No More Cables* (Sort Of): MSI Motherboards Moving Cables to the Back
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2024
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This video shows MSI's B650M Project Zero motherboard, which aims to move the motherboard cables to the back of the board. It's not technically a 'form factor' yet, but it is something that ASUS, MSI, and Gigabyte are all working toward. The only purpose is for reducing cable clutter -- there's no functional (as in, power) advantage to doing this, so the biggest challenge is getting enough consumers to care as there's no real support for cases right now.
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - MSI at Computex
01:18 - The Cable-Free* Motherboard
03:33 - New Cases
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Host, Reporting: Steve Burke
Video: Vitalii Makhnovets, Mike Gaglione - Hry
It's pretty crazy that MSI doesn't make a case compatible with their own motherboard. That would be the only way to make it viable.
No laser cut the case
Pretty sure the mainboard is an experimental thing that a small department inside MSI made on their own as a proof of concept.
For MSI to release matching cases alongside, there would have needed to be an overarching corporate strategy in place two to three years ago. I don't think any vendor currently toying with this cable layout has had that much lead time on their experiments.
Exactly what I thought. I was thinking "Cool idea, I hope it catches on!" at first. When he explained how they themselves don't support it I let out a big sigh. Talk about being DOA.
The only way it becomes viable is if they get buy in from the other manufacturers. If MSI was to make cases and MBs that support this idea it still wouldn't be successful enough to keep it going. It is a nice idea as it would make cable management so much easier as it can be tough getting cables into place once the MB is in the case.
@@streetwind. It's not a experimental but a rebranding of B650 DIY-APE, MSI indeed have one production line for this motherboard, and now they slap their own logo on it for showcase at computeX maybe.
Ever since case vendors have been adding cable management space behind the motherboard, I've been flustered that this hasn't taken off earlier. I really want this to become a thing.
Especially if they leave the back of the motherboard covered except for the slots.
Here's my problem with this. I keep old parts and turn them into new systems. I have my rig, htpc, wife's rig, cousin's rig and one I built for my grandmother when her all-in-one died
If the motherboard and case have to be married to each other, it limits my options for recycling parts.
The thing is you would not only need a case with special cut-outs in the back for this motherboard but also a case with a lot of headroom for the thick power cables.
that was my first thought. It would probably better to rotate the larger connectors another 90° so the cables lay flat against the board.
Force upgrade
All they need is to put the connectors on a 3inch or so ribbon cable coming out of the back of the mobo, it would lay flat behind the mobo until it was able to go through a hole
Something like a singularity powerboard would still have to be made on a case by case basis
Lets help them find solution to a problem that doesn't need to exist
With the back connection motherboard, one possible solution is for them to make a connection mat that fixes behind the board and takes all connections to one point or lead that could go into the power supply area.
Some cables would need to go in various directions for the case fans, some for bulk storage/SATA drives.
That would unfortunately mess with rear-io positioning.
90 degree connectors?
Just have a connection edge that it slides into, like some old server mother and daughter board arrangements from decades ago and the old arcade Jamma boards that the Japanese invented for convenience.
So something like Seasonic's QSynchro but just at the back?
I am incredibly interested in these boards with the plugs on the rear, I would totally buy a board like this purely for the cable management benefits! but I need a range of suitable cases to go with it!
If you can build a pc, you can certainly build a case!
Say hello to my little fren: dremel.
Its funny because those of us with older cases can actually mod ours without compromising the case XD a dremel and a file and you are set.
Check my comments bruh
yes it looks rly clean to me. imagine, you can hide all these in your case on the back of the case and the front has nothing at all.
so clean af
If they are looking to break ground into a new standard then perhaps look to having all the connectors being fed into a single mini breakout board that can be connected via a large (and flexible) ribbon cable to be able to route it around the various case designs. Much like a fan or LED controller has a breakout board that can be routed to the back and easily maintained.
Breakout boards are just another point of failure and a spot for manufacturers to cheap out on components. Do you want to undervolt sensitive parts? Because that's how you undervolt sensitive parts.
That sounds incredibly hard to design but I think 12VO is closer to what you'd want
@@railerswim Why would this be cheaping out on components? Mobo's have connectors for SATA, USB, fans, etc. All you're doing is transferring those connectors to a single place that can be placed more conveniently.
