Corsair Obsidian 800D - Questions

[Sam25]

Hello

I'm planning to change my case from my current Lian Li A70F to a Corsair Obsidian 800D. Now my questions regarding the Corsair 800D are:

1. I'll be using a Corsair H80 cooler for my i5-2500k and I was reading up on the various fan setups as well as watching a few videos on YT and it seems that the H80 when fitted at the rear of the cabinet as intake (as opposed to exhaust) helps in better cooling of the cabinet. So then if the H80 is set-up in intake mode and the bottom 2 fans are kept in intake and the top 3 fans are made as exhaust is it okay for cooling?

2. Now, if I were to change someday from my H80 to an air-cooler will the case' cooling mechanism then hold or fail? This is because then the rear of the cabinet will be setup as exhaust and I'm confused as to how to then setup the top 3 fans... whether to set them up as intake or exhaust? (Normally, fans are usually setup in the top portion of the cabinet as exhaust AFAIK because hot air rises... but I might be wrong.)

3. To my last question, I live in Eastern India and the temperatures here for all year long (except for 2 months of winter) are high. By high I'm referring to 35C/95F ambient and in peak summers they will even be warmer. Now, my room is air-conditioned but I might not always leave the AC running (my PC almost remains turned on 24/7). In this case, is buying the 800D a good logical decision (since I'm not using any customized WC kits in it) or am I just better off sticking with my present Lian Li A70F?

My present cooling structure for my Lian Li A70F is as follows:
Front Intake: 2 X Lian Li 140mm's
Front lower HDD cage Intake: 2 X CM R4's 120mm (zip-tied)
Rear Exhaust: Corsair H80 (setup as push-pull) + 1 X 120mm
Top Exhaust: 1 X 140mm



I would really appreciate if someone can reply to my questions and shed some light on my doubts. Also, the rest of my system specs are in my siggy.

P.S. I did notice that some Corsair 800D users put in 5.25" HDD cages/fan-holder covers for attaching a 120mm (perhaps even 2X120mm) fans for intake of cool air from the front of the 800D. Although I like the idea but I won't do it as to me it spoils the classy plain looks of the 800D.

Regards,
Sam25

 

[PCTC2]

1) That would work as long as it's not under a desk or other semi-enclosed area, where the hot exhaust would affect the rear intake. Also make sure to buy a filter for the H80 intake since only the bottom intake is filtered.

2 and 3) I originally had a Corsair A70 cooler (air) but switched to a H80 when I put the A70 in a different PC. My apartment is 32C and my i7 920 space-heater is fine under the H80 in the high temperatures. Here's my setup (rear exhaust)

Just on a quick question, what's wrong with the A70F?

 

[Sam25]

I have given it much thought and decided against getting the 800D. I think changing from the the A70F will really be an unnecessary waste of money as the A70F is a monster of a tower itself. My only gripe with the A70F is that cable management is hard to do in this case due to lack of mobo-tray holes. I presently use a VX550 PSU and was maybe wondering whether a modular PSU will be a better option for a cleaner look. I have decided to invest the money on a new PSU/Monitor and a Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD instead.

 

[Sonicx]

I have given it much thought and decided against getting the 800D. I think changing from the the A70F will really be an unnecessary waste of money as the A70F is a monster of a tower itself. My only gripe with the A70F is that cable management is hard to do in this case due to lack of mobo-tray holes. I presently use a VX550 PSU and was maybe wondering whether a modular PSU will be a better option for a cleaner look. I have decided to invest the money on a new PSU/Monitor and a Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD instead.

It is a good idea to upgrade your PSU and to be honest I suggest that you upgrade to at least 850W PSU for future SLI or even 1000W and to be honest since I do not know what the inside of your case looks like I wouldn't know what to tell you because I do not know what you cable management looks like.

I recently just upgraded from a 500R to a 800D myself but i replaced the exhaust fan with a ulta kaze (3000 RPM) i don't mind the noise but you may since its around 60 Decibels, heres my specs:

i7-930 (oc'd at 3.9 just got the mobo breaking it in)
x58 sabertooth
corsair 6 gb
2x 590 gtx classified evga
3x hssd seagate xt 500g (1.4 tb)(raid 0)
1.5 tb WD black 64 cache - storage
1350W PSU enermax
H80 Corsair
ASUS Xonar DX
KILLER NIC 2100

and here is a picture to show how clean my cable management is giving me better temps by at least 10 Cs for my GPU's

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg96/scaled.php?server=96&filename=20120824151633.jpg&res=landing

I do suggestion though to upgrade your PSU b/c 550W does seem a little under powered

 

[PCTC2]

It is a good idea to upgrade your PSU and to be honest I suggest that you upgrade to at least 850W PSU for future SLI or even 1000W and to be honest since I do not know what the inside of your case looks like I wouldn't know what to tell you because I do not know what you cable management looks like.

I do suggestion though to upgrade your PSU b/c 550W does seem a little under powered

well, for one, he uses a HD 7850 right now... so crossfire. And even if he added another 7850, he wouldn't need a 850W PSU unless he was overclocked to hell and back. It's not like he's using a 1st gen Nehalem processor with 2 power hungry Nvidia GTX 4/5xx or even 2xx. I think it's unnecessary to recommend such a large PSU.

OP, save your money. Your case is fine. Just get a larger 256GB SSD and call it a day. Or get a 650W fully-modular PSU. In all honesty, my Core i7 920 with dual GTX 260's back in the day, overclocked to hell and back, ran at 800W but things use less power now. My Core i7 920 with a GTX 670 is like 150W idle/300W full load now. Get a 750W if you're worried, but you don't need to spend $200+ on a 1kW PSU.

My favorite PSU is definitely the Seasonic X-series. I have a X650 in my Core i5 2400/HD 5870 rig.