The Corsair One i300 is the latest version of the high-end compact gaming computer. It’s updated to use Intel’s Alder Lake Core i9 12900K and comes with the kind of impressive spec list that almost makes sense at its super steep $4,999 price tag (making it the most expensive pirate to date.) It just doesn’t. You get a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti inside this great chassis, but there’s a 64GB DDR5-4800 and a fast 2TB NVMe SSD in there, too. That’s a lot of high-end hardware for what can only be described as a very large amount of money.
This is an important update to a system as high-end as the Corsair One because when you’re dropping that kind of cash on a PC, you need to know that you’re getting the best hardware. The Intel Core i9 12900K definitely falls into the camp. Corsair has paired it with the RTX 3080 Ti underlining that it’s a gaming machine too, as the more expensive RTX 3090 only makes sense for those looking for a professional display and workloads.
pirate one i300 specification
CPU: Intel Core i9 12900 K
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080T
RAM: 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR5-4800
storage: 2TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD
Front Input/Output: 1x 3.5mm audio, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
Back I/O: 4x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 2x Thunderbolt 4 Type-C, HD Audio, 3x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI
You: Windows 11 Pro
Dimensions: 200 x 176 x 380 mm
Weight: 7.18 kg
Guarantee: Two years
price: $4,999
Don’t rule out memory or storage in this device either. It’s very difficult to get DDR5 right now. At 64GB like we have here, you know you won’t be lacking in any game on this front, they’re welcome. Yes, it’s overkill, but that means you won’t need to upgrade anytime soon.
The NVMe SSD (an OEM Samsung drive equivalent to the 980 Pro) is also a fast beast, responsible for the fastest load times I’ve seen so far in Final Fantasy XIV, as well as delivering a great experience when moving the scaling suite onto the device. The fact that it’s a 2TB model gives you plenty of room to fiddle with as well and means you don’t need second-tier storage for your data.
One instant takeaway from the Corsair One i300, and something that hasn’t changed much since it first appeared on the scene, is the chassis. The idea of this being a beautiful PC is often attached to expensive builds, but here’s a real justification. This is a machine that not only wants you to have a clear view on your desk, but it won’t take up much space, or make a lot of noise if you do. Honestly, this thing is a lot smaller than you might think, at half the depth of most middle tower systems.
This beauty is more than skin deep, too. The design allows Corsair to use only one fan at the top of the unit to draw air through the system to keep everything cool. Both the processor and graphics card use water-cooling loops to draw heat away from them, with a single fan doing all the hard work. This fan also only spins if needed, so for a lot of normal work, this machine is effectively silent. And when it spins, it doesn’t get as loud as most desktops.
This design isn’t entirely without issues though. When you’re dealing with a high-end set, temperatures can get warm. very fun. The Core i9 12900K in this design is a power-hungry chip (up to 241 watts), and it can run hot when pressed even on much larger systems with triple-fan coolers. Here, I watched the CPU temperature touch 100°C multiple times in the test, throttling the chip again – although only briefly even when pressing hard. This CPU is still incredibly powerful too, so even allowing for that short throttling, it’s still one of the fastest I’ve ever used, and it tops a lot of benchmarking tables.
Most importantly, the graphics card does not run anywhere near the temperature of the CPU. Even under lengthy tests in a variety of 4K games, it topped out at 75°C, and on average it was much cooler than that. That means it never holds a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti back when it comes to gaming, which is exactly what you need to hear when spending that much cash on the device. You don’t hear a loud noise either, even when the fan is running at full power—you can hear it, but it’s not annoying.
When it comes to testing, there’s definitely a lot to like here, with some of the fastest benchmark results. Synthetic benchmarks, such as Raytracing’s display interface, 3DMark Port Royal, have produced the highest score in labs to date. Something was backed up in the Metro Exodus’ RTX demo, leaving everything but the RTX 3090-powered Alienware Aurora R12 eating dust beautifully. The loss on the more expensive card seems reasonable here.
The important thing, of course, is that this computer can play and play incredibly well. You’ll get the kind of high frame rates that esports monitors are designed for at 1080p and 1440p for that matter. Raise the resolution to 4K and still have a good cry of going to 100fps in a lot of games.
This thing is a monster. A quiet, purring beast that can also handle itself with more serious tasks too.
You can configure the Corsair One i300 in two ways, although the Core i9 12900K is the only option when it comes to the CPU. You can use the RTX 3080 instead of the 3080 Ti, which limits the design to 32GB of DDR5 as well, although that drops $1,000 off the asking price, so that might make sense. However, there is something great above the surface with this 64GB system that makes it all the more enticing.
Not that this is an easy machine to justify to yourself, let alone anyone else. And yes, you could, in theory at least, build a machine similar to this one for a lot less, although looking good really gets your hands on a graphics card or DDR5 RAM for that matter. Most importantly, it won’t look anywhere near that level or act as quiet and calm as it does the vast majority of the time.
In general, the Corsair One i300 brilliantly achieves what it plans to do. It’s a compact gaming PC that showcases the latest technology, is impressively smart and, dare we say, a beautiful case. It’s a machine that many players would love to own, but few can afford. But for those who can… it’s a treat.