Corsair Obsidian 350D review - Article

Gettin all mini-me with the Corsair Obsidian 350 chassis

We review a new chassis from Corsair, it's Obsidian 350D. It is the mini-me version of the new Obsidian 900D chassis. Not mid, not full, mini and this intended for small form factor PCs. Now the product might be tagged as mini, the details and features however are grand. Armed with a price much better then the 900D this might be the product a lot of you are on the lookout for.

Obsidian - back in the Roman Empire, if a person discovered some sort of mineral they would call him Obsius, it nearly forms the name of today's tested product. So when the Obsius found a, usually black or banded, hard volcanic glass that displays shiny, curved surfaces when fractured and is formed by rapid cooling of lava -- it was called... Obsidian. 

So the 900D is tagged as Super Tower chassis, and that means that it can even swallow HPTX form factor motherboards. This 350D however is has a more compact design. Don't let the looks fool you though.

The Obsidian 900D is "the" enclosure to get for high-end users with a relatively small form factor in mind. As such the the Obsidian 350D is a more of an entry-level micro-ATX chassis. The size in total is 450 x 210 x 440 mm and has been molded mainly out of steel. The 350D is equipped with a very nice acrylic side window and just like its bigger brother, it has a brushed aluminum front, similar to the 900D. The chassis packs room for two 2.5" drives, two 3.5" drives, and another two 5.25" drives. What Corsair did clever was to lower the 3.5" drive cage and that gains the advantage of two graphics cards installed with a huge length of up-to 380mm.

Cooling will be a key factor as well and the chassis includes a single 120 mm fan in the rear and a single 140 mm fan located in the front. Much like the 900D there's room for liquid cooling as well, and that's despite is smaller size. You can mount three fans or a 240/280 mm water cooling radiator at the top side of the chassis.

But I'm sure you guys want photos. So we'll show a dozen or two of today! Have a quick peek first... meet the Obsidian 350D Super Tower and then head on over to the next page.