Corsair Obsidian 250D Case Review
by E. Fylladitakis on January 21, 2014 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- Mini ITX
- Case
Ed: As this is his first review, we’d like to quickly introduce E. Fylladitakis. E. is taking over Cases & Cooling coverage as our newest editor, so this is the first of many articles you will see from him over the coming months
Corsair is a very well-known manufacturer among technology enthusiasts, and the company has been a supplier of premium memory modules for decades. During the past several years however, the company has successfully diversified into many segments of the market and today offers numerous products: computer cases, power supply units, air and liquid CPU coolers, solid-state drives, and gaming peripherals can all be found in Corsair's product ranks.
With the recent announcement of the Obsidian 250D, the company chose to start 2014 by joining the Mini ITX case fever, something most other large case designers and manufacturers have done recently. The Obsidian 250D however has not been designed with minimum proportions in mind; despite the Mini ITX format, it can still house very powerful gaming systems and advanced cooling solutions. The specifications of the case can be seen in the following table.
| Corsair Obsidian 250D | ||
| Motherboard Form Factor | Mini-ITX | |
| Drive Bays | External | 1 × 5.25" |
| Internal | 2 ×2.5" 2 × 3.5" | |
| Cooling | Front | 1×200 / 140 mm (140 mm included) |
| Rear | 2×80mm | |
| Top | - | |
| Side | 2 x 120 mm (1 × 120 mm included) | |
| Bottom | - | |
| I/O Port | 2x USB 3.0, 1x Headphone, 1x Mic | |
| Power Supply Size | ATX | |
| Clearances | HSF | ≈145 mm |
| PSU | - | |
| GPU | ≈295 mm | |
| Dimensions | 350 mm ×277 mm ×290 mm(D × W × H) | |
| Weight | ≈5kg | |
| Prominent Features | Aluminum front fascia and thick steel construction Top window for component visibility Thumbscrew backplate removal for PSU and hard drive access Easily removed dust filters on all intakes Simultaneously fit two 3.5”/2.5” drives, two 2.5” drives, one 5.25” drive, a full sized PSU, a 290mm long GPU, and a 240mm radiator Innovative three panel removal for sides and top panel, with thumbscrews Tons of cable routing tie downs for easy cable maintenance Tool free installation of all drives | |
| Price | ≈ 70 EUR / 89.99 USD | |
We received the Obsidian 250D inside a short, simple cardboard box that hints at the cubic shape of the case. Inside the box, we found the case packed between thick Styrofoam slabs and wrapped in a nylon bag, which is more than ample shipping protection for the small, lightweight case.
The bundle of the Obsidian 250D is sparse, with Corsair supplying only the absolutely necessary parts needed to fully assemble a system. We only found a manual, three small bags with black screws and a few black cable ties. At least some more cable ties and perhaps a couple of cable straps would be a nice addition. The bundle may be found in a cardboard box secured into one of the 3.5" trays.
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J.Griff - Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - link
I take that back, after reading bit techs review : 0 it all but beats every itx case in cooling, except when the node 304 is running on high speed fan mode. So it's between the 250d and 304. Both the best itx cases in certain aspects, equally good choices depending on whether you value size, node 304 being a bit smaller and room for more hard drive space, or the 250d with it's better layout and the ability to customize more.rocktober13 - Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - link
I like the move to Mini ITX cases but it still seems like there is a lot of excess space in these cases (Bitfenix, Fractal Node, etc). I want to see more along the lines of the EVGA Hadron series, but at a lower price point. The Hadron fits all the same components in half the volume.J.Griff - Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - link
True but it's going most certainly going to run noiser and hotter than the node or 250d, so screw that. Lol. Until the steam box console like layout cases come about these 2 are pretty much unbeatable cases IMO.rocktober13 - Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - link
I am not a fan of the box shape either, so I will probably have to wait for a steam machine. I would be curious to see how the temp and noise of the Hadron compared to the node or 250d though.sleepytea - Wednesday, January 22, 2014 - link
the Silverstone RVZ01 is not far off. I don't like the style of that case, but the ML07 will be another option. I'm leaning more and more towards the SG08, but if the ML07 has the temps and noise level to match it could be an excellent competitor. I'm skeptical that the SFX PSU format will help things along in that regard, but at the same time Silverstone is potentially putting out a 600W SFW unit the SG08 may get a Lite version.lmcd - Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - link
SG08 and such!pierrot - Wednesday, January 22, 2014 - link
meh, too big which defeats the purpose of itx imo and not that great lookingbracka - Wednesday, January 22, 2014 - link
Isn't a 30W payload for each HDD a massive overkill? I am concerned that due to different HDD placement's between cases there could be high variation in CPU heater temps as a result of pre-heated air.Liked the review. Can't wait fore more. Would like to see Bitfenix Phenom matx!
dj_aris - Wednesday, January 22, 2014 - link
Do I see a mITX with a BGA cpu (presumably a C837 / C1007) and then a GTX770 added? I really wonder how this system performs if it's available to run some tests.By the way, καλή αρχή πατριώτη!
E.Fyll - Thursday, January 23, 2014 - link
Well, I will see what I can do about that. Although, it is given that the CPU would be a serious bottleneck here, even though it is better than an Atom.Thank you. :)