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
Noise and Thermal Testing
As I mentioned in the introduction, doing our standard noise and thermal testing on the Corsair Obsidian 900D is primarily an academic affair. When you're dealing with a liquid cooling system, optimal airflow design becomes slightly less important. This isn't an air cooling case the way, say, a SilverStone FT02 might be.
Ambient temperature was 21C during testing.
In its stock configuration, the 900D is closer to the middle of the road. This isn't a tremendous surprise; the stock fans are about as basic as a $349 case is going to get.
Because the 900D doesn't include a fan controller, the fans included push the case's bare minimum noise level to 33.6dB.
Overclocking the system should produce fairly similar results.
Again, the 900D produces...acceptable results as an air cooling case.
Noise continues to be an issue due both to the lack of a fan controller and the lack of any acoustic padding in the enclosure itself. While we're not judging the 900D on the terms it's meant to be judged by here, I do think omitting noise dampening material may have been a poor decision on Corsair's part.
Up until this point drive thermals have been fairly poor, but please note that even under the worst circumstances we're still talking about being 10-15C below spec for these drives at least. They're still running cool, it's just not the aggressive over-cooling a lot of enthusiast cases do.
That said, stock air cooling continues to be fairly underwhelming. This is one place where the competing Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra does have an edge: it includes a stock air cooling design that's pretty aggressive and effective.
Despite the lack of a fan controller, under our most stressful test the 900D is able to run quieter than any of the other cases we've reviewed since adding the "full fat" testbed.
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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.