Corsair Obsidian Series 650D (CC650DW-1) Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Case

Pros: I deal with cases of every shape, size, and price in my line of work. Every day I work on or build in cases of quality ranging from shoe box to bank vault. When some upgrades to my personal desktop finally necessitated replacing the dilapidated HP Media PC case I've been using, I hit the case aisle at a store named after an unhealthy but delicious method of cooking (sorry newegg, I have a reseller account there and couldn't wait). I essentially started at one end and eliminated the cases one at a time based on a few specific features that I needed: front USB3.0, 3+ 5.25" bays, and mounting provisions for a Corsair H100i PLUS extra fans on the radiator for overclocking. I landed on the 650D and found it much more semblant of a bank vault than a shoe box! I'd eyed it up for customer builds before and even considered it for my own use, but never put my hands on it before that day. It's a good thing I was in my Suburban, because I have serious doubts that the box would have fit in our Sentra! I was a little put out by the window because I am much more into function than form in my personal machines, but that turned out to be a bonus. See my other thoughts. The three included fans are very quiet. None of them moves a really large volume of air, but the cooling will be far more than adequate for all but the most atypical of builds (mine, unfortunately, is very atypical). The integrated fan controller goes yet another step toward quieting the fans and works fine, but will disable software-based fan management or temperature-based fan speed regulation. There are numerous huge holes in the motherboard tray around the motherboard and adjacent to the drive bays and PSU. They don't just have rolled edges, but nice rubber grommets. Be careful you don't pop a grommet out while routing cables. They are a trick to get back in with wires in them. There is an alignment peg in the motherboard tray. This is not unique, but remarkably unusual and makes motherboard installation painless. USB2.0 ports (yes, 2.0) on the front are still important! What do you do if you need to boot to a USB device and your motherboard can't boot to the USB3.0 ports? You won't be reaching around back! Right behind the front 200mm fan are accommodations for six 3.5" or 2.5" drives, arranged in two cages so you can remove one cage and still have room for three drives. Nice, but seriously? I lay hands on more computers in a week than most people lay eyes on in a year, and I don't think I have ever seen six drives in one desktop. Speaking of the front fan, there is a flip-down hinged removable filter with a spring latch right in front of it that you can pop on and off in less than a second. Neat-o. Keep your blamed computer off the floor and you will never have to clean it. Thumbscrews throughout instead of hex heads make servicing a breeze. Once you use the latches on the side panels you will never want it any other way.

Cons: The enormous size, *maybe*. This may not be a con because you should know what you are buying, but if you are even a little bit competent you know that a computer is a box with fans in it; a description that only one other appliance (in your home, anyway) can share with it: a vacuum cleaner. The size of this computer will make the temptation for some people to put their computer on the floor just too great. That awesome window is going to look ugly really soon and it will be showing off some janky components. KEEP IT OFF THE FLOOR! If desk real estate is that big of an issue, use a Lian-Li PC-Q03B (newegg sku N82E16811112372). You can fit plenty of horsepower in there, and for less money. There are a lot of users dinging eggs for this, but they are ill-informed because there is a reason. This case has actually been in production for some time and predates the finalization of the USB3.0 motherboard header standard, which is still relatively new. It has pass-through cables because that was the only way to provide front-mounted USB3.0 at the time this case was engineered. Quit yer whining and order a newegg sku N82E16812162012 with the case. Problem solved. (I found this remedy particularly essential because I keep a Manhattan Mondohub (newegg sku N82E16817474012) and Vantec duplicator (newegg sku N82E16817392063) plugged in at all times). Getting those toolless contraptions off of the 5.25" bays to install a non-standard 5.25" device in there like a KINGWIN KF-252-BK (newegg sku N82E16817990014) or a card reader such as newegg sku N82E16820276003, both of which only have front mounting holes and not rear ones, is a stupid kind of production, but it can be done. Speaking of that Kingwin, I installed it because the one on the top of the case is there and it works, but not very well. If you expect to be swapping drives in and out regularly, find a better solution like the Kingwin I mentioned. The included rear fan made the fan controller on my motherboard VERY ornery! The fan ran just fine, but the motherboard couldn't quite decide if the fan was running at 100RPM or 160000RPM...

