Corsair Obsidian 900D Review: Making Room For High-End Gear

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Corsair already offers a heavy tower case called the Obsidian 800D. Now, the company is one-upping itself with the Obsidian 900D. Is this a genuine high-end enclosure, a bomb shelter, or a mess of sheet metal? We put the case through our bevy of tests.

Audio Power: Our 48 W Scythe Kama Bay Amp Pro

Eager to find more hardware I could install in such a large chassis, I stumbled across an audio amp that's easy to work with.

There are two versions of the Kama Bay Amp: a Pro model that takes up two 5.25” bays and sports a pair of analog VU meters, and a regular version that consumes a single bay, offers less wattage, and makes do with smaller meters. Both of them feature adjustable backlight colors.

In order to mount the amplifier, remove its feet and side panels. At least, that's the theory. In our case, something snagged when we tried to slide the unit into a vacant drive bay. The culprits turned out to be two tiny, nonstandard guide rails in the 900D’s front-panel cut-out.

A pair of pliers and some gentle force rid us of the plastic rails, letting the amplifier slide into place. You don't need any screws; the Obsidian 900D’s locking mechanism secures the amp.

The amp's sound quality isn't bad, given its $100 price point. And an output rating of 2 x 24 W RMS should be more than enough for bookshelf speakers. Hopefully, this unexpected addition serves as an example of what can be added to a large tower. Let your imagination run wild.

Live and Loud: The Amplifier

The sound quality of this video leaves something to be desired, but that's our microphone's fault. The performance of Scythe's amplifier justifies its cost.

Igor Wallossek
38 Comments Comment from the forums
  • slomo4sho
    Thanks for including the acoustics and temperature for a workhorse in addition to the gaming rig.
    Reply
  • kitsunestarwind
    I am seriously waiting for this to be come available in Australia, I have the 800D , I love it, but I have no room left and I want/Need more liquid cooling Rad space without resorting to Case Mods, The Corsair 900D will do me perfectly and hopefully won't look so full
    Reply
  • greenrider02
    Quite frankly, that is a beautiful case.
    Reply
  • ASHISH65
    Good review! Corsair's Obsidian 900D looks so great!!
    Reply
  • mapesdhs
    Igor, please at least include the option to show temps in C, not F. :D

    Ian.

    Reply
  • slicedtoad
    ^yeah, I've never seen any computer related benchmarks done in Fahrenheit , lol.
    Very nice review though, Corsair makes some sweet cases, second only to the custom suppliers (mountain mods and the others) but much cheaper.
    Reply
  • JJ1217
    kitsunestarwindI am seriously waiting for this to be come available in Australia, I have the 800D , I love it, but I have no room left and I want/Need more liquid cooling Rad space without resorting to Case Mods, The Corsair 900D will do me perfectly and hopefully won't look so full
    Be prepared to fork out an extra $120 because of the simple fact we're from Australia.
    Reply
  • Vatharian
    I don't fully understand your review. Workstation-class rig is up to the challenge for exploring 900D abilities, but gaming rig? You slap off-the-shelf closed loop watercooler on the midrange CPU (TDP wise), one simple GPU and call it 'watercooled system'? What's the point? Get two or three water coolled GPUs in addition to CPU, set up one loop and them evaluate if the case is suitable for serious LC&OC, and if it's possible to arrange radiators such way to get rid of the heat and not kill usability. Point is: for such class of case you put low-end gaming rig. It doesn't tell us will it perform if serious system is inside. If the case performs with high-wattage rig, it will do for any smaller one, but not necessarily the other way around.
    Reply
  • Idonno
    My 800D preforms great with a high end system and there is every indication the 900D is even better.
    Reply
  • christop
    Good review!! I want one!!!
    Reply