I like the spirit, but yeah a breakout board is another point of failure and if themat cable tears while cable managing, that could kill the hell out of the board and become a real risk to the end user.
Um I don't want 800+ watts flowing thru that
Connectors on th e backside makes me think of a two-chamber design with the PSU and an SSD or two stuck in the other chamber - basically the least heat-producing components, whilst the other side is free of obscuring cables. I like this idea a lot. Add some daisychain fans and this would be one heck of a neat build!
a lot of server cases from the 90s were made to have the boards in one compartment, and drives, PSU, and such in another compartment. Some of them even used plastic air ducts to ensure the air flowed the right way across the boards, and didn't escape to elsewhere in the case. Nowadays much of that has been replaced by just blowing more air through the case, simply because it's cheaper than making elaborate airflow duct systems in multi-chamber cases. But putting the connectors on the back is purely for cosmetics, it does virtually nothing for the airflow. It just means you need a much bigger case to accomodate everything
Corsair's Carbide and Crystal series mATX/itx cases were like this (I have 2x of the Carbide Air 240 in black and white). It's got plenty of space for cabling behind the motherboard already.
I really would like to see more motherboards with cabling to the back. I think it makes a lot of sense in a lot of different ways.
I like this idea. If you are very into case aesthetics this would give the case a clean look and you save some by not getting/needing sleeved extension cables (except for the gpu). I'm sure it would give case modders new ideas.
The cleanest look is actually the easiest one - just use a metal side panel.
not just that but accessing these ports is going to be much easier. I cant even access my sata ports because my gpu blocks it completelly.
Would be a good reason to mod my Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2 if they came out with an ATX board like this.
Well cable management does help airflow.
@@roberthardin355 Where cables are usually going, they don't seem in the way of air flow. Cable management is already fine in that regard.
The economy is in crisis and businesses are trying to peddle new crap in order to set themselves apart.
Rear connectors is a cool idea. If it sticks before my next build, I'd definitely go w/ this layout.
seems really niche to me. wouldn't it make the dimensions needed actually larger overall? instead of using the gpu clearance and ram you already need on the front, you now need clearance on the back as well for cables, unless they start providing 90 degree/riser style cables for everything. would basically be a nonstarter for a lot of itx builds. would make a sandwich case a huge pita.
@@boblablaw4857 but for full tower builds, that would improve the aesthetic. Not that it really matters to me, but still.
Out of everything. The practical & useful features were what stood out the most. Additional cooling in spots that otherwise are trapped & a modular design to a case in including the horizonal/vertical switch & retaining that functionality, if I'm not mistaken (of additional fans.)
I like the inverted cable design, would be amazing for those modular case designs where you can move the PSU to the back and move the motherboard hack centered in the case, combined with vertical GPU mount. Also for those minimalist super custom computer building designs, like wall, table, drawer, etc.
This is actually a pretty nice idea, hopefully this will take off to become a standard.
Asus has had a modern board with backside connectors for a while, but it's still at the end of the day up to case manufacturers to support this form factor change. The fact that MSI doesn't already have a case ready to adopt their own motherboard change doesn't speak well for their overall vision and belief in their own idea.
Time will tell.
It won't. It is a gimmick to appeal to vanity, but it will make for a larger and weaker case.
NO
@@Real_MisterSir Asus just made something better. They remove the GPU cables completely and mad the GPU take the power from the MOBO up to 600W directly. I hope Steve cover it soon.
Am i the only one who doesn't care about seeing cables??? They're all matte black these days anyway they don't even look bad 🤷♂️
I think a curious but good alternative would be to have hanging short ribbon/flat cables that are attached to the board, but have the ports at their ends so you just have to insert them into the chassis holes/grommets where now at the back you insert all cables into them. Kind of what cable extensions already do, but since they're built with the boards their design blends in better. This also eliminates the issue of the chassis not having the right cutouts for back-facing ports. Back-facing ports are honestly good as an innovation though, if they become a standard.
No. They are going to create structural issues and you would need probably at least an extra inch in case width.
So, bigger, weaker cases.
I just wanted to say, I love the new Thumbnails you guys are using on CZcams. Very colourful and easy to see at a glance what the video is going to be about.
I'm very excited at the thought that I might see some PC case reviews in the future. I like that type of content.
