Corsair Obsidian 550D: Starting to Specialize
by Dustin Sklavos on March 29, 2012 3:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- mid-tower
Conclusion: Built for Silence
Despite being the first case tested under our new methodology, there's still a lot to process with the Corsair Obsidian 550D, both in terms of its design and in the data that results from it. By explicitly engineering their enclosure for silent running, Corsair has taken a major first step in producing a specialized design as opposed to a more fundamental ATX case like the 550D's predecessors. There's still a lot of experimentation going on here, and the case is designed with flexibility in mind, but the insulating foam should be a dead giveaway that the 550D was designed for silence first and foremost.
In terms of thermal performance, it's tough to make a direct comparison to Corsair's other cases. The conclusion I tentatively arrive at is that despite gunning for a design that's quieter than most, acoustics were never really the major problem with the cases Corsair sells at and above the 550D's price point. It's fantastic that they've developed an enclosure like this, something with real dampening properties, but I still want to see them handle the problem that's consistently hounded their designs: thermals. The 550D doesn't perform poorly, but I feel like the thermal performance is still underwhelming.
This is a very difficult balancing act many enclosure designers go through and I don't envy them, but it again serves to highlight a phenomenon I've experienced with some regularity since I started testing cases: south of $150, you can get some gradient of silent running and thermal performance, but not both. It's only when you spend up that you can get both—as with the Thermaltake Level 10 GT, the Cooler Master Cosmos II, and the SilverStone FT02. Not coincidentally, all of those cases also happen to be gigantic full-tower designs. While Corsair lists an MSRP of $159 for the 550D, NewEgg's $140 price point is more appropriate.
Aesthetically, I think the 550D is an attractive case with a lot of slick ideas, but I also feel like there are large parts of it just waiting to develop issues with vibration in the future. The top grate of the Graphite 600T can produce vibration over time, and I get the nagging feeling that the push-button release for the side panels is going to wind up causing more problems than it solves in the long term. Unfortunately this is also speculation based off of an anecdotal experience with one enclosure; it's entirely possible that none of these parts will develop issues with rattling in the future.
Corsair continues to set the standard in ease of use and assembly, and the Obsidian 550D is ultimately a very worthy entrant into the enclosure market. People who are fine spending $40 on a case and calling it a day are unlikely to be swayed by the 550D, but users looking to optimize and invest may find that the 550D's combination of features and customizability is exactly what they're looking for. I have a hard time coming up with any useful suggestions or solutions for the issues I have with the 550D and I'm not ready to risk armchair engineering something that's clearly at least a little experimental. That said, while the Corsair Obsidian 550D isn't the grand slam I was hoping for, it's still compelling and certainly worthy of consideration.
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SilthDraeth - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
Actually, in following up, I express my ignorance for not reading the review first. It appears they built a standardized test bed for cases, and this is the first case to be tested with the new test bed.Also, going on the assumption that review hardware doesn't sit around indefinitely, I would gather that future case reviews will be done with the standard test, as I mentioned in my above post.
haelio - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
I'm sure there must have been more than this case around in Anandtech HQ :) Adding even one other case for comparison would improve this review immensely.I hope this review's graphs are updated when other cases are used with this test bed.
JarredWalton - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
"AnandTech HQ" is where each of us happens to live; I'm in WA, Dustin's in CA, Anand is in NC, Ryan is in OR, Johan is in Belgium, and Brian is in AZ, just to name a few. I'm sure Dustin does have more than one case at his home/apartment, but going back to "re-review" some cases means he basically doubles (triples) the workload for an article just for the sake of graphs. The next review should have two cases listed, and once we have half a dozen or so reviewed this won't be much of a problem.Just for the record, we originally tried to come up with a good testbed so that we wouldn't have to change it after just one year, but first attempts sometimes fall short. So now we have a new testbed that should last Dustin several more years. :-)
MrMaestro - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
That's fair enough, Jarred, it's just that the next case review probably aren't going to be all that relevant. I don't really care how this case compares to your average value or gaming case, I want to know how it compares to its competition - the Antec SOLO II, Fractal Define R3, Cooler Master Silencio and the Silverstone FT02, to name a few. Dustin even mentions that the FT02 is better in the conclusion. Ok, it's not direct competition, since the FT02 is $100 more expensive, but I would like to know if that $100 is worth it.I guess I'm a little disappointed because I'm tossing up quiet cases for my next build, and this review just isn't all that helpful to me. I don't mean to bitch and moan, as the writers such as yourself are doing a great job, and I get to enjoy it for nothing. I also don't envy Dustin's job of repeatedly building and tearing down systems for case reviews. I was looking forward to this review and it was a little disappointing is all.
Cheers.
Dustin Sklavos - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
You can draw a rough comparison between the stats for this enclosure and our previous reviews by adding ~23C to the thermals. Noise levels aren't so fortunate.The reason I suggest the FT02 as a superior option is because I'm actually using an FT02 for my personal desktop. Overclocked i7-990X and two GTX 580s sandwiched together in SLI; with an aftermarket fan controller, the FT02 is actually able to keep all of that both cool and remarkably silent under load. Subjectively, the FT02 is a hair louder at idle than the 550D, but DEFINITELY quieter under load.
mtoma - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
Disappointment I wouldn't call it: after all it is tested a new model of quiet computer case (and the enthusiasts know they aren't to many models to chose from).The fact that we don't have any reference to say ... Antec P280, is unfortunate, but let's not forget that vibration problems are important too (not only noise and thermals), and if there is a chance that to occur in Corsair.... I'm sorry.
Not last, we should remember that changing the testing methodology is a good thing, is a progress. We shouldn't blame progress, and we shouldn't blame a reviewer before reading an article.
kevith - Saturday, March 31, 2012 - link
Hi Jarred.Would it be possible to do a sort of "here-we-are" article on the structure and people of Anandtech?
We all check in almost every day to read the articles by the well-known signatures, but we don't know how you look - apart from Anand - we don know what your "labs" look like, where you're located or how you coordinate the "mag" etc. etc.
Will you share that with us?
gordo453 - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
on the top of the second page you say 500D instead of 550D8steve8 - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
full size ATX cases seem utterly irrelevent now days...I love anandtech, but i wish they spent more of their case-reviewing energy on smaller, more modern designs.
with mobos like the Asus Z77-I Deluxe for those who can make due with 2 dimm slots, and countless high end micro atx mobos with no relevent concessions for their smaller size, i find it dubious to think full size ATX is required outside of very rare cases where you need a large number of pcie cards.
JCheng - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
If Amazon's "Most Popular" sorting is any indication, full size ATX is alive and well, as 16 of the top 20 cases are ATX or bigger.