Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Mid-Tower Case Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,601
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Mid-Tower Case Review - Corsair was once synonymous with only quality RAM. Today we find Corsair’s diversification of its product line tremendously successful. Its focus and execution with the desktop PC enthusiast has lead to a great PSUs, SSDs, and cases to house all your high end equipment. Its Obsidian 550D case is another great product.
 
Impressive enclosure. As a 650D owner I'm really interested in what they've done with the noise reduction on the 550D.
 
I was planning to pick one of these up this Friday from work anyways but with a [H] Gold award on it's belt it does give me even more confidence about it. You guys answered pretty much any question I could have had about the case. I do a lot of custom builds at work but have yet to use the 550D in a build so I was going in blind. I want a quiet case that will be decently cool and it looks like I made a good choice.
 
Corsair is really pushing all the right buttons lately.
 
Ph.D said:
Impressive enclosure. As a 650D owner I'm really interested in what they've done with the noise reduction on the 550D.
Click to expand...

I personally love the look of the 650D but there were 2 things that made me skip it:
- sound isolation
- the front fan which causes problems with a lot of owners, and well, I have a bunch of gentle typhoons which I would like to actually use ;).

This case is just great, with the gentle typhoons and a 7850 from asus, I can hardly even hear it. Only when there is no ambient sound there is a soft humming sound from the air moving inside the case.

However: one point that many users complain about:
The hinges of the door break off easily.
I haven't had this problem but I do have to say that they don't really feel that robust (mind you, they aren't flimsy either).
 
XTF said:
Well, the case is a bit large. Who needs 4x 5.25" nowadays?
Click to expand...

Don't think you can really make it more than about an inch or two shorter without losing full ATX or resorting to weird PSU placement.
 
Actually I think you can shrink depth to about 350mm while retaining support for full length GPUs. Height will have to increase a little bit to support an ODD and you won't be able to fit tons of HDDs, but most people don't need more than two anyway.
 
Between this and the Fractal R4, I'm torn on a new build. I won't be placing multi-gpu setups into the machine and will likely stick with stock CPU cooling, so going with a low noise solution is really ideal.
 
Excellent work Steve. 27 dB acoustics is impressive. Lots of bottom PSU mount cases have little room over the motherboard but I found the radiator placement info especially handy as I'm contemplating an H2O unit for my next build. Will be wary of rad sizes now, thx.
 
Wow, nice case. This just moved to the top of my list... I need a new case too.

Thanks for the review.
 
I bought this case 1 month ago. Installing it was a breeze, never been happier. Using Corsair H60 for CPU cooling and it's not an issue fitting the fan, cooler or CPU block. Plenty of space for everything in there. So much space that I need longer cables to get the wiring looking good in this case, that's the distance from the PSU to the DVD player at the top :)

The only one thing, and this may either be my PSU, motherboard or user error, but everytime the power is cut and restored (even when the computer is off), I press the power button and it quickly blinks and goes dead. I then have to power cycle my PSU with the on/off switch and then it starts fine. It's just that it won't start by itself after the power has been out. Granted this isn't much of an issue for anyone, it's just that I cut the power to my mancave when installing a new lamp switch, that's when I noticed this behaviour. This was not a problem in my old case with the same PSU and same motherboard...
 
Nice review, I like the removable cages and magnetic filters... I do wish it had two less 5.25" bays and higher placed front fans tho... Getting that near straight cross flow across the top of the case can be nice. Hopefully CompUSA brings it over at some point, paying for shipping on cases to PR sucks.
 
stashtv said:
Between this and the Fractal R4, I'm torn on a new build. I won't be placing multi-gpu setups into the machine and will likely stick with stock CPU cooling, so going with a low noise solution is really ideal.
Click to expand...

I've built with both Corsair and Fractal cases. Get the Corsair case. Better engineered and things just seem to fit together better. My R3 has a motherboard screw hole that is just slightly out of alignment -- you get when you pay for.
 
Just skimmed the review and read the conclusion but it mirrors my experience with this case (3 months in now). The only thing that is annoying is removing the bottom/PSU dust filter (have to pull the case out a bit and tip it forward) but that is a minor quibble. I haven't had any issues with the front door latches.

