Hot on the heels of Fractal Design’s well-received, wood-accented North case (which we awarded case of the year for 2022), component mainstay Corsair has started selling wood panels for its existing 4000- and 5000-series PC cases, starting at $55.
The panels come in packs of two, one for the front of the case and one for the top. And they appear to be laser-cut to match the Airflow variants of both cases, to maintain similar thermal characteristics of the metal panels that ship with these cases. In fact, the product page says that Corsair has “rigorously tested” the panels to “ensure the same high airflow as 4000D AIRFLOW and 5000D AIRFLOW panels.”
That should mean there won’t be any temperature concerns, though I do wonder about the fragility of the narrowest parts of those cuts. If you’re going to put your case on the floor (which is likely a common occurrence, especially with the larger 5000-series cases), I would be careful to put this panel out of the way of swinging feet or small children.
You can choose between three types / shades of wood to match your preference or decor, with bamboo being the lightest, sapele sitting in the middle with a lighter bronzish-brown shade, and teak being the darkest. Note that both the teak and sapele panels are expressly called out as veneer (meaning they aren’t solid wood, at least of those types) while the faster-growing / cheaper / lighter bamboo is listed as “renewably sourced,” so more likely solid bamboo. The 4000 series panels (shown above) sell for $55, and the larger 5000 series panels are priced at $75.
The cases do look distinctive and attractive, at least to my eyes, with these wood panels. And I could see owners of these popular Corsair cases picking them up as an easy way to drastically change the look of their systems. But $75 in particular for the 5000 series panels seems like a lot – especially when the whole Fractal North case is currently selling for $130. To be fair to Corsair though, there’s definitely more wood in these panels than there is in the North’s slatted front panel.
Regardless of price, the Fractal North case has arguably been the most well-received case in years, making best-of-the-year lists at multiple prominent sites. And given its relative affordability, it’s likely selling well (although both color variants are currently sitting at 86 and 90 on Amazon’s list of best-selling cases). So it’s not surprising to see Corsair follow fairly quickly with some wood-based accessories of its own.
I’d expect to see more wood-accented chassis, likely by this year’s Computex tradeshow, if not sooner. After several years of RGB and glass everything, wood is a refreshing alternative case option. It will be interesting to see what companies do with it when designing around the material from the ground up – as well as how long it will take before it’s saturated the market enough for people to be sick of it. I’m certainly not there yet and excited to see where this trend ends up.
