The Worst New Trend in PC Hardware

my coverage of computex 2023 is brought to you  by g-skill thermaltake Cooler Master and gigabyte   welcome back everyone in today's video I'm going  to be addressing one of the biggest problems with   DIY gaming PC Building that exists in the industry  at large you probably know what it is is it out of   control thermals is it prices for graphics cards  being out of the reach of all but the most wealthy   Among Us no it is of course the existence of  cables in our computers we have all felt that   deep sense of Shame as you've plugged in your  24 pin and eight pin power connectors thinking   to yourself what if someone finds out that the  components of my computer are connected together   with cables what possible solution could exist to  hide those garish and unsightly connectors snaking   their way through our computers like some sort of  invasive coil of snakes and other gross stuff well   thankfully a select few vendors here at computex  2023 have discovered some solutions to this deep   serious problem that so many gamers have and I'm  going to show sharing those with you today our   journey begins at Asus where the innovators have  created this pair of products here in front of me   the Revolutionary pair of products in front of me  match together which means you can only use them   together at least if you buy this graphics card  because it has not just a PCI Express connector   on the bottom but also this extra Edge connector  which slots into a very specific slot on this   tough gaming hidden connector concept motherboard  and that is where your power comes from because   we all know that it's not about how much your  graphics card costs it's about how unsightly   those power cables are that are plugged into it  in the front look at this glorious system they   have on display over here do you note the lack  of cables isn't that way better isn't that way   better than like making the graphics card cheaper  or faster or or more functional in any way they're   affectionately calling this the Nvidia GeForce RTX  470 vtf which is Back to Future Edition because of   course all that stuff not just the connectors  for your power for the GPU which are available   in Triple Eight pin Peg connectors or a single  16 pin 12 VH power connector that can provide   600 watts these three can go up to 450 Watts but  of course in a continuing mind bending Trend all   of the connectors for the motherboard themselves  have been moved to the back of this motherboard I   never mind about compatibility issues figuring out  whether or not it can slot into a case figuring   out whether or not it's going to mess with your  upgrade pass to invest in a system which might   not have widespread adoption in the industry no  those of us who know how much cables in computers   suck know that it is well worth giving up  those features in order to be able to not   have stupid cables plugged into our graphics card  now because this is a concept they may or may not   actually bring it to Market so we need to give  them feedback we need to give them our support   full and wholehearted support that cables suck we  never want cables in our computers ever again you   might be under the mistaken impression that having  a nice set of sleeve cables really finishes off a   build as a pop of color maybe even provides  a secondary industry of nice people who make   those sleeve cables for us custom handcrafted  cables no no those all suck and we don't want   those anymore what you're looking at is the  future my friends the future of PC Building   and that future is cable free but it's not just  Asus who has boldly ventured down this path there   was also gigabyte of course they've had project  stealth and never mind that the first generation   of projects still had such poor cooling that it  was actually just completely lambasted by Linus   Media Group we all know that PC Building isn't  about convenience upgradability and flexibility   PC Building is about how nice your computer looks  once it's all put together performance who cares   being able to slot in the latest and greatest  Hardware we're near need of an upgrade that   doesn't matter either what we really care about  is getting rid of those [ __ ] cables I hate them but anyway if I haven't been clear so far I I'm  a little bit sour I think at this point on this   whole hide the cables thing put the connectors  behind the motherboard thing I'll be honest   I don't see a lot of practicality and a lot of  functionality to it in particular with the setup   here it's not like you suddenly don't have to plug  in cables anymore you just plug them all in behind   the motherboard tray rather than in front of  the motherboard so I don't even see a lot of   particular ease of use or solving that problem of  cable management for new Builders and yet as the   past two or three years have progressed we have  seen more and more manufacturers coming out with   these motherboards with the plugs on the back and  I'll be honest there might be some functionality   some practical use to it for example over at  thermaltake we saw an Asus tough motherboard which   I'm giving a hard time here in a thermaltake case  that had an m.2 slot accessible on the back that's   good that's useful upgrade your m.2 story average  without having to remove your graphics card that   is a functional upgrade in my personal opinion but  in contrast to my other video where I was talking   about big ass coolers here at computex 2023 which  might be slightly bulky and cumbersome do provide   a functional upgrade to your system that increases  performance this will hide the cables Trend I   don't see where added performance is coming in  all I see is where more inconvenience is coming   in for people who might want to upgrade down the  line especially when it comes to compatibility   with cases and even more so with the case of  the BTF Back to Future hide the cables behind   