Corsair Obsidian 350D Windowed Edition Case Review

1. Introduction2. Corsair Obsidian 350D: Packaging & Bundle3. Corsair Obsidian 350D: Exterior4. Corsair Obsidian 350D: Interior5. System Installation6. Testing Methodology and Thermal Performance7. Acoustic Performance8. Closing Thoughts9. View All Pages

The Corsair 350D is an excellent addition to the enthusiast-grade Obsidian series. Even with a physical size reduction, Corsair's impressive engineering and design has allowed the 350D to be filled with many of the important features that made its Obsidian series predecessors such successful products.

Perhaps one of the hardest features to perfect with any size-limited case is cable management. Corsair's 350D provides users with a cable management system that is easy to work with and can help to reap impressive final results. One of the main reasons that the 350D's cable management system is so effective is due to the appropriate amount of clearance that Corsair provides behind the motherboard tray and drive bays.

Expansion options for the 350D are very good, for the majority of users. Two 5.25″ device compartments, three 2.5″ slots, and room for two 3.5/2.5″ drives should suffice for the vast majority of micro-ATX users in the 350D's target audience. Five expansion slots also give added flexibility in regards to multi-card cooling configurations.

It's when you start capitalising on the 350D's watercooling flexibility that expansion becomes more limited. With a 280mm radiator and push-pull fans in the roof, 5.25″ expansion flexibility is impeded. A 240/280mm radiator in the front will force you to remove both the 2.5″ and 3.5″ drive bays. This is to be expected of a case with micro-ATX space constraints, but it is still worth pointing out to users who plan on using the Obsidian 350D with high-end watercooling configurations.

Cooling is adequate for Corsair's 350D. The supplied 140mm front intake and 120mm rear exhaust fans are perfectly capable of cooling a single graphics card system with an efficient LGA 1155 chip. Dual card users or those wanting to use an LGA 2011 system would be wise to invest in additional fans and make use of the 350D's excellent cooling possibilities.

Aesthetics are one of the biggest positives for Corsair's Obsidian 350D. While the costly brushed aluminium material is reserved for the front panel only, the 350D's aesthetic appeal and understated design create the platform for an attractive system. Personally, I like the window, but Corsair has the non-windowed edition for those who do not.

Our biggest complaint regarding Corsair's Obsidian 350D is the omission of a fan controller. Even a simple slider positioned on the front IO panel, combined with a basic variable resistor, would have been better than no fan controller. Instead, users are forced to either purchase a stand-alone unit, or resort to motherboard-controlled fans that make low noise operation difficult to achieve.

Priced at £94.99 from Aria, the Corsair Obsidian 350D isn't a cheap case by micro-ATX standards, but we feel that it is well worth its price tag.

Pros:

• Excellent cable management.
• Good watercooling options.
• Plenty of fan mounts.
• Good expansion options.
• Attractive design.

Cons:

• No fan controller.
• Not ideal for 5.25″ devices.

KitGuru says: Corsair's first venture into the micro-ATX market has been a successful one; the Obsidian 350D is an excellent chassis that is a ‘must have' for micro-ATX enthusiasts.

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