| Corsair Obsidian 700D Full-Tower Case |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Cases | |
| Written by Servando Silva | |
| Monday, 20 September 2010 | |
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Detailed Exterior FeaturesTo keep the design sleek and elegant, Corsair decided to keep USB/Audio/Firewire ports behind a little door. Outside, there is a power button and a HDD activity LED. Corsair ships the Obsidian 700D with 4 x USB ports, but none of them is 3.0. I feel there should be at least a 3.0 port in this case considering the price it carries, however, I expect Corsair to update their cases in the next months, and hopefully, include USB 3.0 ports. Corsair also lacks of e-SATA ports, which nowadays are very common and useful for the masses.
Let's have a detailed look at the back of the Obsidian 700D. At the top, we have 2 push-buttons to release the side panels. That's right! Corsair needs no screws to release their panels. Just push the
Moving to the mid-section, there's a full 140mm black fan to exhaust CPU heat. There's a pair of rubber grommets for water cooling tubes and the I/O area. Notice those little holes at the left of the case? Those are ventilation holes for HDDs/SSDs. I'll try to explain how they work when we open the Obsidian 700D.
Moving to the lower part, there are 7 expansion slots and a little mesh for dual-slot GPUs installed in the lower PCI-E slots of our motherboard. At the bottom, there's space for an ATX PSU, but unfortunately, there are no holes to mount it upside up and upside down (if neccessary). Must PSUs using a large 120mm fan pushing air inside will fit so that the fan faces the bottom side of the case taking fresh air from the outside instead of taking hot air from the case.
Remember that dust-filter at the bottom of the Obsidian 700D? Well, here it is! Removing it is as easy as just pulling it off the case, but keep in mind it won't be that easy to take it off if your PC is very close to a wall/furniture because the filter is big enough to cover 2 x 120mm fans (at least).
Finally, if you're mounting 5 1/4" drives, you'll need to remove the front facade. Please refer to the manual to remove this as many users are reporting difficulties to do it. I didn't suffer to take the front panel out of the case, if you ask.
Now that we've analyzed the exterior of our Obsidian 700D, let's have a closer look at the interior.
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Comments
But I still think I'd have to go for the HAF X. HAF X has wheels, more fans and bigger fans which I think would lead to overall more CFM and a quieter operation. Also the window with side fan is super cool on the haf x
Being of steel/aluminum construction, I suggest not dipping it in water so as to avoid cathodic corrosion.
Steed, the wheels on the Haf X are a good feature. My current rig sits on a wheeled caddy I custom built for it. But I see your point; the Obsidians should come with a wheel kit as it's a great option for a large case. Should come with all full towers IMHO.
May I ask how many PCI/PCI-E devices do you have installed on your PC? or exactly, why do you wan't more than 7 slots? (I mentioned it on the article, but I haven't heard many people asking for it).
I'd rather spend the extra money for this Corsair case on something else that makes my system RUN better.
Again, this Corsair case is a nice design.
Thank you for measuring and posting the space behind the mother board tray. Having that measurement helps us.
+Rep for you.
It's good that you're listening,......it makes a difference.
I checked at their store, and I found non-windowed panels for 800D users, but not windowed panels for 700D.
Thank you.
Idle:
GPU1 (Top): 65
GPU2 (Bottom): 50
Load (Furmark):
GPU1 (Top):86
GPU2 (Bottom): 81
I think it's modding time...
They are positioned on the first PCI-E 16X slots in the Maximus III Formula, and there's a space of 3 slots between them (where each takes 2 slots).
I wanted to get a pair of MSI HAWKs, but ended with a pair of Zotac's with reference cooler...
So I'm reading everything that I can about the video cards and seeing what they come out with in the next few months because I'm not ready to buy until November at the earliest.
It should be a nice system when done.
I'm really waiting for your OC results with MSI HAWK. Also, has anyone seen the Colorful iGame GTX460 GPU? That heatsink is a beast!
Back to the topic, this case has great airflow for CPU and drives, but lacks of airflow for GPUs, anyway, and the same applies for the 800D. Anyway, I'm willing to do the mod.
##youtube.com/watch?v=GWyojqDmUTc&sns=em
As far as multi gpu setup I'm running 2 gtx 480s sc by EVGA in slots 1 and 3 with stock coolers and my gpu temps go up to 95-100 degrees . And I have (3) extra coolermaster 2000rpm fans on top as well. So you might be right but you have to compare it to other cases to conclude that statement. (My gpu normaly run that hot so i'll just leave them till Kool kepler gpu come out in 9 months.)
Thanks for the fast reply and for your excellent reviews.
Another question, where do you think is the best place to install a H50 in this case ? I tought about the bottom conpartment ? But if you have other suggestion, they are welcome.
Now, for the H50, I think there are 3 possibilities. If you're using it as exhaust, then obviously at the top. If you're using it as intake, then the one suggested above (at the rear) would be better. I don't know if Corsair's tubing is long enough to reach the lower fan without interfering GPUs installation, but you could give it a try.
My fans are all the same thing, Scythe GentleTyphoon, @1150 RPM and 37CFM Air Flow. Expensive, but very quiet.
Note: The 140mm under the HDD is not there as decoration, without my Caviar black average 52 degree and with it 34 degree.