I would've liked to see an option for a side fan. In my experience I've found that a side exhaust fan has a tremendous impact on temps when dealing with graphics cards that exhaust into the case.
I also would have liked a side fan near the GPU. I don't care much about windows, but nothing is ever perfect to everyone. This case is better than the average mATX, even if not exactly small as it could be. nice review!
Looking at the aesthetics, performance numbers and your comments on how easy it was to assemble inside it, I kinda guess you'd be giving it some kind of award.
Personally, I think at this point in time we'd be getting 4xUSB 3.0 and the connectors are compatible with 3.0 and 2.0 like the ones in the Bitfenix Raider.
Other than that, fantastic looking case. Might be what I was looking for to put the old C2Q, 775 board and GTX460.
I first thought the bowl was inside the case, and that you were testing how long it took the case heat to cook the rice. It would certainly be a unique way to do thermal testing.
Always good to see smaller-than-ATX cases given some attention. A lot to like about this Corsair case and I think all pertinent points have been made. I will point out, however, that this case seems pretty big for a mATX case. Of course coming from the company that just brought the world the 900D case, to be expected.
I still feel that people aren't "getting" SFF (small form factor). The trend seems to be "how much crazy high end stuff can be built around a small motherboard" and not "how small an overall system can be achieved."
For "how small a system can be achieved", you've got Mini-ITX cases. For "how much gaming power can I pack into a box I can reasonably easily carry", I've got mATX ;)
First: There are ATX cases that are smaller and more portable than this one. Just because you shaved 3 inches off the bottom of the motherboard doesn't mean you've somehow magically made the whole system lighter, especially if you stuff it full of high end hardware and cooling.
Second: There are mITX cases larger than some mATX cases. The Bit Fenix Prodigy is only marginally smaller than, say, the Fractal Design Mini, which is just silly. This is the reason why I think this case is silly: It's a stupid huge enclosure for a board that's not even a 10" square.
Third: The 350D weighs over 13 pounds *empty*. If you look, you'll find dimensionally smaller full ATX cases that weigh less than that at roughly the same price point.
The assumption made when creating mATX and mITX standards was that people wanted smaller systems. In fact, as devices become more powerful and less power hungry, there's actually *fewer* reasons to design cases like this. As someone looking to build a small, powerful gaming system that I can easily carry, I would't even begin to consider this case.
"As someone looking to build a small, powerful gaming system that I can easily carry, I would't even begin to consider this case."
Nor would Corsair expect you to. Like the other recently reviewed mATX case; this one is targeted at people building high performance systems who've decided they don't need a full ATX board but who have otherwise not changed their building patterns. Just big enough to hold an mATX board cases and just big enough to hold a full ATX board cases (with a full ATX board installed) don't have room for anything beyond a 1x120/140mm closed loop rad. Fitting in 240/280mm rads; never mind the pumps/reservoirs needed for full custom loops needs a few inches of space beyond the minimum required to cram the board in. That's the group this case is aimed at; and it is significantly smaller than what they'd need for an equivalent full ATX system.
I've got an mATX system with 2 GTX 580s and an overclocked (closed-loop cooled) i5-2500K, and I'm very interested in exploring water cooling for the GPUs. If anything, having a mATX board makes this more relevant as I can't really get enough air between the GPUs to be comfortable.
You're right, I have missed the point being made. My apologies.
For me, all I care about is something more "portable" than my old Antec P180 (which weighed a ton and didn't easily fit in the boot of my car) so even the larger mATX cases are interesting.
This is why I find the case market fascinating: everyone has their ideals :)
What you are looking for is called a NUC. Intel makes them. Gigabyte makes them. Soon, I suspect all the OEM's will make them. I imagine Corsair or Lian-Li will make a case for one and then the whole thing will explode into a new form factor.
I was just on the fractal design mini review looking for the name of this case so I could look at leaked photos. As I was browsing down the photo list I caught the anand header with a R.. Was like wait a min.. there's no reveiew up yet. Than refreshed anand and sure enough.. :D
This case is what I want and if you throw in a HX or AX Corsair PSU cable management is going to look so damn good.. (rubbing hands together in glee!)
