install liquid coolers inside the Spec-04, with room for up to a 140mm radiator in the front and a 120mm radiator in the rear.

Removable dust filters help keep the interior clean, which you'll want to do since the large tempered glass side panel provides a full of the entire setup. The case also has cable cutouts and room behind the motherboard tray to hide cables.

The Spec-04 with tempered glass side panel is available now direct from Corsair.

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).