In our test of Corsair’s AIR 5400 case, we didn’t have the opportunity to dwell on the temperature readings, due to the extremely tight timing on receipt of the case. Indeed, four days wasn’t long enough. As we had implied, we made a series of adjustments within the iCUE software to optimize cooling. We hadn’t had a chance to make a video of the Corsair AIR 5400, but that’s now rectified! (review here in French)
As a reminder, if you haven’t already done so, I advise you to read our article, in order to understand the internal design of the case. Without being revolutionary, the Corsair AIR 5400 brings a very good evolution to the internal circulation of fresh air and the evacuation of hot air. The main innovation is the presence of three separate chambers. Corsair has focused on airflow to organize the interior into three distinct zones. The principle is that the air in these three chambers never comes into contact with the components of another chamber, as demonstrated in the video above.
Although I’m not the person in charge of case testing, we’re going to set up a protocol, enabling us to put forward a series of readings. It’s difficult to offer a comparison at this point, since this is the only reference tested with this protocol. The idea is above all to see the impact of the heating of one component on the other components of our configuration.
Corsair iCUE software settings:
First of all, for the three fans on our AIO, we’re going to select their speed according to the processor temperature. The software offers a default curve, which we’ll refine as the weeks go by, if necessary. As you can see, if the CPU temperature rises, all three fans will run faster. The idea, of course, is to keep noise levels as low as possible. We’ve done the same for the other six fans, with the difference that their speed will increase as a function of GPU temperature.
We’ve therefore taken several temperatures into account: that of the processor, that of the power supply, that of the graphics chip, that of the memory, that of the DDR5 and finally, that of the SSD. As a reminder, here’s the configuration installed inside this Corsair AIR 5400 :
- Motherboard : ROG Crosshair X870E HERO (BIOS 1715)
- Processor : AMD Ryzen 9 9800X3D
- Memory: 32 GB Corsair Dominator Titanium 7600 MT/s CL36
- Graphics card: NVIDIA RTX 5080 Founders Edition
- Cooling system: Corsair AIO NAUTILUS 360 RS
- SSD : Corsair MP700 PRO 2 TB
- Power supply: Corsair HX1500i
- Operating system: Windows 11 64-bit
This configuration allows us, without difficulty, to take full advantage of 2160p definition, i.e. 4K. The idea of our readings is therefore to put maximum stress on the graphics card, to see how it affects the other components of our configuration. The ambient temperature in the lab during our tests was 18.8°C. The six fans, three on the bottom and three on the top, rotate at a speed of 300 rpm when the configuration is at rest. In other words, the only source of noise to be heard is the pump on our Corsair AIO NAUTILUS 360 RS.
To simulate GPU load, we used OCCT software version 15.0.7. The software allows us to opt for 100% graphics card utilization. We carried out a series of three tests, with 10 minutes’ rest between each run. Our readings do not correspond to the maximum temperature reached, but to the temperature recorded at the end of our 30-minute test. The point is to see when temperatures stabilize.
As you can see, our NVIDIA RTX 5080 Founders Edition heats up and gives off a lot of heat. The design of the cooling system on this model is perfectly suited to the air circulation within the Corsair AIR 5400. The good news is that air circulation within the case is extremely efficient, with virtually no effect on other components, as our graph shows. Of course, noise levels are higher, as the six iCUE LINK RX120 fans increase from 300 rpm to 1400 rpm. Personally, in my gaming use, I never reach this situation, so noise levels are lower.
As you can see, the advantage of positioning the radiator of our AIO NAUTILUS 360 RS in the second chamber, instead of the usual high position, is that it doesn’t engulf all the heat coming from the graphics card, and is therefore less effective at cooling the processor!
We’ve added this series of tests to the original article on the Corsair AIR 5400 case (in French). As you may have guessed, these tests in no way change our positive opinion of this case. It’s a little gem, and no doubt retains the three awards we gave it: “Coup de Coeur”, “Innovation 2025” and “Editor’s Choice”! Once again, many thanks to Corsair.
