Final thoughts and rating
When Corsair set out to make its first chassis, it clearly aimed big - and the Obsidian Series 800D is mammoth. Its features are plentiful, and practically everything is provided in excess quantities.
Some might say it's a ludicrous solution that nobody really needs in the midst of a global recession. Well, perhaps, but then Ferrari is still producing cars worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, and they continue to sell. Point is, manufacturers must know their customers, and to Corsair's credit, it's well aware that its keenest enthusiasts want kit which mainstream purchasers might consider superfluous in every way.
For most users, whether they know about them or not, (and many won’t) esoteric features such as hot-swappable drive bays probably aren't considered essential. Those same people might not need or understand the benefit of room for three massive 140mm fans and four 120mm fans. And the same could be said of the abundance of well-thought-out cable-management options which the Obsidian Series 800D undoubtedly features. Many more people might conclude that a chassis which stands over 600mm tall is simply too large for their requirements. All of those people may be stupefied by the thought of spending £210 on a PC chassis. If any of that applies to you, you're clearly not Corsair's target market - though, rest assured, that it does have plans to introduce smaller chassis further down the line for the more conservative and mainstream users.
Yes, the Obsidian Series 800D is an extreme product for extreme PC gamers and power users – possibly the most extreme in both counts!
So, if you're known (or you want to be known...) by your mates as a ‘hardcore enthusiast’, money may be of no object and you may need, or just want, a chassis with oodles of room to work with; in which you'll want to be able to fit pretty much as many cooling fans as you're ever likely to need. Then you’re probably the same person who’ll want to use three-way ATI CrossFireX or NVIDIA SLI without running out of space and you'll also want all your cables hidden neatly out of view - so as not to disturb your glowing neon or UV light show - plus you'll want a chassis that has people saying "wow, that's BIG!". If that sounds like you, then Corsair's Obsidian Series 800D is built for you and you’ll almost certainly appreciate and enjoy everything it offers.
It may be Corsair's first attempt at a chassis, and it isn't without its flaws, but it's exactly what Corsair says it is: “a full-featured full-tower for real builders.”
HEXUS Rating
We consider any product score above '50%' as a safe buy. The higher the score, the higher the recommendation from HEXUS to buy. Simple, straightforward buying advice.
The rating is given in relation to the category the component competes in, therefore the Obsidian Series 800D is evaluated with respect to our 'high-end components' criteria.
Corsair Obsidian Series 800D
HEXUS Awards
Corsair has arrived on the chassis scene with big ideas, and its no-holds-barred approach is worthy of recommendation.
Corsair Obsidian Series 800D
HEXUS Where2Buy
The Corsair Obsidian Series 800D chassis is currently on pre-order from Scan.co.uk* for £209.99.
*As always, UK-based HEXUS.community discussion forum members will benefit from the SCAN2HEXUS Free Shipping initiative, which will save you a further few pounds plus also top-notch, priority customer service and technical support backed up by the SCANcare@HEXUS forum.
HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
