Its not an exaggeration- Corsair Memory’s new found interest in the computer case market left many of us simply shocked, in a pleasant way though. And when it came to delivering what we, the hardware-nuts community, also referred to sometimes as “geeks”, usually expect from a company of Corsair’s stature- the California based hardware geniuses truly left us with no points to whine about. Their Obsidian Series cases were, indeed, quite awesome and were capable of putting even the bests in the industry into shame. Overwhelmed by this success, the company launched another brand new model- the Obsidian 650D in the market in April 2011. With a decent price tag (somewhere around R1,600), and a two-year warranty period, the product has done remarkably well so far. So, do we recommend you the 650D? Well, we habitually brought the case to our testing-table and carried out some in depth analysis of its specs and features. Here’s what we found:
The physical dimensions of the product stand at 546mm (L) x 229mm (W) x 521mm (H), and it weighs near about 24.5 lbs. (shipping weight: 27.2 lbs). At first glance, it looks almost identical to its elder sibling Corsair 800D, but on closer looks, it becomes vivid that unlike the earlier models such as the 800D and 750D, this time Corsair decided to go with the full front to rear airflow design. The Steel frame, along with the aluminum accents bears the trademark design Corsair is known for. The Windowed side panel which the company perhaps introduced in order to add some more style into the product, however, may not go well with everyone. But having said that, it is merely a personal opinion, and as they say- beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder!
The front panel connections include a couple of USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, one IE1394 interface, one SATA Dock (3.5/2.5 inch) and four channel Fan Controllers- pretty much what we get to see in most of the other products within its range.
And about the cooling feature, the 650D comes with two 200 mm fans- one front and one top as well as another 120 mm fan- again something pretty common in products of this class. It features four 5.25" Drive Bays (External) and six 3.5’’ (internal), as well as 8 expansion slots.
Violating the on going trend amongst case manufacturers who includes the same fan design for all their product line ups, Corsair has decided to go against the tide by opting for an entirely new design for the fans of 650D. Industry purists may find the idea repulsive, but in our opinion, its rather a bold decision and perhaps could lead to similar move followed by other vendors too.
To conclude with, the Corsair 650D is a pretty good case to go with if easy affordability, decent design and powerful performance is what you are looking for. We don’t usually believe in rating points, but if we did anyway, the Corsair 650D Case would have bagged four stars out of five.
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