Corsair 800D Case Review

Introduction1

SPECIAL NOTE:

The following article will reference pictures that are not there. This is not an accidental omission on my part. I am in the process of buying a new camera, but I wanted to start getting reviews posted and get the site going without having to wait. Please be patient, and check back often as I will post when I get the camera, and let you know that the images are going to start coming. Thank you for your patience. 

 

 

Review Specs:

Product Obtained – Purchased retail from Newegg. 

Ad Note: For this article, I am experimenting with Google AdSense. I am looking for feedback from readers as to whether you are willing to read articles with AdSense ads, and how willing you are to click on them, either to augment a premium subscription, or in lieu of it. If each reader commits to clicking on one or two ads per article each visit, I could conceviably do the site without the premium content. For now please send me a message with your thoughts.

The Corsair 800D Case

Introduction

Corsair is really making waves these days, and nowhere is this more evident than their first full size case; the 800D.

For my primary desktop test machine; I needed a chassis capable of holding a large motherboard, a 1200w PSU, two double slot GPU's, twin water cooling units, and not less than SEVEN hard drives. It's not just any case that can handle that, and not break under its own weight. They might well have named it "Queen Anne's Revenge" and be fit about it.

Before I discovered this case my next aspiration was to be the Thermaltake Armor+, but this beautiful beast outclasses the Thermaltake, and indeed, everything else we've seen by a margin sufficient to make any follow up effort a no brainer. Painted and/or powder coated in pure Obsidian goodness, this case exudes the class that uryaen.com looks for in a product.

What's so special about it?

 

First; it is homogenous. This means that the entire case, from the stand to the doors is absolute black. The cables, the ties, the fans, EVERYTHING is black, rather than a case that has a black finish on the outside, and ugly steel chassis inside, and multi-colored cabling throughout.

Second: This case is EXTREMELY sturdy. I've seen grand pianos with less structural integrity. Corsair truly "gets" what a HARDCORE overclocking obsessed, game recording, racecar driver like me needs.

 

So let's get into it . . .

 

The Unboxing

The box this case comes in is MASSIVE. Even if you are used to full tower cases, this box, which is sturdy enough to build a fallout shelter from, will be a new experience. You should probably offer to tip your delivery person.

To make things easier, carefully lay the box on one of its sides, open the bottom, lift the box to fold the flap under the box, and then stand the box back up. From here, you can lift the entire box up and off of the case itself.

The case is wrapped thoroughly in plastic and foam. Once freed, you will find that each panel is covered in a thin plastic film. I recommend leaving this film on for now. It protects the case from scratches while you’re working, and the longer it looks perfect, the happier you’ll be. This is especially critical while you are attempting to install components.

The case does not feature casters, whose importance is a matter of taste. Place the case near where you will ultimately install it. If you're anything like me, it will weigh more than 80lbs when you're done.

The Obsidian 800D

Unlike most cases this labor of love feels like it was hewn rather than assembled, from one piece of metal. Many cases come requiring many bits and panels be fixed to other bits and panels, making them feel something like a helicopter of parts rather than a cohesive package.

The Obsidian, named for the color of literally EVERYTHING it’s made of, feels like one well designed piece of steel and plastic. Other than some screws for mounting fans, some nylon zip ties, and a few other bits, this case is assembled and ready to go. Fortunately for it, I’ve got a BIG job for it to handle.

Let’s make no mistake; this isn’t a case for everyone. You really must have a lot of the higher end components, especially in the case of the power supply to make use of this behemoth. The cases’ greatest strength; its ability to route all cabling away behind the main panel, is also its great challenge. If you have a lower end PSU with short, and especially non-removable cables, it won’t do.

Inside

In the box, aside from the case itself, we also have the following: 

16 Copper Stand offs for the motherboard – Enough for extras or to install much wider or longer boards. This case is truly built for big, multi-GPU set ups.

36 hard drive and motherboard screws – Likewise, this case is begging to have multiple hard drives. I will be installing 7 myself, and there is enough room and hardware to make it happen.

14 case fan screws

6 lower hard drive bay fan screws

4 drive rails for lower drive mounts

1 120mm rubber vibration damper

1 custom SATA power connector for the hot swap bays – you’ll want to install this regardless of your short term plans, as it will make installing hot swappable drives much easier later.

8 Nylon zip ties

4 SATA cables

1 8 pin CPU power extension cable

Fittingly, everything is black, to match the case. I really like this trend.

Other contents

What it SHOULD come with is a back brace or one of those Aliens Power Loaders for moving the case around.

Full Tour of the "Monolith"- err, Obsidian

First impressions

Massive.

Black.

Anything else just doesn’t say it.

Here is the Obsidian next to the Corsair 600T, a review of which will also be forthcoming.

The First Zone

Starting from the bottom:

The case rests on three “legs” of sturdy, brushed metal with rubber bottoms. The bottom panel has a grill for the PSU mount, a 120mm grill for an optional fan installation, and a rail for the included, removable dust filter. The filter is the washable type. I suggest checking on it every couple of weeks or so.

