Hardware First Look: Corsair Obsidian 800D

[Kovoet]

Damn I can see my Mrs kicking my head in next month especially getting this case and the new 5870 gfx card

[zabinko]

Maybe they didn't send you a review model because your preview wasn't all that positive? I'd really like to see it go through the temp-tests you guys put it through, because it offers for a good comparison between cases.

[zabinko]

Maybe they didn't like your preview enough to send you a review model?

Pitty though, I would really wanted to see this case through your temp-tests, as it makes a good comparison with the other cases in your portfolio.

Couldn't you just buy the case off the regular market as some reviewers do? That way you are sure you're not getting a model that has gone through extra quality control just for the sake of a review. If the cost is prohibitive, you could set-up a marketplace for reviewed items where you offer them at reduced cost.

[slugbug]

A really well designed case but a bit too expensive for me at $300 CDN.

[HourBeforeDawn]

Originally Posted by zabinko

Maybe they didn't like your preview enough to send you a review model?

Pitty though, I would really wanted to see this case through your temp-tests, as it makes a good comparison with the other cases in your portfolio.

Couldn't you just buy the case off the regular market as some reviewers do? That way you are sure you're not getting a model that has gone through extra quality control just for the sake of a review. If the cost is prohibitive, you could set-up a marketplace for reviewed items where you offer them at reduced cost.

Corsair review budget is pretty tight now and days and given the expense of this case and low productions numbers, not to many people could get a review sample.

Ya I agree with the others the price is way to high to make it really worth buying.

[coolmiester]

Sorry to bring up an old thread.

I've just got my hands on an 800D and can't believe that Corsair didn't use the standard radiator hole fittings for the top panel.

[GravitySmacked]

Nice looking case!

[DragunovHUN]

Depends on what you call standard, AFAIK it has a 15mm hole spacing and that's perfect for Alphacool rads.

[coolmiester]

Originally Posted by DragunovHUN

Depends on what you call standard, AFAIK it has a 15mm hole spacing and that's perfect for Alphacool rads.

You're totally correct.....got my measurements mixed up

Still got to work out how to fit a 240 in the base also.

[disturbed13]

Originally Posted by coolmiester

You're totally correct.....got my measurements mixed up

Still got to work out how to fit a 240 in the base also.

ive got that solved
by using a

[avddreamr]

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

It's a PREVIEW

Please READ THE ARTICLE.

We will review it fully in time but these are our first impressions without actually having built anything into it. I received the case Friday afternoon.

So what ever happened with the final review?
I finally saw this case in person,and I came away with mixed feelings.
1)I felt that for 300 US, there were better valued options. (Atcs 840, many lian-li etc)
2)I would have preferred for the entire exterior of the case to be brushed aluminum. Although I'm sure that it would require a retooling, you probably need 2mm of aluminum to avoid rattles, and that would throw off the dimensions. Or even side- panels that are similar to the ones found on Antec's performance one series.
3)I wasn't crazy about the window. However, since it could be replaced with a mesh panel it would resolve most airflow problems, so that became a positive.
4)I liked the bottom section, you could easily fit 2x120 rad down there, maybe even 120.2, if you did an extended mount for the psu, and used something like the cp series from antec.


Either way, I look forward to reading a final review of this case, and I hope it doesn't take a year from the published date of this preview. At this point, I'm assuming that it failed to meet some standard and the manufacturer requested for the review not to be published.

It's a shame, since I feel that your case reviews are the best on the internet.

[cgthomas]

@avddreamr :
Exactly, what happened to the review? They already have an cut-down version out and still no review of the oroginal one.
Really looking forward to this, as at the moment I'm considering a case but usnure about the thermal performance. And I really, MUST STRESS REALLY, can't trust any other review than Bit Tech's.

Most sites, don't know how to review a case for ****.

Looking forward to it.

[stonedsurd]

Bit haven't received one for testing yet.

Blame Corsair, not the reviewers.

