Trends in custom-build PC’s
Tom’s hardware visits Cooler Master headquarters in Taipei and gets an interesting view of upcoming developments in home pc building
What are some of the trends Cooler Master sees?
- Case design
- Flatpack cases you assemble
- Impressive designed minicases
- More colors and select premium materials such as exteriors featuring leather, wood, and bamboo alongside traditional PC case materials like metal, glass, and plastic
- Upward trends in computer cases:
- aquarium-style cases with lots of glass
- integrated display cases
- high-end showcase chassis
- designs with tasteful RGB lighting.
- Downward trends in case design:
- ‘old school’ RGB
- classic towers
- pure workstations due to the host of attractive alternatives now available.
- Back-plugin motherboards – motherboards that feature plugs on the back/bottom of the motherboard. Components like memory, cpu, M.2, and other components go on top, and all the cable clutter goes on the back.
- Asus calls these the DIY APE motherboards, MSI refers to them as Project Zero motherboards, and Gigabyte calls them Project Stealth motherboards.
- Power supplies: quieter and silent passive cooled PSUs, delivering more watts for silent and SFF builds, offering more 12VHPWR connectors, and providing white versions of new and upcoming PSUs.
- Sizes were also shrinking by demonstrating some truly tiny 1000w power supplies.
- They are also offering quite 1100W, 1300W, 1600W, and 2000W supplies that come with heat pipes and passive cooling blocks to reduce noise.
- 12 year power supply warranties
- Immersive experience devices like the Dyn X Dynamic Racing Experience and the Orb X Gaming Throne.