Corsair Pricing

[Norman_the_Owl]

Does anyone else feel the Corsair's prices are getting out of hand? I understand that the products they produce are good, but sometimes it just doesn't make sense...

For examples, the cases...They all have a quite premium price tag, and many have relatively mediocre build quality. For example, the 450D. 120 dollars, designed as a budget case. Cheaply built, but not bad. But then you compare it to the H440 at the same price point, and the 450D seems silly. A solid steel case, or the corsair name?

 

LTT, do you hear me? Anyone else feel the same?

[Swndlr]

i prefer the h440 over the 450d most of the time for sheer looks build quality is an added bonus with nzxt

[ttam]

Does anyone else feel the Corsair's prices are getting out of hand? I understand that the products they produce are good, but sometimes it just doesn't make sense...

For examples, the cases...They all have a quite premium price tag, and many have relatively mediocre build quality. For example, the 450D. 120 dollars, designed as a budget case. Cheaply built, but not bad. But then you compare it to the H440 at the same price point, and the 450D seems silly. A solid steel case, or the corsair name?

 

LTT, do you hear me? Anyone else feel the same?

H440 is nice but the cheap paint figures in the price.

Corsair are worth the price imo.

[Norman_the_Owl]

H440 is nice but the cheap paint figures in the price.

Corsair are worth the price imo.

 

I was more considering the solid steel build, but that's a factor too

[ttam]

I was more considering the solid steel build, but that's a factor too

Also have to factor in the types of metal use, as that can make the price vary and so on.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Out of hand? Not at all. Corsair cases are premium products, even the budget offerings. In the grand scheme of thing 450D is very fairly priced and a case with those features at that price point 5 years ago would have been absolutely unheard of.

[Norman_the_Owl]

Out of hand? Not at all. Corsair cases are premium products, even the budget offerings. In the grand scheme of thing 450D is very fairly priced and a case with those features at that price point 5 years ago would have been absolutely unheard of.

Premium products? The 600t is something like 200 bucks, and is made of a mediocre plastic.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Premium products? The 600t is something like 200 bucks, and is made of a mediocre plastic.

 

That's how it's designed. It looks incredibly good and (in my opinion at least) the plastics don't feel cheap. Sure you can disagree with the design of something but demeaning a case just because some of the outer parts of made of plastic is a bit stupid.

[Norman_the_Owl]

That's how it's designed. It looks incredibly good and (in my opinion at least) the plastics don't feel cheap. Sure you can disagree with the design of something but demeaning a case just because some of the outer parts of made of plastic is a bit stupid.

Well, i love the look too, it's quite sleek, and I'm not hating on it for having a bad build quality or anything(it's decent), but i was just questioning how Corsair is charging a lot of money for products that probably could be at a lower pricepoint

[W-L]

I personally find corsair cases to be a little pricey but definitely worth the quality they give, I personally own an older 650D which I find to be built exceptionally well and the materials are really solid from doing some modding and cutting up the case. I do personally find the newer model 750D seems to be a slightly thinner material mainly the aluminium front door not being solid aluminum like the older 800D. As for my 650D the case itself uses three paint finish which surprised me at first, the exterior has a minor metal flake or texture embdded into the finish, while the other parts like the rear IO and motherboard tray to have color matching but smoother thinner finish that is still very durable.

[daemonowner]

Yes, Corsair is pricing things too high. The Air240 had pathetic build quality for $99, and was a terrible case for aircooling. Here is something I wrote a while ago, listing the quality control issues HardwareCanucks has experienced with Corsair cases.

Bear in mind these are the negative quotes that support what I’m saying. You could almost be forgiven for thinking HardwareCanucks were anti-Corsair just from these, because they’re cherry-picked. They do say many other positive and negative things about these cases, and the reviews are fairly balanced overall. They’re willing to criticize anyone and anything if it deserves it.

