Corsair iCUE 465X review: A fantastic case for RGB enthusiasts

If you're assembling a new PC in 2020, you're either going all-in or RGB or staying as far away from it as possible. If you're in the former category, Corsair has a lot of products to meet your needs, some of which sit firmly on our list of best PC cases. The brand added RGB lighting to just about every product it makes, and connected them all via its iCUE platform, giving you the ability to sync lighting effects across all of Corsair's products.

The iCUE 465X is one such product that is catered to the RGB crowd. The mid-tower enclosure comes with Corsair's Lighting Node Core controller out of the box and has three LL120 RGB fans — a $65 value on its own. There's also a glass side panel and sturdy build quality both inside and out. So let's take a look at how the iCUE 465X holds up, and why it may just be the ideal case for your next RGB build.

Corsair iCUE 465X Specs

What you'll love about the Corsair iCUE 465X

Glass dominates the exterior of the Corsair iCUE 465X, with the case featuring frosted glass panels on the side and up front. The panel at the front is mounted on a plastic frame and sits one inch in front of the fans, ensuring it doesn't obstruct airflow. At the top of this plastic frame, you'll find two USB 3.0 ports, a 3.5mm jack, and the power and reset buttons.

Continuing on with the design, there's a large magnetic dust filter that covers the top panel of the chassis, and you have the option of installing one 140mm or two 120mm fans. You can also install a 240mm liquid cooler up top, but if you're going with a 280mm or 360mm cooler, you'll have to mount it at the front. At the back, you'll find seven horizontal and two vertical expansion slots, a cutout for mounting the PSU at the bottom and mounting holes for a 120mm exhaust fan.

Corsair provides three RGB-enabled LL120 fans with the case, and they're installed at the front. It's great to see these fans included with the case, and you also get Corsair's Lighting Node Core controller that lets you connect up to six RGB fans and control them via the iCUE software. In select markets like India, the LL120 fans are switched out for SP120 Pro RGB fans.

There is an easily removable dust filter that sits in front of the fans. There is another dust filter that covers the underside, and combined with the filter that sits at the top; these filters ensure dust doesn't make its way into the chassis. I've been using the iCUE 465X for just over a month now, and it has remained dust-free.

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The interior of the chassis has a clean layout, with well-positioned cutouts for routing cables and a metal shroud at the bottom that covers the PSU and the 3.5-inch hard disk bays. The interior is easily accessible — the side glass panel is secured by four thumbscrews. Corsair's Lighting Node Core controller is located on the rear of the motherboard tray, and it lets you control up to six RGB fans.

At the back, you'll find slots for installing up to four 2.5-inch drives, with two drives secured by trays and the other two mounted directly on the motherboard tray. There are two drive caddies for installing 3.5-inch drives, and these can be used for 2.5-inch drives as well. The drive caddies are located at the bottom, and you can remove them altogether if you want to make cable routing just that little bit easier.

The iCUE 465X comes into its element once you install all the parts, with the frosted glass finish accentuating the RGB lighting. The metal shroud at the bottom and the borders around the glass panel do a great job hiding the cables and the drive bays, and the result is a clean aesthetic that looks fantastic with RGB lighting.

Corsair has an ecosystem of products that can be controlled via iCUE, and if you're considering the brand's liquid cooling options or its RGB-enabled RAM modules, you will be able to sync lighting effects from a single location.

What you'll dislike about the Corsair iCUE 465X

Honestly, there's very little the iCUE 465X gets wrong. You are getting a lot of value here, but there are a few minor issues. The first is the fact that there's no exhaust fan included with the case, which means you'll have to pick one up separately.

With the front panel offering two USB 3.0 ports, you're missing out on USB-C connectivity. Finally, installing 280mm or 360mm coolers is more complicated than it should be, and you'll have to remove the installed LL120 fans up front to do so.

Corsair iCUE 465X Competition

If you like the design of the iCUE 465X but don't care about RGB lighting as much, Corsair's Crystal 275R features the same fundamentals without the front glass panel. You get three 120mm fans, but they're not the LL120. That said, at $80, you are getting even better value with the 275R.

Then there's the NZXT H510 Elite. The case costs the same amount as the iCUE 465X, and NZXT also has its own RGB platform. The case has glass panels at the front and the side, and you get a USB-C connector on the front panel as well.

Should you buy the Corsair iCUE 465X?

Corsair's iCUE 465X gets a lot of things right. The clean design combined with the glass panels makes it an excellent choice for RGB builds, and it nails the basics: you get excellent airflow, removable dust filters for easy maintenance, and cutouts for cable management.

It's great to see Corsair bundling three RGB-enabled LL120 fans and the Lighting Node Core controller with the package, and overall you are getting a lot of value here. If you're looking to up a few Corsair components or are just interested in a case for an RGB build, the iCUE 465X is a fantastic choice.

The iCUE 465X is available in white and black variants, and the white option, in particular, stands out. Corsair also sells white versions of its liquid cooler and RGB fans, so if you're inclined toward the white variant, know that you can pick up components in the same color option.