Game Max Obsidian Gaming Chassis Review

Final Thoughts

Price

While not the cheapest of the cheap, at £48 the Game Max Obsidian chassis is certainly affordable. Game Max has impressed us with their wallet-friendly price tags in the past, so I’m happy to see them continue to offer such competitive value for money.

Overview

Let’s not beat around the bush here, the Obsidian is not perfect. Of course, at under £50 I wouldn’t be expecting perfection anyway. That’s not to say it’s not great value for money though, as the Obsidian gets so many little things right that are often done wrong when it comes to budget chassis.

All This Added Value!

The expansion slot covers are all reusable and ventilated, not those nasty snap-off ones we often see on cheaper products. This is a great thing to see. Also, the front panel has a huge full-height dust filter, and there’s a slide out one on the PSU. That’s right, good quality filters on a cheaper chassis! The front I/O is very well equipped too. There’s plenty of USB ports, and a nice power button design (it’s the little details that add up). There’s also a built-in fan controller with fan hub, which is awesome to have. On top of that, you’ve got three places to mount hard drives, giving you up to six mounts in total. Finally, a single 120mm fan is pre-installed.

The Little Details

As I said, it’s not perfect. The cable routing is pretty good once you’ve got it done. However, the spacing of the holes is pretty tight and it took some force to get the cables through them. Make the holes a bit wider next time please Game Max before someone breaks a cable. A small cutout on the PSU cover to pass vertical cables to the GPU would also be appreciated. Having a fan pre-installed is nice, but I would have paid just a little more to see at least one fan mounted in the front panel. The PSU mounting space is quite limited too, and most ATX PSUs will require you to remove the HDD bays under there to make room. However, by doing so, you get a lot more cable storage space, which is no bad thing.

Should I Buy One?

Honestly, I can’t think of many better chassis for this kind of money. With a few minor faults on its report card, there are no big issues that would tell me to not buy one. Of course, it gets so much right too. With a great range of features, a super clean exterior design that’s visually appealing. There’s a good size window to show off your build too. The build quality is much better than you would think, and it feels durable in all the right places, and nothing rattles around. Overall, for (a little) under £50, the Obsidian is an absolute bargain.

Pros

• Clean aesthetics
• Side panel windows
• Built-in fan hub and controller
• Nice I/O design
• PSU shroud
• Good amount of fan/radiator mounts
• Good quality dust filters
• Fantastic price

Cons

• No intake fans included

Neutral

• Cable routing holes could be improved slightly
• PSU mounting space is limited, but the HDD bay is removable fixing the issue