Tuesday, January 10th 2012

Corsair Announces New Additions to its PC Case Lineup

Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced the builder-friendly Obsidian Series 550D ultra-quiet premium case and the compact Carbide Series 300R gaming case.

The Obsidian Series 550D offers a revolutionary combination of noise reduction and a wide array of choices for customizing cooling. The rugged steel and brushed aluminum chassis comes with two 120mm intake fans and one 120mm exhaust fan. Additional fan mounting points are provided for up to ten fans total, including locations for dual side-mounted fans for drawing air directly onto GPUs, and top fan mounts spaced for radiator compatibility. Unused hard drive cages can be removed to improve airflow, and Corsair's cable routing system allows wires and cables to be tucked behind the motherboard and out of the airflow path.
The front panel and side panels are fully lined with noise damping material, as well as the covers for the side and top intake mounts. The innovative use of noise-damped covers minimizes unused fan intakes causing increased audible system noise. Noise is further reduced through the use of silicone mounts on the fans and hard drive bays. Even the front air intakes are angled for improved noise reduction.
The 550D provides eight expansion slots with room for GPUs of up to 450mm in length, a CPU backplane cutout for easy installation and upgrade of CPU heatsinks, a fully-painted matte black interior, six tool-free hard drive bays with removable caddies with integrated 2.5" SSD support, and four tool-free optical drive bays. Other high-end features include magnetically-mounted dust filters and side panels that open with the touch of a button. The diamond-cut aluminum front control panel houses two high-speed USB 3.0 connectors and audio connectors.

"In the past, enthusiast PC builders had to make the choice between optimal noise reduction and superior cooling capabilities," said Ruben Mookerjee, VP and General Manager for Components at Corsair. "The Obsidian Series 550D changes the game, providing outstanding noise reduction along with carefully engineered cooling capabilities for even the most powerful PC systems."

Great gaming systems begin with a great case, and the Carbide Series 300R provides a remarkable number of in-demand features in an attractive, compact chassis. Builder-friendly features include three tool-free optical drive bays and four tool-free hard drive bays with integrated 2.5" SSD compatibility. There's room for high-end GPUs of up to 450mm in length, and the matte black interior incorporates Corsair's innovative cable routing system that helps keep wires and cables out of sight for a clean look and improved airflow. The 300R comes with intake and exhaust fans, with room for five additional fans including dual side-mounted fans for direct GPU cooling.
"Inexpensive, compact cases often fall short in builder-friendly features, airflow, or the cosmetic features that make great gaming PCs really stand out," continued Mr. Mookerjee. "The Carbide Series 300R hits the mark for an affordable, enthusiast-quality compact PC case. Its innovative features will be appreciated by both seasoned system builders and PC gamers who are taking the leap and building their first system from scratch."

Pricing and Availability
The Obsidian Series 550D and Carbide Series 300R are backed by a two-year warranty and are expected to be available in February from Corsair's worldwide network of authorized retailers and distributors at a US suggested retail price of $159 USD for the Obsidian Series 550D, and $89 USD for the Carbide Series 300R.
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12 Comments on Corsair Announces New Additions to its PC Case Lineup

#1
chrone
it's getting better and better. nice job! :D
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#2
Munki
These look nice. Wouldn't mind having a 550D.
Posted on Reply
#3
trickson
OH, I have such a headache
There is only so much one can do with a square Box . Same old same old .
Posted on Reply
#4
jsfitz54
550D = Awesome! Nice and clean and you add lots of fans if thats your thing.
Posted on Reply
#6
Disparia
Nice. There are very few cases outside of Lian-Li that I like, the 550D is now on that very short list!
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#8
Vancha
Initially I thought the 550D's power button was glowing white, but unfortunately I think it's just chrome. Still, they're both very nice looking cases. I was going to get a Fractal case for my next build, but the 550D is mighty tempting.
Posted on Reply
#10
theJesus
I like the 550D, but it's a little too expensive I think.
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#11
Casecutter
I like the look of I/O panel on the Obsidian 550D and that it's up top, wished they'd used that same thing on the Carbide Series.

Still hoping that Corsair comes out with a nice clean mini tower, with a tailor PSU included. Something that's all set for a m-ATX lower power build. It wouldn't need to swallow some 6950 or hold 7 HDD. Simple APU builds, that has it working a few fans and some noise reduction (although low watt they don't need to go overboard) into the equation. A 430W with like 5 SATA plugs (add one SATA to molex), one PCI-E 6-Pin, a 4/8 mobo plug, and skip the floppy.
Posted on Reply
#12
xBruce88x
the 300R looks nice and not too expensive. looks like the side vents would be right over the gpus, should help with multi gpu setups

@entropy13, they may also announce a new version of their desktop speakers
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