The first thing you're going to want to do is start familiarizing yourself with this unique build. There are plastic covers, grommets that disappear into a hidden area in the back, and grills all over the place. Here we see the case with an Asus Rampage III Extreme, and two Coolit Systems Coolers, and topped off with the matching Corsair AX1200 Power supply. If you're going to buy this case, just get this power supply, and thank me later. They are made for each other, and it will make your life much easier. The cabling on both is much longer than normal, and you're going to want that.

Despite the fact that there are fully 8 storage devices, a motherboard that requires 5 power connections, and an AMD 5970, the case almost looks as though nothing is plugged in. I actually have a number of cables showing that you would normally hide and all of the PCI slots are not covered. I change GPU's and swap out devices in this case on a daily basis. For a more stable build, even more of this would be hidden. We'll look more closely at the unique cabling as we go along. For now, just admire the symmetry of components and how beautifully classy the whole build is altogether.

On the other side of the bottom panel is the first of four major thermal zones. This zone houses the PSU mount, space for three 120mm fans: one on the bottom panel, one on the top panel, and one for the drive bays and the hard drive bays themselves. Two of the fan mounts are horizontal, allowing the case to draw air up from the bottom, and the third is vertical and on the side of the drive bays.

Here you see the mass of cables heading straight out the back. Where did they go? That's all part of the magic.

Looking at it from the traditional open side, the drive bays are on the right, and are only accessible via removing the front panel. There are two bays here, and the drives are secured using the four included plastic drive rails. Oddly there is a third space below these, where another drive could easily be mounted, but there is no rail for it, nor is there a hole in the front of the case to accommodate such an installation. Regardless of this shortcoming, I have 7 drives to install, so one had to sit on the bottom, loose. I don’t recommend doing this, but it’s POSSIBLE, if you have to. If I had a note here; I would offer that since there is room, Corsair could allow three drives in this bottom space.

On the left side of this drive space is a slot for a plastic divider piece. This allows the airflow from the drives to move directly out the back of the case to the last thermal zone, which is a cleverly designed “side attic” of sorts. We’ll see its use several times throughout this build.

On the front of this zone are four screws waiting for a 120mm fan, should you choose to install one. If you have one, install it.

Some views of three drives installed in the lower bays. Again, we see all of the cabling heading out the back. It will return in the upper section directly where they need to go to the side facing USB headers on the motherboard.

The Rampage has 8 of them, so it works out nicely. I needed at least six of those for my 12TB raid, for recording games, and this combo fit that requirement.

To the far left is the mounting zone for the PSU. Clearly this case was designed with the Corsair AX1200 PSU in mind, and l just happen to have one of those here too, so in it shall go. The AX1200 sits exactly flush with the matching brushed metal rails here. Once I redo the pictures, you will be able to appreciate just how TACTILE this is, and how utterly gorgeous. Who says computer equipment shouldn't be beautiful too?

On a hilarious note: In this picture, the AX1200 looks really small, but don't be fooled, that PSU is massive.

To the right of this area are two rubber grommets built into the rear panel of the case. You will see these all over the back panel of the top section as well. These are for routing cables away from view into the “side attic” area.

The top panel houses the 120mm fan mount, and two round rubber grommets for routing a traditional liquid cooling system.

The Second Zone

The Motherboard Bay

This case does not use a removable motherboard tray, but you don’t need one. This case is HUGE, and working inside of it is easy.

On the bottom is the panel separating this area from the PSU area; which of course has the grill for the 120mm fan, which is mounted on the other side.

The PCI Slots

Up the back side, there are “technically” 8 slots. The bottom slot isn’t a true slot, but rather a grill. Clearly, this is intended to house a dual slot GPU, meaning this case is made for housing FOUR dual slot cards. This is a hardcore case. ( Again, I know it's a terrible picture, they all are, but until I get my new DSLR, these pictures really don't do justice just how beautiful this thing actually is )

Above these slots is single 120/140mm fan grill. Many full towers do not include such things.

At the top is another set of liquid cooling holes, and another grill for airflow. Here we see my Coolit Systems ECO 240, with FOUR 120mm fans. This beastly radiator is currently keeping an Intel i7 970 six core CPU screaming along at as much as 4.37Ghz, ( and even higher when I feel adventurous ).

The backside of the motherboard tray: We'll look at this in more detail in a moment.

The Third Zone

The 5.25 Drive Bays

Like most areas of this case, the main drive bays are covered by plastic dividers. These help keep the thermal zones separate. Here we see two of them. One covers the cabling for the hot swap bays, and the other covers the fan itself that feed those bays.

 

This is the grill that draws air from the bottom of the case up into the main thermal zone.

The 5.25 Quick Release System. Elegant, classy, and sturdy: three of my favorite things. Note that this picture is a little higher quality than the rest. I had a better camera and lighting briefly, but had to finish the review with a less quality camera.

The fan mounted to the side of the Hot Swap bays.

The cover for the cabling. Note that the fan cable sneaks in under here.

With the cover removed, we see four plates. To these we attach the included power adapter, and four SATA cables, which are then routed right out the back, and to the motherboard. Don't forget to plug the power adapter into the PSU.

I would also suggest that you go ahead and use the four included SATA cables and plug them in here, and route them out back. It will make things easier for later.

