CORSAIR has probably the best device control software in the world. But it is true that it is so because it does not stop innovating and the competition continues to exert pressure, ASUS getting closer and closer with its Armory Crate. This version of iCUE 4 brings many improvements, not only of use but of all kinds, from updates, lighting, synchronization and of course the configuration of peripherals and hardware that we have.
CORSAIR iCUE 4, now more complete and simpler software
We are starting from a very basic premise and that is that we have already installed the latest version available at the time of reading this article. So if we don’t have it, we recommend that you download it from the official CORSAIR download site by following the link.
You just have to know that there are currently two different versions of CORSAIR iCUE, one remains at 3.34 (this could change in the future) and 4.xx. This is done for the compatibility of some old hardware and on the other hand because CORSAIR does not want to leave users suspended by possible bugs of the new version, which, although there have been 5 revisions since its presentation, may not yet work perfectly with some minor errors.
We will focus on the most recent: iCUE 4, where in this case we will have version 4.12.214 from 06/10/2021 installed. The program’s interface has been completely redesigned, so let’s see what it can offer now.
Simpler, cleaner, more powerful
While there are some things that change, there are others that don’t, a phrase Niobe said to Morpheus in the Matrix and which in this case is also true, because although the vast majority are new design and new functionality, there are parts that haven’t really been touched. . But we are proceeding in sections.
The first thing that we will see when we open it is precisely this, an interface where the products that we have connected with the iCUE system will be seen in very clear mosaics. We see two menus at the top left: start and panel, which are only used to be placed in this window or in a window where sensors and other systems have been configured.
Under our profile with our name we will have the scenes, which are a series of predetermined light effects and can be selected as we will see later. Just below we have the Sensors tab, where we have the possibility to control the equipment in different parameters at a glance.
Here you can see much better how the scenes and the sensors behave. It is about adding what you want and this will be represented in mosaic mode, like components and peripherals, with the particularity that in the case of lighting we will have an icon in the lower left corner of each making up.
This shows what lighting system you have and can be selected at will. It is now time to enter the configuration of each device connected to iCUE, where for that we will only have to leave the mouse on its corresponding mosaic, as shown in the images below.
More configuration and customization options for each CORSAIR component
We can go directly into a submenu without having to enter the device and then into said submenu, which saves us one click and is appreciated.
Within each component, the interface changes. We leave the tiles behind and move on to a good sized top bar where the component thumbnails are framed next to each other. This allows for faster access without having to go through the initial screen or the home screen, a nice touch.
Each component will have its own setup and menus, so while the aesthetics are retained, it’s customized to provide the best features, so we’re not going to stop showing them all.
And is that we would need all of the CORSAIR products to do that, but what we’re going to comment on and show are the three icons at the top right, along with the reduce, maximize, and close cores.
The first, the bell, displays notifications. When there is one it will turn reddish and by clicking on its icon they will be unlocked as a selectable list to bring us to the menu or setting indicated.
The second is the button with the question mark, which provides us with a series of help videos in case we have any questions about any of our components.
Newbies will find it very useful, where you can also search by product name or product type.
Finally, we have the gear button which means that we are in front of the options of this iCUE 4. Once pressed, a window will open with a menu on the left which consists of 4 sections: General, panel, updates. day and recording sensor.
The first will allow us to select the language, between degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit, start iCUE 4 when Windows starts (or not), activate the CORSAIR SDK, have or not add-ons, compatibility with Philips Hue, have or remove debug log, export information and system logs to a file, or restart the iCUE service.
The panel section will allow us to choose a background image for this purpose, blur said background, blur it, activate the hard drive plug-in or restore everything to default state. Then we have the Updates tab, very useful because unlike what happened before, we will now know with just one click if we have any updates to the firmware of the components or to the iCUE 4 itself. even, being able to select those we want manually.
Finally, the sensor recording tab will show us precisely that, recording anything that is software controllable, like temperatures, RPMs, loads or certain voltages. As we can see, this iCUE 4 has clearly improved, it has become the reference control software although it is proprietary and as such, it is a plus that CORSAIR brings to its products.