Overall Review: Despite the brilliance of the 650D, I have never endured such a difficult build as my recent upgrades. The finished result is amazing though, and I'm now glad I have the window. The end result would not have been possible without the build quality and thoughtful design of this case. Curious about what caused such a production? (I hate the smarmy braggadocio of other reviewers who feel compelled to post their specs in a review, so I won't be offended if you stop reading here) The goal was to get an FX-9370 to run stably at >5GHz using a Corsair H100i. The window prompted me to dig a blue cold cathode out of a dead machine a customer abandoned with us and fab up a visor so it wasn't directly visible. Only indirect light from the CCFL illuminates the blue components on my Asus M5A99FXProR2.0 motherboard and it looks great, even with a black video card, green capture card, and red 1394 card. I also took out the drive cages and mounted my Samsung 840evo on standoffs within sight of the window so it looks like it's floating in there. I first added two Corsair SP120 fans to the radiator and followed Corsair's advice of having it pull air in from the outside to cool the CPU. The included 200mm fan pulled air in the front and the 120mm fan exhausted it out the back. Unfortunately, my OC was just too extreme on a CPU that already will give you third degree burns by looking at it. The motherboard's power section and northbridge were getting too hot in addition to the CPU. The position of the RAM and the pump prohibited adding more fans to the bottom of the radiator. I also wanted more CFM than the SP120's could provide but had to procure fans with high static pressure ratings for good performance against the radiator. In the end I decided that exhausting through the radiator was best so that I could gauge performance with my hand, as well as make all other fans in the case intake fans to force more air through the radiator. Stacking both of the included 200mm fans in the front was a good first step in that direction. The fans that were included with the H100i were mounted ON TOP of the case with grilles. The radiator is mounted to the top of the case on the inside, and the two SP120's are bolted to the bottom of it. I mounted two Thermaltake AF0026 fans (newegg sku N82E16835106153) below those. The AF0026's have 4 blue LED's each and compliment the CCFL perfectly. I replaced the rear fan with an Antec 77095 (newegg sku N82E16835129016), bringing air in instead of exhausting. This not only forces air through the radiator but cools the VRM. An identical one mounted inside the case near where the drive cages were ensures that air moves around the RAM and NB before heading for the radiator. They are blue too. I had to twiddle with Asus' Fan Xpert to get all of the fans to hit full throttle at the right time, but I run 5.2GHz at ~65 degrees in Prime95. So much for more into function than form in my personal machines, I gue

Pros: Solid construction. Elegant look. Window. USB3.0. Drive bay drop in. Quiet fans. Large fans. Comes with fans. Adjustable power supply holder. Re-moveable drive bay. Adjustable fan control.

Cons: This thing is heavy duty. I have to carry it up 3 flights of stairs and its size and weight don't make it easy. Looking back, I should have probably searched for a smaller case. My bad. No LEDs? Need USB3.0 adapter for asus z77 motherboard

Overall Review: I don't have any optical drives in this machine which I think makes it look sleek and nice. I tried the drop in drive bay and haven't got it working yet. Didn't put much effort into getting the drive bay working. I use motherboard fan control: can't speak for the case controls. Asus z77 sabertooth fits in here nicely with nvidia evga gtx 670 ftw. Room to spare. Air cooled. Tip: use *bottom* of plastic drive bay mounting holder for ssd/laptop drives

Pros: My girlfriend decided to build a computer. We settled on this case for her. This was one of 4 computers I have built. After using this one, I helped my friend put together a rig using the Cooler Master Half x. I have to say.. this thin g *DESTROYS* the cooler master. The cooler master was incredibly hard to work with even though it is only a little bit bigger. It amazed me that the CM didn't have far better cable management. Even only plugging in the required cables, I found it hard to get satisfactory results in the CM. With the 650D I found 1. The best cable management bar none. 2.Easy to clean filters unlike my nzxt hades. 3. Great airflow keeping everything cool. I encouraged my gf to spend more on the case and less on other parts if required since the case is going to be the thing to last the longest. It was worth every penny and I am getting my own.

Cons: While it is worth the cost, it is hard to justify spending that much on a case to someone who has never built a comp before. It is also sorely under represented and largely overlooked by a lot of people.

Overall Review: I highly recommend this case. It is leagues above any case I have used before.

Pros: Great design. Steel. Plenty of room inside. One of the biggest reasons I will continue to re-build using this same case is because of the 200mm fans. That alone is worth sticking with this case. It has all of the I/O you would ever need on the front, the hot swap bay has actually came in handy a few times, and the fan filters work great.