- Quiet yet good airflow even with stock fans (voltage controlled via mobo fan headers)
- Awesome looks
- Good build quality
- Great value on sale for $120

I'm using the stock fan config + 1 bottom intake (Gelid SILENT 12 PWM) and can confirm the fan filters work wonderfully. We have a cat, and even after 3 months there is barely any dust/hair inside the case. I usually clean the filters every 1-2 weeks when I'm vacuuming the apartment and there is a bunch of cat hair/dust built up on them, but the actual innards of the tower accumulate way less than my old P180 case did.
 
Interesting to see what you give up temp wise vs something like the Raven 2...it is 5 dBA quieter per your testing but that center video card is 15-deg C hotter!
 
stashtv said:
Between this and the Fractal R4, I'm torn on a new build. I won't be placing multi-gpu setups into the machine and will likely stick with stock CPU cooling, so going with a low noise solution is really ideal.
Click to expand...


i am torn too. i like the dimensions and the looks of the r4 better. only thing is the weight, this is about 16lbs, the r4 us about 27lbs.
 
trynberg said:
Interesting to see what you give up temp wise vs something like the Raven 2...it is 5 dBA quieter per your testing but that center video card is 15-deg C hotter!
Click to expand...

But the weird thing about sound is that 5dBa is the larger number. I really want to build my next system with this case!
 
The Raven 2 is larger and pretty much built for GPU cooling, I'd definitely go for it if I were running a crazy tri-SLI/CF config or two GTX 690 or something like that... But if a 550D can keep your GPU within a normal range, and you actually prefer it overall to a larger case, then it doesn't really matter whether that other case can keep GPU temps 10C lower or not. Apples to oranges really...
 
I pre-ordered this case in January and have been using it since March, overall I've been very happy.

Though I did have first-hand experience with how shipping can go wrong when there is a single layer of cardboard between the case and the outside world:

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1038502467&postcount=507

Thankfully my replacement was flawless and the case should serve me well for several years.
 
Why is there such a massive difference between CPU temperature readings on HW monitor between the Raven and 600T? I know some slightly different components were used in testing and the CPU coolers were different (Venomous X versus Arrow SB).

Standard Hardware Configuration:
600T: 32 / 28 / 28 / 35 / 30 / 36
R2E: 72 / 70 / 67 / 68 / 72 / 70

Enthusiast Hardware Configuration:
600T: 49 / 44 / 44 / 49 / 44 / 40
R2E: 74 / 74 / 72 / 74 / 77 / 75
Reply With Quote
 
After using this case for about 3 months now these results don't surprise me one bit, the case is absolutely excellent. Nice to see others agree with me, great review as always.
 
I'm buying this case tomorrow. I was waffling between the 550D and 500R. I've had experience with the 550R but not on the 550D. I trust [H] reviews above all others, and I know you wouldn't steer me wrong. Thank you for an awesome in depth review and for helping me decide.
 
any comments on the door? I've had several cases with broken doors. Thanks!
 
Are there any problems with fitting Corsair Hydro H100 into this case?
 
I can't freaking wait for a REAL mid-tower. Not the size of the 650d or 550d. An Obsidian 250d would be awesome, just because I love the build quality of the Obsidian line, and the finish. Corsair why not build something just like the 650D, but a lot smaller, many people only need 1 video card, maybe 4 drive slots (2 ssd, 2 storage). I think what I'm getting at is an Apple-esque engineering. First thing that comes to mind is the Silverstone FT03-Mini. Of course it probably couldn't get that small but an Obsidian specifically for mATX would be great.
 
I have this case and have a H80i now but want more. The H80i is my first water cooler so i have no experience building a water loop.

I only want to cool my cpu.

I was thinking either 2 x 120mm radiators each with push/pull or maybe 1 x120 and one 240 on the top. The 240 ontop would be just push or pull since room is not available. ?

I found this photo (from here) and it might be for me (sans the gpu cooling)

I suppose a reservoir would go in one 5.25" bay and a pump in another? I could also use the space next to the psu and one of the hdd bays. I am just trying to figure out what would be the most effective and easiest to get 2 radiators, pump and reservoir in there.

Thanks for ideas.


this is my case now:
QHmXB7.jpg

QHmXB7.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top