My ultimate case would only have ONE 5.25 slot, rest 3.5 bays/2.5 bays to lower total height. And stuff extra long depth as long as it fits a standard single GPU length card. Would be quite a nice small case, considering NOTHiNG like that exists I bet it would sell well.
This. It could possibly be done if you move the power supply to the front, and flip the motherboard. But thermal issues might come into play. It would certainly be interesting to see. Alternatively, can we see some new tech in the power supply market to shrink the standard?
have you seen the silverstone sugo? might be right up your alley. not as affordable as this and the fractal mini, but definitely shorter with full length GPU compatibility.
i own the fractal mini and definitely agree it wasn't entirely builder friendly, but the improved looks (i dont like seeing drive bays - who still uses those anyway?) and slightly less noise made it worth it for me. if i had to build a bunch of these though, looks like this corsair is a great way to go!
There are a few options if you are after a smaller mATX tower.
Lian-Li do a very small matx tower. 1x optical bay, 7x HDD bays PSU is mounted over the motherboard (does limit tower heatsinks, but fits many mid sized heatsinks)
The Silverstone TJ 08-E is another option, it does still have 2x optical bays, but it mounts the PSU up top instead of leaving radiator space, so its quite a bit shorter in height and depth than than the Corsair 350D. Has a 180mm intake and 120mm exhaust (they also do a variant with 2x120mm intake, but I forget the the model name). Still has room for 1x radiator up front is you sacrifice some of the HDD bays.
Did you guys notice? Even Dustin's wiring looked a little better. Damn Corsair is GOOD! (lol im kidding Dustin GREAT REVIEW!) I think your Bronze award was a little conservative, did you do that because you thought you might have gotten a little biased?
This looks like a lovely case, but I'd have preferred to see it hit with a lot more thermal load in testing. I have a Silverstone TJ-08 with an i5-2500K (at 4GHz), and 2 GTX 580s in SLI. The case (just about) keeps up with that level of load, but I'd be interested in how well the Corsair does with something similar.
Great review! I have been very excited to see more about this case since the 900D came out. What you really need to do is compare this to the Antec Mini P180. I know it is discontinued but it was easily THE mATX case to build a system in back in its day (my server is still in mine as I grew to full ATX and a 700D). I do not even have a need for this case but want to just get one because haha
This is what is considered a Micro ATX case now? Good lord. It's actually a bit taller and wider than my Antec P150 full ATX case. Is the size increase the price you pay for having a case that supports water cooling? If that's the case, I want to see Corsair make some cases that aren't designed with watercooling in mind.
As I mentioned in the Fractal Design Define Mini review, I completely agree that cases like this should barely be considered "micro"-anything. They could be a lot smaller, and I feel like manufacturers are just afraid to because they think people want bigger everything. Then why even make a MicroATX case? Check out the SilverStone Precision PS07, it's only 14.7" tall, 15.75" deep, and 11.46 lbs. Can hold any size video card, 2 drives without the cage, a ton more with the cage, and plenty of spots for 120mm fans. I don't know why they need to make them any bigger.
I like this case, the layout and design decisions seem well-thought out and the front is attractive. It still includes 2 5.25" bays for those of us who use optical drives, for those who don't they allow for a radiator or 3.5" drives.
The one shortcoming imo is the limited number of 3.5" bays. The 2.5" bay stack is a neat feature, but since it's completely removable using that space for 3.5" bays (which can obviously hold 2.5" drives as well) would give more options. It would make things very tight near the frint edge of a mATX board but it would still fit. With the low idle power draw of modern systems, using a main PC as file storage and serving makes more sense than it used to. If Corsair came out with an optional 3.5" rack to go where those 2.5" bays are the case would be even more flexible - add one, get 2 more 3.5" bays without blocking the intake fan, add 2 (for 4 drives) for maximum storage.
Not a bad little case, could be a little smaller for me personally but depends on what you are looking for. I do still think that the TJ-08E manages to do pretty much the same job in a smaller space although it could do with a few of the updates that Corsair has used to bring it more up to date.
Nice looking case and nice review. It would be nice to see you review the Fractal Design Arc Mini now. And they also came out with the Arc Midi R2 recently.
It's 41.6 liters? There are dozens of full-ATX mid-towers smaller than that!
I would not call this "small". Perhaps in comparison to the absolute largest cases available, but those are outliers (and the vast majority of DIYers don't need that space, anyway).
