Corsair today announced the Obsidian 500D, a new mid-tower case that retains the brushed aluminum design of other Obsidian cases, but adds "smoked" tempered glass side panels.
From what I can tell, the side panels are designed similarly to the custom case Origin PC uses for its Millennium and Genesis desktops, which I've spent some hands on time with. One of the things I liked about the Millennium is that the side panels swing open with ease, and lift right off their hinges with minimal effort if you want to remove them to work on your PC. I haven't spent any time with Corsair's new case, but it looks to be the same way.
"With its clean exterior lines, smoked tempered glass side panels and a curved aluminum front, the Obsidian 500D combines minimalist design with the best in premium materials. Solid brushed black aluminum construction is impossible to miss, from the curved door handles, to the front plate and front-to-back top plate. Simply put, the 500D is built better," Corsair says.
Corsair calls the darkened glass smoked, we say tinted. Either way, the effect is subdued lighting so that your build doesn't shine up the place like the top of Luxor in Las Vegas. This comes at the expense of being able to show off finer details of your build, though I've found that tinted glass can help obscure messy cabling, if cable management is not your strong suit.
That's enough about the side panels. Moving on, the case provides a pair of 3.5-inch drive mounts for your mechanical hard drives and three 2.5-inch SSD mounts, all of which sit behind the motherboard tray. Corsair says there is "ample clearance" back there to tuck and route the necessary cables.
For cooling, the case supports up to three 120mm or two 140mm fans up front, two more of either size up top, and a single 120mm fan in the rear. There's potential for a decent amount of airflow, but unfortunately you're mostly on your own—Corsair skimps out and only provides a single 120mm fan, installed in the front. Tool-less dust filters are located on the front, top, and under the PSU area.
If you prefer to liquid cool, the case sports slide-out radiator trays in the front and top. You can install up to a 360mm radiator in the top, and up to a 280mm radiator up top, along with a 120mm radiator in the rear.
The case also comes with a vertical GPU mount so that you can show off your graphics card. And with graphics card prices grossly inflated right now, we can see where displaying one might be extra appealing right now.
For I/O connectivity, you get two USB 3.0 ports, a USB 3.1 Type-C port, and separate headphone and microphone jacks.
Hopefully we can track down a sample for review. In the meantime, the case is available now for $150.
