Go big or go home. That’s a lesson Corsair apparently took to heart for its first chassis, a 24x24x9-inch full-size enclosure that rivals Cooler Master’s ATCS 840 in size. Corsair’s Obsidian 800D is all black, from its matte steel frame and side panels to its brushed-aluminum front bezel, from motherboard tray to front-panel cables, from screws to standoffs. And the goodness is more than skin deep—the 800D has everything you’d expect from a premium case: quick-swap SATA bays, thermally isolated compartments, plenty of cable-routing cutouts, and more. In fact, it’s one of the best cases we’ve tested in years.
The 800D is divided into several “cooling zones”: the top compartment with the motherboard and optical bays; the bottom compartment, where the power supply sits; and a front compartment with four hot-swap 3.5-inch SATA bays. Each compartment is cooled by a separate 14cm fan, and the top compartment has room for three additional 12cm exhaust fans, as well as support for liquid-cooling radiators. Fresh air is drawn in through dust-filtered intakes at the bottom of the case, which is lifted one inch off the ground by three supporting feet.
The main compartment supports ATX, microATX, and EATX motherboards, and features the largest CPU backplane cutout we’ve ever seen, taking up the entire upper left quadrant of the motherboard. The motherboard tray also features 11 rubber-rimmed cable-routing cutouts, which means even cable-routing schlubs can wire up a clean and attractive build simply by routing everything behind the tray. However, you’ll still have to exercise some amount of foresight, as clumping too many cables behind the tray will make the right side panel bulge a bit.
The case has two sets of rubber-rimmed holes for water-cooling tubes—one set between the bottom and middle compartments, and one set on the case’s upper rear panel.
The five optical bays are toolless, although the retainer clip doesn’t seem as sturdy as Cooler Master’s. The four hot-swap 3.5-inch bays are thermally isolated by removable plastic baffles and cooled by a 14cm fan, which draws air over the drives and exhausts to the lower compartment, to avoid heating up the main board components. The baffles also cover the backplane of the hot-swap bays and route its four data cables and four-in-one SATA power cable behind the motherboard tray. Two additional 3.5-inch bays at the bottom of the case can be utilized by removing the front faceplate and attaching drive rails to the hard drives. These bays can be cooled with the addition of a 12cm fan.
The 800D is Corsair’s first case, and it has a few quirks. The power supply bracket on the 800D’s first production run, for example, couldn’t accommodate power supplies with hexagonal AC cable mounts. Corsair PSUs weren’t affected, but plenty of other manufacturer’s PSUs just wouldn’t fit. The problem has been corrected in later runs, though.
Although the Thermaltake Level 10 (reviewed Holiday 2009) turned the heads of nearly everyone who saw it, including non-enthusiasts, every enthusiast who came into our Lab was more excited by the Corsair 800D. It’s enormous, well built, and crammed with power-user features. For $300—just $20 more than the Cooler Master ATCS 840 when it launched—it’s a killer case. We can’t wait to see the midtower version.
Hot-swap SATA bays; great cable management and airflow; support for water-cooling; well-constructed.
Huge; steel frame rather than aluminum; pricey.
KimPartlow
March 13, 2011 at 7:41am
Built a new computer in this case a year ago, and loved it. More than enough room to build and dress the cables. BUT....... I finally ran into a problem that Corsair needs to address. The backplanes for the hard drives have a bad habit of working their way loose about every two months. I start experiencing s-l-o-w loading, and eventually, the BIOS can't find the drives on boot-up. Shut everything down, open it up, and reseat the drives, put it all back together. Usually, I'm good for another 6-8 weeks. Other than that, I would use this case again, and again.
ymichaelx
November 20, 2010 at 4:58pm
I really wanted this case and was in the process of purchasing it, however I came across 2 major flaws that I think should seriously hamper this case being on the Best of the Best list. This is supposed to be a high end case, yet it does not even support the high end motherboard on the same list.
This case does not support USB 3.0 or SATA3!!! What is that? The only answer that Corsair has given on the subject is that they are looking into the issue and are working on a solution due out SOON(tm).
Bustout
November 28, 2011 at 8:47pm
I had the same concern, but I just purchased a computer with this case after finding out that they've updated it to include both USB 3.0 and a SATA 3 backplane.
wrangler
October 09, 2010 at 2:20am
I haven't tested it with other cards. Also there is a definite lack of
air intake options but if you flip around the rear 140mm fan and have
some good exaust fans the cooling is excellent. I also installed a 92
mm intake fan in the lower HDD slots. Still if I crank my 3 Scythe
Ultra Kazes to 3000 RPM the cooler on the 5770 can't keep up and
actually starts allowing air in through the card instead of blowing
it out!
