Corsair Obsidian 750D Case Review

1. Introduction2. Corsair 750D (Exterior)3. Corsair 750D (Interior)4. Testing Methodology5. Thermal Dynamics6. Acoustics Performance7. Conclusion8. View All Pages

Corsair is well-known for consistently releasing high quality hardware and today we are taking a closer look at their latest case, the Corsair Obsidian 750D. With support for double 280mm radiators and a single 360mm radiator, up to 10 storage drives and a large side panel window it is clear Corsair are targeting enthusiast builders with this full tower case. The question is, can the Obsidian 750D convince the ever critical enthusiasts to pull our their wallets?

There has been plenty of speculation about the Obsidian 750D, and some retailers even jumped the gun when they opened up pre-orders too soon. With the community asking for a scaled down version of the Obsidian 900D and stylings of the Obsidian 350D, the Obsidian 750D aims to bring the best of both worlds to the table.

Specifications:

• 2.5 inch bays: 4.
• 3.5 inch bays: 6 (with caddies).
• 5.25 inch bays: 3.
• Fans: 2x 140mm intake (AF140L), 1x 140mm exhaust (AF140L).
• Total fan mounting locations: 8.
• Motherboard compatibility: mATX, ATX, EATX, XL-ATX.
• Expansion slots: 9.
• Max CPU cooler height 180mm.
• Max GPU Length 460mm (top slots), 340mm (lower slots).
• Support for a radiator up to 360mm in length (top), 280mm (front), 280mm (bottom).
• Motherboard compatibility with microATX, ATX, EATX, XL-ATX.
• Matte black interior.
• 2 year warranty.
• Included in the box: Corsair Obsidian 750D case, manual, box with screws and cable ties.

Corsair ship the Obsidian 750D in a large brown box with some key features listed on the front. Inside, the case is protected by layers of styrofoam.

 

Directly below the front panel connectors and buttons are the covers for the three 5.25″ drive bays. Below that is a large brushed aluminium panel. Moving in closer gives us a better look at the brushed finish. The markings on the corners of the panel indicate where to press to remove the panel.

The front panel houses two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, audio and mic jacks, a reset button and a large power button in the middle. On the left-hand side we can see the large windowed panel and on top we find a magnetic dust filter.

Turning the case around shows how big the window really is. Corsair fans will be happy to see masking tape is still used to hold the front panel in place while a thin film protects the window during transport.

A close-up of the Power button shows Corsair has extended the brushed aluminium look to every aspect of the front. The LEDs, serving as HDD Activity indicators, light up in a soft white tone that does not distract.

The rear exhaust fan is the only visible pre-installed fan. Directly above the fan is a mesh that covers the side of a radiator, if one is installed, or any fans that builders install as top exhausts.

Builders using a 140 mm AIO cooler, such as the Corsair H90, can also remove the rear exhaust fan to mount the cooler.

A total of 9 expansion slots and a standard power supply cut-out round out the back of the case.

Finally, we find a removable dust filter underneath the power supply. This dust filter slides out smoothly and is secured firmly once it is put back in place.

Starting at the front, the panel is easily removed by pressing the markings and reveals a large dust filter in front of two 140 mm fans. These are based on Corsair's excellent AF140 fans.

Moving from the bottom to the top, we can see the removable dust filter under the power supply and two modular drive cages.

These are held in place with two screws and can be stacked to create space for a 280 mm radiator at the front, stacked under the 5.25″ drive bays to facilitate a 280 mm radiator in the bottom of the case or stacked at the front of the case to allow for a bottom in-take fan.

If both cages are stacked under the 5.25″ drive bays users can also opt to mount two 120 mm fans in the bottom of the case.

There are 5 large rubber grommets to aid with cable management and a large CPU cut-out to install a cooler whilst the motherboard is in the case. Anyone who has ever lost a screw in the process of building a PC can rest easy knowing the stand-offs have been pressed into the tray.

In the top left corner we can see the third 140 mm fan included with the case. Above this fan is enough space to fit either three 120 mm fans or two 140 mm fans. Water cooling enthusiasts will be happy to know they can fit a 360 mm radiator in the top, though this will block the top 5.25″ drive bay.

Along the right side, behind the drive cages and 5.25″ drive bays are 4 caddies for solid state drives.

A different angle shows how the caddies are held in place by clips on one side and slide into cut-outs on the other side.

Corsair uses a push mechanism to hold 5.25″ drives in place. Although made of plastic, there is no sign of cutting corners.

The large window makes cable management an even more important feature than it already is on a high-end case. Corsair provide plenty of options to route cables behind the motherboard tray and the large rubber grommets offer enough space to route a variety of cables.

The bundle of front panel connectors is neatly tucked away behind the 5.25″ drive cage and can be routed behind the second drive cage in the bottom or directly below the motherboard through one of the available rubber grommets. Three additional cut-outs are also available above the motherboard to help builders hide, for example, fan cables.

The large cut-out, combined with the available space in the roof of the case means even large CPU coolers can be installed without removing the motherboard.

We moved one of the drive cages to show the modular design of the Obsidian 750D. Whilst suspended the cage sits out further than the cage in the bottom of the case. However, Corsair have clearly taken this into consideration as the panel slides back on without a problem.

Solid state drives and other 2.5″ drives slide into one of the 2.5″ caddies and are held in place by a latch, removing the need for any screws.

