Hardware First Look: Corsair Obsidian 800D

kudos on a decent filter. However one minor change, give the user the option of installing the filter from the rear (for aesthetics) or from the front (for easier removal).

 

Nothing a dremel and some modding spirit couldn't manage.

 

Looks lovely but a bit on the big side for me. Ive only got 2 hdd's heh.

 

Welcome to the forums!

Quick (and inevitable) question: Do you plan a smaller midi tower variation on this case?

 

We don't really comment on unannounced products, but we are looking at a lot of options for future products. This case was a great learning experience for us and came out really well in my opinion - I've played around with it and it's a dream to build a system in it.

That being said, I know a lot of people want something a few inches shorter and lighter, so we're looking into that market as well.


If you look around and see what people are buying on forums, you'll get a good sense of what we're looking at for future products. But that being said - I can't tell you yes or no, all I can say is we're looking at a multitude of options for future products.

 

The case looks pretty good, odd choices though, the fact that it's that expensive and made of steel....

Ouch.

Lack of quiet 230mms is disappointing.

 

That is a great case, just a little too high cost for my taste. Window is fine, I'm sure the HDD airflow is fine, and I love 3x120 on the top. But don't some rad's have different spacing between fans? Any plans to accomodate that or is it being manufactured in mass already?

 

that case is just perfection even at that OMG who needs a kidney price. Me wants ><

 

If there was less plastic, I'd buy it, but as of right now, that case still doesn't have the quality to justify the price(FT01 and ATCS840 comes to mind).

 

IMHO I would leave out the cutouts on the mobo tray and let people decide for themselves. Or if you feel inclined to cut the tray, cut a rounded corner square behind the CPU for ease of changing blocks and that would be it. Wire management is different for every person and the swiss cheese mobo tray now just feels like your trying too hard to hit a small segment that probably doesn't care anyways. All the plastic inserts in the cutouts just detracts from the case.

And for everyone talking about 120.4's and massive rads, all that cooling power is a waste for 97% of the general public. You can achieve decent (and by decent I mean better than air) with a 120.3 and small overclocks. Plus many WC companies are releasing 140.x rads allowing for greater surface area making anything bigger than a 3 fan rad redundant. I can see using 2 120.2's max internally, especially now with the advent of the Typhoon 3 allowing you to have split loops with 1 pump. Rumors are there is a DDC version coming soon as well, and then all your problems will be solved.

Besides, anyone needing that much cooling ( 2 or more 120.3's) will be going external as that is where the real cooling benefits.

 

If I had the money I'd purchase it and see what sort of watercooled system I could build in it. I've got a Cosmos S case at the moment and it's fine, but that case does look rather tastey. Overall you've (ie Corsair as a company) done a great job. Have to see if I can get one as a sponsored build in the future, or have someone ask me to build them a pc with it.

 

So is there a set date for release? I cant find this case for sale anywhere.

 

So the answer is a definite maybe. Fair enough!

For what it's worth I think there's a sizable market for something akin to the 800D, just about 10 cm shorter and perhaps a couple of grams lighter...

 

What are the dimensions of the case? Is the 800D some product/sum of these? It could be a volume indicator... -> Smaller cases, Obsidian 400D?

 

From the product page: 24" (H) x 24" (L) x 9" (W) - (609mm X 609mm X 229 mm)

 

@corsair guy:
i'd love a smaller case without hot-swappable HDD (so cheaper) but have a dedicated place to put the watercooler Corsair just released.

i really want to go all Corsair, RAM, PSU i've already got, the watercooler looks fantastic and hopefully a case designed for it.

 

Well it certainly looks pretty good.

Not sure about the issues raised in the preview though - all the issues mentioned about fan positions and PSU orientation seem to indicate problems for airflow, look forward to a full review and test on it (come on CPC).

Some great ideas there though, especially for a first attempt. I'm sure quite a few will be "borrowed" by other companies soon.

Finally..the price...good grief £225 !

Probably not for me....

 

For those of you guys wondering about the release date, the answer is it should be on shelves Late August/Early September. We're in production now. The unit in the review is a pre-production unit, so the CPU backplane will be changed, and a few screws and rivets will be strengthened in order to prevent flex and whatnot. Mostly fit and finish things.

 

I admire the fact that Corsair is breaking into new markets, but as it says at the start of the article.... it's just all over-engineered.

They seem to have spent too much time with silly things like that hatch on the CPU socket, the HDD bays and the roof with the recessed area for alternative grills. Clearly, on an aesthetics front, they've gone for the Lian Li look (sleek, monolithic tower), but they seem to have missed the whole point of a Lian Li, the fact it's a perfect blank canvas for a unique machine (which lets face it when your looking at spending £220+ just on a case your gonna want).

This seems to be the case for the kind of person who will buy Dominator GT RAM rather than a cheaper kit and overclock.... a little more money, a little less sense, a little less effort.


EDIT: Oh, and as I keep saying. Steel is the biggest mistake they made here, without doubt.


But they make nice RAM.

 

Nice looking case, but I'd go for a TJ07 at that price.

Also, from the preview it sounds as though the funny sideways fan (that's meant to suck the air underneath into the tiny gap between it and the case over the HDDs and expel it behind the motherboard tray) doesn't work very well? I'm surprised they kept that idea tbh; it sounded ineffective from the get-go.