Honestly, those of us who have been in this industry for a while now find the name curious… Corsair iCUE Link. And it is curious that the first iteration of the unified software that the manufacturer released on the market was called precisely Corsair Link, to later be replaced by iCUE when RGB lighting began to become fashionable. It was innovative software at the time, with powerful monitoring and control of the hardware but which, it is known, was not very “pretty”.
Now the company has decided to combine both names to create iCUE Link, but in this case it is not “just” a new version of its software but rather a new patented interconnection system of its components.
All devices interconnected with Corsair iCUE Link
We are going to try to explain to you what this system consists of in the quickest and easiest way that we can: the idea that Corsair proposes with iCUE Link is that all the components will be interconnected in series, as if forming a chain, and all you need to do is that the company has called SystemHub as the final link that will be what is later connected to the PC’s motherboard.
In other words, each component will only need a single cable (and in case you were wondering, yes, the fans connect to each other) that will serve everything, including power, data, monitoring, etc.
As you can see in the example above, we can have a group of three fans (for example on the front) connected to the rear fan which, in turn, is connected to a liquid cooling AIO heatsink and, finally, this is connected to the SystemHub. All the components daisy-chained with a single cable really does make installation much easier, especially the connection and having to route and hide the cables.
Since this system transmits power and data for monitoring and others on the same cable, Corsair has created a new reversible patented connector, which as we can see in the images you have sent us we will see it in two types of connector: a USB-style A and another angled for greater comfort and that aesthetically will look better on components such as fans.
When will we see the first compatible products?
As you can imagine, creating an ecosystem of products that use a newly created special cable and connector will take time; However, it seems that Corsair has been working on it for quite some time as they have announced that starting next month (June 2023) we will start to see the first iCUE Link compatible devices, which will include fans and AIO liquid cooling systems.
To begin with, we will see the fans Corsair QX120 and QX140 RGBpatent pending, of which the manufacturer says that they are the world’s first fully digital control. They’re equipped with patented magnetic bearings, a digital temperature sensor, and lighting that includes quad RGB light loops (what that means is another matter, but Corsair called it that).
During the third quarter of this year, the range of products compatible with CPU blocks, GPU blocks and pump and tank backs of the Hydro X series will also be expanded, and later many more compatible products will arrive so that, little by little, little, we can have an ecosystem of the brand on the PC that allows us to integrate absolutely everything.