I don't know, man. Moving all the cables to the back just for some minor aesthetics and cable-airflow reasons, don't seem to outweigh the MASSIVE headache of cable management and compatibility issues. Like, 5% of the market cares about what a case looks like on their desk. The rest of us just want to get it done and leave it to the side.
I really don't think you're correct at all with your 5% assessment when it comes to gaming PCs
@@vrmousse He said the market not gaming PCs. Gaming PCs are actually a small part of the overall PC market.
The better question is to ask is it a niche ? I mean Asus sell boards for hardcore liquid nitrogen overclockers what % of the market do you think that is? EK even partner with manufactures to make custom watercooled mainboards with full coverage blocks installed, cause aesthetics niche.
@@vrmoussethere's so much more than gaming...
Dude the content you bring, the knowledge you have. The career you've built for yourself here. Really is top notch.
Good luck on 2 mil subs my man, almost there.
Lovin' the content Steve 👊😎 new MSI board looks interesting, I could see running custom cables with the back mounted sockets creating a pretty slick looking rig 🤔
lovin all this coverage!! actually really dig this case design so i hope it holds up in testing
Very interested in this new "standard", I hope the good case manufacturers like Fractal Design makes cases for it.
I really hope this becomes a thing.
Exciting development regarding the back connectors. Thanks!
I really love this and have wondered why this wasn't a thing sooner. Seems like it would help overall temperatures too with cables not in the way of air flow.
This "0 cables" board would be fine if we had one form factor and that's it. It will however by a problem if you need to support everything from m-ATX to e-ATX. Suddenly you need a ton of cut-outs in the motherboard tray and if you have no standard layout for the connectors your cut out's will need to be pretty extensive.
Well, e-ATX is mainly used in HEDT platforms than mainstream computers, so that shouldnt be a problem, anyway you would put these systems in some beefy big cases to provide a lot of options to 2.5", 3.5" etc. But i think like... ATX is pretty obsolete now. NV-Link and CrossfireX as we know it in mainstream is pretty dead, no one needs more than 1 PCIe x16 nowadays. And of course, 1x, 4x and another variants of PCIe are also quite unused. Most of people would buy external sound cards, networking cards are not typically changed if you don't wanna have 10G NIC, Wi-fi / BT could be a problem, but hey, Wireless NIC is also quite usual now, almost every not-cheapest board have it. So i would abandon ATX... it's nice format between being useful and useless at once, but i really don't see much Builds that could put use to it. ITX is different category, but who would put ITX board in mATX or ATX case...
There will always be a lot of standards, actually much less than in history.
Interested to see if more people try this. Seems like it'd be great for cable management. Would definitely be interested to try it if it gets more support.
Asus has had a backside connector board for a little while, it was showcased earlier this year.
I like seeing the cables (in a neat and tidy way) to move them to the back takes the wow out of making your own pc and displaying it.
I actually think the project zero motherboard is beautiful, and love the concept of moving the cabling to the back. But without support, it's hard to see where it goes.
Well, I've done three of them recently lol...
I'm using solid metal side panels so pretty cable management is not a priority for me. However I try to keep some channels for air to move unobstructed inside the case and moving the cables to the back would help with that. So for that reason I like the idea. If case manufacturers caught up I'd go for that form factor.
What case? if you don't mind me asking.
Cables don't obstruct airflow. LTT made a video on it years ago. They had to completely fill the case with multiple powersupplies worth of cables to make any measurable effect.
@@gorkskoal9315 I have a Phanteks P400S with a mesh front panel.
Rear mounted cables would be really interesting for mini itx builds, the extra space over where the connectors would have been could be used for a layer of floating daughter boards doing IO / m.2
That was my thoughts also, ITX would be a great candidate for such a design. There's some ITX cases with massive cut outs so people can easily access rear mounted m.2 so it wouldn't take much more to expand it to accommodate this sort of design
@@rickauIncompatible with every sandwich style layout. It's a gimmick.
connectors on the back look awesome! would totally buy that for my next build!
Loving all of this content man. Just nice to see companies moving in different directions and trying new things. The backwards facing wiring is actually very clean, but it's very odd they didn't make it possible with these new cases. Seems like a missed opportunity for "bundle" deals.
i can't keep up with all these uploads holy shit
I'd love to try it out. Would make me much more likely to hang the case on the wall as a rgb piece of art. Would also make water cooling much easier to install/maintain as well as bring a lot more focus to the artistry of your build.
