Gadgetory

courser has been fairly active within the enclosure market with the release of new series targeted towards a specific niche but the Obsidian series sort of losing the flagship status to the more affordable carbide and graphite series so we take a look today the most recent addition to the obsidian series with 550d courses approached towards a new chassis is not to redesign something that works but rather incorporates something they have been missing on all their previous cases and that is sound isolation and noise reduction the two features that are the highlights of this product the chassis is priced at $150 and when compared to cases offering similar features the pricing is actually pretty competitive and being one the obsidians you are to expect the premium quality on the exterior the case is fairly simple it is constructed out of rugged steel and a plastic accent for the top panel the front panel is made of aluminum definitely adds the elegant factor to the enclosure and on the inside noise dampening foam is placed and so depending on the location of the case the panel can be switched to open in either direction at 180 degrees a really smart way to utilize the front panel without compromising its usability and since the panel is attached with plastic clips which may wear out with use Corsair includes four additional clips in case you need to replace them and starting with the front panel connectors we have a really sturdy power button and the recent button audio ports that match the color theme for the front panel 2 USB 3 ports with USB 2 adapter and keep in mind if you have anything plugged into those USB ports opening the panel to the left may cause some clearance issues and the same goes for the audio ports next up the case has four optical drives below which the front intake fans are located behind this removable cover with an extra layer of the noise absorbent and check this out a magnetic dust filter that's an absolute breeze to remove for cleaning notice also there is some ventilation around the front panel to allow for the airflow take a look at the side panel Corsa gives the users two options either to keep the cover on for silence or optimize the airflow with the extra fans and a nice little touch by force there are these rubber grommets for the fan mounts to minimize vibration and finally a dust filter for this side panel that conveniently removes with these in the back we have two buttons to remove the side panels our regular exhaust fan and i/o slot a PCI expansion slots and some water gun holes and a bottom mounted power supply with a dual slot dust filter the case is elevated by these rubber feet which would also contribute to minimizing the overall noise the top panel also has a cover for the fans including the noise absorbing material and another magnetic dust filter so you see the 550d is fully dust proof with hassle-free cleaning options so getting inside the case is super easy just push the button and pull off the side panel and as with all the covers we've seen so far a thick layer of noise dampening foam is attached to both side panels now looking at the actual internals not much has changed in the layout resembles that of the first Carbide serious cases the only difference we can notice is the slightly higher tone panel which would allow a standard radiator and one set of fans to be installed without interfering with your motherboard the four optical drives use a tools melting mechanism and then two hard drive gauges or removal no need to take out the toolbox just a couple of thumbscrews and you're good to go removal of the top hard drive gauge allows for installation of longer beta cards and just get a better clearance for the front intake but the hard drive cage can also be mounted solo on the top which would leave room in the bottom for a potential water cooling configuration the tools mounting brackets are extremely easy to work with and have SSD support that can now be placed in the middle of the bracket without any clearance issues in the cages came out 120 millimeter fan and Corsair provides the appropriate screws to do so and moving on the CPU cut out this fairly large should accommodate most motherboards with quality rubber grommets around the motherboard tray to do hole your cable management with black front panel connectors that makes you jump even easier in total fans fans can be installed for an optimal airflow but the sides and top covers must be removed before the air to move otherwise they will choke the fans it would be nice to see a chassis that can fully optimize its cooling potential without compromising on the selling point in this case at the back there is a fair bit of room to work with for your cable management however since the side panel is flat most of your cables will be concentrated behind the hard drive cage and not behind the motherboard and after everything is in place the 550d is no surprise a breeze to work with and cleans up all the cables without any hiccups and with the hard drive cage removes graphics cards in lengths of seventeen point eight inches are supported but is really mental direct the airflow towards the main components and spying graphics cards today don't really see the 12 inches mark so to conclude the Obsidian 550d is really just a new facelift it doesn't bring anything new to the table from the inside just coursers usual standard with excellent build quality it is the Obsidian after all cable management internal hardware options and full dust cover all extremely well designed to work with enthusiasts and the highlight of the chassis is the redesign exterior it has only one goal and that sound dampening it does a really good job keeping the noise in when poor enthusiasts who want the powerful but quiet built this is definitely an item to consider the chassis still offers plenty of airflow options throughout but removing the noise dampening side and top panels sort of defeats the purpose and that's the major flaw with this you have to choose between silence or airflow or something in the middle as installation of fans of the top is a must and putting the cover on completely chokes the pants overall the chassis sucks up well within the enclosure market as it is priced competitively for stairs at empathy silent the closure was a good try but when the user has to choose between airflow or silence it is a major drawback and limits the full potential we were expecting and that is it for this review thank you guys for watching and we'll see you next one