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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Nje - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
The side panel can also fit a 200mm fan, would be interesting to see if it is possible to fit a 200mm fan and a NH-D14..stratosrally - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
I have SLI'd GTX580s and a Corsair H60 with push/pull 120mm fans in my Scout. It is a noise machine - and that is with a custom solid side window - no vents or fans on it. I added a second 140mm intake in the 5.25"bay area under my single ODD so there are 2 front 140mm intakes, 1 top 140mm exhaust, and the 2x120mm push/pull rear =exhaust.I'd really like to try this case, the only change from as AT tested would be add an additional 120mm bottom fan next to the PSU, and keep my push/pull on the rear exhaust. I'd want to leave the solid side and top panels installed to keep noise at a minimum.
I wonder if I'd see a temp rise? My Scout is just crammed full, it has 1 SSD and 2 HDD and an audio card.
jimmyzaas - Saturday, March 31, 2012 - link
I like everything about this case except for the Front IO/power button position. If you have something plugged in to the USB port, like a usb cable for your cellphone or a usb thumb drive, you won't be able to open the door to access your optical drive or other 5.25" devices without first unplugging your device. This is just stupid IMHO.Many cases out there got this simple thing right by placing IO and buttons on TOP of the case. Why do you have to be special and put it in some ugly color-mismatched rectangular cutout in front of the case that feeds through a hole in the front door?
Sure you can remove the front door completely but why would you want to go that route? If I wanted something that looks like a Silverstone RV03, I would have bought that. I'm getting this case for the minimalistic look with the door in tact.
Death666Angel - Sunday, April 1, 2012 - link
It is, as you correctly denote in the graphs, "Degrees Celsius". Which is not "C" but rather "°C". But since you are dealing with deltas here, it would be much simpler to just use "Kelvin", "K", as most people do. :-)Thanks for making the switch to deltas though! :D
1ceTr0n - Sunday, April 1, 2012 - link
But you honestly do the worst case reviews with the worst reviewer possiblyhelvetio - Monday, April 2, 2012 - link
I just built a new system with this case and I really like it. The door can open to both sides, but the clips that allow this to happen are a bit delicate and I already broke one. Fortunately two spares are included.Since I keep the PC on the desk, it is important to me that the front ports and buttons are on the front, not on the top.
The PC is very quiet, even to my hypersensitive ears, the loudest part of the build as an evga GTX 460 but the sound proofing further lowers its noise.
Mosab - Tuesday, April 3, 2012 - link
1- From what I have seen the GC is Zotac not ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP.2- (GPU thermals are at the 90C) that is toooooo much for the GTX 560 Ti. I have GTX560Ti and I think that 90C is extreme even for over clocked one
cyberguyz - Tuesday, April 3, 2012 - link
They sink in the motherboard pan appproximately 1/4". If you are using a mATX board like the one in this article, you are fine, but if you have a full size board like an ASUS Maximus IV Extreme Z that has that lovely bank of 'lay down' SATA ports right at the edge of the motherboard, get set to break out a hammer and do some remodelling of that case.You see that raised area surrounding the motherboard pan area? It is just high enough that it blocks access the bottom-most sata ports on these motherboards. You just can't get a SATA connector into them. In short, unless you want to ding up your case to fit that really expensive full size motherboard with SATA connectors facing to the edge, I would suggest steering away from any of the Corsair Obsidian, Carbide and possibly the Graphite series cases.
As you can guess, this is from bitter experience after buying a Carbide 500R, getting it home and being faced with this conundrum.
jmunjr - Friday, April 16, 2021 - link
"but I also feel like there are large parts of it just waiting to develop issues with vibration in the future."8 years after building my system in this case it is as quiet and noise free as it was on day 1. Never an issue and never a vibration. This is the best case I have ever owned by far.