Second the idea of having some sort of PDB behind the mb to plug everything into with relatively short runs and a multi cable hod from the psu. Could also simplify things for new builders, if the pdb has clear labeling all over it. I'd pay extra for that.
This concept is rly good, i like boards with the cable plugs on the rear. looks much cleaner. combined with these gpus...rly nice idea
Cables on the back makes so much sense, it's insane that a lack of coordination with case manufacturing has held it back for so long.
If all the cables go to the back anyway, it's just obvious.
It’s only been like a decade since we’ve decided to put cables behind the motherboard on the other side
Back in the day cable management was considered a luxury
@@ZaHandle a decade in computing is a very long time
IMO it makes literally zero sense. It removes all autonomy from designers since they must now coordinate where each and every port must sit at all times, locking them into a "standard" which must be adjusted every time a new port is added. What if Asus want to add an extra 4 SATA ports to their high-end mobo? Explain how they would "coordinate" with all case companies to completely change their cases to fit it?
All for aesthetic with no technical gain. This is just pandering to the ego of gamers.
I liked mounting the board to a tray, it felt solid. If it made any sense as a concept we'd be drowning in these already.
3:09 Imagine a GPU with the power connector on a different edge, so it isn't visible from outside. It would definitely create new challenges as far as compatibility goes, but personally I would love to reduce the cable clutter. Pair that with this new mainboard layout and I might actually add some lighting.
There's something new from asus where there's an extra pcie slot for their gpu that replaces the power cables. This is only compatible between asus gpu and mobo. I would like to see both ideas combined for a totally "wireless" setup.
I'd love to see the rear cable solution really take off. It would also be really cool to see a standard where PCIe power could be done similarly, where plugging the GPU into the PCIe slot would also have a power connector interface next to it. Dreams.
Awesome reporting, thanks Steve
I would like this to become a readily available standard. If this is sufficiently supported by available cases, then I would be interested. I wonder whether existing cases with sufficient width will have refit kits made, using some sort of interstitial spacer / standoff plate between the case and the mobo, to create the space required for running cables through.
Moving the mobo forward would mean being unable to fit the IO plate. Only option would be to also move the mobo towards the front fans, like some vertical GPU mounts do.
The previous attempts by Gigabyte and Asus didn't take off. Now MSI is creating a third standard. (unless I've forgotten even more attempts)
I can guarantee that this won't become a readily available standard.
Having all of the connectors at the back seems like a good idea until you realize that it makes the board unusable with the majority of cases on the market. The only way I see this changing is if enough case manufacturers start including openings in the back for those connectors but the issue is also that those connectors aren't always in the exact same spot so the openings may need to be fairly large to accommodate all or most motherboards like this. The fact that this serves very little practical purpose probably dooms this concept to being a feature that will probably remain very rare.
And next thing is to consider that those openings have to be near stands. Looking at backside many of them are really near those. So with how heavy the modern coolers and GPUs can be, there is quite many considerations.
Specially that one in bottom middle. How do you actually support that? So long supports might work. but then accessing those cables will be massive pain.
Pile on to that the fact that we have 3-4 competing layout standards for motherboards (m-ITX, m-ATX, ATX, e-ATX) where on is defined as basically just bigger than anything else :(
It would make sense for prebuilts where the case is designed for that standard, if nothing else it would make for really good looking builds.
Interesting idea as long as cases and power supplies are made to work along side it might be a consideration in the future
PSUs are the least concern I guess, unless you mean like cables or something
@@jeder6915 yes cables sorry I missed that out
Loving that Project Zero, brushed metal look.
I love the cable on the back design. Have all the cannections on the edge would mean manufactures could just have a cutout around the motherboard tray. Seems like it could be a fairly simple implementation for all manufactures.
every time you "just have a cutout" in the case you lose structural integrity, which then has to be compensated for. Unless you come up with a standard for where the holes for the connectors need to be and stick to that 100% (which puts severe limitations on motherboard designs and makes it near impossible to future proof the standard), you would need a case with an elaborate secondary structure to keep the motherboard tray locked in place. There is absolutely nothing simple about this and it would be very difficult to build a computer that can handle daily stress the same way current systems can
The problem is, is that it should not be MSI - it should be the 'standard'.
