# Corsair Obsidian 650D or wait for Fractal ARC Midi R2?



## Widjaja (Mar 25, 2013)

Kind of on the fence about whether or not to get the Corsair Obsidian 650D or wait for the Fractal ARC Midi R2.

Reason being is the 650D is selling for 232USD and doesn't have native internal USB 3.0 header but I do like the docking bay on top of the case.

The latest Fractal ARC Midi R2 Has internal USB 3.0 Header but does not have the docking bay.
Also will be about 4-6 weeks for arrival here in New Zealand.

Should I just go for the 650D or wait?
Or is there something better out there?


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## Delta6326 (Mar 25, 2013)

Well if you want quality an don't mind spend more money on a case that will last you a life, check out CaseLabs. something like a SM5 or SM8 would be to your liking. http://www.caselabs-store.com/cases/

Otherwise I do like the 650D


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## MxPhenom 216 (Mar 25, 2013)

Depends on what you intend to do with the system. Watercool or air, because the 650D has absolutely horrendous air cooling abilities.


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## Hood (Mar 25, 2013)

I have only the Carbide 400R, but it's a very solid case, with signature Corsair quality and ease of build.  The 650D is much better, except for the throwback USB 3.0 connector ($7 adapter and some cable management will fix)   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007PODI1W/?tag=tec06d-20

  As for the Arc Midi R2, it's a nice case, but not in the same class as the 650D.  It comes down to how much stuff you want to cram into a PC case - the Corsair is wasted on a minimal build with a couple drives and one video card.  OTOH, the Fractal will soon become crowded if you like lots of drives, fans, liquid cooling, expansion cards, etc.  Myself, I like room to expand and to easily change parts, so I'd get the 650D.


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## TheLaughingMan (Mar 25, 2013)

The new Tt Urban S31 is nice.


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## MT Alex (Mar 25, 2013)

TheLaughingMan said:


> The new Tt Urban S31 is nice.



Dang, that does look pretty nice.


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## Hood (Mar 25, 2013)

Could it be that Tt is finally growing up and getting away form their usual boy gamer aesthetic?  This new case does look pretty nice.  I hope the build quality is better than past efforts, Tt has produced some fairly shoddy gear over the years (fans, PSUs, budget cases, etc.).  They'll have to make a long run of decent products before I'll trust them again, been burned once too often by their products.


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## Kaynar (Mar 25, 2013)

That was my dilemma 1 month ago. Until I finally decided to buy a Lian-Li V700WX. Totally amazed by the quality although it costs 2 times more than the cases you mention. In terms of cooling performance and easy watercooling, the Fractal case wins.


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## acerace (Mar 25, 2013)

Take the new Thermaltake case. It has docking bay and USB3. Also good looking too.


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## GamerGuy (Mar 25, 2013)

Just bought the 650D and an NZXT Phantom 410 Red for my 2nd and 3rd rigs, the thought of gutting my two rigs and transfering the parts sends a shudder down my spine. I'm so not looking forwardto this chore....






I've been inspecting the 650D, it's quality stuff......looks great for cable organisation, quite spacious interior....


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## Hood (Mar 25, 2013)

GamerGuy said:


> Just bought the 650D and an NZXT Phantom 410 Red for my 2nd and 3rd rigs, the thought of gutting my two rigs and transfering the parts sends a shudder down my spine. I'm so not looking forwardto this chore....



I know what you mean, usually I look forward to installing upgrades, so I can start testing for performance gains, but if it's a case upgrade, there's no expectation (except maybe slightly better cooling and noise reduction).  Maybe you should add a few new parts to each system to make it faster, at least then you'll feel rewarded for all the hard work of cleaning and swapping out the old components.
  BTW, why are you changing the cases?


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## GamerGuy (Mar 25, 2013)

Hood said:


> BTW, why are you changing the cases?


I was using a Sharkoon T28 for my 3rd rig, it was fine with a HD6990 installed. I had an itch to get an MSI HD6970 Lightning (at a very good price) so I went for it. It was only when I'd gotten the Ligthning that I'd realized it wasn't going to fit into the T28 case. I then got a Corsair Obsidian 650D, after which I thought to myself that the Ob 650D was too good for my 3rd rig, so I assigned it to my 2nd rig. I then scored the NZXT Phantom 410 at a pretty good price as well (well, it was used after all) for my 3rd rig......the HD6990 and HD6970 Lightning just barely fit into it, I had to remove the middle HDD cage to make room for both card, especially the Lightning which is, surprisingly, longer than the HD6990.


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## Widjaja (Mar 26, 2013)

After looking around for the Tt case, it turns out no one over here imports them.

So I have gone ahead and purchased the 650D.


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## Cold Storm (Mar 26, 2013)

Widjaja said:


> After looking around for the Tt case, it turns out no one over here imports them.
> 
> So I have gone ahead and purchased the 650D.



Ahhh, man... did you message the tt rep we have on tpu?


The 650 will be a great case


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## Widjaja (Mar 26, 2013)

Cold Storm said:


> Ahhh, man... did you message the tt rep we have on tpu?
> 
> 
> The 650 will be a great case



Forgot we have a Tt rep 

The only thing which was putting me off from the 650D was the lack of internal USB 3.0 header to front USB but it has been brought to my attention that you can get adapters.
It's not like I use the rear USB 3.0 ports at the moment anyway.


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## Cold Storm (Mar 26, 2013)

Widjaja said:


> Forgot we have a Tt rep
> 
> The only thing which was putting me off from the 650D was the lack of internal USB 3.0 header to front USB but it has been brought to my attention that you can get adapters.
> It's not like I use the rear USB 3.0 ports at the moment anyway.



The 650 will be a good choice. Even the small little things can all ways be fixed.


Edit:

Looks like the urban will be out soon here


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## GamerGuy (Mar 26, 2013)

The Obsidian 650D is quite spacious, it would have easily fit two HD6990/GTX690 and the HD7990 (I believe). Silly me, I didn't realize the 650D is a categorized as a mid tower, it's huge for a mid, almost the same size as my Tt Level 10GT actually. Pardon my crappy shot, will be back with better shot of it-





Just for edification, here's one of the Phantom 410




As you can see, a very tight squeeze for my two very long cards, heck, the HD6970 Lightning is actually a tad longer than the HD6990. See, the alu fan cover of the Lightning is actually resting on the HD cage....


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## Florentino (Mar 26, 2013)

Widjaja said:


> Kind of on the fence about whether or not to get the Corsair Obsidian 650D or wait for the Fractal ARC Midi R2.
> 
> Reason being is the 650D is selling for 232USD and doesn't have native internal USB 3.0 header but I do like the docking bay on top of the case.
> 
> ...



I don't buy Corsair's IDEA

cuz I'm not a liquid cooling system user


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