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Introducing the Corsair Obsidian 550D
We've been keeping track of the evolution of Corsair's line of enclosures since the Graphite 600T was released. Even as the newer enclosures generally found themselves lower and lower in price, there was a clear evolution as Corsair's engineers gained more experience and confidence with their designs. Yet each new design up to this point has been a little bit of refinement and a little bit of experimentation without any specific specialization. That changes with the 550D.
There's definitely some experimentation going on here, and there has to be: the Corsair Obsidian 550D is the first case Corsair has engineered specifically for silent running. That's not all they've experimented with, though, as you'll soon see.
Corsair's case isn't the only thing new about this review, though; we've also gone back and substantially revised our testbed and testing methodology to correct for some abnormalities and issues that may have affected the results of our previous tests. We're including some new data that should hopefully prove useful in both the short and long term. But first, let's get the skinny on the 550D:
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D SpecificationsMotherboard Form FactorATX, Micro ATXDrive BaysExternal4x 5.25”Internal6x 2.5"/3.5”CoolingFront2x 120mm intakeRear1x 120mm exhaust (supports 140mm)Top2x 120mm/140mm fan mountsSide2x 120mm/140mm fan mounts (or 1x 200mm fan mount)Bottom1x 120mm/140mm fan mountExpansion Slots8Front I/O Port2x USB 3.0 (via motherboard header), 1x Headphone, 1x MicPower Supply SizeStandard ATXClearancesHSF180mmPSU180mmGPU12.5" / 318mmWeight16.5 lbs.7.48 kgDimensions20.9" x 8.8" x 19.5"
531mm x 224mm x 495mmSpecial FeaturesAcoustic dampening foam
USB 3.0 via motherboard header
Dual removable drive cages with three drive trays eachPrice$139
Corsair's design essentially falls into the same market as Antec's P280, but theoretically it's a step up from other silent-engineered cases like NZXT's H2. It has all the same accoutrements you've come to expect from a Corsair enclosure (including remarkable ease of assembly) while cribbing some ideas from Fractal Design's very successful Define R3. How successful this experiment was remains to be seen.
In and Around the Corsair Obsidian 550D
Introducing the Corsair Obsidian 550D In and Around the Corsair Obsidian 550D Assembling the Corsair Obsidian 550D Testing Methodology Noise and Thermal Testing Conclusion: Built for Silence Print This Article 
14 Comments View All Comments Post a Comment noticed this in many reviews, not just this site by cbgoding on Thursday, March 29, 2012 Why do reviewers throw a ton of voltage at a chip for a weak overclock? 1.38v is what I use to hit 4.9GHz. Just strikes me as weird. 
cbgoding Reply RE: noticed this in many reviews, not just this site by Dustin Sklavos on Thursday, March 29, 2012 1. Stability.2. Ease of testing. For the case, whether or not the overclock itself is fast is irrelevant, we're just looking to see how it dissipates the heat.
Dustin Sklavos Reply RE: noticed this in many reviews, not just this site by compudaze on Thursday, March 29, 2012 Not all chips are created equal. I have had one 2600K that hit 4.8GHz on 1.32V while another took a whopping 1.48v to hit the same 4.8GHz. They call it the "silicon lottery" for a reason. 
compudaze Reply material by pdjblum on Thursday, March 29, 2012 There are still some of us who prefer aluminum to steel. What I am saying is that the material is as important to some of us as are the dimensions and other specs, so it would be great if it was also listed in an easy to find location. 
pdjblum Reply RE: material by Rasterman on Thursday, March 29, 2012 If you use quality fans at low speeds, there is no reason you need an isolation, dampening design to block noise, there simply is no noise. I went with a Lian Li AL case, short ATX, 2 unused 5.25 bays, it is absolutely silent at idle, plus it weighs less than 20# which makes moving it around a hell of a lot easier. Overclocked to 4.9GHz I don't need to ramp the fans for the CPU, I have a similar video card that does ramp though and it is by far the loudest thing at load, probably similar to this review. 
Rasterman Reply Not much of a review by haelio on Thursday, March 29, 2012 "In terms of thermal performance, it's tough to make a direct comparison to Corsair's other cases."No it's not, you get other cases, put the same hardware in it and then take measurements again.
I've seen better case reviews by random purchasers on enthusiast forums. This was just a series of subjective opinions on the aesthetics and then a few graphs without any context, mention of the ambient temperatures or fan layout (presumably stock?).
I expect more from a site like Anandtech. If this review popped up on CNET I wouldn't be complaining.
For a better comparison of:
CPU temps: http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/chassis/36473-corsai...
Noise: http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/chassis/36473-corsai...
haelio Reply RE: Not much of a review by SilthDraeth on Thursday, March 29, 2012 I have to agree with the above poster. Though, I am guessing you guys do not keep review hardware around forever. However, it would make sense to have a pretty standard case review test suite with a standardized hardware setup. Presumebly something you know will get quite hot in a poorly designed case.Then just keep that stuff in house and when new cases come for review, you pop the stuff in and run the tests, then you can easily pull up your numbers for other cases and compare and contrast.
SilthDraeth Reply RE: Not much of a review by SilthDraeth on Thursday, March 29, 2012 Actually, in following up, I express my ignorance for not reading the review first. It appears they built a standardized test bed for cases, and this is the first case to be tested with the new test bed.Also, going on the assumption that review hardware doesn't sit around indefinitely, I would gather that future case reviews will be done with the standard test, as I mentioned in my above post.
SilthDraeth Reply RE: Not much of a review by haelio on Thursday, March 29, 2012 I'm sure there must have been more than this case around in Anandtech HQ :) Adding even one other case for comparison would improve this review immensely.I hope this review's graphs are updated when other cases are used with this test bed.
haelio Reply RE: Not much of a review by JarredWalton on Thursday, March 29, 2012 "AnandTech HQ" is where each of us happens to live; I'm in WA, Dustin's in CA, Anand is in NC, Ryan is in OR, Johan is in Belgium, and Brian is in AZ, just to name a few. I'm sure Dustin does have more than one case at his home/apartment, but going back to "re-review" some cases means he basically doubles (triples) the workload for an article just for the sake of graphs. The next review should have two cases listed, and once we have half a dozen or so reviewed this won't be much of a problem.Just for the record, we originally tried to come up with a good testbed so that we wouldn't have to change it after just one year, but first attempts sometimes fall short. So now we have a new testbed that should last Dustin several more years. :-)
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