Not way back, a number of motherboard producers revealed ideas for motherboards which have all of the cable connectors on the rear of the board, permitting the seen aspect of your PC to be utterly cable clutter-free. Actually, we didn’t assume these hidden connector motherboard concepts would make it to market, however now Asus and MSI have each proven off new merchandise that may really see the sunshine of day.
The rival hidden connector motherboard requirements have each been proven off by Asus and MSI at CES 2024, the place we received to take a look and really feel of the brand new motherboards and instances. You see, the concept of shifting the cable connectors to the again doesn’t simply have an effect on motherboard design however case design too, so a complete new vary of instances is required to deliver the motherboards to market.
We haven’t but had an in depth have a look at the Asus BTF merchandise however have seen the MSI Mission Zero vary, and have come away impressed, although there are positively some downsides to this idea.
Probably the most placing instance of Mission Zero merchandise isn’t really the motherboards however MSI’s personal MEG Maestro 700L PZ case, which includes a curved panel that wraps across the entrance and aspect of the case. It’s not the primary case to attempt the concept however it’s definitely not a standard choice and it does look wonderful.
Equally placing have been instances from Corsair and Maingear which are additionally suitable with each Asus and MSI’s new requirements. In reality, it’s Maingear that has led this push for the hidden-connector ideas, with it proudly owning the patent on the concept.
Peer inside these builds and you’ll see how, apart from graphics playing cards nonetheless needing a cable, and AIO coolers having tubing operating by way of the inside of the case, the hidden connector builds are utterly freed from cable litter. You’ll be able to obtain builds which are fairly near as clear with top-notch cable administration however as MSI’s demo builds demonstrated, the large benefit right here is you don’t even have to trouble with cable administration with these boards and instances.
Wanting on the motherboards, there are two launch boards from MSI, with the Z790 Mission Zero and the B650M Mission Zero (an mATX choice). In some methods, at first look the boards don’t look all that totally different to regular ones however once you look spherical the perimeters you see all of the cable connectors are gone. Flip the board over and there they’re.
A neat little bonus of this concept is that the cable connectors act as a type of standoff for the motherboard such that it sits flat and safe on plastic connectors that gained’t scratch your desk. The pins that stick by way of in a normal board make them unstable and might scratch surfaces.
As to that draw back? Nicely, the additional house wanted for the rear-facing cables means all of the instances suitable with the idea are actually deep – like 50% deeper than typical ATX towers. That’s high quality when you’ve got the house for a giant show-off construct however this in all probability gained’t be a normal for extra compact builds.
Pricing and precise availability to TBD however they are going to be arriving early this yr, and we will’t wait. For extra tales from CES, try our CES story hub.
