- Steel structure with black brushed aluminum faceplate ATX Mid Tower
- USB 2.0 x 2, USB 3.0 x 2, IEEE 1394 x 1, Headphone x 1, Mic x 1, 4-channel Fan Controller Front Ports
- 4 External 5.25" Drive Bay
Corsair 650D - So close, but so far.
10/12/2012
This review is from: Corsair Obsidian Series 650D (CC650DW-1) Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Case
Pros:
Sleek look
Good Airflow
Tool-less design
Cons:
USB passthrough cables
Poor quality control
Poorly designed docking bay
No top filter
Weak fans
Slim depth 200mm front fan
Noisy
Very slow customer service response
Overall Review:
Read this review if you want the real insight.
This case has many great qualities going for it, as many will attest. Great cooling, great looks, tool-less design among others. Few realize the shortcomings, however, without deep examination or real experience with it. Here are the deal breakers for me.
1. Poor QC.
My case came with a warped plexiglass window. It wasn't terrible, but it was visually distracting and it let out too much noise. When I requested and finally received my replacement side panel after 5 weeks, guess what, it was bent on the side so badly that it wouldn't fit into the case. The packaging was perfect, so it was obviously faulty and not a shipping accident. Great quality control Corsair.
2. Poorly designed docking bay.
I loved this feature when I was looking at cases, but the first time I inserted a hard drive, the paint on the top of the case chipped off. The very first time!!! It's one thing to damage a product by misuse, but I was using exactly as intended. This is a problem of either a poor paint job, or bad manufacturing tolerances. Now my case has a chipped paint job.
3. All the little annoyances that I thought I could live with like the usb passthrough cables and weak fans and no top filter really add up to some serious money to fix. Here's the breakdown.
usb 20 pin to female adapter cable: $10 shipped
(so that you don't have unsightly cables sticking off of your case)
magnetic top filter for Corsair 650d $25 shipped
(to keep dust out since the top cutout is irregularly sized and does not match any fan configuration)
slim 25 mm thick 200 mm fan $23 shipped
(since the front fan is very weak and has poor airflow, and any replacement fan as to be slimmer than the standard 30 mm, so you're forced to spring for pricier slim fans)
To get this case into what I consider to be an acceptable working state costs an additional $60. You should not have to spend $60 to get a premium case up to snuff.
4. Slow and unresponsive customer service. It took me about 7-10 days to get any response from Corsair. 1st response 7 days. 2nd response 10 days. 3rd response 2 weeks. Couple emails were completely ignored. Given that a problem usually requires a couple exchanges, count on your 30 day return window running down before your problem gets resolved.
The reason I am so disappointed with this case is because the great hopes I had for it. My research into this case was as extensive as could be but did not reveal any of the deep flaws this product has. It could have been a great case, but it's as if the design engineers took it 90% there, but then took an early vacation day for a 3 day weekend. I have found this to be true of all other Corsair product I have tried. Almost perfect, but always a HUGE tragic flaw. Great looks, but execution falls short. Look elsewhere if want a great, usable case.
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- sung k.
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Verified Owner
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Owned For:
1 month to 1 year
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