Corsair Obsidian 750D Case Review
by Dustin Sklavos on September 24, 2013 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- ATX
- Case
While Corsair cases are almost uniformly excellent for liquid cooling and the Obsidian 750D will no doubt be another success story in that respect, the monkey on Corsair's back has always been air cooling performance. Outside of the appropriately named Carbide Air 540, none of their cases has really had excellent air cooling, but up until the full fat testbed, Corsair's balanced approach with the 750D actually does a pretty solid job.
Stock air cooling performance is at least pretty respectable and competitive. It's not the monster that, say, the Air 540 is (let alone the SilverStone Fortress FT04), but it holds its own.
For at least stock testing, the Obsidian 750D is able to hit that middle ground pretty nicely. Load noise is better than a lot of the competing cases; SilverStone's FT04 has worlds better thermals on the CPU, but it's much louder in the process (though it can be tuned to a more pleasing balance of noise and performance depending on the end user's taste.)
Overclocked thermal performance is surprisingly strong. The 750D isn't leading the pack, but it's posting closer to the top and maybe a degree and a half behind the beefier Air 540.
Noise levels prove to be a victory for Corsair, but they're still struggling to beat NZXT's Phantom 630, which runs both quieter and cooler. This is a step in the right direction and the difference between the cases is small enough that you can probably go with whichever you prefer. Corsair really needs to step their game up to compete with NZXT, though; Corsair makes arguably better liquid cooling cases, but NZXT doesn't make you choose.
Our full fat testbed unfortunately hits the limits of the Obsidian 750D's stock cooling configuration. Thermals are mostly competitive but measurably weaker than the competition. The traditional ATX layout typically just plain needs more airflow when faced with this much of a thermal load.
The 750D winds up being one of the louder cases as a result. Corsair's thermal target clearly wasn't something as grueling as this type of system, but this highlights the value of having either PWM fans or a built-in fan controller. Either will allow the case to be more flexible in terms of the systems it can support instead of starting to hit limits.
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b3nzint - Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - link
Does it has a gpu holder mechanism? and I need 4 bay 5.25". But overall not bad.hemi79 - Wednesday, September 25, 2013 - link
This looks like a great case! I had the C70 and just felt the need for more space so I looked into to the Obsidian models, but the 650D model didn't convince me due to the 200mm fans. This seems like the perfect case for my case. I went with the NZXT Switch in Matte Black and while I had all the space I dreamed of, I have to say the quality of the build and material did not compare to the Corsair C70. I almost regretted it, but I made peace with my decision instead of paying return shipping. lolUltraWide - Saturday, September 28, 2013 - link
One thing you can't tell from the pictures and review is how flimsy this case is. The overall quality is very low, more in line with the Carbide series. The design and layout is excellent, but the metal is just too thin and the case frame/structure bends easily. I am returning mine and going with the NZXT H630.Cainethanatos - Monday, September 30, 2013 - link
Oh really, is it that bad ? I am aswell looking at the 750D or the H630 . Dustin, compared to the H630, the build quality better oir worse (or the same(ish) ). Otherwise I might need to flip a coin :)lorribot - Saturday, October 5, 2013 - link
Hands up anyone who would use all 10 HD drive bays? What about all three 5.25 bays?I do sometimes feel it is a case of "because we can, we will" when it comes to the number drive bays in cases. I imagine most people are likely to need no more than two, one 2.5 and one 3.5, some may need to use a 5.25 for fan controls or even a blue ray but to be honest I can't remember the last time I put a DVD into a computer.
It would be a brave case manufacture that dropped completely or only provided ony a single 5.25 bay (or low profile one) and only 2 or 3 2.5/3.5 multi use bays in anything other than an ITX case
But whatever the case size I would expect improved air flow without all the extra bits of metal spoiling things. It might even reduce prices a bit and simplify installations and provide more layout options internally.
This case like many others reviewed is safe, uninspiring and of little merit. Apart from the odd case that nudges at the boundaries there is nothing really happening in case design, it is ripe for some real design people to step in and provide some real inspiration and flair, sadly it seems that only Apple, albeit freed from the constraints of standard motherboard layouts, is up for the challenge.
limaxophobiac - Friday, October 11, 2013 - link
"Noise levels prove to be a victory for Corsair, but they're still struggling to beat NZXT's Phantom 630, which runs both quieter and cooler."This isn't true at all, look at the test, at Overclocked Load and Full Fat the CPU in the NZXT Phantom 630 is 8-10 degrees hotter, this is HUGE in the 750D favour.
limaxophobiac - Friday, October 11, 2013 - link
Nevermind I was looking at the H630 not the Phantom. The Phantom is indeed cooler.The_Goods - Tuesday, October 15, 2013 - link
I love the heck out of my 800D. It's a gorgeous space to build a veritable waterpark of cooling.When I don't love it, is when I have to pick up the 70lbs of PC manlove.
These new ones are going to make for some happy hooligans.
sdmf74 - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
dude you have your SSD plugged in to your optical drive WTFAntonio Cortina - Monday, October 20, 2014 - link
I have this box for a week now and I've seen the HDD LED does not work :(Not know the Corsair RMA policy but they should change the box completely.
I've already put a complaint in the store but they doubt that the supplier's change me for another.
All Obsidian boxes I've had in the European area had a defect.
I hope Corsair fix this or lose a lot of customers