CORSAIR Obsidian Series 500D RGB SE Mid Tower Case, Premium Tempered Glass and Aluminum, LL120 Fans and Commander PRO Included, CC-9011139-WW

Pros: - Lots of Space - Solid Build Quality - Huge Side Window - Moveable Hard Drive Cages - SSD Mounts - Water Cooling Capability

Cons: - Side Panels are a little difficult to put on - Front dust filter doesn't fit well - Front fan mounts are difficult

Overall Review: This case has a lot of room, is rather heavy, and is very solid. The side window is very large, almost a little too large, you have to be very careful where you hide cables. The moveable hard drive cages make the front of this case very versatile. The four SSD mounts behind the hard drive cages not only make great use of space, but also make your build look even cooler. They do make it difficult to plug power into the SSDs though. This case has a lot of potential for water cooling as well; radiators can fit in the front, the top, the bottom, and event the rear. Plus there is plenty of other room for reservoirs and pumps. Now for my complaints. I really wish the side panels were easier to put on. They are easy to put on when the case is on it's side, but standing up, you need one arm to hold it in place, a second arm to push the panel closed, and a third arm to put the thumb screws in. My front dust filter is bowed out in the center, which makes it a little useless and a little difficult to insert. My last complaint is that the front fan mounts are a little picky. While very easy to mount, the screws are very short and when I tried to install a different fan (I was hoping to get a LED glow out the front, didn't work), they ended up not being long enough. I fixed this by drilling out the fan, letting the head of the screw sit about half way into the fan. The screws did work fine for the Corsair fans that came in the front though. Overall, this is a very solid case with plenty of room and expandability. I really like the quality of this case.

Pros: Overall, I love the finish of this case. Very impressed with the look. I’m especially fond of that brushed black metal look that this case has along with the triangle mesh that the top panel has. Airflow is great and pretty much yields me the same temps in my computer with the case that I swapped it from (even with just the two stock 120mm fans). There are so many places for fans along with an easy way to install a 3x120 water cooling radiator in the front (providing your graphics card isn’t insanely long). I also really like the inclusion of the Type C connector on the front panel. It will be super useful when I upgrade to a motherboard that actually has the strange type C plug that this case wiring harness includes. The tempered glass panels on the sides are awesome and easy to remove, albeit very heavy. It’s worth noting that, I love how the hard drives are hidden behind the motherboard tray. 3 2.5” bays and 2 3.5” caddies are enough for my needs but you may want to note that there isn’t an easy way to add more unless you want to get creative. I also like that the PSU is sealed from the rest of the case, allowing you to hide extra cables and keep the PSU heat away from the rest of your components and vise versa. Case filters are easy to remove and put back and are huge. Nothing else to really say about this, I’ve had it all setup for almost a month and it’s been pretty good.

Cons: I have one gripe for build quality and that’s to do with the main chassis being the same for the tempered glass case and the standard metal sided case. Basically, you can see the slots where a normal case side would slide in place even when the case is shut as lights shine through the slotted bits. This is really my only design complaint. My case arrived missing two screws from the top panel and the others were loose. I had to track down two screws to secure it along with tightening the other two down. Pretty annoying when you’re paying this much for a case and I really expected better from Corsair. It’s strange to me that we have case filters everywhere and yet there is a ½” gap all the way around the side panels of this case. I’m not a huge fan of these massive gaps between the side panels and the chassis but it is what it is. I would like to see a better way of attaching the glass panels because the magnets aren’t very strong. By this I mean that bumping the case just right will cause the sides to open.

Overall Review: Overall, I’m really pleased with this case, but the fit and finish along with loose and missing screws caused me to take a star off. Be advised that this case is crazy heavy because of the tempered glass side panels. I mean seriously, you wouldn’t want to take this many places due to the weight of just the case.

Pros: This is probably the first time I have been able to install all the components without cutting my hands/fingers on the cheap metal edges of a case! The screw-less glass side cover design is nice. Both sides just swing open once you disengage the magnet holding them in place (i.e., just tug the handle). The doors are heavily tinted which is nice if you don’t want to see too much of the guts of the computer all the time. If you are like most people setting up a custom high-performance computer, you’re going to want to boot off an SSD, and have HDDs for your main storage. This case makes that kind of configuration easy with spots for 3 x 2.5”, and 2 x 3.5” storage drives. The case has lots of room for fans as you would expect, and it also has a removable filter at the front for easy cleaning.

Cons: Just a few things, one more minor than the other two. Not sure I like the way the 3.5” hard drives mount. A bit difficult to get the cables through. Not the end of the world though as it keeps the hard drives out of sight. This case has no spot for an optical drive of any size. I think it’s a little early to say that optical drives are obsolete. A showstopper for me is the case has no built in HD Activity light. Big problem. One egg lost just for this.

Overall Review: Overall, getting things installed into the case was pretty simple. The stand-offs were all in the right place, the cover for the motherboard ports snapped into place without a fuss. There is TONS of room in the case (probably why I didn’t cut my hands for a change). Even really long graphics cards should fit in this case. If you’re into liquid cooling, the case has spots (and pre-drilled holes) for radiators, pumps and reservoirs that should work with the most common kits. The cable management and routing in the case is great, and really keeps clutter to a minimum.