[cgthomas]

bad silly Corsair

[Bindibadgi]

Originally Posted by stonedsurd

Bit haven't received one for testing yet.

Blame Corsair, not the reviewers.

We asked repeatedly for a sample but the request fell on deaf ears unfortunately. We tried our best to source one from retailers but since it's a bulky and heavy item noone was interested to send us. I expect we will never review a Corsair case in the near future unfortunately.

[stonedsurd]

At the risk of sounding like a moron, how about just buying one?

[avddreamr]

@Bindibadgi : At the risk of sounding retarded. Why don't you collect donations... If everyone who posted a reply sends you 2 dollars.... you'll be fine for the purchase of the case.
I do think corsairs reluctance to send you the case, is that in its default configuration it would fair poorly on most metrics. Granted if you install all additional fans, it would do fine in all benchmarks except for HDD cooling.

In the end I ended up buying an atcs 840. I saw a great deal on one that was second hand, where the owner did a few of the mods that I was planning on doing myself.

Despite it's fault, its a great first attempt at a case from corsair, and I'm sure they will get it right on the next revision. If they bothered to poll the enthusiast community, they would find that it would take some minor adjustments to please nearly everyone.

1)Change the finish in the exterior to brushed... Then you would have the best looking case.
2)Manufacture stealth cd rom bezels ala lian-li.
3)Modify the bottom portion of the chasis to accommodate dual psu. Or Alternatively extend the chasis by 1-2" so that there is plenty of space, for bottom radiator mounting. If you can mount a 3x120 radiator... and have a 1000w psu, No one will complain.
4)Modify the orientation of the hdds, to actually get fresh air in from the bottom (that means flip it 90 degrees. 180mm is more than enough for 4 hdd's... maybe even 5.
5)Give it 8 pci slots.
6)Provide a modified side-panel that would have mesh area on the bottom for lower compartment side to side cross ventilation. Further Provide an option for side panel mounting of fans, even large ones... to cool the gpu area. To satisfy the air cooling crowd.

No matter what, the target market for this case is the enthusiast. Only an enthusiast will spend 300 dollars on a case, when 300 dollars can get you a new video card, or cpu, or an ssd that would provide the greatest speed benefit. Have an eye towards the future, the enthusiast purchases expensive cases with the rationalization that they can keep it for several years, to survive several years of upgrade cycles.

One thing that they should not change under any circumstances is the internal steel structure for the chassis. Changing to aluminum will increase costs, and the argument of lighter weight is mute, b/c lets face it... this case is 2 feet high, by 2 feet deep.



Thanks

[DragunovHUN]

Originally Posted by avddreamr

@Bindibadgi : At the risk of sounding retarded. Why don't you collect donations... If everyone who posted a reply sends you 2 dollars.... you'll be fine for the purchase of the case.

We were actually going to do precisely that at one point, even had a thread about it but apparently that one fell through.

[Bindibadgi]

Originally Posted by stonedsurd

At the risk of sounding like a moron, how about just buying one?

No budget, and ended up not being bothered to go to that effort. It would look vindictive if it was a negative review.

There are other, more willing companies wanting our time and that's where we'd rather concentrate on supporting with reviews.

If you don't mind, we'd rather drop the subject and move on - it's a subject that's been and gone now and there are more interesting subjects and cases to discuss anyway

[rip97000]

Bindibadgi - if you haven't bought or recieved one then how do you explain these statements in the "first look":

There's one covering the PCBs as well which we didn't photograph because, quite simply, it wouldn't stay in.

Addendum 27th July 2009: Corsair contest our opinion here and state the hard drives receive ample airflow. We will endeavor to test the theory and contrasting opinion when we fully review the case.

so it seems to me that your lying and you don't want to publish your review. but my questions are why lie about it when it's pretty obivious you have it in your possesion? plus why not tell us what the outcome of the tests were? are they so bad that corsair didn't want them published? that would make sense the way that you test your cases (which i wholeheartly support). the case doesn't come with many fans so i could see how it could fail under the standards that you have for case testing.