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Case review - Corsair 450D

Coming from a really bad Coolermaster Elite 430, the Corsair 450D was a welcome change in so many aspects and it isn't just good for the money, nor just better than my old case, It's just a good case overall.

 

Let me start out with the good points:

 

The case is very airflow optimized, especially for a Obsidian series case, where you look at some of the other cases in this series and they seem a lot less so with the solid front aluminium plate instead of the slotted one that you get with the 450D and it even comes with two 140mm corsair fans in the front and one 120mm fan in the rear (though these lack the colour changing rings that and the fan blade are grey not black unlike the retail versions, but for the money that you pay for the case (around £90 in the UK and $100 in the US) it's excellent that you get these fans at all, and the inclusion of dust filters on both the top bottom and front intake are all really good and well thought out for the case (I especially love the bottom dust filter that spans the whole of the bottom of the case that you take can off from either of the sides and snaps back into the position that it was in really easily). 

 

Space on the inside of the case is excellent with loads of room for expansions cards and wide motherboards that get direct airflow from the the top 140mm fan (or bottom depending where you have your hard-drive cage mounted, but more on that later) It's so roomy inside that my motherboard doesn't even reach the edge of the CPU cutout on the back of the motherboard tray!

The rubber cable routing grommets are really good quality and snap back into place even after a long time in one position.

 

Though some have had wobbly hard-drive cages that seem not as well built as the rest of the case, mine is excellent and doesn't budge at all, no matter how much you wobble it to try and make it move, and with the cage being able to be moved from the bottom of the case to underneath the optical drive bays to free up space in the bottom for a 240mm radiator without sacrificing on storage space, though you do sacrifice some space for expansion cards. Even if you remove the hard drive cage altogether you still have the two excellent 2.5" mounts on the rear of motherboard tray for a passable 2tb worth of SSD storage or if you can fit them in (as I haven't tried it) you could possibly fit in 2.5" HDD's for even more storage.

 

 

 

Now onto the bad points:

 

There isn't many bad points about this case but there are a few (for me at least) that I think I should mention.

I think that there's not quite enough space in the back of the case for cables and I would like to see about two more cm of space just to make it that much easier, and expanding on that point, there isn't enough cable loops on the back of the tray, and from my memory there is only four in the whole case.

 

With my motherboard (so this may be a very personal problem, and may not effect everyone, the front panel IO cables are just a little too short and only just reach for the most part, and the reset switch one was WAY too short to even reach the bottom of my motherboard, so that sits tied up at the top of my case out of the way of everything, though the cables are all back all the way up the the connector, so no colour is shown at all and it's the same for all the fans thinking about it.

 

And the most frustrating thing about the case? The side panels can be VERY hard to close, even with the case empty. I am not sure why this occurs but more times have I opened up my case to change something or to give it a clean, I have closed the panels and have noticed about ten minutes later that there is a gap at the top or bottom where it's not closed properly and I have to re-do it again. This happens on both sides of the case so it can't just be the cables in the back and something to do with the case itself. This apparently is something that a lot of the 450D's I have read about have and I do hope that Corsair change something in the build process that fixes this problem so that more people don't have to put up with this. 

 

 

The final verdict:

 

The case for me is a brilliant and the problems that I have for it could easily be ironed out by corsair in the build process.

By any means, do not let the side-panel thing put you off buying the case, it's more of an annoyance than anything and you do get used to putting the panels back on in a specific way to get them right first time.

 

9/10!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading, if you have any questions or feedback for me, just comment :)

If you want any pictures of my build, let me know and I'll post some for you guys to look at.

 

Also, if you do find any miss-spelled words please let me know, I am dyslexic and I do appreciate being let known when I have done something wrong!

CPU: i5 3570K 4GHz - GPU: EVGA GTX 670 Signature 2 - Storage: 2x Samsung 840 EVO 120GB in Raid 0, 1TB WD Green, 1TB WD Black, 64GB OCZ SSD - Mobo: ASRock Pro 4 - Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212EVO - Case: Corsair 450D

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PICS! :D :D :D

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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I have to agree 100%!

I hate the left side panel (not the one with glass) its impossible to close without sitting the case horizontally and pressing down. Also, the plexi glass side panel glares a lot for some reason. Without lights in the system its hard to see much inside when its bright outside.

Are you new? Please read CoC  Before posting! PLEASE SELECT 'AUTOMATIC' FOR FONT COLOR FOR US DARK THEME USERS (Only for dark shades)If you can read this, it means you need to change to NIGHT THEME (bottom left above LMG logo) Please follow your threads and Quote people when replying to them. Mark your problem as solved if answered. Don't spam, nobody likes a spammer. DO NOT QUOTE IMAGES! BE NICE!

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I have to agree 100%!

I hate the left side panel (not the one with glass) its impossible to close without sitting the case horizontally and pressing down. Also, the plexi glass side panel glares a lot for some reason. Without lights in the system its hard to see much inside when its bright outside.

Fortunately, I don't seem to have that problem as my case is under my desk, so i have never really seen it but I can see how it could be. I want to do something like Linus did and get a glass window made for it and replace the plexy one in there. 

 

I tent to push my arm against the panel near the front of the case and push in from the back and it tends to go in now.

CPU: i5 3570K 4GHz - GPU: EVGA GTX 670 Signature 2 - Storage: 2x Samsung 840 EVO 120GB in Raid 0, 1TB WD Green, 1TB WD Black, 64GB OCZ SSD - Mobo: ASRock Pro 4 - Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212EVO - Case: Corsair 450D

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good review!

i dont like the look of the case, but if i would this would be a candidate for me after reading this.

