Corsair has announced the One i500 compact PC with wood front panels. The brand aims to attract more users with a fresh, natural design that conserves a small footprint.
The One i500 is a follow-up to Corsair’s well-known One i300 Compact Gaming PC. With this update, the brand opted for a natural wooden look that should blend easily with most living places. To begin with, we have two wood colours, bright and dark. I like the latter more as it better projects the wood veins. Corsair may add other types if the demand is high, and I’m truly hoping for Walnut.
Aside from these wood front panels, the new i500 PC series offers the latest components available. Inside, you will find up to a Core i9-14900K and GeForce RTX 4090, both liquid-cooled for optimum performance. These connect to a Micro-ATX B760 motherboard coupled with 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6000 RAM and 2TB of NVMe storage. All inside a 21.7-litre frame measuring 30cm x 39.1cm x 18.5cm – so a bit bigger than the One i300’s 12-litres.
You can customise the Corsair One Origin Edition with up to 192GB of DDR5-5200 memory, 24TB of storage, in addition to many expansion cards.
The chassis also comes equipped with five fans, three working as side intakes and two as top exhausts. Not to forget a 1,000W SFX 80 Plus Gold PSU to power everything. The side intakes are filtered for easy cleanup and maintenance, plus the top is removable for extensive cleaning.
Regarding I/O, we find four USB 2.0, three USB 3.2 Gen 2, one USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C, HDMI 2.1 plus DisplayPort 1.4 video outputs – excluding the GPU, and five 3.5 jacks / one optical audio. While we are at it, I like the integration of an LED just above the I/O, which helps see the ports.
This new design reminds me of chassis such as the Fractal Design North XL and InWin ModFree mini. With a size sitting between the two and a prebuilt system inside, it’s sure to pique the interest of those on the lookout for a compact machine. That said, if you’re more of a DIYer, Corsair’s 4000 and 5000 Series with the optional wooden panels may be the way for you.
If you are wondering why Corsair didn’t go the extra mile to add more wood in other places, keep in mind that wood is an insulator. Besides, putting small holes in it for ventilation is kind of hard. Since the idea is to give the computer a natural feel, a simple faceplate to accent it is a good start. Be it for its eco-friendliness or to balance the room’s aesthetic, the final result is pleasing to the eye for sure. A good move from Corsair, as people seem to swing towards a natural look lately.
Corsair One i500 PC is available on the brand’s website, and starts at £3,499.99 / €4,199.99 / $3,599.99 for a system housing a 14900K, RTX 4080 Super, and 32GB of RAM. However, the version packing an RTX 4090 plus 64GB of RAM jumps to £4,699.99 / €5,499.99 / $4,699.99. Otherwise, you can go for the Corsair One Origin Edition, which offers further customisations. All models are backed by a two-year warranty.