Now it's probably going to be yet another niche/proprietary thing.
Asus was out earlier this year before MSI with a backside connector board. A standard doesn't change overnight, and ultimately it entirely depends on case manufacturers and not the actual board vendors.
Few companies have the clout to really push a standard these days. Even Intel can't do it anymore, based on the abysmal failure of BTX and, ummm, extremely sluggish adoption of ATX12VO.
@@CptJistuce Well, Nvidia managed to shove the 12vhpwr failure down our throats in 2 gens, so. ;)
I quite like the idea of a motherboard with cable connections on the back side. It would make for an incredibly neat build. Cutting the right holes in a motherboard tray with a Dremel would be easy enough, especially for a dual compartment case, with the cuts covered by the motherboard itself.
Nice one MSI, What a way to go,
THanks for the review STeve!
I think if this is gonna be a thing, every motherboard makers have to agree on a standard layout, cus otherwise case manufacturers have to have adapter plates for every motherboard or have alot of holes
The motherboard looks clean. I wouldn't mind at all if more manufactures did that! Now we only need some good cases that are compatible.
4:07 My NZXT H630 has two fan brackets that attach to two of the removable drive cages in the front of the case. There's holes for 120mm and 140mm. I've got it setup so there's a fan blowing directly onto my GPU and the other is blowing directly into my Peerless Assassin 120. It definitely helps the temps.
I've always thought it would be a good idea to have thick copper busbars running along the back of the case, under the motherboard, accessible from both sides. The motherboard has thick pogo pins to connect directly to the busbars to provide power, GPU power can be provided by flying leads that clip onto the same busbars connecting under the motherboard and to the bottom of the PCIe card, and HDDs and other accessories can have their power cables clip on behind the motherboard tray. Especially with the ATX12v standard being pushed, it would be relatively simple, and would eliminate most (if not all) of the cable clutter. The only thing you'd have to worry about then is fan cables, which can run behind - Heck most cases have a generous cutout for CPU cooler mounting, why not put the fan headers there, then you've got compatibility with a lot more without needing a custom case - The busbars could screw in for mounting on out-of-the-box supporting cases.
@@Noob._gamer What?
@@honeybadger6275He's a bot that spans it on GN & Hardware Unboxed's channel.
Love the idea to have cabling all on the backside! Would love to see this grow into an industry standard in a few years.
The motherboard from MSI would be targeted for DIY Case builders. I would love to get one in the future builds.
The problem with this is that DIY case building is a tiny, tiny niche. They can't possibly support these designs by catering to it alone.
@@Finckelstein I would say, it would depend on the size and materials that is going to use for the DIY Case Projects. Wood is the easiest to work with. 😁
@@Akimori91 If MSI can't afford to release this, how would that depend on the existence of wood?
It's not all that hard to mod a case to make this work. Could be down with a drill and a file and plenty of time. basic tools really. It dosn't need a full DIY case, that is ludicris.
@@nimrodery It's not a problem, DIY Projects can be adjusted, but with additional cost.
i had this idea years ago. makes so much sense to get rid of 180 degree cable turns and clutter.
Yeah then you could finally park your car in there.
For the motherboard with the power connection in the back, the only thing I can think of the help with case compatibility is sell the motherboard with a motherboard tray that you can switch out on cases. But this also assumes that case manufacturers make motherboard trays swappable
I like the idea of cabling connections at the back of the motherboard, makes it easier to work on,less air flow restrictions to go along with a tidy main compartment.
Wow, MSI is trying to innovate. Great job MSI (never thought I'd say those words).
I never understood the need to hide cables. They are an integral part of building electronic devices and PCs. Don't hide them, show them!
Could help on airflow a bit, and also tidyness if there cables could be shorter.
airflow gets hurt besides its not clean, u have less space for everything, u need to grab those cables in order to get things out and put new things in, its not comfortable in anyh way having those cables hanging around.
Airflow shmairflow. They are wires. Car engines get much hotter and those wires don't seem to care, unless they aren't maintained properly. But this is a PC, not a car.
@@rhov233 If you don't stuff your case full of cables where air can't move it won't matter the slightest.
You also forget that cases now need to get *at least* 35mm to 40mm ticker because of the plug and bend radius (probably more if you look at the 24 pin).
