Hardware Corsair Obsidian 900D Review

We get our hands on Corsair's new flagship case - the enormous Obsidian 900D
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2013/04/16/corsair-obsidian-900d-review/1

 

Finally! Though it seems like an exercise of how many radiators can I fit into a case....

 

Yes! They gave it to Leather!

 

I think the brushed alu look on the front panel is a mistake. From the photos, the 5 1/4" drive bay covers look untidy.

I also don't think a case like this should be marked down too severely for the lack of fan control - the type of people who will buy this will lean toward Aquaero or BigNG solutions, and top end motherboards now offer fairly comprehensive fan control software for the fan headers, and you can run a couple of fans off each header fairly comfortably.

Huuuge case though.

 

I'm halfway through this excellent review..... why have they extended the window to the sides of the 5.25" bays - I hate it when Corsair to do this. I can't think of a time when I'd ever had something I wanted to show off on the side of my 5.25" bays (unless its so big you can fit a tube res?)

 

Just too large. End of story. Then again, some people actually buy the mountain mods(?) cases the size of a living room..

I don't get it.

 

Ok, so finished the review. I agree with Spreadie, that anyone buying a £300 case will also have a fan controller (or at least, be able to afford one). I have one built into my Nanoxia Deep Silence, and its not even connected. If they made a version without one for £10 less, I would have bought it.

Aside from that, its about what I expected. Too big for me probably - think you'd need to be running SLI or triple SLI, or else it would look empty, and I'm a single GPU kinda guy. I do also like the fact that you can fit a full size rad in the roof without obscuring the top of the motherboard - that's something that is really nice to have. The sheer choice of rad mounts is also a delight!

Overall, I'm really looking forward to all the high end watercooled builds people do with this case, I won't be one of them, but I think we're going to see some awesome looking setups soon.

 

It's huge!
I presume you'd have to watercool everything to make use of a quad rad though...

 

Or just rent it out to a deserving homeless person

 

Yet again the British get screwed over by price.........At the current exchange rate, the case should be £248.52 if the U.S. price is $379.99/ Or if the UK price is the main one then the U.S. price should be $458.68. So as usual we are charged a shed load just because we live the other side of a puddle

 

We're charged VAT in the UK so once you add the 20% it becomes £298.

 

What's going on with the case exterior? Is the finish on the panels a total grime magnet or is the bit-tech office just in need of a clean? I suppose this could be a hand-me-down review sample you're working with here...

Whatever the reason, the side panel looks pretty horrible!

 

If it's anything like the 700D then it is definitely a grime and dust-magnet. Looks like an epic chunk of case!

 

Just so people know, if you look at the picture that has the pump mounted on a plate just below the hard drive cage is that was left in on page 3.

That plate can be removed and you can fit a 240 or 360 monster (80mm) rad in with push/pull on it although really you wouldn't want to be mounting a radiator there.

I will probably do as was done in this review and mount the pump using that plate and remove the other hdd cage, and get a smaller res to mount to the pump and then have the output from the pump going up the back panel of the cage.

Then mount my SSD on the back of the motherboard tray then, get some caddies or something for my 2tb and 1tb drive.

Also after watching the TTL review of this case I have also asked that in his modding video that he will be doing, that he covers the potential for removing the 5.25" bays as to how easy or difficult it is but whether he does or not I don't know.

I have a few ideas for this case, but will need to find someone who can supply the material and make some parts for me as I have no skill with metal work.

 

I have the 800D for about 2 years now and can't complain, apart from the dust it's a perfect case and I cant see any reason to change it.

 

Overpriced much? I guess if the quality was there i'd say "OK"; but from what I experienced with Corsair quality on 650D; cheap parts, no USB 3.0 header, and front bay plastic broke off during shipment... Called their support and was advised to buy an internal header if I need USB 3.0, as if $180 for mid size case wasn't enough! Probably a good thing I don't have that case anymore.

 

What sizes are the reservoir used in this review?