Corsair Revives Memory Lighting with Airflow Pro

Corsair had quite a bit to show off at Computex this year, and so far we’ve covered the mid-range Graphite 600T chassis and also the company’s upcoming line of professional power supplies, dubbed the AX series. Also in the company’s suite at the Grand Hyatt was a sweet update to the company’s memory lighting, this time with a product called the “Airflow Pro”.

At the time I began to become really interested in computers, especially building my own, Corsair was really the only company around that offered lighting of some sort for its modules. There was the XPERT series which allowed you to say small things with the memory’s LED text output, and there was also the Pro series that had LEDs on top that actually blinked depending on the module’s workload.

The Airflow Pro is without question the company’s best-ever implementation, though. As you can see in the photograph below, the lights are not part of the module, but rather part of the Airflow fan, which is not only placed atop some modules, but connect to them as well. This is where things get really interesting.

Since earlier this year, Corsair’s Dominator modules have been shipping with a small proprietary connector that’s difficult to see unless you’re actually looking for it. The company started shipping modules this way in preparation for the Airflow Pro, as underneath the fan, you can plug a cable into each module in order to have the LEDs read the activity.

The fact that you need a cable to plug into the modules told me two things. One, the cables would add clutter, and two, installation would be a chore. Apparently not, said Corsair, as the representative who showed us around said that he installed everything with ease, and even with the motherboard still in the chassis. I am not sure of the most effective method of installation, but we’ll be sure to experiment once we receive a sample.

The Airflow Pro has numerous LED’s, and these change color depending on the load. Unlike the older Pro series, there is no way to view the activity on a module to module basis, but rather everything will be aggregated into the available LED’s here. Depending on the color (purple > blue > green > yellow > orange > red), you’ll be able to gauge the overall load.

There are six LED’s in the center of the entire unit that represent temperatures (one per module, for up to six), which is going to be quite helpful for overclockers. The color schemes used are the same, so if your module is running at green or yellow, you’re set. If you’re seeing orange or red, however, you might want to increase your cooling or lower your overclock.

The Airflow Pro kit should become available within the next two months, and will cost between $50 – $60. And I want one.