Corsair iCUE COMMANDER CORE XT, Digital Fan Speed and RGB Lighting Controller (Control up to Six PWM Case Fans and 264 RGB LEDs, Zero RPM Mode, Temperature Monitoring, Easy Installation) Black

I recently installed and used the Corsair iCUE COMMANDER CORE XT, and here’s a detailed review of my experience. Installation Experience Ease of Setup: The setup process for the COMMANDER CORE XT was straightforward. The unit comes with clear instructions, and the Corsair iCUE software simplifies the connection and management of devices. The user-friendly interface allows for easy control over fan speeds, RGB lighting, and system monitoring, making the installation process relatively hassle-free. Adhesion and Mounting Issues: A notable issue I encountered was the lack of strong adhesion from the built-in magnetic strip. The magnets are not particularly strong, which resulted in the unit not adhering firmly to the case, especially on less metallic or uneven surfaces. To address this, I used additional mounting solutions like double-sided tape or zip ties to ensure the COMMANDER CORE XT stayed securely in place. While this extra step was a bit inconvenient, it was necessary for a stable installation. Performance and Features Fan and RGB Control: Once installed, the performance of the COMMANDER CORE XT was impressive. I paired it with six Corsair LL120 RGB 120mm Dual Light Loop PWM fans, and the results were fantastic. The unit provides precise control over fan speeds and synchronization of RGB lighting, allowing for a cohesive and visually striking setup. The ability to power and control six fans and six ARGB devices from a single hub is a significant advantage, offering extensive customization options. Software Integration: The iCUE software integration is one of the standout features of the COMMANDER CORE XT. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools for customization and system monitoring. The software allows for precise adjustments to fan speeds, helping to achieve an optimal balance between cooling performance and noise levels. Additionally, the real-time monitoring of temperatures and system status is highly beneficial for maintaining system health and performance. RGB Effects Visual Impact: The RGB effects, especially when paired with the six Corsair LL120 RGB fans, are stunning. The dual light loop design of these fans creates dynamic and immersive lighting patterns that can be fully customized through the iCUE software. Whether it’s static colors, gradients, or complex lighting sequences, the COMMANDER CORE XT handles it all seamlessly, making the visual impact of my build truly standout. Overall Impression Despite the minor adhesion issue with the magnetic strip, the Corsair iCUE COMMANDER CORE XT is an excellent addition to any PC build. The ease of setup, combined with the extensive control over fans and RGB lighting, makes it a highly valuable component for enthusiasts. The vibrant RGB effects, especially when used with multiple Corsair LL120 fans, add significant visual appeal to the build. The fact that it can power and control six fans and six ARGB devices from a single hub is particularly impressive, providing extensive customization options. If you encounter the same adhesion problem, I recommend using stronger mounting alternatives to ensure the unit remains securely in place.

This was a live saver when it came to installing fans, it made is very easy to install the fans and makes it even easier to control them all at the same time through the ICUE software. The price is a little steep but for me, it was worth paying as it helped a bunch. If you have Corsair fans and want to gain control over all of them, I’d get this, very helpful and nifty device

Great device to sooth your RGB cravings! Packaging and Construction ******************************** Like most corsair gaming peripherals you the item arrives in a black and yellow box with the typical nomenclature. Inside the box you get the unit itself (one hopes), thermo sensors, fan extension cables and LED extension cables. The unit itself has 2 LED channel inputs which can each manage 4 addressable RGB strips (in serial), 2 USB 2.0 expansions headers, 4 temperature sensor headers and 6 4 pin PWM fan headers. The unit itself is powered via SATA and connects to your motherboard via a internal USB 2.0 header and requires Corsair Link Software. Use ***** Using the unit is relatively straight forward, hook everything up, download Corsair Link and away you go. The options with this unit are pretty powerful and you can set up a fan profiles of various kinds, that can can change the source input, with LED strips, each one in the chain can be addressed individually. The temperature sensors can be used as a basis for your fans to respond to and so on and so forth. Now the unit is not flawless and there are two issues I have with it. The first is that there is no ability to delay or smooth out fan response characteristics. What I mean by this is if for example your basing your fan profiles off your CPU temp, its not uncommon if launching a new window or task for a few seconds to have the temp spike for a few moments. The fan's will unfortunately respond to these blips, it would be ideal if a delay is put in so these quick short bursts in temps can be smoothed over, just like other software like ASUS AI suit. For myself, its not an issue as its in a build with a custom loop which temps change gradually, but can see it as a sore spot. Another issue I have is some specific fans and this unit do not play ball. Mostly it seems EK Vardar's EVO line. The Corsair unit seems to not behave properly with in part thanks to the 0 fan RPM mode it seems so constantly ramps the fans up and down. To avoid this, I have used a two way splitter, put another fan on the primary PWM sense line and the EK Evo fan off the second branch and that works perfect then. Summery ************ In all a nice unit from Corsair. Will be nice if they ever integrate it with motherboards, but imagine they want to keep you locked into their own eco system. In all however, the unit is feature packed and a nice unit, more so if you get corsair fan's or LED strips to have a single utility to control most things.

Great product, the listing on amazon didn't really specify the contents of the box which led me through some confusion figuring out what I needed to buy along with this to make my configuration work. The unit comes with the temperature sensor and four fan pwm cable extensions. Knowing that in advance would have saved me two additional orders for no reason. Hopefully this review lets someone avoid that mistake. Otherwise it is a great product which is really straightforward to use once you understand the corsair icue suite. It is an outrageously expensive but alas that is the price for having this level of RGB performance. I cannot understate just how configurable the RGB is and honestly it is worth every penny.

Hard to get hold of now they have beenb replaced with the Corsair link system but if like me you have the older style fans this works perfectly, connecting to iCue to allow you to set fan curves and control the LED colours. I bought a 'like new' one. The box had been torn but the device was like new and had all the connecting cables and temp sensors in the box. Really pleased to find this.

Its a very good product allowing you to control fans, RGB and monitoring temperatures in one package but beware the thing is like a Octopus with all the cables going to it making cable management a nightmare. All temperatures sensors work no problem as does the RGB. One problem I am having is that each fan connection goes to 4 fans on radiators (16 fans in total on my system). I can control the fan speed on 3 out of the 4 lines but the 4th one only allows me to have it turned off or 2500rpm which is like a plane taking off! Having them turned off its not a option and rather defeats the purpose of using a fan controller. I have checked all fan wiring. Does anyone have a similar issued?

What a fantastic fan controller. I just received this today for my loud ass fans in my case and they are now super customisable. I will preface that I don't have Corsair fans I have 8 case fans and 6 of which are connected to the commander pro and instantly I was given so much control over them. Utterly fantastic product I have nothing but praise for this product and Corsair as a whole. This running. In tandem with my be quiet silent base 601 case and silent wings case fans makes my total case ambient noise come to just under 20db which is practically inaudible Overall this product is wonderfulli give it a 10/10 and I would 100% buy this again if asked to or if it was needed the fact that it works even with non PWM fans is unbelievable but when you pay this much for a product you get what you pay for and that's why I give Corsair a glowing review on this one.

Got this Commander Core XT to manually set the fan speeds to keep pc cooler. Works extremely well though not easy to work out to start with but with time became easier to setup how i want fan speeds. Also like that you can use the 2 temperature gauges supplied to keep check on different temps within the case, gpu etc. Added bonus, is that there are extra light settings for the fans compared to the standard node that comes with the 2 ll140 fans that i have. You can therefore set each fan lighting independently of the other as well as the fan speeds. Overall, great value for money