Corsair Obsidian 900D Case Review: Think Big, That's Only HALF as Large
by Dustin Sklavos on April 16, 2013 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- Water Cooling
- ATX
- XL-ATX
Testing Methodology
For testing full ATX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in stock and overclocked configurations to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.
| ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-2700K (95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 4.3GHz @ 1.38V) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD4H |
| Graphics Card |
ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP (tested at stock speed and overclocked to 1GHz/overvolted to 1.13V) 2x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 in SLI (full fat testing only) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive 3x HGST DeskStar 3TB 7200-RPM HDD |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Plus 1000W 80 Plus Silver |
Each case is tested in a stock configuration and an overclocked configuration that generates substantially more heat (and thus may produce more noise). The system is powered on and left idle for fifteen minutes, the thermal and acoustic results recorded, and then stressed by running seven threads in Prime95 (in-place large FFTs) on the CPU and OC Scanner (maximum load) on the GPU. At the end of fiteen minutes, thermal and acoustic results are recorded. This is done for the stock settings and for the overclock, and 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.
For the "full fat" testbed, the GTX 560 Ti is swapped out for a pair of GTX 580s, and three hard disks are added to fill out the case.
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 i7-2700K.
- Thank you to Gigabyte for providing us with the GA-Z77X-UD4H motherboard.
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory.
- Thank you to Cooler Master for providing us with the Hyper 212 Evo heatsink and fan unit.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Samsung BD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive.
- Thank you to HGST for providing us with the trio of hard drives.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
65 Comments
View All Comments
GenSozo - Tuesday, April 16, 2013 - link
I want to mount a Mini-ITX system in this beast then tape a pair of hipster glasses on the top. LAN parties here I come.hero1 - Tuesday, April 16, 2013 - link
That'll be insane. I have been waiting for this case for so long. Now that it's here, I will consider purchasing it even though I have the XL R2 fitted with Noctua fans and H100i and runs cold. This will be a perfect purchase with a couple of Titans, hydrocopper versions that is. Drool!Blibbax - Tuesday, April 16, 2013 - link
Wasted on <4 watercooled cards. Stick with your XL.DanNeely - Tuesday, April 16, 2013 - link
The XLR2 doesn't have room for anything larger than a 280mm rad; that's tight for cooling SLI/xFire cards if you also have the CPU in the loop.Also even if you're not filling them to the max, extra large cases are easier to work on because you've got a lot of extra space to fit your hands into and more freedom in how you place components as a result. If you're on a budget and trying to maximize bang for the buck an oversized case is an easy first thing to cut but they do make building/upgrading much easier.
As long as you've got the height and upper body strength to handle the size/weight anyway. :)
hero1 - Tuesday, April 16, 2013 - link
The XL R2 is very tight case. I figure that I could have a 280mm rad for the front but this means I have to get rid of my H100i and add another 280mm rad up top in order to cool SLI/XF with CPU in the loop. It's doable and I will consider it but the space does indeed become very tight. I think I can have the back and bottom fans as intake and exhaust through the top and front.Can handle that weight easily but someone below mentioned the case labs products. I have been looking at what they have to offer and go from there. The only thing that Corsair has them beat is the aesthetics with regards to how the case is assembled.
TaylorSandler - Thursday, April 18, 2013 - link
Love my job, since I've been bringing in $5600… I sit at home, music playing while I work in front of my new iMac that I got now that I'm making it online.(Click Home information)http://goo.gl/tVE7A
spikey27 - Tuesday, August 26, 2014 - link
Dan, you've hit on one of my pet peeves - it's no fun working in a case without enough space to use your hands. It so much nicer to be working in a spacious case.I'm in the process of going from a Codegen S-101 to the 900D, and looking forward to it.
IDUEHE - Thursday, May 2, 2013 - link
Wonderful..... Source:unn.edu.ng University of Nigeriahero1 - Tuesday, April 16, 2013 - link
This is an awesome case that will serve us better, those who are willing to go all out on watercooling, custom that is. I hope that they make something like it that fits right between the 650D and 800D with the same cooling capabilities minus a couple of 5.25 drive bays.DanNeely - Tuesday, April 16, 2013 - link
At this price all the external USB ports should be USB3 to futureproof it. Since most current mobos only have 1 or 2 USB3 headers, include a pair of USB3 to USB2 header adapters so the ports can be fully utilized now.