Thank you! I really appreciate that :)

Is it the look of the front panel that's putting you off or something different?

CPU: i5 3570K 4GHz - GPU: EVGA GTX 670 Signature 2 - Storage: 2x Samsung 840 EVO 120GB in Raid 0, 1TB WD Green, 1TB WD Black, 64GB OCZ SSD - Mobo: ASRock Pro 4 - Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212EVO - Case: Corsair 450D

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yes, i dont like the mesh you can see your fans through.

I didn't think I would at first, but I do like it in person. I recommend having a look in person though. 750D though bigger has the cleaner look though it is bigger.

CPU: i5 3570K 4GHz - GPU: EVGA GTX 670 Signature 2 - Storage: 2x Samsung 840 EVO 120GB in Raid 0, 1TB WD Green, 1TB WD Black, 64GB OCZ SSD - Mobo: ASRock Pro 4 - Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212EVO - Case: Corsair 450D

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For anyone interested - http://imgur.com/a/qJzFr is a link to my build including new and improved cable management! 

CPU: i5 3570K 4GHz - GPU: EVGA GTX 670 Signature 2 - Storage: 2x Samsung 840 EVO 120GB in Raid 0, 1TB WD Green, 1TB WD Black, 64GB OCZ SSD - Mobo: ASRock Pro 4 - Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212EVO - Case: Corsair 450D

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For anyone interested - http://imgur.com/a/qJzFr is a link to my build including new and improved cable management! 

 

I always wanted this case, is there anything you really don't like about it that other cases have for the same price? And how heavy is the whole build?

The Grey Squirrel

CPU: i7-6700k @ 4.8GHz - CPU Cooler: Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3 - Motherboard: ASUS Z170-E - GPU:  ASUS GTX 1060 DUAL

Case: Inwin 303 - RAM: 4x8GB Corsair LPX Storage: 2x Samsung 850 EVO 500GB - PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W

Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired / Bungee Keyboard: Corsair Strafe Cherry MX Red Headphone: Sony MDR- 1R

Microphone:  Blue Yeti - Webcam: Logitech C920 - Monitors: 3x Dell S2415H 

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I always wanted this case, is there anything you really don't like about it that other cases have for the same price? And how heavy is the whole build?

The build with everything in it is pretty heavy, but not so heavy that you stuggle to move it. I think that the main problem is that I don't like to handle the front of the case because of the aluminum plate and I don't want to stain it.

 

Nothing that really jumps out at me that other cases have. If I was to be really picky, I would of liked to see two more USB ports on the front of the case, though the two USB 3 do look good and doesn't take too much space up.

Maybe the H440's sound dampening, though that does restrict airflow quite a bit from what I have heard.

 

Other than those two things, as I said, nothing really stands out to me.

CPU: i5 3570K 4GHz - GPU: EVGA GTX 670 Signature 2 - Storage: 2x Samsung 840 EVO 120GB in Raid 0, 1TB WD Green, 1TB WD Black, 64GB OCZ SSD - Mobo: ASRock Pro 4 - Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212EVO - Case: Corsair 450D

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The build with everything in it is pretty heavy, but not so heavy that you stuggle to move it. I think that the main problem is that I don't like to handle the front of the case because of the aluminum plate and I don't want to stain it.

 

Nothing that really jumps out at me that other cases have. If I was to be really picky, I would of liked to see two more USB ports on the front of the case, though the two USB 3 do look good and doesn't take too much space up.

Maybe the H440's sound dampening, though that does restrict airflow quite a bit from what I have heard.

 

Other than those two things, as I said, nothing really stands out to me.

 

USB ports in the front are made for things heavily inserted/removed. I only have my phone tether cord and sometimes a wireless keyboard adapter. For the silencing, sound dampening does restrict a lot of air and creates a ton of heat, something not good for a gaming system. I will spring at this case ONLY if it goes around 80 dollars, or its not worth it. 

 

Also, how much air/noise does the front fans push/sound? That's one of the huge features for me, having 2 140mm fans.

The Grey Squirrel

CPU: i7-6700k @ 4.8GHz - CPU Cooler: Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3 - Motherboard: ASUS Z170-E - GPU:  ASUS GTX 1060 DUAL

Case: Inwin 303 - RAM: 4x8GB Corsair LPX Storage: 2x Samsung 850 EVO 500GB - PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W

Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired / Bungee Keyboard: Corsair Strafe Cherry MX Red Headphone: Sony MDR- 1R

Microphone:  Blue Yeti - Webcam: Logitech C920 - Monitors: 3x Dell S2415H 

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USB ports in the front are made for things heavily inserted/removed. I only have my phone tether cord and sometimes a wireless keyboard adapter. For the silencing, sound dampening does restrict a lot of air and creates a ton of heat, something not good for a gaming system. I will spring at this case ONLY if it goes around 80 dollars, or its not worth it. 

 

Also, how much air/noise does the front fans push/sound? That's one of the huge features for me, having 2 140mm fans.

There not too bad. There Corsair Airflow series fans and they do push a decent amount of air though and really aren't that loud even at full RPM that they are now.

CPU: i5 3570K 4GHz - GPU: EVGA GTX 670 Signature 2 - Storage: 2x Samsung 840 EVO 120GB in Raid 0, 1TB WD Green, 1TB WD Black, 64GB OCZ SSD - Mobo: ASRock Pro 4 - Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212EVO - Case: Corsair 450D

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I love my 450d but have the same problem as you and Hardware Canucks. The side panel, you have the problem on both, Hardware Canucks had the problem on the window side, I have the problem on the cable side. The side panel won't won't go on completely unless I hold each corner down, I can't just slide into place holding each side

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