Rosewill's Line-M mATX case (at 27 liters) might constitute "small" but certainly not anything over 40! Yowza.
Anyway, it certainly seems to be a nice case, and the review and photos were thorough as usual.
It's telling in your recounting of past Corsair cases you completely forgot the Obsidian 550D.
I think when I came into this review I expected the 350D to be the 550D except smaller, so imagine my surprise when it was a 650D but smaller. You state it can be used with the H110, but since you did not test it, I wonder if this is true. Corsair states outright that the H110 will not work with the 550D even though it has the 140mm fans at the top (due mostly to the way motherboard heatsinks are often fitted and where the power cables go in at the top). If only you did more than test air cooling...
I also find it interesting you made allowances for this case to be a "water-cooling focused case" and forgave middling air cooling, but with the 550D where there are tons of ATX options for other cases by Corsair if you want air cooling you demanded "great" air-cooling or bust. Curious. Those priorities seem backwards to me.
I can't help thinking you'd be doing us all a big favor in using this case the way it was intended to be used and throwing a microATX motherboard with two GPU's into this case and giving us a real performance test of its cooling rather than a rather fringe case of someone using a mITX instead.
And I look forward to the now inevitable Obsidian 150D mITX case that should come any month now. At least then your mITX motherboard will FINALLY make sense to me when you use it.
Beautiful. My only wish is for one more 5.25" (or a 3.5") external bay, which could be done easily. I'd switch from my Corsair 650D in a heartbeat, but I have a DVD-RW, a 5.25" Lamptron fan controller, and a 3.5" multi-memory card reader, and I'd like to keep all three.
USB card readers are cheap and way more flexible and usable unless you somehow don't have USB ports close. The only USB device I own is a trackball and a DVD drive that lives in the closet. Despite having almost no need for USB, I have 16 USB ports within 12" of my hands when I'm typing. I can't imagine you don't have at least one. If you don't want an actual USB reader you can get USB converters which are the size of quarters that will convert a card to a USB stick. One of these options should work easily for you.
It's pretty heinous that TJ08B-E test results went away with the new test bed. I'd love to see these cases put head-to-head in thermals and noise. Anyone feel like donating to Anandtech?
This is one of the better looking cases I've seen recently. I really like how the feet are done and how there is a large gap all the way around the case in the front view that creates a bold shadow line. Really top notch industrial design.
I'm also really excited to see *any* case acknowledge the rising role 2.5" drives will have in the future. At some point the 2.5" magnetic drives will break free of their "laptop drive" stigma and all our drives can be the same 2.5" form factor. Sure you will always be able to get more storage in a 3.5" format at a lower cost per GB but the same was true of 5.25" and double height 3.5" drives and those are all gone. If all the drives where 2.5" and there was an open rail system for drives cases could be so much better.
If they really wanted to push forward they would have dropped all the 5.25" bays. Most computers sold don't include any optical drives anymore. Why are the smallest cases still including bays for 2 of them? I'm not saying no one has a need, but there are a lot who want a case with none and no one is acknowledging this fact and proving products for it. I certainly think the overall sales numbers for this case would have been improved by removing one of the 5.25" bays and having 2 additional internal 3.5" bays.
The Obsidian Series 650D is manufactured with strong, stamped steel parts for increased rigidity, and coated in a black textured paint. The front panel features a beautiful black brushed aluminum faceplate to bring a subtle elegance to your next build... more details :- http://tinyurl.com/c5czh4b
I'm still waiting on a mini-itx case from Corsair, this is an excellent offering nontheless but I'm wishing for a case layout similar to the Bitfenix Prodigy (with Corsair quality/style/finish) where the motherboard is laid out flat instead of on its side, that way there is no pressure/sag from gravity on heavy graphic cards.
i love the look of this case, however i think it was a big mistake to not include support for more 3.5" drives. a removable hard drive cage that would sit in the middle between the ssd mounts and the bottom cage would have been perfect.
Great little case.cant be smaller.Liqtech 240 almost is inside of one 5.25" slots. 3cm between my psu and the edge of the pcb.Just enough to squeeze in that space about 50cfm of cooling from the two front 140mm fans. What i found usefull is the ppssibilty to remove the 2x3.5" case i use one ssd + 1 wd black 2.5" and thats enough fro me having a separate nas for my content. Would recommend it if you will pay the 96 eur i paid for it.