the back setup they have here at Asus not being  able to slot your graphics card into a different   motherboard if you need to switch it over so I'm  at MSI they have the same thing here they call   it project zero now gigabytes was called project  stealth but maybe you didn't know about gigabytes   because it was so stealthy that you never saw  it but project zero and project stealths are two   code names for hiding the cables at the back of  the motherboard tray let me know which of those   names you think is cooler that's probably one of  the most effective and useful things you might get   out of this video in contrast to the Asus solution  MSI has gone with an AMD setup for this board so   it's a b650m project zero motherboard still being  listed as a concept designed so there's still time   there's still time to let MSI know I mean I'm  going pretty opinion based on this particular   video because it really is just something that  I've seen a lot so far computex and I guess the   more I saw it the more I was like I'm not sure  about the practicality of moving the connectors   to the back of the motherboard this motherboard  I mean to give it credit does have a pretty Sleek   look it's got some nice brushed Metal finish there  in the front so I suppose yes aesthetically clean   looking motherboard flip it over the back and you  can see all those connectors spaced probably in   different locations than say asus's motherboards  or gigabytes motherboard we're doing this and   that's one of the problems unless there's some  level of standardization between the motherboard   manufacturers for where those connectors are on  the back of the motherboard you're going to have   a very limited number of cases available  to drop your motherboard into and again   just going back to my history of PC Building I'm  all about flexibility I'm all about choosing the   parts that you want to put into your system and I  find that this for whatever aesthetic benefits it   gives limits the flexibility of the case you  can use and I suppose at least with MSI it's   not limiting the graphics card and motherboard  combination you can use but oh my God look at   that look at that cable right there there's still  a cable in this build just right there taunting us   look how look how hideous it is look how shameful  it is right there in the front of the case all   right obviously I'm joking just a little bit but  again kind of the point if the point really is   to hide all the cables well you're not hiding all  the cables still you got some cables coming from   the AIO over there you got cable coming from the  GPU of course and yet again if you look at the   back side of this case you're not necessarily not  suddenly having to plug in all of your cables to   get your PC up and running you're still having  to do that you're just routing everything back   there behind the motherboard and there again  you might run into limitations depending on the   case you're using how it's laid out how much  RGB you have going on in the case we talked   a little bit at the Corsair video I should say  a lot in the Corsair video about their work to   sort of simplify their ecosystem in terms of  RGB configuration and connecting up their wide   variety of components that have RGB lighting and  their Corsair is asking you to make a trade-off by   investing in their proprietary system which is not  going to be as widely compatible however that is   at least solving the problem of additional cables  it's reducing cable clutter and it is simplifying   the process of connecting up the cables moving the  cable so the back of the motherboard it doesn't   simplify that process of plugging anything in it  just puts it in a different spot and again at the   same time limits the range of possible cases you  can use with the hardware that you have selected   and limits your upgrade path in the future and so  in closing how much do you guys hate cables do you   hate them a lot Are you ashamed of the cables  in your PC and you would do anything possible   to hide them including investing in completely new  hardware that might not have as wide compatibility   as the other Hardware that you already have in  your system in my personal opinion cables are okay   and even with the right sleeving with the right  custom set of modded cables or sleeve cables or   cable replacements for a power supply can be that  nice Finishing Touch on a build that adds a pop of   color a bit of Personality maybe some texture in  there that you weren't able to get otherwise also   in the case of cable extensions something that's  easily swappable modular again flexibility with   your build so that you can build it in the way you  want and yes maybe you want that super clean look   with zero cables at all and if you do let me  know in the comments section down below maybe   I'm completely off base with my opinion that  I've developed over the course of the week with   this whole High the cables thing but one of the  things I did see today that I thought was really   cool that when a computex Best in Show award was  the Asus Matrix RTX 4090 essentially the fastest   RTX 4090 on the market according to them the 360  millimeter all-in-one liquid cooler integrated   and I'm sure lots of additional features that JJ  will be able to Rattle off right now but he's not   here but guys that's going to wrap it up for this  video if you'd like to watch something slightly   more positive check out my video on big ass  coolers here at computex because that was a fun   one too but thank you for watching this video and  a big thank you to my sponsors for computex 2023   gigabyte thermaltank Cooler Master and G skill I  do have more videos coming at you real soon so hit   the thumbs up button to subscribe if you're not  already and we'll see you in the next one Matrix   I did it okay that covered the  Matrix Kyle The Matrix has you   wait I'm not focused and  it's a glitch in The Matrix