A common method to hold 3.5″ drives in place is used for the remaining caddies. Bending the plastic allows for the drive to be lined up with the pre-installed pins, at which point they will snap in place. Alternatively, mounting holes for 2.5″ drives are available.

As is to be expected with a full tower case, our hardware fits without any issues. We used some blue cable ties to highlight where we secured our cables.

As we were curious to find out how forgiving the Obsidian 750D is, we chose to stack a number of cables and we can happily report that the panel did not bulge after we closed the case.

For this final shot we also moved one of the drive cages once more to further highlight the modular design.

Finally, the above image shows just how much space is available in the top section of the Obsidian 750D, even with our Phanteks PH-TC14PE cooler in place. Although we did not have one on hand, it is clear to see water cooling enthusiasts can fit a 360 mm radiator and maintain a clean look throughout.

We are using a Phanteks PH-TC14PE to keep our Intel Core i7 3770k cool and perform our tests with the CPU at its default clock speed before then overclocking it to 4.6GHz with the voltage set to 1.3v.

Test System:

• Processor: Intel Core i7 3770k
• Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LX2
• Memory: 16GB G.Skill Ares Blue
• Graphics Card: Sapphire HD 7790 2GB GDDR5 OC
• Power Supply: OCZ ZT Series 550W
• Chassis: Corsair Obsidian 750D
• Monitor: Acer X243HQ
• Boot Drive: Intel SSD 510
• Storage Drive: 2TB Seagate Barracuda

System validation can be found here.

Software:

• CPUID HW Monitor 1.23
• CPUID CPU-Z 1.65
• Prime95 v27.1
• Furmark 1.11.0

We are testing the Corsair Obsidian 750D's performance as follows:

• Room temperature is kept at 22° throughout our tests.
• The CPU Fan is set to 100% to eliminate inconsistencies as a result of PWM control.
• Idle temperatures are obtained after booting the PC and idling on the desktop for 30 minutes.
• CPU load temperatures are obtained after running Prime95′s Small FTTs test for 15 minutes.
• GPU load temperatures are obtained after running Furmark's Burn-In Test for 15 minutes.
• To measure noise levels we disable the CPU fans and GPU fan.

The drive cages were placed back in their default positions for our tests to accurately gauge the Obsidian 750D's out-of-the-box performance.

The Corsair Obsidian 750D delivered excellent consistent results. The large open space certainly did keep the temperatures of the components surrounding our CPU and GPU down.

We measure from a distance of around 1 meter from the closed chassis and 4 foot from the ground to mirror a real world situation. Ambient noise in the room measures close to the limits of our sound meter at 30dBa.

The minimum readings for our acoustics tests are obtained with the fans running at 5V. For our maximum readings the fans were left running at 12V. The CPU and GPU fans are manually disconnected to eliminate unwanted noise.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum

Running at 5V the Corsair Obsidian 750D's fans are nearly inaudible. At full speed the noise levels increase but never to the point where they can be described as intrusive.

Overall, we are very pleased with the latest Corsair Obsidian 750D. The build quality is on par with what we have come to expect from Corsair and the Obsidian 750D certainly does not disappoint in terms of size and user friendliness.

In fact, the Obsidian 750D is well-suited to those who are new to building systems whilst offering a plethora of options for more experienced builders.

Although we did not have any water cooling kits available for our build, we are confident the modular drive cages and large space in the roof of the case will sit well with the enthusiast crowd. Having seen many mods that start off with the removal of drive cages we would also hazard a guess and say the modding community will welcome another case with fully modular drive cages.

Finding faults with the Obsidian 750D's design is difficult, though we do have some concerns about the window. Handling the side panel caused it to consistently produce a squeaking noise that detracted from the feeling of working with a premium case. Luckily, after a build is completed there is not often a need for the panel to be removed and it does not produce any noise after the case is closed.

The use of actual glass would drive the price up too far, narrowing the target audience. However, we do hope Corsair finds a solution for this if they release a revision of the Obsidian 750D.

Our only other complaint is about the 2.5″ drive caddies. Although they hold the drives firmly in place, it can be a finicky process to line them up with the cut-outs near the front of the case. Using clips on both sides of the caddies would have made the process easier in our opinion.

Staying true to the Obsidian series design, the somewhat understated design of the case helps it blend in with most interiors without impacting the Obsidian 750D's performance. An added benefit of Corsair's design choices is the lack of unnecessary gimmicks, giving builders precisely what they need.

Many manufacturers have adopted the trend of using built-in fan controllers for case fans, though we do not consider the lack of one to be a downside for the Obsidian 750D as its target audience is likely to opt for fan controllers with advanced features.

Although official pricing has not yet been confirmed, we expect the Corsair Obsidian 750D to hit UK shelves around the £130 inc vat. mark, based on current pricing for the Obsidian 650D and Obsidian 800D.

Pros:

• Excellent build quality.
• Plenty of space for high-end set-ups and custom water cooling.
• Fully modular drive cages.
• Dust filters are easily accessible and easy to clean.
• Cable management is a breeze.
• Clean design.

Cons:

• SSD caddies can be finicky to put in place.
• Window can be noisy when handling the side panel.

KitGuru says: Corsair can pat themselves on the back with another worthy addition to its strong Obsidian series.

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