Corsair FRAME 4500X RS-R ARGB vs Corsair Obsidian Series 500D RGB SEcomputed

Datasheet figures next to each other, and the airflow balance, pressure verdict and case air heating that the fans in each box compute to behind that case's own front. Calculated with the CaseFlow model, not measured.

Side by side

Corsair FRAME 4500X RS-R ARGBCorsair Obsidian Series 500D RGB SE
FormATX mid towerATX mid tower
Volume58.7 L59.4 L
Dimensions499 × 246 × 478 mm502 × 233 × 508 mm
Frontglass solid or glass frontglass solid or glass front
Fan mountstop 3 × 120, rear 1 × 120, bottom 3 × 120, side 3 × 120front 3 × 120
Radiator supporttop 360 mm, rear 140 mm, side 360 mm–
Dust filtersfront, top, bottom–
GPU length460 mm–
Cooler height185 mm–
Stock fans3 × RS-R ARGB Series (side)3 × LL120 RGB (front)
Stock airflow, max rpm––
Stock pressure verdictstock fans named but no datasheet - nothing computedstock fans named but no datasheet - nothing computed
Case air at 290 W––
Stock fan noise––
All mounts, reference fans270 in / 211 out CFM 6 / 4 mounts104 in / 0 out CFM 3 / 0 mounts

With a reference pressure-optimized fan on every mount the FRAME 4500X RS-R ARGB moves more air. The stock fans of both are named in the datasheets without any figures behind them, so the stock columns stay empty. The pressure verdict describes the stock fan set, not the case: stronger or extra intake fans in the free mounts, or slower exhaust fans, turn a negative balance positive.

FRAME 4500X RS-R ARGB — mounts and stock fans

side mountsTOPBOTTOMREARFRONT · glass

Obsidian Series 500D RGB SE — mounts and stock fans

TOPBOTTOMREARFRONT · glass

Case air heating with the stock fans — computed

Neither ships with fans the model knows, so there is nothing to plot. Open them in CaseFlow and add fans.

Use it

How these numbers are computed

Each stock fan contributes CFMmax · derate · rpm/rpmmax behind its wall's mounting class: filtered mesh front and side mounts as dust filter, bottom as floor + filter, top and rear as open grille, solid and glass fronts as side-slit intake at roughly half of a mesh front. Front, bottom and side blow in; top and rear blow out.

MountingAirflow bladesPressure-optimized
Open grille0.88 (0.80–0.95)0.88 (0.80–0.95)
Dust filter0.70 (0.60–0.80)0.78 (0.70–0.86)
Floor + filter0.64 (0.52–0.74)0.72 (0.62–0.80)
Solid or glass front0.50 (0.40–0.62)0.58 (0.48–0.68)

Worst case sums intake at the low end of each band and exhaust at the high end; positive there means positive regardless of how the estimates fall. Case air: ΔT = 3.1 · W / throughput (m³/h), with an open-cooler GPU putting its full board power into the case air plus board, RAM and drives. Capacity puts a reference pressure-optimized fan on every mount at max rpm — 120 mm 60 CFM, 140 mm 75 CFM — a generic good fan, not a product.

Mount counts, radiator support and clearances are datasheet figures. Nothing here is measured; the same model runs in CaseFlow.