RodT

It would be awesome if Corsair developed and sold a Virtual Link header that replaced the front bottom mounted USB/HDMI panel. I'm sure most enthusiasts could install themselves (replacing panel and plugging into the RTX header) with the proper instructions...

1990.kenneth, although not sanctioned by Corsair, the i160 is essentially able to be fully upgraded, with the slight possibility that the GPU might be harder (although the RTX2080ti should have many years of performance potential). I and others have already replaced essentially all internal items (except the GPU). http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=186466 This is a great computer out of the box and a great enthusiast platform for modding as well. Hope that helps...

I knew I had seen that thread somewhere lol. As well for anyone trying the MB swap, at least with the ASRock board, iQue software works perfectly. The AIO pumps are detected, the main fan is also and adjustable as before (i.e. quiet mode or full-blast performance mode), and the front LED accent light bars are addressable and configurable. Basically the only thing that would indicate the MSI board was replaced is the boot logo (oh...and it runs faster, cooler and has Thunderbolt 3).

Oh yes, i forgot to mention that. I did the same and simply soldered an extension cable to the power button.

Hi Remorage, I understand the RTX20180ti that is in the i160 has a VirtualLink header (there is a post about it on this forum), although I haven't looked myself. In the thread, one of the posters mentions all you need is a header extension to get it to work. One of these days I'll pop the side off and check myself. The 2k ML140 works surprisingly well. Not sure why Corsair didn't configure it with that fan from the factory, likely it is a bit louder at full RPM, but honestly, it's not that much louder for a significant increase in static pressure and cooling.

I can confirm the ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming Mini-ITX motherboard is a direct drop-in in an i160. It took about 20 minutes to install, simple swap. I primarily did the swap to get ThunderBolt 3 and x2 M.2 ports. At the same time changed the boot M.2 for a 2TB Samsung 970 Evo NVME and swapped the 2TB factory drive for a 2TB Samsung SSD. I also swapped out the 600W PS for a SF750 80 Plus Platinum PS, again direct drop-in. The final change was the OEM Corsair fan for one of their 2000 RPM ML140 PRO 140mm Magnetic Levitation Fans. Very happy with the upgrade. Runs cooler and doesn't thermally throttle now.