The product is an overhyped dumb product incompatible with 95% of all existing cases.
@@nicane-9966 The delta-T from the few cables you have is so negligible it usually falls under measurement error.
"u have less space for everything."
Better work on your routing then. If you have space for tubes, you have space for the few cables (read: 18 strands of GPU power) that are taking up space.
Yes, technically there's the 24 pin and 8 pin, but those can be pretty easily routed to the back with no interference, even if the 24 pin is not angled.
"need to grab those cables in order to get things out and put new things in, "
How often do you actually do that? Are you swapping your SSDs like other people swap their underwear?
Love the idea, hopefully it gets some support in the future
If I was in the market for a new system I would definitely consider this kind of board. I can always dremmel a few holes if need be as long as there is space behind the motherboard tray for cable connections.
Love the "be ahead, pop your style" slogan on the wall behind you.
As someone who builds their own cases this is amazing.
Should be easy to make a box behing the mb to Hide the cables and guide some air through.
Hella clean.
Backside makes so much sense in the modern era of clear side panels.
Aesthetically so pleasing.
The cables on the back of the motherboard was a case mod idea that I had many many years ago. But due to not having the money, tools, space and equipment I couldn't do it.
The second case, the fact that you can slide the hard drive cage is super. Sometimes you only need 1cm more clearance but the other designed position is not what you want. So I like that Approach
Nice cable management designed MB but the case will have to have all the holes line up with the connections or allow a more raised MB with higher standoffs and can still line up with EPCI Card fastener plates screwins to the back of the case.
I like the idea of connectors on the back. I have a case that could be modded easily enough to get it all inside and working and looking good.
Can't wait for rear side cabling to become a thing. Right now I use extensions to move the cables to the back side where they can be managed. I think there's a huge technical advantage, in airflow, maintenance, and less things for the dust to get caught up on.
You could use this board in any case with higher standoffs, but the problem then is the I/O will not fit. It's a good starting approach to hide cables but we may need to have thinner type of connectors before this takes off, and also more compatible cases.
Any innovation to try and improve cable management is welcome imo and something I'll check out. Hope that if it's a significant improvement that it gets adopted
This is a great idea especially for airflow, i hope we see cases that support this kind of standard and i also repeat that i hope to see new GPUs designs which don't blow the hot air they produce on to their own PCB.
On the face of it, having motherboard connectors on the back of the motherboard is a great idea. In my own system I have to stretch a motherboard power cable over the top of the motherboard because it is the only way it is long enough to physically make the connection and a solution like this could alleviate this problem. It could also give manufacturers a lot more freedom as to where sockets are located on the motherboard. One definite problem would be the significant weakening of the motherboard tray from all the extra cutouts, depending where they were made and what dimenstions. Some case are flimsy enough as it is with zero cutouts!
My idea would be to put board-level heat sources such as chipsets, VRMs, performance ethernet chips and such like of the back of the board. The back of the board would have its own cooling airflow. I was thinking of calling it 'back side cooling'. This also opens up the possibility of using modern thermal transfer techniques to use the case metal behind the motherboard as a heat sink. This is something that could implemented in various ways with current systems.
Taking it a stage further, why not put the RAM on the back of the board as well? This would, with a suitable case, enable RAM with much larger heatsinks to be used and with their own airflow. It would also remove a limitation to the size and mounting of CPU coolers by enabling larger and more securely mounted coolers with the possibility of additional mounting holes spaced further away from the CPU socket(s).
I think one way to move forward with this would be to come up with an open standard for it. This would have to take in to account the mechanical considerations and function of the motherboard tray. One solution would be agreeing zones where back side connectors, coolers, RAM and any other desired or possible features could be located. This way, all parties concerned would know what was need to make a particular design of motherboard or chassis work.
Your solution is buying a cable extension.
Love the idea, I've been trying to make my PC look as close to this as possible for years
Backside connectors would be really nice. I don't think it would become a standard soon enough for me to have it on my next PC I eventually have to build. I'd love to have it though if it doesn't have glaring problems.
Hopefully, the cases that support it also make it convenient for maintenance (eg, rewiring when swapping out SATA drives. replacing case fans. replacing the PSU. etc.)