Pros: For starters, this case is beautiful, looks very modern and sleek with all the black, and even the top has a unique fan grill design. Fan filters are easily removable and are magnetic, dont require to unscrew anything or take panels off to remove them for cleaning. The glass sits on hinges rather than four pegs and thumbscrews like many other tampered glass cases, not only that but the doors are magnetic adding very easy and quick access to the interior. They can be removed off the hinges by unscrewing a single screw. The panels have a real nice weight to them and fell high quality. There is a piece of curved metal on the end of them that sort of blend in with the glass and add a really nice aesthetic to the case. Included on the top I/O is a USB 3.1 Type-C connector which many case makers are still are not including on their cases in 2018, so great to see that there. Vertical GPU mounting (riser not included) is built in, we are starting to see more frequent appearance of that feature in more recent cases. Airflow seems to be fairly good while still having a solid front panel.

Cons: Cable management in the rear is pretty bad when trying to use the metal tube to run cables through it, its way to small and for me with sleeved extensions I cant even use it. Could have included the riser cable considering the price. Only 2 fans included. For some odd reason for the fan mounting plates, the top one is only 280mm and the front is 360mm, the plates are the exact same size and are interchangeable and can fit 360 on top or front.

Overall Review: More of a personal opinion but I wish the glass was not as dark tinted, yes its nice for led's and such but after spending so much money on high end components I would like to actually see them. I would have like to see a glass front panel also instead of the steel one. Corsair is releasing a 500D SE later on with rgb fans, a commander pro and a front glass panel for $100 more, would have been nice if the glass was present on both cases though. If corsair offered the front glass as an optional accessory that would be great. Some other changes I would have liked to see would be an extended psu shroud because you just end up with a lot of empty space you cant really use for anything (if you are not going custom water cooling) so that way more places to put cables, maybe mechanical drives and such. It's still an amazing case with some minor shortcomings.

Pros: This case has sooo much room and is so functional it was impossible to pass up for my first watercooling build. The SSD holders on the back are a stroke of genius. Of course I took mine out because of the moding done to fit my res/pump combo and fit the HDD in the back. Awesome radiator support and room for plenty of fans to keep the inside cool. The window is huge and shows off all of my hard work very well. It is a big case as it is full tower but it's not too heavy. I can lift it with all of my syastem in it pretty easily. Great fan filters but see cons. Very easy to build in. Super clean look, love the brushed Alum. like the restof the Obsidian series.

Cons: Just a couple. The side panels could have better fit and I would expect it from Corsair. I would have loved to see hinges like the 760T which I almost bought. I actually dropped the back panel on my foot and ended up in the hosptial getting 3 stitch's in between my toes. There is no fan filter for the fan mounts that sit behind the PSU. I use an AF 140 for intake and had to steal the filter from my C70 untli I buy and aftermarket filter. I would have given it 5 Eggs if it had that filter.

Overall Review: I have an XT45 360mm rad up top. A Photon 270 pump/res combo with EK rigid 13 x 16mm tubing with Myhems ICE white pastel coolant and an XSPC Raystorm waterblock all cooling an FX 8350 in a Crosshair V Formula Z ROG mainboard with 8 Gbs of Trident-X 2400 RAM and X-Fired 7870 Devil and R9 270X Devil. Everything fits nicely and stays very cool. Look up the Build log "The Devils Own"on OCN if you would like to see what the rig looks like and how I fit the Photon 270 in it.

Pros: -Absolutely massive. Outside of server farmers, I don't see anybody running out of room for their build in this monster. -Very pretty finish and large window make it attractive from just a stock standpoint.

Cons: -Doesn't come with case lights, but hey thats why you get after market ones in the first place.

Pros: Everything about it is nice really. Good case worth the buy. Clearly designed for their water cooling system the Corair Hydro H115i which fit perfectly. Its part of the reason i got this case.

Cons: The reason i gave it 4 eggs is because the day i received it the front panel left side where it clips in doesn't work. Fortunately, the right side still did, however they clearly knew this when shipped seeing as the left side was taped down and not the right side. I wasn't about to send it back just because of this, it doesn't make the case unusable but still kind of disappointed to receive it like that.

Pros: Build quality is high Glass is darker than other cases easy access with glass panels that swing-out

Cons: there is room at the bottom that they could have placed another fan. not enough room for all the wires in the back. magnets aren't strong enough. I bought some stronger magnets that work great. This is more of an issue because of all the wires not having enough room in the back. There is a gap around both side panels that allow unfiltered air to access the inside of the case. I dealt with this by buying foam window stripping and lining both panels. so they can still be opened but are as sealed as I can get them. I do not want dust getting inside my computer. I have enough fans to keep it cool.

Overall Review: I like the case. The build quality is very high. It does not feel cheap. I like the darker glass. I like the overall look of the case. However, there are some design flaws. The power supply box could have been extended all the way across the bottom and gave more room for wires to be put. the back sign has little space for the wires and causes that side's door to pop open of not be able to fully close. I had to but stronger magnets to keep the door closed. Since the power supply box does not extend all the way across the bottom. There is space that could fit another fan but no fan mount. I thought of modifying the case to put a fan there but decided later to not do so. There is a gap between the panels and the case that could allow dust to enter the case. I bought some foam window stripping and lined the case around the edge of the doors. You can't see it unless you open the doors. I really like the case overall. I do believe that they could spend a little bit more time in design and could make this case far better.