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Obsidian Series 800D Case online


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25x25? that's huge. From the side view I was expecting it to be smaller than that. More approaching the size of some of the high-end mid-towers from, err... those *other* makers of sleek, black, very expensive computer cases.

 

Still, I think it looks phenomenal. I've never liked cases with lights all over them. I much prefer a simple, yet stylish box (no beige please).

 

I'm planning a new comp in the next few months, and this case just made my decision a whole lot harder.

 

One question (if any Corsair guys happen to read this):

Will we be able to purchase additional HDD brackets? What's the point of having a removable hard drive if I can't just pop a second one right back into the slot? If I'm going to have to uninstall the hard drive from the bracket once it's out anyway, I may as well just swap the hard drive out inside the case and save myself some money.

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Will we be able to purchase additional HDD brackets? What's the point of having a removable hard drive if I can't just pop a second one right back into the slot? If I'm going to have to uninstall the hard drive from the bracket once it's out anyway, I may as well just swap the hard drive out inside the case and save myself some money.

 

GOOD question!

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Dear Corsair and Friends of Corsair,

 

I consider myself a friend of Corsair, as I have used a good amount of Corsair RAM in many builds for myself and family with nary a single problem. In fact, I've received every single rebate I've ever sent in. (Thanks!!:D:)

 

I hope as a newcomer, I won't attract too many flames with the following post, but I really wanted to chime in on this new case and some observations I've made. I realize my observations are based solely on press releases and pre-production sample videos and photos, so some of the issues I present may have already been resolved for the production model. If that's the case, I apologize for the redundancy. If not, please at least take a gander at the following thoughts:

 

 

1. Wasted 5.25 bay. Four front USB ports, firewire, and a reset button ... why not integrate two somewhere else in the case, and integrate the reset button and audio ports elsewhere, too, so that we can use that space for something useful like a card reader or fan controller. At least engineer a way that we can install a 3.5 inch external device up there. If you use your 5 5.25 bays you will have zero 3.5 external bays available. Look at Lian Li, CM, and other popular cases that have them seamlessly integrated into the top, sometimes even with a nice cover panel, and the back ends of the ports don't drop down enough to interfere with anything in the case. There are several things people could use a sixth bay for up there that wouldn't block the use of a triple radiator at all.

 

2. Four USB ports, firewire, and NO ESATA? (Edit: just realized we're not supposed to mention competitor products - I was just mentioning it for reference!) Most of the newer, more desirable "enthusiast" full tower cases are going to have eSATA. This is 2009 and Corsair's brand new $300 flagship case doesn't have eSATA???

 

3. Negative pressure. If you install the recommended three fans or triple radiator up top, you're in for some serious negative pressure cooling unless you suck the air down rather than exhaust out the top. With a water cooling setup it's not as critical, but if you're using air cooling on your video cards, they are going to be more "air-starved" because of that negative pressure. And as if it wasn't bad enough, why'd they have to go and do this now, too??

 

http://www.myzander.net/OverClocking/CorsairCaseComparison.jpg

 

So now the 140mm hard drive fan has even less access to fresh air. I really just wonder why ... This case needs more intake to better match those four big exhaust fan possibilities or it's going to have some serious "fail" in air cooling potential. Even if it has decent temps, imagine how much better it could be if these things were fixed!

 

 

Those are major issues to me and will be to other enthusiasts. Now, I realize that this is merely a pre-production sample, so it's still being ironed out, but PLEASE, if you can, forward my words to someone who would read them and at least seriously consider my concerns. Even with these glaring flaws, I am still hoping that they are resolved. Now, if they aren't this case shines in so many other ways that it will still be a consideration and a contender for my money, but it's no longer a sure sale. If these issues are resolved, then it's a done deal, and this is my next case.

 

And from a marketing standpoint, you know as well as I do that "Six 5.25 inch bays!" looks a LOT better than "Five 5.25 inch bays!" A case with soooooooo much room, as the reps on the videos point out, has NO EXCUSE for not having 6 external bays of some kind. 5 total bays is worse than a lot of mid tower cases.

 

Now one minor issue:

 

Some cases make it easy for a second radiator install. The 840, for example, requires minimum effort to but a 2x120 on the bottom. I recommend making the optional 3.5 inch internal drive holder on the bottom completely removable, and leaving space, or even pre-drilling holes (at least leaving enough flat surface) for a 2x120 radiator on the bottom. Most enthusiasts, even very wealthy hardcore ones (not like me! :kaola: ) still have only four drives or less, so that bottom area should be easily configured to whatever setup the enthusiast needs.

