Component Maker Corsair Tests PC Market With High-End Desktop

For the past two decades Corsair has been one of the more prominent PC component makers in the world. Headquartered in Fremont, California, Corsair has become synonymous with high-performance memory. But now the company is jumping into the PC market with the release of the Corsair One, an ultra high-end desktop. The Corsair One, which naturally includes a number of Corsair’s components, is designed for gamers and corporate users who want a bit more processing power than they would get from a mass-market PC. It comes with high-end Intel Core i7 processors and an optional liquid-cooled Nvidia GPU. But all these high-end features come at a price. The Corsair One, which is available in four versions, starts at $1,799.99. However, buyers should expect to spend significantly more for the top models.

Corsair made its name with high-quality memory and PC components, not as a builder of complete computers, which might give some pause. But a company that has been making high-end components for two decades should know how to assemble a reliable PC desktop.

The Corsair One’s design is important to its longevity. The desktop was designed with aircraft-grade aluminum that can stand up to the occasional ding or poor handling. Corsair also designed the machine to be as attractive as possible, so users don’t have to hide it.

The Corsair One is a high-powered machine, running the Intel Core i7-7700K, which has a 4.2GHz clock speed that can be overclocked to 4.5GHz. Corsair is offering liquid cooling with the processor to keep it running during heavy loads.

Nvidia is the graphics maker of choice in the Corsair One. Depending on the model, customers will be able to choose the Nvidia GTX 1070, the GTX 1080 or the GTX 1080 TI. The GTX 1080 and GTX 1080TI options come with liquid cooling.

The Corsair One has several different storage options. The base model includes a 240GB solid-state drive or a 1TB hard drive. The two highest-end Corsair One options are available with 960GB solid-state drives.

Each Corsair One is designed for high-end gaming. Corsair says the devices can run all virtual-reality titles without suffering significant slowdown or performance issues. Full 4K gaming is also supported.

To help make the Corsair One an appealing option, the company developed sound-barrier technology to reduce the amount of noise it creates. The combination of liquid cooling and design tweaks makes the computer exceedingly quiet, at just 20 dBa when it’s idle.

The Corsair One has six USB ports, HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort on the back. On the front, there’s another HDMI 2.0 port and a USB 3.1 port. The desktop can connect via Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11ac WiFi.

Despite all the power and features in the Corsair One, the company went low-end with the operating system, shipping the machine with Windows 10 Home. It’s a fine operating system but not as secure and sophisticated as Windows 10 Pro.

Desktop computers as a whole are quite cheap, but the Corsair One is exceedingly expensive. The base model costs $1,799.99, and the Corsair One Pro goes for $2,199.99 or $2,299.99 depending on storage. The Corsair One Pro TI costs $2,599.99. All are available to order now.