Assembly

Installing the motherboard is done by traditional means, with the use of spacers and screws. There is plenty of space for a large cooler, but you have to watch its height as Corsair mentions a 165 mm limit.


The hard-drive trays are of very good quality and work quite well. While you have to use some of the included screws to hold an SSD in place, a 3.5" drive just snaps right down onto these embedded metal pins.


Once filled, simply slide the drive into the bay of your choice. There is no need for any tools if you want to use the 2.5'' contraption behind the motherboard tray as the plastic tray is engineered to hold the drive in place. That said, thin SSDs may cause problems as the trays are also tall enough for traditional 2.5" drives.


The covers have long prongs, which makes popping them out without having to pull the entire front off the chassis quite easy. With the bay free, simply slide the drive into place and the plastic lock will take care of the rest. It is strong enough to hold the unit well enough. To release the drive, pull on the locking mechanism's tab to push the ODD out through the front. I would still sink a single screw into the drive even though the contraption holds its drive in place well - just to be on the safe side.


Installing the PSU is done with the use of traditional screws. Corsair, oddly enough, does not include any with the chassis, so I had to use some of my own. It would be nice and rather easy for the company to throw in four PSU screws as some users may not have any at their disposal, especially if they buy an affordable PSU that may not come in its retail packaging – not that we would ever suggest buying such a low-quality unit.


With everything installed, the Corsair Obsidian 450D's main side makes an excellent, clean impression. The entire cable mess is hidden away nicely behind the motherboard tray, but you do have to tip the chassis on its side and apply some tough love to slide the panel back onto that part of the chassis.

Finished Looks

Once everything is put back together and the system has been turned on, the Obsidian 450D looks just as beautiful as its larger brethren. It will most likely be the most appealing one to many looking for an ATX case; that is, if they do not need the space XL-ATX frames provide.


You can clearly see the fans spinning behind the air vent at the front, and we removed the vent while they where running, just for kicks. Everything in the rear is also where you would expect it to be, and everything there is easily accessible.


Viewing the chassis from its main side, you can clearly see the CPU cooler's wide fan. It comes pretty close to the window, but not close enough to have you worry about airflow. One can also easily spot the white PSU through the window, but everything else will require a lighting element to really shine.