EVGA Unveils Outrageous Open Air PC with Carbon Fiber Chassis

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(Photo: EVGA)PC component and accessories maker EVGA has pulled the wraps off its all-new E1 open air PC “concept” design, and the “sports car adjacent” gaming rig is every bit as enticing as a Formula 1 prototype. Though EVGA isn’t known for producing entire PCs, much less exotic ATX chassis, the E1 is like nothing we’ve ever seen. We say that not because of its open air design, which is nothing new, but because of its extensive use of carbon fiber as well as the fact that instead of mounting the motherboard to the case like most cases, the E1 uses steel cables to suspend the motherboard in the center of the contraption. Some might call it a PC, others might call it a work of art. All we know is EVGA isn’t mentioning price just yet, which tells us it’s one of those, “if you have to ask,” scenarios. It’s also only available in limited quantities, and to EVGA members only.

Naturally, the E1 is loaded with EVGA’s most high-end components, including several from its Kingpin line. Kingpin is EVGA’s brand for flagship products designed for extreme overclocking. But starting with the chassis, it’s a 100 percent 3k plain weave carbon fiber, which means there are 3,000 filaments of carbon fiber per “tow,” which is the name for the fiber with all the strands twisted together. This allows the frame to be both extremely light, coming in at just 2.76lbs, while also being very strong. EVGA claims it’s the lightest chassis in its class, by volume. The motherboard is hung from the chassis using steel cables, which is a design the company calls “independent suspension,” which it says is patent pending.

At the heart of the system is the company’s soon-to-be-released Z690 Dark Kingpin motherboard, which is its flagship board for Intel’s latest Alder Lake CPUs. It’s designed for overclocking, and includes a 21-phase VRM as well as a 10-layer PCB, as well as every bell and whistle you’d expect on such a board, including dual 2.5Gb/s Intel NICs. EVGA isn’t saying which CPU it is using, but it’s a safe bet it will be an overclocked Core i9-12900K.

Bolted to the board is the also elusive Kingpin GPU, which isn’t identified but will probably be an RTX 3090 Ti, and it features a hybrid design like previous Kingpin GPUs. That means it’ll be connected to the system’s 7th gen closed-loop liquid cooling system, which is comprised of dual 360mm radiators — one in the front of the chassis, and one on top. The water block on top of the CPU features an LCD that displays temperatures for the CPU and coolant, as well as fan and pump speeds. What’s really interesting is the cooling system appears to be connected to a row of analog gauges that sit at the bottom of the chassis, just above the I/O ports.

 

Powering the whole thing is an EVGA 1600W Titanium power supply with “limited” 3K carbon fiber finish, so it’s likely exclusive to this PC and won’t be available for purchase separately. Rounding out the whole package is a carbon fiber keychain, which looks like just a simple fob to us, and begs the question: why don’t you need a key to start the PC?!

Since the E1 is a concept, and the video posted above looks like it’s generated from 3D renders, there’s no telling how close a system like this to reality. EVGA included photos of the carbon fiber frame that look 100 percent authentic, as opposed to renders, so perhaps it has a prototype ready and is fine-tuning its performance. Either way, just a single component in this system is going to be at the very high end of the pricing stratosphere, so when you combine the motherboard, CPU, cooling, PSU, PSU, chassis, and the rest, you’re probably somewhere in the $5,000 ball park, but don’t quote us on that. There’s no word on availability either, but since the motherboard and GPU aren’t even available yet, it’ll probably be a few months from now.

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