Corsair Obsidian Series 750D - A Solid Full-tower Casing

Update (24-9-2013, 2:30pm): We have just received word from the local distributor that the price of the Obsidian Series 750D has been revised from S$299 to a more palatable S$259. Although the price cut is significant and much welcomed, it does not change our value rating of the 750D because we feel that it still commands a slight premium over its competitors. That said, you pay for what you get and the 750D certainly delivers.

A New Addition

Last year, in our review of the Corsair Obsidian Series 550D, we wrote about Corsair’s plans to expand and diversify their business. Although memory remains to be one of Corsair’s core business, they have made significant inroads into other product categories such as SSDs and also gaming accessories. Their mechanical keyboards are well received, but more significantly, their Corsair Neutron GTX was crowned champion in our Great High-end SSD Shootout.



Since then they have also expanded their casings portfolio. The Obsidian Series is of course their lineup of enthusiast-grade casings. At the time when we reviewed the Obsidian Series 550D, the series consisted of just two other casings - the full-tower 800D and mid-tower 650D. Fast forward to the present and you will find that the Obsidian Series consists of six casings, with a seventh along the way.

Here's a quick look at the Corsair 750D's key specifications:

Design & Features

Corsair calls the 750D a full-tower casing, but it looks significantly smaller to other full-tower casings, such as the recently reviewed Silverstone Raven RV04. In fact, the 750D looks more like a slightly larger mid-tower casing. This new case is positioned between the full-tower 800D and mid-tower 650D.

As one of the higher-end models in the Obsidian Series, the casing is constructed using a blend of thick SECC steel, brushed aluminum and ABS plastic. The casing feels solidly built, which means it is also rather heavy. The case is black in its entirety and very boxy in its shape, and with the exception of a windowed side panel, there are no interesting curves or design flourishes. It looks sombre, if a little dull. Also, there are no handles to hold onto, so it can be hard to transport and move the casing about. It does not help that the 750D did not come with wheels so that at least it can be wheeled around.

Whereas the casing is made mostly using SECC steel, the front panel uses brushed aluminum and it provides a nice contrast to the rest of the casing. Examining the front panel, we found three 5.25-inch external drive bays, four USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports (two each), the usual headphones and microphone jacks and the reset and power buttons. The reset button is a little small in our books, although understandably this was done to prevent users from accidentally hitting them.

The bottom half of the front panel is held by a push latch which can be easily removed to reveal two large 140mm intake fans. The thick front panel acts as a sound insulator, however, they also obstruct air flow towards the intake fans. The front panel is hinged at the bottom so you cannot completely remove it too. Best to keep it on, otherwise it really spoils the look of the case.

All in all, there is not much to be said about the 750D aesthetics. However, uninteresting as the 750D casing may look, it does not detract from the fact that is well-built with good fitment and the panels nicely put together.

Looking at the back, we can see a single 140mm large exhaust fan and nine expansion slots. They are no rubber grommets for liquid cooling setups, but as you will see on the next page, the 750D is large enough to accommodate radiators internally.

Looking at the bottom of the case, we can see that the four corner have rubber feet. However, given the size and weight of the case, it would be nice if Corsair included optional wheels for users to install to facilitate transportation of the case. This is especially since the case itself has no handles, making it difficult to hold on to and carry. There is an easily removable dust filter for the PSU and we can see also that there are mounting points for two fans (up to 140mm) or a single 280mm radiator. However, there is no dust filter provided here. Also, installing fans on the bottom is not all that straightforward, as we will explain on the following page.

Installation & Ease of Use

The internals of the Corsair Obsidian Series 750D is certainly big and should suffice for most enthusiasts. Depending on how you configure the HDD cages, the case will easily swallow graphics cards from 340mm to 460mm in length. So unless you have a radical aftermarket cooler on your graphics cards, it should fit with no issues. The case will also accommodate CPU coolers up to 180mm in height.

