Gadgetory

welcome back to harbor unboxed now for today's video it might surprise you to learn that we're not benchmarking a new cpu apu or even a GPU instead we're checking out a slick new computer case from corsair i'm sure many of you are familiar with the Obsidian series and many of the models like the massive 900 d or the slightly less massive 750 d have been around for some time now and they're still popular choices today in fact it's been quite a few years since Corsair refresh the Obsidian lineup with a new face but today that all changes with the introduction of the Obsidian series 500 d and it's certainly a departure from the norm with the exception of the original 550d every obsidian model has followed the exact same design cues the 500 d though throws everything out the window Corsair says the 500 DS a state-of-the-art mid tower design for enthusiasts featuring smoked tempered glass side doors with premium aluminium trimmings obviously looks are subjective but I think most will agree that the new 500 d is a sleek looking computer case that's a bit more adventurous than the traditional obsidian cases before we get into the looks I would like to just quickly note this mid-town measures 508 millimeters tall 502 millimeters deep and 233 millimeters wide empty it tips the scales at 10.25 kilograms which is reasonable given the size and the sheer amount of glass that's included Corsair has also slapped it with an MSRP of a hundred and forty dollars u.s. but we'll talk more about the value aspect of this case towards the end of the video getting back to the design the case manages to merge clean lines with subtle curves really well on the front panel is a great example of this at first the front panel appears to be a solid piece of brushed aluminium but it's actually mostly plastic that's then wrapped in a sheet of thin brushed aluminium I can't help but feel a solid aluminium panel would have probably worked better here and matched the side panels a lot better speaking of the door panels they mostly smoked tempered glass but the leading edges they are attached to some thick aluminium trimmings which not just help make up the front panel but they also act as handle so that's creative and it looks very good both the left and right side tempered glass panels are hinged for quick and convenient access it was also great to find that when laying the case down flat which makes it a bit easier to install hardware inside that the hinged doors didn't just fall off as this is a problem I've run into with a few other cases believe it or not to avoid this happening Corsair has actually placed a screw at the top of the hinge stopping it from being able to move past that and if you do want to remove the hinge then you have to undo the screw first and then it simply slides out of place when it comes to opening and closing the doors they actually lock in a place really nicely using magnets though I did notice a few times when moving the case around so that is to say leaning on its side or something like that the doors would just fly open and smashing or whatever was in their way so you best be careful all that and trying to hold the doors shut as you move the case around moving around to the top of the case we find an interesting sort of winged type looking top panel constructed entirely from aluminium it's also raised up at the sides to allow for better airflow but there are a heap of sort of triangular shape ventilation straight down the middle of it as well so plenty of ventilation on this top panel then at the front in the gap between where the top and front panels meet there's a smart little IO panel featuring two USB 3.0 ports a power reset button two audio jacks and wait for it a USB 3.1 gen2 type-c port now I know a lot of you guys will appreciate that so good stuff there Corsair underneath the case there really isn't anything too exciting going on there's four pretty standard looking plastic feet and a removable dust filter for the PSU then finally around the back it's also a pretty standard affair you have seven expansion slots PSU in the bottom of course and a rear-mounted 120 millimeter fan which we'll look at a bit more closely in a moment before jumping inside and checking out the interior of the 500e I should just note that there is also a large removable dust filter in the top and front of the case and these are both very easy to get up the top filter is held in place by four magnets while the front filter gets eight both can be easily removed in a matter of seconds without the need of tools so it's a really great design by Corsair now getting inside the case we find a separate but quite compact basement section for the PSU and can be opened up if need be for extra long PS use Corsairs also provided a grommet in the top of the PSU cover for running power cables to say your graphics card all two-and-a-half inch and three and a half inch storage is found behind the motherboard train here you can fit two three and a half inch drives and three two and a half inch drives Corsairs also provided removable drive trays for mounting these drives and in the case of the three-and-a-half inch models it's a tool of design for those of you after a few more storage options I suspect at some point you will be able to purchase a drive cage that'll probably feature something like three more trays and that'll sit adjacent from the PSU shroud that location by default though is reserved for those wanting to install liquid cooling gear and here you could install a pump and reservoir combo for example Corsairs also provided mounting holes for all the commonly used kits speaking of liquid cooling the 500d has room for up to a 280 millimeter or 360 millimetre radiator in the front a 120 millimeter radiator in the back and a 240 millimeter or 280 millimeter radiator in the top course has also made the installation of the radiators and fans very easy by including removable fan trays and these can be found in the top and front of the case essentially what these fan trays allow you to do is install the