The Grommets

Some more views of the grommets, and where they lead. Better pictures soon.

The Fourth Zone

Inside the Back Panel

Curious what that looks like? Here it is, in all its glory, my rear panel, which is feeding 8 drive devices, two GPU's, and not less than FIVE power connectors to the motherboard, and yet even in the rear, it all looks quite neat.

Note that the CPU plate is removable, and there are grommets everywhere. Believe it or not, the second row of grommets from the left edge is actually still clearing a full size Rampage III Extreme board. This case is a monster.

So what is this all about? What is this fourth zone? Quite cleverly, it's where all the hot air in the case goes, and then is routing straight out the back, which will see below. This keeps each discrete thermal zone free of interfering air flow. It works. The whole case is STONE silent.

Outside

The Front Panel

The most unique aspect of the front panel is that there are four hot swap drive bays.

As you can see, mine are all busy. You simply mount the drive to a sturdy rail, and then it clicks into place. ( Additional rails are available separately for $10 direct ) Assuming you have no issues with your RAID set up, it will work great. The usefulness of this feature will depend a lot on your priorities, whether you have more than one compatible case ( The 600T, which I'm also reviewing, does not feature this ), or whether you simply need to be able to get at your drives without moving the case, which is no small thing. I can't help but wonder if that's really what they had in mind here. This case is HEAVY, and fully loaded, you're not going to want to move it, so if you have four or less drives, you won't have to.

The Rear Panel

Right away we notice some interesting oddities on the rear panel. First, if you look at the left side you will see that there is a grill that runs most of the vertical space. Why is that there? The entire back section of the case is its own isolated thermal zone. This is where all of the cables go, and where most of the hot air from other zones goes, so that the air from the PSU and drives is not interfering with the airspace for the CPU and GPUs. That air gets forced into the rear zone and then escapes out the back. Extremely clever.

On the top you will notice two round buttons. You push these to release the side panels. It works the first time, every time, and is quite sturdy. No more annoying screws.

Between them is another vent. Although it's not meant to, you could conceivably mount another PSU here, but it's really meant for fans, or radiators. I have a 240mm radiator with FOUR 120mm fans mounted here.

Below them are two holes for an external water cooling solution, and under them is a 120/140mm fan mount area.

Below that you will find effectively 8 PCI slots. Note that the very bottom slot is simply a vent, yet there is ample room here for fully FOUR double slot GPU's.

Issues?

None. Not a one, other than a VERY small nick on the front right side of the front panel when it arrived, but that's almost always true. Other than that, nothing. This case has been a delight to work and live with. It will remain my primary case for a long time to come. 

Conclusion

It's big. It's classy, and it's sturdy enough to live in.

Integrity Check

As this is a brand new paradigm in product reviews, I will take a moment to explain the logic behind it in each of my early reviews.

This is how it works:

For my site, my keystone paradigm is “Integrity”. It governs everything that I do. I do not “scoop”, I do not “spy”, nor will I purchase stolen hardware, or less serious but still crappy behavior such as copying content, posting something on my site as if it was my content, with a “via-“ link. There is no via ANYthing on my site. 100% of all of my content is generated by me. Period.

On that same token, I have certain standards for vendors. It has been my long experience that vendors will treat their reviewers equal to how they treat their customers. The only difference between a professional reviewer and an end user is that reviewers don’t pay for the product. However, we still, or at least, I still expect a certain degree of support, communication, acceptance of feedback, and level of behavioral conduct.

As part of this process, I will detail my dealings with each company from first contact, product acquisition, support, and follow up. Exceptional companies will gain a lot of credit here, and the poorly run, greedy, or otherwise “less thans” will be outed. 

Corsair

I have a number of products from Corsair, and all of them are top notch. Reviews for the AX1200, the 600T, and others are forthcoming. I also anticipate reviewing the new Coolit/Corsair combo soon. I am holding off on doing the Integrity Check until this round of Corsair products is done. See you then!

Conclusion

For this extensive review, we've looked at Corsair's first entry into the full size chassis market, and what an entrance it is. Next up, we're going to explore their mid-size model, the 600T.

Who Should Buy such a Beast?

In an ideal world; everyone with a $300 case budget. If you're a power user, and you have a TON of hardware to house and room to put it, you can't go wrong investing, and at $300 I do mean investing, in this case. Not much else need be said. It's solid, it PERFORMS, and it will outlast anything you put in it.

If you are an aesthete like me, you will want the case for it's looks, it's elegance, and class. If I get the chance to review the Thermaltake Level 10, it will make for an interesting matchup, but short of that, nothing comes close.

Who Should NOT buy this case?

That's trickier to answer. Many hobbyists opt for full towers. They are more forgiving, easier to work in, and more expandable. The tradeoffs are as they have always been: Weight, Size, and Expense.

If you're a frugal sort, and you like things to last a while, you might like this case because it will not only LAST forever, but it will look good doing it, and always have a place in your home. Smaller cases tend to be finickier when it comes to upgrading, and with the Corsair Obsidian, that will never be an issue.

See you next time for the 600T review.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

blog comments powered by Disqus