First Look: Corsair Obsidian 800D

More of the Outside

In the roof Corsair clearly has designed this case with watercooling in mind. The three 120mm slots are ideally placed for a large radiator, although Corsair stops short of dropping in a fourth at the sacrifice of an optical slot, or even adding 140mm or 200mm fan holes as well.

The recessed stamping does mean that an alternative grill can be used on top, or non-flat headed screwed can be used without it affecting the clean case lines.

Behind the top front panel is the connectors that include four USB 2.0, one 6-pin Firewire, 3.5mm microphone and headphone sockets, as well as the reset switch. The cover is push to release - so no handles are necessary to spoil the smooth facia - and it even has a weighted motion to slow the door release. Very nice!

In the front there is a similar door (although non-weighted) the pops open to reveal the four, removable SATA hard drive trays. At least they are metal and solid, unlike other, flimsy plastic ones we've seen before. Inside there are holes for both 2.5in (SSD) and 3.5in drives too. Four may feel like Corsair is leaving us a little short changed, considering many of us use all six SATA ports inside our cases, but there are a couple more standard 3.5in bays in the base of the case too.


To get inside, at the back there are Lian Li style rails to hold the case panels on, but Corsair uses a simple button rather than thumbscrew and clip. Both methods have their advantages, although Corsair certainly wins for ease of use and the button needs to be pushed in a fair way for the side panel to actually come off, negating accidental release. That said, where's the security? Take this case to a LAN (if you dare carry it once it's filled to the gills with hardware) and not only do thieves have a nice view inside of what to nick, they'll be in and out in no time.



The side panels are fairly rigid thanks to the combination of thicker ABS steel and backfolded ends, although do inevitably give in to a degree of flex. There is no sound deadening material included (not that we're criticising) and the panels clearly require less effort than Antec P-series cases.