Corsair Obsidian 550D review - Introduction

Over the years, Corsair has released many products; from memory, to SSDs, to power supplies, towards gaming gear and of course PC cases. When Corsair for the first time introduced their Obsidian chassis series with the 800D, well it was simply a game changer. The Obsidian 800D to date has not been surpassed however in the lower segment Corsair definitely filled up the gaps from top to bottom as we have shown you in pretty much all cases we reviewed -- amongst them the Graphite and Carbide series.

But yeah, looking all the way back the one that created the most chatter was the their first ever Obsidian 800D chassis. Shortly followed by a smaller version, the 800D mini-me called 650D. From that Obsidian series now yet another model has been launched, the 550D. This case should offer all nice niche gadgets and features you may expect from the Obsidian series yet the 550D was designed for the audiophiles, the folks that have a dislike for for noise.

The end result is a mid-tower chassis with cool looks, low noise levels and the latest trendy features such as USB 3.0 front panel support, easy to clean dust filters and a solution that is once again pretty much tool free and comes in that scrumptious all black design.

• Warranty Two years .
• Dimension 20.9” x 8.7” x 19.5” .
• MB Support ATX, mATX .Expansion Slots 8 .
• Form Factor Mid-tower .
• Material Steel structure with black brushed aluminum faceplate .
• Drive Bays (x4) 5.25”, (x6) 3.5”/2.5” Drive Caddies .
• Cooling (x2) 200mm Fans, (x1) 120mm Fans .
• Front I/O (x2) USB 3.0, (x1) Headphone, (x1) Mic .
• Power Supply ATX (not included) .

As you'll notice throughout review Corsair has put some real effort into this case. Angled ventilation holes, vent covers and the usage of good noise dampening materials and of course that aluminum front door which can be opened from either side. An inaudible chassis doesn’t mean it's lacking in cooling performance as it comes with plenty of fan mounts hen 120mm mounts actually. The chassis comes standard with two front-mounted 120mm intake fans and one 120mm exhaust fan.

The top panel provides room for two 120mm or 140mm fans, or a 240mm radiator for compatibility with Corsair Hydro Series CPU coolers and other liquid cooling systems. The side panel has mounting points for another two 120mm or 140mm fans for cooling multiple GPUs.

Anyway, have a peek at the product after which we'll dive straight into the photo-shoot.