Cons: Fan controller - I wouldn't even bother using it. I had mine burn out about 3 months after I bought the case. I ordered a new one for only 10 bucks, but decided to just install it and let it sit. I ended up plugging any fans straight into my motherboard. The biggest con would have to be the USB 3.0 pass throughs for the front I/O. Half the time, I couldn't keep an external USB 3 seagate HDD powered. They would disconnect constantly. I found a lot of people online having this same issue and wondering why Corsair gives you pass through cables with the 650D. I tried the adapter that takes you to a 20-pin motherboard header.. and that didn't get me to where I'd like to be. Ideally, Corsair would just give us internal cables.. straight to the mobo header (like every other case they sell). So, I recently built a new computer for a family member using the Corsair 350D. I noticed that the USB 3.0 front I/O header is exactly what was missing from the 650D.. USB 3.0 x2 directly to the 20-pin mobo header. No adapters... I disassembled both the front I/O on my 650D and on the 350D and realized that I could easily swap the cables. I decided to order a replacement 350D front I/O panel w/ cables from Corsair for 10 bucks. I swapped the USB 3 header cables into my 650D, and it's absolutely perfect now. I highly recommend doing this. It essentially completes the case IMO. Why Corsair didn't include this header cable with a $180 case.... who knows! http://www.corsair.com/us/parts/case-parts/350d-front-panel-i-o.html

Pros: Interior Space, Wire Routing Space Behind MB, Hot Swap SATA 3 Dock On Top, USB 3.0 - USB 2.0 - Firewire - and Audio Ports On Front, Appearance

Cons: HDD Drive Bay Mounting Location Leaves Tight Spacing for Power Connections, USB 3.0 Front Panel Route-to-Back Connection (Not to MB Header), Paint on Steel Case (Not Faceplate) Flakes Off Easily in Spots (Not Powder Coated), First Unit Received Had Upside-Down "Corsair" Insignia on Front and Badly Warped Clear Plastic Side Panel Insert (Replacement Unit was Fine)

Overall Review: May be the best Mid-Tower available (largest too) but due to the Cons mentioned, doesn't quite earn the title of "Great"!

Pros: I'm going to adopt this case! I had a Lian Li mid-tower, and this rig is soooo much nicer. Huge space, cutouts for cables, easy HD loading/unloading, monstrous fans, quiet, QUALITY construction, and I love the ease in which it opens and closes. Pull the latches and it's open--simply that quick. No more fumbling with little nobs in the dark to open or close. I could almost sleep in this thing it's so big--I'd probably could in the full tower. My teenage son brings his friends in my office to show it off--if that doesn't say "gold" I don't know what else to say.

Cons: It's not spouse friendly. My wife came into the office, saw it, and turned around and left. I know, some would say that a "pro." Virtually NO instructions. You're basically on your own to figure the cables/connections out. I finally guessed at how the multi fan controller is connected. The website is worthless for a more extensive manual.

Overall Review: Careful moving it on carpet. It's so heavy the rubber came off one of the "feet." I was sliding it when I should have lifted it more. The front panel is tough to get off, but I won't have to do that too much. This case isn't cheap, but I'll have until I die or mankind gets computer implants.

Pros: Oh where do I begin. This case is built very sturdy and has great airflow capabilities. The amount of space for routing cables behind the motherboard is amazing. Everything is well spaced and built solid from the factory. I don't think I'll ever use another case. Best mid-case in its class!

Cons: This is not something that, I imagine, happened during the manufacturing process, so no eggs will be knocked off from the following statement. I ordered all of my parts with shipping from FedEx as this will be my last build for a while and I didn't want anything horrible to happen to it. With this came a hefty price tag, but usually you get what you pay for. I received this case in, what seemed like, pristine condition. I even made an amateur unboxing video just because it was the only box I received that looked to have some even remote damage on it. This must have happened in shipping or something, but when I opened it, the HDD drive bays where warped and all of the HDD/SSD mounting brackets were bouncing around free in that area. Also, the back had a little bit of a cave in near the top, above the I/O panel area. Luckily, I was able to gently, and without damaging the paint of the case, bend everything back to factory and it looks perfect!

Overall Review: My Build: “The Jericho Project” Corsair 650D Case Intel Core i7-3930k Corsair H100 closed-loop water cooler (w/ 4 x black Cougar CF-V12HPB fans) ASUS Sabertooth X79 EVGA GTX 670 FTW x 2 Corsair 32GB 1.35v DDR3-1600 RAM (Olive Green Edition) Corsair AX1200 PSU (w/ black individually sleeved cable kit) Liteon Blu-Ray Reader Intel 520 180GB SSD Corsair Force GT 60GB (cache drive) 1TB WD Caviar Black Silverstone CLEARCMOS reset switch

Pros: I read quite a bit about this box before I ordered it - all the reviews were great - and so was the one I received. It was a bit larger than I expected (at least larger than the ANTEC box I already had). That turned out great because my motherboard JUST fit in the ANTEC. In the 650D it dropped in with plenty of room to spare. My main reason for buying this case was its ability to route cables. Well - it does that in spades.

Cons: I only wish (minor) was that the case was a tad deeper in the back - I found it difficult (w/o straightening out cable kinks) to close the back cover when done. The first time I had kinks and bumps that broke one of my STA power connectors (my Corsair PS has very stiff cables). The second time it was fine (my pilot error I guess).