I spent a year testing Corsair’s swanky Platform:6 Elevate standing desk

A good desktop PC setup needs a good desk, which is surely why Corsair has been spreading out to desks in recent years (in addition to tons of other areas). The Platform series of standing desks is a premium and pricey option for gamers and anyone else who wants a nice base of operations, and PCWorld’s Adam got to give one a thorough year-long review in his home office. The full video review is on YouTube.

Be aware that this is a solid and complex piece of furniture, quite a bit heavier and more complex than your usual standing desk. You’ll probably want a friend to help get the thing assembled and moved around once you’re finished. Highlights include the massive cable management tray and other tools for routing cables all around the desk, integrated chargers and outlet strips at multiple spots, and the distinctive riser rail for mounting monitor arms and other tools.

Adam got to try the Platform:6 desk, which is 6 feet wide and starts at about $1,000 USD, which includes the riser bar, multi-outlet charger, and dual VESA monitor arms. With the Elevate-powered adjustable legs and the default black desktop, it comes to $1,400. Other optional upgrades include a pegboard header and side-mounted desktop extensions. (The non-motorized 4-foot version is more affordable at $700.)

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Check out the video if you want a sneak peek at Adam’s office, including some Easter eggs for fans of old-school PC and tech coverage. Once he had it assembled and set up with some help from Luiz, he spent a year with it — and found some definite highs and a few lows.

The biggest plus is the unique riser that doubles as a monitor stand, in conjunction with those high-quality VESA arms. They’re extremely adjustable (both vertically and horizontally) and the gas springs make it easy to lower a monitor for taking videos with a DSLR-slash-webcam.

The ease of access for outlets, chargers, and cable management is also a big plus for the design in Adam’s book. As a long-time user of standing desks myself, I can testify that organizing your cables is extremely important for a piece of furniture that moves up and down. Speaking of which, Adam found that part of the design to be excellent, though he did max out both the lowest and highest settings for sitting and standing, respectively. (Adam is pretty tall at 6’2″, so most people shouldn’t have a problem, but you might if you’re any taller than that.)

On the downside, Adam found the recessed cubby in the desktop to be pretty useless, aside from the integrated cable routing. He never put anything back there. It’s also too bad that the mounting points for those optional side extensions are very thick and permanently in place, so clamping things to the side of the desk isn’t an option.

The black desktop itself isn’t great either. It’s a grippy, plastic-like texture that too easily shows fingerprints, dust, and stains. You might want an upgrade to the wooden top if you like a more conventional (and less gamer-y) look. The desktop also arrived with a bit of shipping damage, always a bit of a risk for anything heavy. Corsair says they’d supply a replacement desktop for free, no need to send the original back.

Overall, Adam found the Platform:6 Elevate standing desk to be a great upgrade over his previous office setup, though it’s a big investment. But if you work from home, or you’re just very serious about creating a dedicated space for working or playing on your PC, it might be worth it. For more hands-on looks at the best in tech, check out PCWorld on YouTube and watch The Full Nerd podcast every week.