Channel: Paul's Hardware

Views: 138,678

Keywords: computer, PC, PC gaming, personal computer, computer hardware, paulshardware, war on cables, hidden pc cables, MSI Project Zero, Gigabyte Project Stealth, ASUS RTX 4070 BTF, ASUS BTF, ASUS TUF BTF Motharboard, plugs on the back, hide the cables

Id: nt4Otpg6EuM

Length: 10min 23sec (623 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 04 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/Hrekires]

I was hoping that we'd see a bunch of clones of the Fractal North this year. I just kinda want great cooling without a glass side panel so that I don't have to care about cables either way (but maybe with the footprint of an O11 mini)

Pulling the trigger on my new build this summer and I might end up just having to go with the O11 mini air but with a window tint film over the side panel.

[u/IANVS]

We already messed up GPU cooling by introducing PSU shrouds in every case, in the name of hiding the cables. This is just pushing it further into "dumb stuff we do for aesthetics" territory...

[u/nanonan]

I do agree that without standards it's a bloody awful idea.

[u/Kingslayer1337]

I do think some new standard connector is a good idea, but at the same time, what is wrong with power cables? They really do not impede airflow in any meaningful way, assuming you use common sense when routing them through your system.

Yes, I understand that it could free up some space in a SFF system, but I don’t think we need to create an entirely new standard just to cater to an incredibly niche section of the market.

[u/MrHoboSquadron]

I don't mind the idea of this. I do mind this being a proprietary minefield. A standardised version of this would be better, otherwise these cards are just becoming e-waste earlier. I don't see this being particularly useful for SFF builds either. Connectors on the back could be nice, but again, there's no standardisation for it, so it will only produce e-waste earlier.

Paul is obviously being very sarcastic in this video, but that and the whataboutisms that he's engaging in in this video makes it difficult to take him seriously.

[u/OldBoyZee]

I dont agree with paul about this at all, actually, i would say its smart in terms of innovation and small form factor.

However, i do see things go badly due to the fact you would literally be pushing a lot of watts into a mobo or pass through.

But regardless, innovation is necessary whether aesthetically or otherwise.

[u/BlueDawggo]

Ughh I hate the Paul guy. Anyone who pushes the “decentralized currency” meme as hard as he does sets of red flags in my head

[u/Kougar]

Thankfully I don't see this taking off, if it launches it can only be ASUS GPUs slotting only into a handful of ASUS boards. Since the 12VHPWR connector plugs directly into the motherboard this doesn't even get rid of the 12VHPWR connector.

[u/UntouchedWagons]

Copying my comment from the youtube video, let me know what you think

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I think the motherboard connectors on the back is a good idea solely for accessibility. When you install a motherboard into a case the motherboard is 5 or 6 inches deep into the case and can make plugging in USB or fan cables because the headers might be at the edge of the MB which also may be right up against a side of the case. If the person building the PC has poor eyesight or motor control plugging all these cables in might be difficult for them. Whereas if the connectors are on the back they're right there, seeing them is easy and plugging stuff into them is easy.

The M.2 sockets on the back are a great idea as you mentioned as they're more accessible, you don't have a ginormous GPU in the way which may be difficult to remove due to water cooling or whatever.

I'm not sold on the GPU having additional pins for power on the same edge as the PCIe pins, I think the 6/8/12 pin connectors would work better on the face opposite of the monitor IO or on the same face as the PCIe pins so that they're accessible from the back.