Corsair One a200 gaming PC overview

Corsair bucks the pattern with a lot of its pre-built PCs, as an alternative providing a high-performance bundle in a diminutive and compact case the place many would go for a extra normal mid-tower. The Corsair One a200 is not any much less an thrilling proposition, bringing collectively the newest AMD Ryzen and Nvidia GeForce expertise in a surprisingly neat and well-managed bundle no larger than a bread bin.

When you’re acquainted with Corsair’s compact One lineup, you will know that appears will be deceiving. This is not Corsair’s first try at a compact gaming PC, and we have beforehand ranked its compact machines as a number of the finest gaming PCs (opens in new tab) going, small kind issue or not. Being solely 20 x 17.3 x 38cm in measurement seemingly has little or no affect on these PCs’ efficiency—the brand new and improved a200’s specs checklist is each bit as mouth-watering appropriately.

That every one begins with the a200’s AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (opens in new tab) CPU, which is powered by the highly-successful and well-rated Zen 3 structure. It is a 12-core/24-thread chip with loads of grunt, rated to three.7GHz at its worst and 4.8GHz at its finest. Because it’s our high decide for the most effective CPU for gaming (opens in new tab) as we speak, I anticipated lots out of it even earlier than getting the a200 out of the field.

Taking part in the supporting function for this performant bundle is 32GB DDR4-3200 reminiscence. That is loaded right into a bespoke motherboard with B550 chipset alongside a 1TB NVMe SSD of Corsair’s personal design, the Corsair Drive MP600. That is a PCIe 4.0 drive, too, for sooner load instances and switch speeds.

The current introduction of SFX PSUs able to driving over 1000W (opens in new tab) has helped cement the idea {that a} small kind issue PC may also be a excessive efficiency one. But even the compact a200’s 750W SFX PSU presents sufficient wattage for a commanding PC construct. Environment friendly wattage, too, rated to 80 Plus Platinum.

Crucially for our gaming wants that 750W PSU is sufficient to give the a200 surreptitious command over an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (opens in new tab). Coming in as our favorite graphics playing cards as we speak (opens in new tab), we could not ask for rather more from the Corsair One. With out something holding it again, the RTX 3080 makes fast work of 4K and 1440p.

And I am happy to report that nothing is seemingly holding it again.

In Metro Exodus at 4K, the Corsair One manages to remain abreast of our desktop Founders Version RTX 3080. No small feat for such a tiny machine. It is solely negligibly slower than our desktop take a look at bench in Horizon Zero Daybreak, too.

What which means for the precise gaming efficiency is 60fps or extra at 4K in a few of as we speak’s newest video games, which is what you would possibly anticipate from these elements on paper, however maybe not a lot from the shape issue. 

Maybe the important thing to the a200 puzzle lies with its thermal efficiency. When a lot of CPU and GPU efficiency now lies with thermal headroom, more and more so
with Zen 3 and Ampere, it’s also more and more essential to over-spec your thermal resolution to hit max efficiency potential. Fortunately, the a200 does simply that, permitting the CPU and GPU to ship their finest consistent with much less confined desktop elements.

That is by and enormous due to the dual liquid cooling resolution of Corsair’s design. Each CPU and GPU are liquid-cooled, independently of each other, with every part’s respective radiator positioned on both aspect of the PC’s case. Contemporary, cool air is then whipped up previous both radiator by the usage of a single fan positioned on the high of the PC.

The result’s a max GPU temp throughout benchmarking of 69°C, the envy of even some discrete desktop coolers. The max CPU temp could not spark fairly a lot envy, nevertheless, coming in at 91°C. That is notably inside AMD’s thermal spec, but additionally in extra of ordinary working temperatures for such a chip with a fairly chunky liquid cooler.

The only system fan additionally has to work onerous at instances to maintain the PC working comfortably, which implies it might get fairly loud beneath load. That stated, it’s a single-fan system, which is notably quieter than some desktop builds I’ve had with 4 or 5 followers all working on an equivalent fan curve.

Simplicity and value, although, are one thing that Corsair can ship in swathes with the a200. The ports are inside straightforward attain on the rear of the machine, and there is a helpful USB Kind-C port on the entrance to make life simply that a lot simpler. The innards may also be uncovered by the highest, too, which implies you may entry the SSD or RAM in case you fancied a shakeup.

I am coming away impressed from Corsair’s newest small kind issue PC.

You can even entry the GPU and CPU blocks in case you so wished, though discovering suitable boards with the present cooling resolution could also be a little bit of a battle.

Then to the general aesthetics of the Corsair One and the a200 is quiet tame for a gaming all-in-one, it have to be stated. There’s simply two addressable lighting strips extending almost your complete size of the machine, which is a few miracle. Its sensible exterior would positively match the function of highly effective workstation in a pinch, too.

So I am coming away impressed from Corsair’s newest small kind issue PC, particularly now that it is working with the newest cutting-edge expertise. It is clearly a properly thought out gaming PC and designed with the consumer in thoughts. By its nature, it is extra restrictive for future upgrades than another small kind issue circumstances, however it’s nonetheless a superb machine for as we speak.