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geniekid - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
I would've liked to see an option for a side fan. In my experience I've found that a side exhaust fan has a tremendous impact on temps when dealing with graphics cards that exhaust into the case.marc1000 - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
I also would have liked a side fan near the GPU. I don't care much about windows, but nothing is ever perfect to everyone. This case is better than the average mATX, even if not exactly small as it could be. nice review!AssBall - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
If you are building a micro ATX board system with 400W gaming card(s), then you should probably re-evaluate your priorities.lmcd - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
FYI LAN parties and LAN cases are both still relatively popular.Death666Angel - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - link
No? If it's possible, why not? mATX doesn't mean "less powerful" it just means "smaller".EzioAs - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Looking at the aesthetics, performance numbers and your comments on how easy it was to assemble inside it, I kinda guess you'd be giving it some kind of award.Personally, I think at this point in time we'd be getting 4xUSB 3.0 and the connectors are compatible with 3.0 and 2.0 like the ones in the Bitfenix Raider.
Other than that, fantastic looking case. Might be what I was looking for to put the old C2Q, 775 board and GTX460.
Thanks for the review Dustin.
lmcd - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
Yeah, two USB 3 is getting low, especially with mobos now providing 2 USB 3 headers.rakunSA - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
First thing I noticed is that there's a bowl (a rice bowl perhaps?) in the reflection. HADustin Sklavos - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
I actually use rice bowls to hold screws. :)douglaswilliams - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
I first thought the bowl was inside the case, and that you were testing how long it took the case heat to cook the rice. It would certainly be a unique way to do thermal testing.bobbozzo - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Maybe a black bowl would not be so visible?Thanks for the reviews!
Zap - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Always good to see smaller-than-ATX cases given some attention. A lot to like about this Corsair case and I think all pertinent points have been made. I will point out, however, that this case seems pretty big for a mATX case. Of course coming from the company that just brought the world the 900D case, to be expected.I still feel that people aren't "getting" SFF (small form factor). The trend seems to be "how much crazy high end stuff can be built around a small motherboard" and not "how small an overall system can be achieved."
Rolphus - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
For "how small a system can be achieved", you've got Mini-ITX cases. For "how much gaming power can I pack into a box I can reasonably easily carry", I've got mATX ;)michaelheath - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Rolphus, I think you're also missing the point.First: There are ATX cases that are smaller and more portable than this one. Just because you shaved 3 inches off the bottom of the motherboard doesn't mean you've somehow magically made the whole system lighter, especially if you stuff it full of high end hardware and cooling.
Second: There are mITX cases larger than some mATX cases. The Bit Fenix Prodigy is only marginally smaller than, say, the Fractal Design Mini, which is just silly. This is the reason why I think this case is silly: It's a stupid huge enclosure for a board that's not even a 10" square.
Third: The 350D weighs over 13 pounds *empty*. If you look, you'll find dimensionally smaller full ATX cases that weigh less than that at roughly the same price point.
The assumption made when creating mATX and mITX standards was that people wanted smaller systems. In fact, as devices become more powerful and less power hungry, there's actually *fewer* reasons to design cases like this. As someone looking to build a small, powerful gaming system that I can easily carry, I would't even begin to consider this case.
DanNeely - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
"As someone looking to build a small, powerful gaming system that I can easily carry, I would't even begin to consider this case."Nor would Corsair expect you to. Like the other recently reviewed mATX case; this one is targeted at people building high performance systems who've decided they don't need a full ATX board but who have otherwise not changed their building patterns. Just big enough to hold an mATX board cases and just big enough to hold a full ATX board cases (with a full ATX board installed) don't have room for anything beyond a 1x120/140mm closed loop rad. Fitting in 240/280mm rads; never mind the pumps/reservoirs needed for full custom loops needs a few inches of space beyond the minimum required to cram the board in. That's the group this case is aimed at; and it is significantly smaller than what they'd need for an equivalent full ATX system.
michaelheath - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
That logic can easily be defeated with the following statement:If you don't have enough equipment to fill up the slots of a full ATX board, you probably also don't have enough equipment to warrant water cooling.
