Corsair Obsidian 350D Case Review
by Dustin Sklavos on April 25, 2013 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- MicroATX
Testing Methodology
For testing Mini-ITX and Micro-ATX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in a stock configuration as well as with add-on graphics cards to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise. As we've retired our Micro-ATX board from the testbed, Micro-ATX enclosures will be using the Mini-ITX testbed.
| Mini-ITX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i3-2120 (65W TDP) |
| Motherboard | Zotac Z68ITX-A-E |
| Graphics Card |
Intel HD 2000 IGP Zotac GeForce GTS 450 Eco ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives | Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD |
| CPU Cooler | SilverStone NT07-1156 with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Plus 1000W 80 Plus Silver |
Each case is tested with just the Core i3's integrated graphics as well as with a discrete graphics card. The system is powered on and left idle for fifteen minutes, the thermal and acoustic results recorded, and then stressed by running four threads in Prime95 (in-place large FFTs) on the CPU, and OC Scanner (maximum load) is run when the dedicated GPU is installed. At the end of fiteen minutes, thermal and acoustic results are recorded. If the enclosure has a fan controller, these tests are repeated for each setting. Ambient temperature is also measured after the fifteen idle minutes but before the stress test and used to calculate the final reported results.
We try to maintain an ambient testing temperature of between 22C and 24C. Non-thermal test results aren't going to be directly comparable to the finest decimal point, but should be roughly comparable and give a broader idea of how the enclosure performs.
Thank You!
Before moving on, we'd like to thank the following vendors for providing us with the hardware used in our testbed.
- Thank you to Puget Systems for providing us with the Intel Core i3-2120.
- Thank you to Zotac for providing us with the Z68ITX-A-E motherboard and GeForce GTS 450 Eco.
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply and NT07-1156 heatsink/fan combo.
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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.