 

Another suggestion is to put a grill on the side panel next to that window so the 140mm fan for the drives can pull in fresh air from the outside, rather than suck away the already limited air available in this extremely negative pressure system. It could be a very professional and translucent fabric grill or filter of some kind, neatly mounted flush with the black metal. It would add a minimal amount to manufacturing cost, but increase cooling substantially. Some nice, machined holes would do the trick. It's a black 140mm fan, so it's not going to look bad at all. Many other enthusiast cases employ a similar strategy to increase air intake by allowing some air to be sucked in from the sides.

 

Now, those gripes aside, I am loving this case.

 

1. Roomy

2. All black, inside and out - very well done!!

3. Window included!! Yay!!

4. Triple radiator easy to mount on top ... shoot, why not make it double thick while you're at it??

5. Hole behind CPU for easy removal. Every "enthusiast" case should have this. Enthusiasts are always changing stuff out, and moving stuff around!

6. Did I mention it's attractive as all heck? It's extremely sleek and subdued, yet impressive-looking at the same time.

7. Last, but not least, BEST cable management setup I have EVER SEEN on ANY case in my entire life.

 

Wow, that was long, sorry! Hopefully it's helpful to someone though, and I hope it doesn't fall on deaf ears. If you know anyone else I can send this to that would be better, please let me know and I will be happy to forward my suggestions to him/her. And I do realize that it's not in production yet, and they may have already figured out how to fix all of these things. If so, THANK YOU! If not, PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!!

 

Best Regards,

 

SirKronan

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Specs of the Obsidian 800D: 24" (H) x 24" (L) x 9" (W)

 

What size do you look for?

 

Ya know, your right. I measured my full tower case and the unit is comparable. Sweet. Hope it doesn't cost an arm and a leg cause I might consider buying one.

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I have been waiting for more info to surface on this case since they announced it at CeBit. I really like the size, and the all black design inside and out. The cable management couldn't be better, very spacious, and extremely clean. I am also glad they fixed the top radiator spacing compared to the model they showed at CeBit. But there are still a few issues that need to be mentioned:

 

  • I am a bit worried about airflow. I plan on liquid cooling my next build, so this concern is not that important for me, but it looks like there is only 1 intake on the bottom and multiple exhaust locations. Wouldn't that create some serious negative pressure issues for those who will be relying on air cooling?
     
  • I think most users would also like to see an eSATA included on the front I/O panel. 4 USBs is kind of overkill, we would be better off if Corsair would consider removing 1 or 2 of those USBs and including an eSATA instead.

 

Those are my main concerns with the case. With a price tag of $300, these issues need to be looked and and addressed. I really like big cases, and my next build will have 2 separate liquid cooling loops, so the space is needed. Having the inside black already saves me from having to paint it myself. I really like what I see.

 

One last question for Corsair; Is the bottom hard drive cage removable? I would like to utilize that space for a bottom 2x120 Radiator, and would prefer to not have to do any heavy modding to make it fit. Thanks in advance for your reply.

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I have been waiting for more info to surface on this case since they announced it at CeBit. I really like the size, and the all black design inside and out. The cable management couldn't be better, very spacious, and extremely clean. I am also glad they fixed the top radiator spacing compared to the model they showed at CeBit. But there are still a few issues that need to be mentioned:

 

  • I am a bit worried about airflow. I plan on liquid cooling my next build, so this concern is not that important for me, but it looks like there is only 1 intake on the bottom and multiple exhaust locations. Wouldn't that create some serious negative pressure issues for those who will be relying on air cooling?
     
  • I think most users would also like to see an eSATA included on the front I/O panel. 4 USBs is kind of overkill, we would be better off if Corsair would consider removing 1 or 2 of those USBs and including an eSATA instead.

 

Those are my main concerns with the case. With a price tag of $300, these issues need to be looked and and addressed. I really like big cases, and my next build will have 2 separate liquid cooling loops, so the space is needed. Having the inside black already saves me from having to paint it myself. I really like what I see.

 

One last question for Corsair; Is the bottom hard drive cage removable? I would like to utilize that space for a bottom 2x120 Radiator, and would prefer to not have to do any heavy modding to make it fit. Thanks in advance for your reply.

 

MrArmageddon? What a silly girl's name! :D:

 

JK!