DanNeely - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Water cooling is quieter than air cooling whether you have 1 large GPU in your system or 4.Rolphus - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
I've got an mATX system with 2 GTX 580s and an overclocked (closed-loop cooled) i5-2500K, and I'm very interested in exploring water cooling for the GPUs. If anything, having a mATX board makes this more relevant as I can't really get enough air between the GPUs to be comfortable.Rolphus - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
You're right, I have missed the point being made. My apologies.For me, all I care about is something more "portable" than my old Antec P180 (which weighed a ton and didn't easily fit in the boot of my car) so even the larger mATX cases are interesting.
This is why I find the case market fascinating: everyone has their ideals :)
lmcd - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
Hence the SG09 ;) got a 3960X and saving up for a new GFX card for it :DHisDivineOrder - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
What you are looking for is called a NUC. Intel makes them. Gigabyte makes them. Soon, I suspect all the OEM's will make them. I imagine Corsair or Lian-Li will make a case for one and then the whole thing will explode into a new form factor.lmcd - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
Lian-Li already seems to, I think. A couple itx cases of theirs designed for specific mobos n'stuff.just4U - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
lol..I was just on the fractal design mini review looking for the name of this case so I could look at leaked photos. As I was browsing down the photo list I caught the anand header with a R.. Was like wait a min.. there's no reveiew up yet. Than refreshed anand and sure enough.. :D
This case is what I want and if you throw in a HX or AX Corsair PSU cable management is going to look so damn good.. (rubbing hands together in glee!)
rwei - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Nice bowl!rhx123 - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Do they have an option for a blank side panel? I'm not a fan of windows really.Rolphus - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Yup, as per the first page of the article - the non-windowed version is even $10 cheaper.rhx123 - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Bah - didn't see that in the specs table - thanks.thebeastie - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
My ultimate case would only have ONE 5.25 slot, rest 3.5 bays/2.5 bays to lower total height.And stuff extra long depth as long as it fits a standard single GPU length card. Would be quite a nice small case, considering NOTHiNG like that exists I bet it would sell well.
randomlinh - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
This. It could possibly be done if you move the power supply to the front, and flip the motherboard. But thermal issues might come into play. It would certainly be interesting to see. Alternatively, can we see some new tech in the power supply market to shrink the standard?plcn - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
have you seen the silverstone sugo? might be right up your alley. not as affordable as this and the fractal mini, but definitely shorter with full length GPU compatibility.i own the fractal mini and definitely agree it wasn't entirely builder friendly, but the improved looks (i dont like seeing drive bays - who still uses those anyway?) and slightly less noise made it worth it for me. if i had to build a bunch of these though, looks like this corsair is a great way to go!
ghm3 - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
I do, I got a 5.25" drive cage to stuff 6 SSDs into my Silverstone TJ08-E.CrimsonFury - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
There are a few options if you are after a smaller mATX tower.Lian-Li do a very small matx tower. 1x optical bay, 7x HDD bays PSU is mounted over the motherboard (does limit tower heatsinks, but fits many mid sized heatsinks)
The Silverstone TJ 08-E is another option, it does still have 2x optical bays, but it mounts the PSU up top instead of leaving radiator space, so its quite a bit shorter in height and depth than than the Corsair 350D. Has a 180mm intake and 120mm exhaust (they also do a variant with 2x120mm intake, but I forget the the model name). Still has room for 1x radiator up front is you sacrifice some of the HDD bays.