Black_Phenom
April 19, 2010 at 11:04am
Ehehe, I'm planning on building my own PC atm, And I've been looking for a Case for it and then I found this big lug, Now I'm having a 3-way fight between them. Don't know if i should get the Corsair Obsidian 800D, The Thermaltake Spedo, or the Azza Solano 1000. As this moment I'm going for a Air-Cooled System, Later I might install Water-Cooling. But I'm having a hard time Choosing between each of the 3 cases I talked about. Though I'm really leaning in the Direction of the 800D from all the stuff I've heard about it.
szore
April 08, 2010 at 7:05am
...I didnt want to spend 300 bucks on it.
Then I found the AZZA Solano 1000 CSAZ-1000..AWESOME!
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2346213,00.asp
Has almost all these features, and was $99.00 free shipping!
...don't spend $300 on something like this unless you got cash to burn.
POMF2K
March 28, 2010 at 10:16pm
I've been between this and the cooler master 840 for some time now. I really can't decide.
Problem is. . . I'm air cooling (with the exception of cooler master h50) and don't feel comfortable building a fully water cooled system yet.
Is this case a bad idea with air cooling?
naxself
March 24, 2010 at 7:11pm
Anyone seen a head-to-head comparison? For the last little while, I've been thinking the ACTS would be my next case. This might be competition.
Thoughts?
nedwards
March 25, 2010 at 11:44am
Well, the ATCS has a removable motherboard tray, which you might find useful. But the support brace tends to get in the way of some in-case installs, especially if you use a big CPU cooler. I love both, obviously, but my gosh is it easy to build a beautiful system into an 800D.
dugn
March 24, 2010 at 4:45pm
Hands down the best case I've ever used.
You can't imagine how great the extra space is when building a rig. I never brushed my hand against any part of this perfectly black case. Alignment for the PCI brackets was off by 2mm, but a gentle push got evrything straight. It's not evident from the pictures, but the hot-swap bay is insulated, so it keeps the HDDs quiet. Aside from the dumb idea to make the dust filter on the bottom slide out only from the back, this is a flawless and perfect dream case. BIG, yes. Also very, very awesome!
Check out my build at [H]ardforum:
chinomon
March 24, 2010 at 2:59pm
the only thing this thing needed to be perfect is 10 slots for those crazy 4 way sli or crossfire people but am not one of them im a 3way sli'er lol so this is dope
DOOMHAMMA
March 24, 2010 at 2:48pm
I'd toss my Antec 1200 for this. When it came out I had nothing but wishful thinking for it. If this ever drops into the sub $200 range. I'd certainly think about it! It's so sleek looking too!
jonnygotguns
March 24, 2010 at 12:27pm
i don't understand how having a steel frame is bad. I would honestly have a gigantic heavy case then one that is super light and can bend easily.
big_montana
March 24, 2010 at 1:38pm
Weight is why. People used to think that aluminum cases acted like a giant heat sink and helped in cooling, but it is more for their lightness and aestehic qualities than anything else. An aluminum case is just as strong as a steel one, but can be pricier too, but judging by the price on this one that disaprity is gone now. I have usually purchased Lian-Li cases becasue of their quality, design and included features. They are also easy to mod.
POMF2K
March 28, 2010 at 10:20pm
bottom line . . . aluminum is noisy.
Why should a heavy full tower case ever be an issue?
Matt_Rapp
March 24, 2010 at 11:33am
I just finished building a new i7 930
system with this case and I couldn't be happier. It does have a high
cost but it is so worth it. Every part of it oozes quality, and all
of the little details are there. Even the little door that covers the
front ports and reset switches is spring loaded so it smoothly opens
and closes. I didn't think that I would use the hard drive racks much
but now I don't think I could live without them because it is so easy
to pull out a drive when you are trouble shooting, setting up RAID
etc. Also there is tons of room left over for water cooling in the
main compartment and the inch wide space behind the MB tray plus the
wiring gaskets are awesome for cable management.
The only problems I've had have been
minor, the expansion slots seemed a little bit to far away from my MB
when installing my 5770. I had to push it inwards in order to get the
screw to thread. Interestingly my Wi-Fi card seems fine, but I
haven't tested it with other cards. Also there is a definite lack of
air intake options but if you flip around the rear 140mm fan and have
some good exaust fans the cooling is excellent. I also installed a 92
mm intake fan in the lower HDD slots. Still if I crank my 3 Scythe
Ultra Kazes to 3000 RPM the cooler on the 5770 can't keep up and
actually starts allowing air in through the card instead of blowing
it out!
-Nvida vs. ATI, who cares as long as it maximum!
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