Corsair One i500
The One i500 is the biggest update to Corsair’s compact gaming PC since its inception. The redesigned housing is a lot larger than before, allowing more standard parts to be used. This results in a less exorbitant price than before, but also makes the One i500 less ultimate and unique. The chosen hardware is as powerful as ever, with a maximum of an i9-14900K and RTX 4090, but the CPU has a power limit to keep temperatures within limits. We also think it’s a shame that the PC no longer has Thunderbolt.
When you think of Corsair you probably think of PC parts, peripherals or even old-fashioned memory, but the manufacturer also sells complete PCs. It has focused on the niche of compact yet very powerful systems. Since we reviewed the One i300 in early 2022, equipped with a 12th Gen Intel Core CPU and an Nvidia RTX 3000 video card, things have become a bit quiet on that front. With the One i500, Corsair is breathing new life into the series today, with the latest hardware and a completely new design.
The updated design of the One i500 can be captured in two words: more luxurious and larger. The front is covered with a piece of wood. Each configuration comes in two variants: a black case with a dark walnut wood front and a light gray case with a lighter maple wood front panel. Both types of wood are FSC certified. The side panels are covered with a fabric reminiscent of classic speakers.
The redesigned cabinet has also become a lot larger in size. The One i500 is 18.5cm wide, 30cm deep and 39.1cm high. In terms of depth, this is more than 10 cm more than its predecessor, which means that the volume has increased by almost eighty percent to 21.7 liters. This is, for example, comparable to the Cooler Master MasterBox NR200P.
Compared to its predecessor, the hardware of the One i500 is somewhat more impressive. The processor has been updated from an i9 12900K to an i9 14900K, the memory runs at a much higher clock speed and the 750W power supply has been replaced by a 1000W one. The biggest adjustment, however, is the video card. While Corsair no longer dared to install Nvidia’s top model with the previous design – the One i300 came with a maximum of an RTX 3080 Ti – there is now a maximum of a full-fledged RTX 4090 in the system. Both the processor and the video card are water-cooled. In the table below we compare the maximum configurations of the One i300 and the new One i500.
| One i300 (2022) | One i500 (2024) | |
| Processor | Intel Core i9 12900K | Intel Core i9 14900K |
| Memory | 64GB DDR5-4800 | 64GB DDR5-6000 |
| Video card | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 |
| Ssd | 2TB PCIe 4.0 | 2TB PCIe 4.0 |
| Power supply | 750W | 1000W |
| Dimensions | 16.5×19.5x38cm | 18.5×30.0x39.1cm |
| Volume | 12.2 litres | 21.7 litres |
| Price | 5100 euros | 5500 euros |
For this review, we received a slightly more lightly equipped model from Corsair, with an RTX 4080 Super video card and 32GB DDR5 memory. It also has a more friendly price tag of 4,200 euros. That’s still a lot of money, but compared to the two-year-old One i300, it is relatively favorable. The model with 32GB of RAM and an RTX 3080 Ti video card, which is now the second fastest option in Nvidia’s range, cost 4,800 euros at the time.