I really like the idea of the mobo connectors being located on the back of the board. Makes sense to me.
the beauty of a diy pc is the cables. this prduct will most likely be for the new comers which is amazing since its broadens the asthetics preference
I would certainly love this together with MSI's upcoming aquarium case.
I love the idea of the connectors on the back, it can make for a really clean build, I just hesitate to buy into that without there being a standard or at least some assurance of future support, also limited case selection might turn me away if I can't find one that meets the needs for the build.
cables on the back is exactly how it SHOULD be.... finally. been asking for this for YEARS
Tbh, I think the cables on the back is a great idea. If the case supports it, it would make building super easy, as you don't have to fiddle with plugging in cable, but you can easily reach them from the back, where you don't have to deal with for instance a tower cooler or a graphics card that's in the way. Let alone if you have custom watercooling, and you need to change something with a fanheader or rgb header. Then you'd just open the other sidepanel, and just do what you need to do, without anything that's in the way. And the aesthetics are obviously great, no more ugly cables, except the GPU power.
I'd want MSI to go and talk to the other mainbord and major case mfg's, and create a common standard for this on the basis of ATX and mATX / ITX. The only way this is viable is if there's a common standard that everyone supports. But that would be the best thing since ATX was invented back in the old days.
I love the idea of the bottom of the board connectors, from an accessibility stand point it makes sense, the end user only needs to remove the rear panel and has access to all the plugs. Imagine never having to fight with a CPU power connector or fan connector in a case tucked behind a top mounted radiator.
I would love a motherboard with rear connectors, or simplified connector options, etc i would also like that whatever layout they use to be broadly compatible with a standard.
Hell yes!!!! Looks so much more tidy and clean and accessing cables in a finished build (with a properly designed cases) will be MUCH easier. I want it.
The connectors in the back need to face sideways like the sideway facing sata ports on newer motherboards, otherwise it wouldn't work. There should also be a BF-atx (back facing) standard so case manufacturers know which areas to leave cutouts for the rear cables.
I really hope the cables on the back thing will sell cause designwise it's really interesting.
I'm interested as long as they show a case designed around the concept to see possible problems.
Although it would look clean with no cables showing, I reckon a nicely setup colour coordinated group of cables adds to the look.
If they could only figure out a way to hide AIO tubes...
This is honestly such an awesome idea. Hope this becomes the norm!
My next build will definitely be utilizing a motherboard with the connections on the backside. I know LianLi has some nice cases to take advantage of that.
I hope ya have back footage of your trip, for like a travel/event blog.
I like the idea of having some of the cables on the back of the board. The usb, rgb, case, and fan connectors would be great to have back there. Would also be nice to see a pass through for the cpu fans in that instance. The connectors that can be connected with the nicer sleeved cables could still be on the front. Having everything on back does present potential for people to save money on fully modular power supplies, but that cost savings only matters if the cases that support the back facing connectors can be had at the cheaper price ranges
I think case compatability could work if the standoffs were taller, so you could still use an incompatible case but with more room down the back of motherboard for cables
I'd love to do all the cabling on the backside, but it would take a huge shift for it to be a common standard with high case compability, if it ever would.
That case is VERY interesting. Please review it
Love the idea of rear connectors. Would definitely buy…when I find a good case.
i feel like that Mobo would be just a quality of life thing in so many ways, easier to plug all the little things in and switch out when needed, not to mention how clean it would look! I hope this takes off because i would love to make a build with this board
That motherboard looks so clean, I love it. The only thing that’s kinda dumb is all the fan headers and stuff are also back there so having to route your fan cables would probably be messier than just tucking them in neatly. Mind you with most board having few headers it's common to have a hub on the back anyway so I guess that doesn't change much. Would really just depend how well the case is made for it. Love the idea though.
I like that idea of a "clean" front side of the MoBo. For that, the case would probably need to move the MoBo tray inwards and leave a big enough cut-out for the cableing. This could allow for some pretty interesting builds. It is a shame really, that MSI itself has not a case that could showcase this new standard. Little bit like the right hand (case division) is not aware what the left hand (MoBo division) is doing.
If I had room to get the connectors on there I'd switch boards now. I've bought special 90 and 180 deg adapters to get as many wires out of sight as possible. This would be awesome if they made a case for it.
I like the rear cable connections!
It's good to see how they're experimenting with their cases now that you've given them a kick up the backside. Although it would've been better if they had done it in the first place.