Corsair Obsidian 650D Review

👤by David Mitchelson Comments 📅17-05-11
Conclusion

The 650D is the hybrid many have been waiting for. It combines the features of the 600T but adopts the professional, sleek styling of the 800D. The 650D is the first mid-tower inside the Obsidian series and offers this ‘fusion’ at a lower cost than bother the 600T and 800D.

So the real question is, how does it fare as a mid-range enthusiast case? Well it definitely ticks all the right boxes that’s for sure. Build quality is as expected, very good. It will sit highly with those who prefer the subtle, elegant appearance. It isn’t clear cut though – 650D features a Perspex window, so it brings together the enthusiast and gamer whilst maintaining a graceful exterior.

Features are not lacking. We have dual 200mm fans, excellent cable management, adjustable HDD cages, support for long graphics cards and big CPU coolers, an external docking station with 6G compatibility and the list goes on and I haven’t even mentioned the integrated four-channel fan controller or the quick-release side panels. The 650D really does offer so much for a mid-tower case!



Whilst there are many wonderful things about the 650D there are also some slight niggles to mention. The PSU area has no anti-vibration as I reported in the 600T review. I had hoped that Corsair would have responded to this because as an avid case reviewer this is something that I look out for in all the products that are put under the spotlight. Metal on metal results in scratching – not only this, the PSU can have a tendency to vibrate during operation so it is needful to kit the area it resides in with foam, rubber or any other materials. It really does make me cringe when I have to install a PSU inside a case with this feature lacking, the inevitable happens – scratching. Another thing to mention is that the 650D is quite expensive for a mid-tower case, around this price we can invest in a full-tower case. Some will argue the point that this route might offer a better route. Whether you regard this as a negative or not, personally I think there are plenty of high-end full tower features within this mid-tower.

Priced at approx. £130 inc. VAT the 650D as mentioned above may appear to be quite an expensive mid-tower. It does come with a surprising amount of features though and some that even make it unique – such as the quick-release side panels.

So the bottom line is: Corsair have cleverly combined the features of their other multi-award winning cases and produced the first mid-tower case in the Obsidian series. It has countless useful features, lots of space and bags of style. It comes highly recommended by Vortez!

Pros
+ Good build quality
+ Masses of space
+ Outstanding cable management
+ Good air cooling
+ Water-cooling support
+ Tool-less throughout - even the side panels
+ Expandable
+ Docking station for 2.5”/3.5” drives

Cons
- USB3.0 should have USB3.0 motherboard header connector
- No anti-vibration for PSU – metal on metal



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