LAS VEGAS—Desktop computer systems are filled with wires, full cease. That is not going to alter anytime quickly. However many devoted PC builders (to not point out boutique-PC construct outlets) are obsessive about—or make their residing at—clear cable routing and maintaining the inside of a PC pin-neat. That is very true lately, when a clear case facet (or two, or three…) is normal problem for many fanatic desktops you see.
Over the previous 12 months, one response to that drive for cable-cleanup aesthetics has been the “reverse connector” motherboard, of which MSI and Asus are right now’s two main proponents. These boards aren’t, feature-wise, all that completely different from their atypical kin. The place they diverge: They’ve their cable sockets and header connectors—most every little thing that will get a wire hooked up to it—on the board’s again as a substitute of its entrance. Paired up with specifically designed PC circumstances which have correctly aligned holes for the reverse-side connectors, these motherboards allow you to join your entire cables behind the board and, subsequently, out of sight.
(Credit score: John Burek)
Asus dubs its reverse-connector answer Again to the Future (BTF), whereas MSI’s is Undertaking Zero. I did a check construct of Undertaking Zero within the run-up to 2024’s version of CES, and a colleague test-drove the Asus BTF ecosystem a couple of months in the past in the identical method. The options are comparable, and also you simply must match up a reverse-connector board with a case that helps that individual ecosystem to get going. (Some circumstances assist each BTF and Undertaking Zero.)
(Credit score: Mark Stetson)
MSI, although, is escalating the cable-quashing battle, at the very least in prototype type, with a brand new initiative it is calling Undertaking Zero X. It follows the identical common strategy as the unique, but it surely takes on the final cable frontier—the cables protruding of the rear fringe of your PC—and places them completely out of sight.
90 Levels Off of Zero
MSI’s designer did all this by pivoting the entire idea 90 levels. The pondering: What if, in a typical tower PC, the large right-side panel have been to be the brand new “again”? That might allow you to place a tower up towards, say, a wall, with the case’s innards seen from three sides, as a substitute of only one or two.
(Credit score: John Burek)
This clearly presents some not-insignificant logistical challenges. The I/O space in your typical motherboard is on its rear edge, and that includes a number of ports. The Undertaking Zero X pattern construct MSI was displaying off had repositioned the complete rear-panel I/O onto the broad proper facet of the case. Plus, the entire face of the motherboard, barring a cutout across the CPU socket, was encased in brushed-metal warmth shielding.
(Credit score: Mark Stetson)
Now, whether or not MSI has constructed a customized motherboard with all its exterior I/O on its rear floor, or was feeding the Zero X’s again panel by way of an elaborate set of cabling between the motherboard’s “atypical” I/O space and the case’s customized one, MSI wasn’t telling. However a clue may very well be that the three-fan GPU additionally had its DisplayPort and HDMI connectors again right here on the identical panel, which might recommend the presence of some cable extenders between the graphics card and the mobo and the I/O on the case’s rear panel.
(Credit score: John Burek)
You’ll be able to’t argue with the clear look, although. The one cable we noticed was a brief bend of GPU energy cable seen alongside the left edge, the place it tucked into the recesses of the case. As famous, the motherboard was coated by a set of board-wide heatsinks that masked the PCB, any figuring out marks, the surface-mounted M.2 SSDs, and the like.
(Credit score: Mark Stetson)
MSI wasn’t ready to say which desktop platform it had constructed this prototype on, however Undertaking Zero X was fired up and lit up, although not related to any exterior show for a real “proof of life” or test on its elements.
The X Future Is Unclear
All that mentioned, that is an intriguing subsequent step within the effort to cover the wires inherent in any PC construct. MSI had no additional information on whether or not Undertaking Zero X will ever make it to market as a business product. However I might not rely it out, or one thing prefer it. I used to be skeptical at first concerning the endurance of the unique BTF and Undertaking Zero—however, hey, right here we’re with a small-but-healthy collection of {hardware} for each. And MSI has laid out a tough map of the place it may go from right here.
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About John Burek
Government Editor and PC Labs Director
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