radiator and fans or just the fans whatever you're going for but you can do this outside of the case so you don't have to work in the confinement of the case itself as you might have guessed given the radiator support you can install either three 120 millimeter or two 140 millimeter fans in the front and two 120 millimeter or 140 millimeter fans on the top by default the 500 D comes with a 120 millimeter pre-installed fan in the front it's in the central location and then there's one also in the rear when it comes to clearance the 500 D will support graphics cards as long as 317 millimeters so that covers pretty much every model I'm aware of CPU coolers can stand as tall as 170 millimeters and again that covers pretty much all of them then we have the PSU which can stretch as long as 225 millimeters so again you'll be hard-pressed to find something that doesn't fit in this generously sized mid tower case Corsair has also made it possible to not just install full-length graphics cards but you can also take advantage of the new vertical mounting fad that really took off last year that said I don't really recommend you take advantage of this feature if you can help yourself with an air-cooled graphics card for example it just sits simply too close to the glass panel and this will really restrict airflow additionally you will need to purchase the PCIe riser cable separately and Corsair says that this standalone accessory will be available from them soon these things though they're never cheap at a good quality shielded version will usually set your back well over 50 dollars u.s. and I've found that even the good ones do introduce a small amount of latency so keep that in mind as well finally when it comes to cable management the 500 D looks after you very well and it's really just a pleasure to build in course areas included they're removable cable routing cover which makes it possible to create a build that looks clean from all angles which is important given it has glass panels on both sides making life easier our included velcro straps and cable routing grommets for quick and easy cable routing for my test build I installed the MSI X 399 Pro carbon a/c of standard ATX motherboards supporting the big and bold thread Ripper CPUs and of course I installed the granddaddy 419 50 X the graphics card of choice was the MSI GTX 1080 TI trio and what a beast that thing is then in terms of cooling I really wanted to give the corsair h 150 i pro whirl but unfortunately right now it doesn't support the tier 4 socket so instead I was forced to test with the naktu at U 14 s TR 4 SP 3 as well as the Animax lick Tec 280 TR for all-in-one liquid cooler and I do believe it's called a lick tech but not a hundred percent sure on that one anyway moving along although the naktu au 14s stands 165 millimeters tall it will fit with room to spare and with the out of the box fan configuration that is to say the - 120 millimeter fans that come pre-installed in the 500 D temperatures were great the CPU ran at just 61 degrees and a full load and the GT X 1080 Ti trio from MSI never went above 58 degrees when gaming so that is an exceptional result so in terms of temperatures it seems quite good but I really just wanted to dress the 500d up so I stripped the stock fans and replace them of course as flashy high airflow ml series and I installed the Animax lick tech 280 at the same time this meant we now had three 120 millimeter ml fans in the front drawing air in and two 140 millimeter ml fans on the top pushing air out through the lick tech 280 millimeter radiator then finally for something a little bit different I went with a 120 millimeter ll model in the rear use that as an exhaust fan and well what an RGB bonanza it was this configuration dropped the gtx 980ti trio low temp down to just 52 degrees and the lick tech 280 saw the 1950 x max out at just 58 degrees which again it's just another exceptional result both the CPU and GPU were left stock for these tests I actually haven't had time to tinker with the overclocking but this is certainly something I would like to explore with this system in a future video in order to really show off the Obsidian series 500d and all of the glorious PC hardware inside you really need to install a few LED light strips and we're certainly not opposed to some RGB goodness here at harbor unboxed as long as it's not a case of form over function anyway I feel like the 500d does a good job of balancing looks with practicality it's a sleek looking case that doesn't sacrifice airflow to give that clean look that a lot of cases seem to be doing at the moment and build quality is extremely high as you would expect from a corsair case and the features that it does include are of the highest quality most mid towers are priced between 75 and $100 u.s. so the 500 d is certainly a premium product and you could fault Corsair for not providing any extras such as LED light strips or even a fan controller I personally would have liked to see at least one of these things included for the hundred and forty dollar u.s. asking price but I'm also grateful that the features that are included such as the hinge tempered glass doors or of the highest quality it's also worth noting the 750 d can often be had for around $130 u.s. despite the fact that it does have a 160 dollar US MSRP so chances are it won't be too long before you can get the 500 d and a more competitive price so in a nutshell the 500 e is a well put together case that's really second to none in terms of design and build quality it's a little pricey at 140 dollars u.s. but we've come to expect a premium from Corsair for their higher-end products overall though I really like what the obsidian series 500d has to offer and I think I found my new backdrop PC for 2018 and that's going to do it for this one if you enjoyed the video then be sure to hit the like button subscribe for more content if you appreciate what we do here harbor and box then consider supporting us on patreon thanks for watching I'm your host Dave see you next time you