Corsair Obsidian 550D Review

Corsair Obsidian 550D - Performance Analysis

The Corsair Obsidian 550D produced an unsurprising set of results considering it has been designed primarily to reduce noise. Its cooling was among the worst we’ve seen with our current test rig, with the CPU reaching a toasty delta T of 56°C. A GPU delta T of 49°C is also towards the bottom of our cooling graphs – we decided these low scores were probably due to the front intake fans only drawing air from the bottom and sides of the case, so we ran our tests again with all three sound-isolating panels removed to see if temperatures dropped.


The CPU delta T did indeed drop to a more manageable 49°C, but the graphics card delta of 47°C was only two degrees less than with the side panels in place. The single 120mm exhaust couldn’t shift enough hot air outside the case to see any major reduction in delta T temperatures. We were testing the 550D with both 3.5in drive cages installed - removing them will increase airflow to your components, but you'll then have less room to store your hard disks. In its bare state, the 550D is also nowhere near as good looking as when it’s covered up, so you have to make the choice between aesthetics and cooling.

Oddly for a silent case there’s no fan controller, so there’s no way to turn down the pre-installed fans – however, considering its thermal performance at stock speeds, we wouldn’t recommend installing a third-party one without pairing it with several additional fans. The three stock fans were at least incredibly quiet in the default configuration– with the noise-isolating side and roof panels in place, the 550D was one of the quietest PC cases we’ve ever tested.

Conclusion

As Corsair’s first case to tackle noise rather than cooling, the Obsidian 550D achieves what it sets out to do. Even with our Core i7-860 CPU and HD 5870 2GB churning through Prime95 and the Unigine Heaven benchmark, noise levels were incredibly low. It comfortably beat our current silent favourite, the Define R3, and also won in terms of looks thanks to the brushed aluminium front panel.

It’s a shame that silence comes at the expense of heat, as the two front intakes and one exhaust fan struggled to cool our hot reference kit. For a £110 case, we would have liked to have seen one or two additional fans to keep temperatures down, even if it meant a little extra noise.

However, if you crave silence and don’t mind a few extra degrees, there are few alternatives that can keep noise to a minimum like this. It's certainly not for everyone, but we can certainly see the 550D attracting plenty of admirers.