 

Air240: “…both side panels are almost paper thin, and extremely flimsy. Something Corsair really needs to improve on. …Now I want to say that while Corsair has its issues with quality control and cheapening out on some parts like the flimsy side panels, they have sure nailed an almost perfect user-friendly design with the Air240 [i disagree, for the record]. …Now on the other hand the completely flimsy side panels… doesn’t reflect well on the asking price of $99. And because of that, it just missed the damn good award, because we keep seeing these quality issues from Corsair.”

 

230T: “…and also build quality on the frame is not impressive with a lot of flex… the Corsair quality has definitely seen degradation over time… are just a few things we’re starting to see more and more from Corsair… it would have been a totally killer chassis if they brought back the features that they themselves sometimes ago were at the forefront of pushing within the enclosure market, like excellent build quality, rubber grommets, and unique features.”

 

450D: “Now one thing I want to point out are how thin and flimsy the side panels are. …Also the front element of the case is plastic, and not steel, so it seems like the compromise in quality has been made to hit that price point [$120]. …However the build quality is just not on par with what we’ve come to expect from the Obsidian line. Comparing to other cases in the same price range… the 450D just doesn’t feel as robust.”

 

760T: “I also noticed the motherboard tray does exhibit a lot of flex. …It would be nice if they thickened the steel for a more rigid build quality.”

 

250D: “The [front panel] itself is plastic, with a tiny aluminium sheet on the surface… I also noticed that without the drive cage the 250D became quite flexible, which I wasn’t expecting from an Obsidian.

 

900D: “I feel Corsair is becoming a little too comfortable with this dominating attitude, and are on a slippery slope with quality control. …The 900D retails for $350, which is probably not much if you’re planning to utilise the chassis to its full potential, but also means high expectations with quality which unfortunately is not the case here. …the connection cover broke on my first time when I pressed it to open, and now it just flaps around. …The 900D utilises tool-less panels so with a push of a button the panel comes off and this is another issue I ran into: pushing the button did not release the panel, and I had to force it out from the bottom, while the rear panel also had problems, and upon closer inspection another plastic bit broke off that keeps the hinges in place, and I had to manually reset the mechanism every time I took off the rear panel. …Unacceptable for the price. …I ran into a little trouble with one of the screw inserts popping off. Nothing serious but again it shows the lack of quality control with this case. …reading up on issues with loose panels, broken plastics and warping during shipment because the case is so heavy.”

 

750D: “…starting with the front element of the case that is actually heavy-duty plastic and not steel… with just a tiny sheet of aluminium as the front plate. …Our model arrived with a broken hinge that secures the front panel. …And the broken front panel hinge is certainly not leaving a good taste for that $160 price. Of course the broken hinge is coincidental, but also shows that Corsair needs to step up their game with quality control.”

 

Air540: “The side panels do not impress us, and it’s surprising to see such poor quality on such a premium product.”

 

Be careful when talking about the aluminium construction of cases. As shown here, it’s usually not that simple.

Common issues discussed in HWCanucks reviews are lowered quality control, small things breaking, lack of dust filters and grommets, and poor design choices. Corsair cases not receiving HWC awards are the rule rather than the exception.

Remember, I harp on this because of Corsair’s reputation. I expect more from them, because of their history, and because everyone recommends their cases and power supplies as though they are the best around. 

Even Linus had a hinge break on his 760T sample, and in true Corsair fanboy mode he simply recommended the viewers deal with Corsair's excellent customer support. No questions raised about build quality issues, or the quality expected with such a high price.

 

So yes, Corsair is copying designs (760T & 780T are modified 750D's), cheapening out on build quality, and increasing or keeping the price premium. Phanteks is shitting on Corsair in terms of quality and value right now.

[LogicalDrm]

Corsair is slowly getting into point where you pay more for brand name than product itself. It helps that they have wide product range and can have new products few times a year to keep customers thinking that they are innovative. And keep reviewers getting their stuff more than others. Eventually it leads users recommending Corsair stuff over others which makes new buyers pay more even though they might get same quality and features from competitors cheaper.

[axbu89]

I have a lot of Corsair products (see the sig) and I've found that the price has always matched performance. I haven't got a Corsair case though, so I can't comment on that really.