Corsair Obsidian Series 650D Mid-Tower Computer Case

A Closer Look – Components and Design

There it is the 650D! This is what you wanted to see…now what? Oh yeah, a review is why you are here; well then you will get one. Who better than a case modding site to do a review on a case. Even if we do not mod it we always want to see what it is that makes it special from the others.  OK, at a very fast glimpse the case looks just about like any other black case… but it stops there. With dimensions of 21.5” (L) x 9” (W) x 20.5” (H) 546mm (L) x 229mm (W) x 521mm (H) it puts in on or about on the larger size, but is narrower that the ever popular HAF 922. The other thing that pops out at you is the side window and it looks like Corsair went “old school” with the look by adding a trim piece around it. Up front it looks like we have 5 drive bays, or do we?

Taking a look at the front for the case I will start at the top and work my way down. So at the very top we see that from the previous image that indeed we do not have five drive bays but four. At the top of the bays we have a panel that is hiding our front panel ports that we normally see on the top of case. But just to the left of that is the power button and LED indicator light.

With an easy push on the door we gain access to the ports which include two USB 3.0, audio/ mic jacks, two USB 2.0, a IEEE 1394 (is that still popular?), and lastly a reset button. With the door in the down position the back side of the panel give you some help on which port is what.

No, the case did not change color it is just my skills at taking photos showing. Anyways at the lower part of the front section of the case is a large mesh grill that hides, not a tiny 120mm but a huge 200mm cooling fan that forces air into the case and over the hard drive rack area. The mesh also has a screen behind it to try and minimize the amount of dust that goes into the case. With a touch of the finger at the top of the mesh you slightly push it in and the whole assembly comes off.

Almost as easy as the front mess the entire front of the case, which is made from plastic, can be taken off. A few pushes on some tabs and it comes right off giving you access to the fan, drive bays and front panel ports.

Hiding stuff behind panels seems to be the theme of the 650D so far and another panel sits atop the case, but what could be placed behind this slightly rough plastic panel that matches the rest of the case? 

Slide the panel back and HOLLY SMOKES! What do we have here? Why it looks like a SATA Hot Swap, by golly it is!

Awesome! This hidden treasure allows you to use a full size SATA drive or a 2.5 size drive, thus the reason for the spring loaded tab. The tab goes down when a full size drive is inserted and when you place a laptop drive in there the tab keeps the drive straight and in the correct spot. The other end of this, of course, has a cable that plugs in so that you can use this feature.

Now I won’t lie to you as it took a long time to find this hidden feature too. I kept reading “4 Channel Fan Controller”, yeah sure where? I figured it was in the front panel but no, it was right where the SATA Hot Swap bay is at. Just to the right at the front portion you can find this little selector switch that has three speed modes for the cooling fans.

Looking at the top of the case and towards the back we see the multiple-adaptable venting area. The case comes with a 200mm fan already installed here, so if you are happy with that then you are good to go. If that does not suit your needs than you have so many options to choose from. It appears that just about any conceivable, fan, radiator set can be mounted here. Whether it be inside or outside of the case. 

This is the right side of the case and well compared the rest of the case so far it seems rather boring and plain, but could it be hiding something behind that panel like the ones we have already found… hmm?