Origin has always been one of our favorite custom system builders and, at CES 2018, the company has unveiled a dramatic redesign of its main PC chassis – we’re of course talking about the company’s full-tower Genesis and mid-tower Millennium. 

Previously these two chassis were made primarily out of plastic, but now they’ve gotten full-metal makeovers with a touch of tempered glass and improved RBG lighting to completely modernize their designs.

During CES 2018, we got a chance to catch up with Eddy Piedra, Marketing Manager at Origin to get the inside story behind the redesign.

“Since early last year we have been working closely with our lead engineers to meticulously design our case to not only have improved materials, but also to have a more streamlined appearance without any compromises,” Piedra began. “We wanted to stay true to our high-quality standards of PC design, all while to continuing to offer easy customization and upgradability.

The first thing you might notice about the new Genesis and Millennium, is that they’re both much more streamlined than the bold curves and angles seen on past iterations. That was entirely Origin’s intent for the redesign.

With the addition of tempered glass panels, there is no longer a need for exaggerated side panels to hold acrylic panels in place. Instead, the entire side is a clear window for you to show off all your high-end components and the tidy cable work within.

While it might seem like Origin came late to the game with tempered glass, the company took its time to develop a solution without thumbscrews that the user had to manually remove.

“The idea was to create a pin system hinge that allows the door to be easily removed and reattached and grants the user to easily open the side panels for easier access to the components,” Piedra said. “We then decided to use low-powered magnets to eliminate the need for latches.”

But beyond aesthetics, Origin had to strike a balance to ensure its new design was just as flexible and customizable for its users.

“With plastic materials in our original case, we had more flexibility,” Piedra added, noting how easy it to mold plastic over casting metal. “However, the advantages of going with aluminum was gaining enhanced durability and a creating more premium look and feel with our case.”

And going with an almost entirely metal build has yielded some other benefits for Origin’s design.

“Thanks to the sleek design and swappable side panels, there’s even more customization options when it comes to painting, hydro-dipping and laser etching,” Piedra tallied. “The original case was also already tool-less, but this time we improved on it by reducing the number of components to access the internals.”

Last but not least, Origin improved the customizable lighting, which it began including in its cases long before the RGB frenzy began.

“Over time, we noticed that more motherboard manufacturers began to add a large amount of built-in lighting options to the motherboards themselves and we did not like the idea of having multiple software fighting for control of the lighting, so we embraced the motherboard”

The newly redesigned Genesis and Millennium aren’t just gorgeous, they’re shaping up to be some of the best PC cases of the new year, and you can expect a review from yours truly in the coming weeks.

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