Gunbuster - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Does it come with a phantom tea cup like in the main photo?just4U - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Did you guys notice? Even Dustin's wiring looked a little better. Damn Corsair is GOOD! (lol im kidding Dustin GREAT REVIEW!) I think your Bronze award was a little conservative, did you do that because you thought you might have gotten a little biased?Rolphus - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
This looks like a lovely case, but I'd have preferred to see it hit with a lot more thermal load in testing. I have a Silverstone TJ-08 with an i5-2500K (at 4GHz), and 2 GTX 580s in SLI. The case (just about) keeps up with that level of load, but I'd be interested in how well the Corsair does with something similar.scook9 - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Great review! I have been very excited to see more about this case since the 900D came out. What you really need to do is compare this to the Antec Mini P180. I know it is discontinued but it was easily THE mATX case to build a system in back in its day (my server is still in mine as I grew to full ATX and a 700D). I do not even have a need for this case but want to just get one because hahamkygod - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
This is what is considered a Micro ATX case now? Good lord. It's actually a bit taller and wider than my Antec P150 full ATX case. Is the size increase the price you pay for having a case that supports water cooling? If that's the case, I want to see Corsair make some cases that aren't designed with watercooling in mind.antef - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
As I mentioned in the Fractal Design Define Mini review, I completely agree that cases like this should barely be considered "micro"-anything. They could be a lot smaller, and I feel like manufacturers are just afraid to because they think people want bigger everything. Then why even make a MicroATX case? Check out the SilverStone Precision PS07, it's only 14.7" tall, 15.75" deep, and 11.46 lbs. Can hold any size video card, 2 drives without the cage, a ton more with the cage, and plenty of spots for 120mm fans. I don't know why they need to make them any bigger.Jumpman23 - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Does the optical bay include a face plate? It breaks the smoothness of the front view without a face plate to sit flush with the front cover.MadMan007 - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
I like this case, the layout and design decisions seem well-thought out and the front is attractive. It still includes 2 5.25" bays for those of us who use optical drives, for those who don't they allow for a radiator or 3.5" drives.The one shortcoming imo is the limited number of 3.5" bays. The 2.5" bay stack is a neat feature, but since it's completely removable using that space for 3.5" bays (which can obviously hold 2.5" drives as well) would give more options. It would make things very tight near the frint edge of a mATX board but it would still fit. With the low idle power draw of modern systems, using a main PC as file storage and serving makes more sense than it used to. If Corsair came out with an optional 3.5" rack to go where those 2.5" bays are the case would be even more flexible - add one, get 2 more 3.5" bays without blocking the intake fan, add 2 (for 4 drives) for maximum storage.
ushlak.morante - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Not a bad little case, could be a little smaller for me personally but depends on what you are looking for. I do still think that the TJ-08E manages to do pretty much the same job in a smaller space although it could do with a few of the updates that Corsair has used to bring it more up to date.ezridah - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Nice looking case and nice review. It would be nice to see you review the Fractal Design Arc Mini now. And they also came out with the Arc Midi R2 recently.529th - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
what the ffffffff is in the reflection of the first pic!? LOLtnerb - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
Are you going to be doing a review of the HAF XB anytime soon? Definitely interested in a CM open-air approach to microATX that's also portable.Comdrpopnfresh - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
does it come with the bowl of noodles?Jambe - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
It's 41.6 liters? There are dozens of full-ATX mid-towers smaller than that!I would not call this "small". Perhaps in comparison to the absolute largest cases available, but those are outliers (and the vast majority of DIYers don't need that space, anyway).
Rosewill's Line-M mATX case (at 27 liters) might constitute "small" but certainly not anything over 40! Yowza.
Anyway, it certainly seems to be a nice case, and the review and photos were thorough as usual.
Jackie60 - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
If Anandtech are doing cookery reviews could I please see the rating for the hot and sour soup.HisDivineOrder - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
It's telling in your recounting of past Corsair cases you completely forgot the Obsidian 550D.I think when I came into this review I expected the 350D to be the 550D except smaller, so imagine my surprise when it was a 650D but smaller. You state it can be used with the H110, but since you did not test it, I wonder if this is true. Corsair states outright that the H110 will not work with the 550D even though it has the 140mm fans at the top (due mostly to the way motherboard heatsinks are often fitted and where the power cables go in at the top). If only you did more than test air cooling...
I also find it interesting you made allowances for this case to be a "water-cooling focused case" and forgave middling air cooling, but with the 550D where there are tons of ATX options for other cases by Corsair if you want air cooling you demanded "great" air-cooling or bust. Curious. Those priorities seem backwards to me.
I can't help thinking you'd be doing us all a big favor in using this case the way it was intended to be used and throwing a microATX motherboard with two GPU's into this case and giving us a real performance test of its cooling rather than a rather fringe case of someone using a mITX instead.
And I look forward to the now inevitable Obsidian 150D mITX case that should come any month now. At least then your mITX motherboard will FINALLY make sense to me when you use it.