Installation is largely a tool-free and straightforward process. Optical drives can be slid into their respectively bays and then locked into place by using a latch. 3.5-inch hard disk drives can installed simply by placing them into the HDD trays and then sliding into the HDD cage. 2.5-inch drives can also be installed within the HDD cage, but that would require screws, better to just use the SSD caddies - they fit 2.5-inch hard disk drives too. In addition, the expansion slots are held in place by thumb screws, which can be removed by hand. The only time you would need to reach for a screwdriver is when you are installing the motherboard.

Corsair offers a fair degree of customizability in so far as cooling options and HDD cages are concerned. The 750D comes with three fans (two front, one rear) and users can opt to install an additional fans on top or at the bottom of the casing, or use the mounting points for installing radiators for their liquid cooling setups. The 750D can accommodate up to 240mm, 280mm and 360mm at the top; 240mm radiators at the bottom; and up to 280mm radiators up front in place of the standard two front intake fans..

The two HDD cages, which hold a total of six drives (both 3.5 and 2.5-inch) can also be shifted and rearranged. By default, the two cages are installed at the bottom side by side, presumably to allow unrestricted airflow from the front intake fans. However, they can also be stacked on each other. If you are opting for only SSDs, they can also be removed entirely, because there are four SSD caddies on the flip side of the case. These caddies are specially designed for SSDs - simply slid them in and they will be locked in place.

As you can see from the photos below, the PSU bay is only just about large enough to accommodate our 750W PSU. For users with larger PSUs, this would mean that they would need to reconfigure the layout of the HDD cage and remove the HDD cage mount. The HDD cage itself is easy to remove - just undo two screws and slide the cage out - but the mount itself requires the user to undo four screws at the bottom of the case.

A Pricey but Solid Offering

Corsair has been relatively successful thus far in broadening their portfolio. In particular, their SSDs and casings have been very well received by enthusiasts. The new Obsidian Series 750D looks set to delight too.

In terms of overall design and construction, we can have little qualms about the 750D. Sure, it looks a tad plain and maybe a little boring even, but it is a very well put together casing that oozes quality. The panels fit tightly and there’s no rattling when we shook it.

As for features, the 750D casing has all bases covered for mainstream to enthusiast users. USB 3.0 ports on the front panel, support for liquid cooling setups, multiple fans, configurable drive cage layout and SSD caddies are all features that will surely delight users. Another good point of the 750D is that its internals are cavernous and large and can easily accommodate the largest graphics cards and aftermarket CPU coolers. There is certainly no shortage of space and this aids with cable management too.

We also liked that the 750D casing was easy to use and that installation was mostly a tool-free process. Installing the optical drive, hard disk drives and SSDs was easy, straightforward and required no tools. Corsair has also conveniently and thoughtfully marked out the positions of the standoffs required for the different motherboard form factors.

Our only gripe with the 750D is that the PSU bay does not have rubber standoffs and is a bit too cramped to accommodate larger PSUs without relocating the adjacent HDD bay. That said, we still managed to fit a 750W PSU in with no issues. And unless you are running a multi-GPU setup, 750W should be plenty for most users.

All in all, the 750D is a good casing that offers excellent build quality, features and ease of use. Unfortunately, as we have noted in our review of the Corsair Obsidian Series 550D, Corsair casings costs a pretty penny and the 750D is no different. With a recommended retail price of S$299, the 750D casing is pretty pricey. Especially when you consider that you could get full-fledged full tower casings such as the recently reviewed Silverstone Raven RV04 or the excellent, if a little old, NZXT Switch 810 Special Edition for less. Then again, the Silverstone and NZXT casings are both behemoths and not everyone has the luxury of so much real estate.

To sum up, the Corsair 750D is best suited for users who might need the features more commonly found on larger full-tower casings but do not have that much room to spare. For its size, the amount of features that it offers is outstanding.

Update (24-9-2013, 2:30pm): We have just received word from the local distributor that the price of the Obsidian Series 750D has been revised from S$299 to a more palatable S$259. Although the price cut is significant and much welcomed, it does not change our value rating of the 750D because we feel that it still commands a slight premium over its competitors. That said, you pay for what you get and the 750D certainly delivers.

Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.