 

You express some of the same concerns I posted above.

 

I apologize for the childish picture I posted, but hopefully they'll get the picture and maybe come back with some answers for our concerns.

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Ya know, your right. I measured my full tower case and the unit is comparable. Sweet. Hope it doesn't cost an arm and a leg cause I might consider buying one.
Last rumor I heard was $299 USD.

 

I think most users would also like to see an eSATA included on the front I/O panel. 4 USBs is kind of overkill, we would be better off if Corsair would consider removing 1 or 2 of those USBs and including an eSATA instead.
While I personally don't use eSATA ATM, my case has the same ports on its front I/O panel and the eSATA, and it's all spaced out well, so it's definitely doable IMHO.
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SirKronan et al, please reserve judgement on the performance and cooling characteristics of our new case until the reviews come out. I think you'll all be pleasantly surprised.

 

And, also keep in mind that the pictures in general that you are seeing are not necessarily the final product. This case has been thru exhaustive R&D and there are several samples about.

 

As for Esata, I fully expect USB 3.0 to kill it. And, most MOBOs with Esata headers have connectors on the back. It's just not a very popular standard and therefore was not integrated into our case.

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SirKronan et al, please reserve judgement on the performance and cooling characteristics of our new case until the reviews come out. I think you'll all be pleasantly surprised.

 

And, also keep in mind that the pictures in general that you are seeing are not necessarily the final product. This case has been thru exhaustive R&D and there are several samples about.

 

As for Esata, I fully expect USB 3.0 to kill it. And, most MOBOs with Esata headers have connectors on the back. It's just not a very popular standard and therefore was not integrated into our case.

 

Don't think we're passing judgment already on this new unreleased case! We are already "pleasantly surprised" and excited beyond measure for this new case. Remember I wrote:

 

"I realize my observations are based solely on press releases and pre-production sample videos and photos, so some of the issues I present may have already been resolved for the production model."

 

Also, don't forget all the good things I said about it!! I wouldn't put so much time, thought and research into this product if it wasn't already amazing in so many ways.

 

Trust me, we all just want this case to absolutely be the case of our dreams. These observations are meant to be helpful (only if the help is needed) and make sure that the case has the minimal issues. I realize I'm not an engineer, but merely a computer tech, and I know you guys know your stuff with hardware. We're just making observations. And we have nothing to base those observations on other than what we can see in photos and videos that have been released to the public.

 

I know that big hardware companies have great R&D and engineering departments, nevertheless so many products are released to the public that are so close to being amazing "killer" products, but because of "this" or "that" flaw that could have been easily corrected before mass production. We just don't want anything to keep this case from being everything we know it can be and everything it looks like it will be. And making the case of our dreams will do nothing but make whatever company makes it lots of money!! :D: I guarantee that none of our intentions are to hack apart your new product or just "troll" about on rampant "criticism parties."

 

By the way, I was all ready to come back and show you some solid evidence as to why leaving eSATA out is a bad idea (and I personally would like to see eSATA on the front) but I gave you the benefit of the doubt and looked up the latest on USB 3.0. Turns out that's it's closer than we realize. I read a site that said that NEC was releasing an extremely economical controller that can be thrown into any PCI-E slot to add the new functionality of the new USB 3.0.

 

Regardless, thanks for the heads up! I assure you we're all waiting anxiously for this to hit some hardware sites for some bench testing and reviews. In fact, I have passed out several times while holding my breath. I'll just have to calm down and breath and be a little more patient, as I realize we're waiting on the end of June/beginning of July for it to hit the shelves.

 

My best!

SirKronan

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Cool, I knew you weren't being unreasonable and did not intend to imply that. LOL...it's so hard to sit on information and samples waiting for the real product to hit the shelves.

 

I have a final sample of this case sitting behind me ready to throw a build into. But, I'm so busy with other stuff I don't have time.....yet.

 

If I could only give up sleeping.......:bigeyes:

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Cool, I knew you weren't being unreasonable and did not intend to imply that. LOL...it's so hard to sit on information and samples waiting for the real product to hit the shelves.

 

I have a final sample of this case sitting behind me ready to throw a build into. But, I'm so busy with other stuff I don't have time.....yet.

 

If I could only give up sleeping.......:bigeyes:

 

We would love you forever (ok, maybe love is a strong or inappropriate word ... how about strongly hold in high esteem??) if you could maybe shoot us some better pictures of the inside of the case.