DanNeely - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
IIRC the most recent hardware updates left AT with an mITX board and a full ATX board for case testing.LoneWolf15 - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
Beautiful. My only wish is for one more 5.25" (or a 3.5") external bay, which could be done easily. I'd switch from my Corsair 650D in a heartbeat, but I have a DVD-RW, a 5.25" Lamptron fan controller, and a 3.5" multi-memory card reader, and I'd like to keep all three.Grok42 - Saturday, April 27, 2013 - link
USB card readers are cheap and way more flexible and usable unless you somehow don't have USB ports close. The only USB device I own is a trackball and a DVD drive that lives in the closet. Despite having almost no need for USB, I have 16 USB ports within 12" of my hands when I'm typing. I can't imagine you don't have at least one. If you don't want an actual USB reader you can get USB converters which are the size of quarters that will convert a card to a USB stick. One of these options should work easily for you.okron1k - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
i'm curious what you mean by hinged panels? i'm picturing the doors opening similar to the cosmos 2, but that doesn't seem to be the case.mmenart - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
It's pretty heinous that TJ08B-E test results went away with the new test bed. I'd love to see these cases put head-to-head in thermals and noise. Anyone feel like donating to Anandtech?bmaltz - Saturday, April 27, 2013 - link
nice soup bowl...Grok42 - Saturday, April 27, 2013 - link
This is one of the better looking cases I've seen recently. I really like how the feet are done and how there is a large gap all the way around the case in the front view that creates a bold shadow line. Really top notch industrial design.I'm also really excited to see *any* case acknowledge the rising role 2.5" drives will have in the future. At some point the 2.5" magnetic drives will break free of their "laptop drive" stigma and all our drives can be the same 2.5" form factor. Sure you will always be able to get more storage in a 3.5" format at a lower cost per GB but the same was true of 5.25" and double height 3.5" drives and those are all gone. If all the drives where 2.5" and there was an open rail system for drives cases could be so much better.
If they really wanted to push forward they would have dropped all the 5.25" bays. Most computers sold don't include any optical drives anymore. Why are the smallest cases still including bays for 2 of them? I'm not saying no one has a need, but there are a lot who want a case with none and no one is acknowledging this fact and proving products for it. I certainly think the overall sales numbers for this case would have been improved by removing one of the 5.25" bays and having 2 additional internal 3.5" bays.
karasaj - Sunday, April 28, 2013 - link
I might be too late to comment, but please review the Arc Midi R2!Alvar - Monday, April 29, 2013 - link
The Obsidian Series 650D is manufactured with strong, stamped steel parts for increased rigidity, and coated in a black textured paint. The front panel features a beautiful black brushed aluminum faceplate to bring a subtle elegance to your next build... more details :- http://tinyurl.com/c5czh4bBoloMKXXVIII - Monday, April 29, 2013 - link
I think Dustin and the 350D need to get a room. ;-)CloudFire - Friday, May 3, 2013 - link
I'm still waiting on a mini-itx case from Corsair, this is an excellent offering nontheless but I'm wishing for a case layout similar to the Bitfenix Prodigy (with Corsair quality/style/finish) where the motherboard is laid out flat instead of on its side, that way there is no pressure/sag from gravity on heavy graphic cards.shadess - Friday, May 17, 2013 - link
http://www.anandtech.com/Show/Index/6917?cPage=6&a...
shadess - Friday, May 17, 2013 - link
http://sawater.ucoz.net/shadess - Friday, May 17, 2013 - link
shadess.debellator - Monday, July 22, 2013 - link
Great review. Case looks really good. Do you think Scythe Grand Kama Cross cooler will fit inside ?okron1k - Monday, September 16, 2013 - link
i love the look of this case, however i think it was a big mistake to not include support for more 3.5" drives. a removable hard drive cage that would sit in the middle between the ssd mounts and the bottom cage would have been perfect.xslavic - Saturday, April 19, 2014 - link
Great little case.cant be smaller.Liqtech 240 almost is inside of one 5.25" slots.3cm between my psu and the edge of the pcb.Just enough to squeeze in that space about 50cfm of cooling from the two front 140mm fans.
What i found usefull is the ppssibilty to remove the 2x3.5" case i use one ssd + 1 wd black 2.5" and thats enough fro me having a separate nas for my content.
Would recommend it if you will pay the 96 eur i paid for it.