Index:

The CoolIT / Corsair Partnership in Detail

600T Special Edition





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Obsidian 650D







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The CoolIT Situation & Corsair's New CasesUp Close with the H60, LINK & the P3 SSD SeriesAt this year’s CES, Corsair was one of the few PC component manufacturers brave enough to set up shop at the Las Vegas Convention center. Their major announcement was of course their new-found partnership with CoolIT but there were plenty of other interesting items as well. While we quickly previewed some of the products after their press conference, the show floor allowed us to get some hands-on time with Corsair’s 2011 lineup. But first, more about the direction CoolIT and Corsair are taking.When Corsair launched their Hydro-series of liquid coolers, they used slightly customized versions of Asetek’s products. Asetek will continue supplying Corsair’s more budget friendly H50 and the high performance H70 for the time being but CoolIT has designed a bridge product between the two called the H60. As the Asetek units are phased out, we will likely see a top to bottom lineup of CoolIT designed products.The retail channel is a tough place to be and CoolIT has decided to stop selling products with their own brand name on them. Instead, all future CoolIT engineered CPU and GPU liquid coolers will be marketed, boxed and distributed by Corsair. Considering Corsair has their own in-house engineering staff this move could also mean an overall increase in the quality and performance of these all in one units as both teams contribute their knowledge to the same cause. It also allows CoolIT to streamline their operations and potentially increase sales by taking advantage of a well-known brand name paired up with a vast retail channel.In a word: stunning. I personally hate the colour white on peripherals, cases and products of all sorts but when the design looks this good; not even I can complain. With a black interior and a few more splashes of black against the automotive-grade paint, this is one case than can only be fully appreciated in person. The MSRP of $160 isn’t that bad either.After releasing the wildly popular Obsidian 800D and the ever so slightly less expensive 700D, Corsair is now following those up with an encore presentation in the form of a lower priced, smaller case dubbed the Obsidian 650D. It maintains the overall design characteristics of the E-ATX cases and yet should appeal to a broader marke. Availability is slated for March of this year.