 

A lot of us want to buy it and fill it with radiators. In fact some people I know have already started buying some of their watercooling parts in anticipation!!! :D:

 

Good luck with the new sample!

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We would love you forever (ok, maybe love is a strong or inappropriate word ... how about strongly hold in high esteem??) if you could maybe shoot us some better pictures of the inside of the case.

 

In a very computer sort of way, I knew what you meant :p:

 

I'll check with the product manager over cases and see what we can come up with.

 

Thanks again for all the feedback and interest.

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Cool, I knew you weren't being unreasonable and did not intend to imply that. LOL...it's so hard to sit on information and samples waiting for the real product to hit the shelves.

 

I have a final sample of this case sitting behind me ready to throw a build into. But, I'm so busy with other stuff I don't have time.....yet.

 

If I could only give up sleeping.......:bigeyes:

 

We really need to see more pictures, especially of the inside of the case.

 

I am trying to plan out how a 2 loop liquid cooled build would work out in there. I know the top will accept a 3 fan radiator, but I would really like to see the area at the bottom of the case where that removable hard drive cage is. I want to see if a 2 fan radiator would fit in there similar to what this build has done:

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3337/3599124533_bf46ebe480_o.jpg

 

If it can in fact fit the radiator down there, I am pretty much sold on this case. Any info you can provide regarding this area of the case would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your response. :D:

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Heh, just stumbled upon that same build a couple of hours ago. One important thing to note is that he cut out a couple of the bottom hard drive slots to fit in that 2 fan radiator.

 

I know there was cutting involved around the 3.5" drive bays, and removing of rivets. I have been studying his build logs for a few weeks now, and have decided that I too am going to use a 3 fan rad on top for one loop, and a 240 rad on the bottom of what ever case I end up getting for the second loop. Right now the case in the picture and this new Corsair case are competing for my next build. Decision will be made once I see some end-user review, and see more detailed info/pics of that bottom area in question.

 

I am OK making mods in the Corsair case as well, but if I can fit a 240 rad in the bottom without having to do any heavy modifications, even better.

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I know there was cutting involved around the 3.5" drive bays, and removing of rivets. I have been studying his build logs for a few weeks now, and have decided that I too am going to use a 3 fan rad on top for one loop, and a 240 rad on the bottom of what ever case I end up getting for the second loop. Right now the case in the picture and this new Corsair case are competing for my next build. Decision will be made once I see some end-user review, and see more detailed info/pics of that bottom area in question.

 

I am OK making mods in the Corsair case as well, but if I can fit a 240 rad in the bottom without having to do any heavy modifications, even better.

 

You know, an alternate setup that wouldn't be too bad would be to throw a second radiator on the top. Both radiators could have the top ports for the liquid, parallel to the radiator rather than perpendicular:

 

http://jab-tech.com/XSPC-R120-T-V-Triple-120mm-Radiator-with-top-mount-ports-pr-4232.html

 

The fans could be in the middle, and you could still have two separate loops, but with shared fans. Wouldn't be quite as much airflow, and you would likely want to go with the medium speed models rather than the low speed models of the fans. They would still be within one amp for the fan controller, and they'll still be very quiet. And your GPUs would have a triple rad loop instead of a dual.

 

Just another option. Ideally, however, they'd somehow make a spot on the bottom for some more effective watercooling gear on the intake side, other than just for a pump.

 

Man, I really want to see more of this case! Haha, I know we all do though.

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Great looking case, basically made me join the forum and ask a q.

 

Any chance of a solid door? I really don't like the Perspex window, it would be the only thing holding me back

 

Took the words right out of my mouth. With that said though, this WILL be my next case, window or no window, but i'd much prefer a solid sidepanel.

 

Also, is there some info available on the bundled stuff? Will it come with motherboard screws and whatnot?

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You know, on my other forum people are complaining about the window, too. A few say it's ugly, and a few say they don't want any window at all.

 

I think this window actually looks nice, and if you look closely, the curve on the top makes sense, because if you have a longer optical drive that's silver, rather than black, it will cover it a little better. I think they made it that way on purpose. At least it would make sense to me that they did that.

 

And again, I really actually like the look they gave the side window. Perhaps they'll make a model without for those of you that don't like windows, but then why spend extra on a pure black interior? I guess if you want to cut your own window ... I'm happy the way it is, though. So far. Just anxious to see some pics of the inside, and maybe some pre-market reviews from our friends at Anand or Tom's .... :D:

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