Taipei-The 2024 edition of the Computex trade show was marked by a slew of mobile and desktop chip announcements from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm, but, less noticeably, it also saw a resurgence in PC DIY: Graphics cards are once again available to buy, RAM and SSD prices are likely to skyrocket but remain subdued for now, and buzz around local AI processing for LLM and other types of AI models has brought new vitality to the market for multi-GPU desktop PCs and large PC cases.
The AI ​​gold rush also looks poised to revitalize the PC cooling and power industry. Chips that run at higher temperatures are back in fashion, and users are again looking for 1,000+ watt graphics cards to power multiple cards in AI workstations. Here's a rundown of the big and small items of interest to builders we saw at the show. We're covering PC cases individually throughout our Computex coverage, and you can also check out our roundup of the best PC cases from Computex 2024. (See our overall best hardware picks for Computex 2024 and our favorite PCs that debuted at the show.)
Cooler Master Universal GPU Holder Kit RGB
(Credit: John Breck)
A riser card is a handy device that allows you to mount your graphics card vertically. Sometimes, for PCs, this is necessary due to space limitations, but most of the time, people just do it because it looks cool. Either way, the riser card itself tends to be pretty simple. But not from Cooler Master. The company has taken it to the next level with its Universal GPU Holder Kit RGB, a more robust riser card with added features. It supports PCIe 4.0 and has a built-in quick release system, making swapping out your graphics card faster and easier. It also comes with a rotatable ARGB light strip that covers the PCIe connector for some flair.
Cooler Master SSD Kaza Heatsink
(Credit: John Breck)
Cooling is essential to getting the most out of your SSD, but this is becoming more and more of an issue as newer, faster SSDs (especially PCI Express 5.0 ones) become harder to control. Cooler Master's Kaza heatsink is one of the most innovative and device-friendly designs we've seen to date. It uses an ultra-slim vapor chamber just 0.5mm thick to cool the chips on both sides of the SSD with a minimal physical footprint. It also uses what Cooler Master calls a Murata wick to interface with the chips to extract the most heat possible. The thinness of this design means that an SSD fitted with this heatsink is thin enough to fit inside a Sony PS5, and should fit in smaller PCs as well.
Thermaltake SFX Titanium 1200W
(Credit: John Breck)
The tech industry is looking to pack more into smaller packages, and Thermaltake has done just that with their SFX Titanium 1200W power supplies. SFX power supplies are designed to support compact cases and are usually much smaller than their regular counterparts. This saves space for other components and allows for a much smaller overall PC build. However, the trade-off is that due to their smaller size they usually can't support as much power draw as their larger counterparts. This is not the case with Thermaltake's SFX Titanium 1200W, as it supports 1,200 watts of current (the previous limit for SFX PSUs was typically 1,000 watts). This is well above the average PSU of any size and more power than all but the most power hungry compact PCs will need. It's also extremely efficient with an 80 Plus Titanium rating.
NZXT F Series RGB Single Frame Fan Unit
(Credit: John Breck)
NZXT's new F-series fans offer a simple, yet useful, design change. Many cases that have the space to mount fans inside can accommodate two or three 120mm or 140mm fans mounted side-by-side. Mounting these single fans in a row allows you to add more fans one at a time if needed, but it can also require a fair amount of cable run, with the fan power/control cables, RGB cables, and RGB pass-throughs becoming cluttered, especially if you're trying to fit as many fans as possible. NZXT's F-series fans consist of a single unit that contains two or three fans, taking up the space that would normally take two or three 120mm fans. This simplifies the installation process by allowing all the fans to run off a single power connector, and also reduces the clutter of extra wiring inside the case. It's a simple, seemingly obvious idea, and so clever that you wonder why it hasn't been done before.
Lian Li Edge Power Supply Series
(Credit: John Breck)
of power supply Lian Li's Edge series of products screams, “Where have you been all this time?” Designed for PC cases that require the power supply to be mounted vertically, particularly dual-chamber models, Edge power supplies mount their modular connectors to an extension plate that protrudes from the rear of the chassis. This allows easy access to sockets for modular cables if required, as well as freeing up space for a four-port USB hub that can expand one of your motherboard's headers. Edge power supplies are available in white or black, with the black version available in a wider range of capacities.
Editor’s Recommendation
Noctua NH-D15 G2
(Credit: John Breck)
It's no exaggeration to say that Noctua is thorough when it comes to designing fans and CPU coolers. That aesthetic continues in the company's new NH-D15 G2 CPU cooler. (It's the successor to the company's flagship NH-D15 air cooler, which has stood the test of time for a decade.) This twin-fan air-cooled monster has been improved for today's major consumer CPU sockets. This behemoth sports eight heatpipes (two more than the previous generation) with tweaked fin density and pitch for better surface area. Two of the company's recently upgraded fans are mounted sandwich-style in the twin-fin stack.
What's even more interesting is that Noctua is releasing three different coolers with different degrees of cold plate convexity: normal, high convex, and low convex. This corresponds to documented cases of LGA 1700 CPUs bending slightly on other coolers due to pressure variations caused by the socket design. Bending can lead to imperfect surface contact between the CPU's thermal interface material (TIM) and the bottom of the CPU cooler. The N15-DH15 G2 is expected to be released by the end of June.
Sonic Prime TX-1600 Noctua Edition
(Credit: John Breck)
Want to build a PC decked out in Noctua carmine and beige? Many influencers have done just that with Noctua CPU coolers, Noctua Edition GeForce cards from Asus, and a whole host of Noctua case fans. But the Seasonic TX-1600 has more to offer than just Noctua's distinctive look and color scheme. It's built to last. Seasonic has a long-standing reputation for the longevity of its power supplies (PSUs) with a parallel warranty to back it up, and its partnership with Noctua aims to make the cooling fans run quieter and more efficiently. Noctua says that by using its latest fans and carefully redesigning the PSU grille, it can reduce operating noise under load by as much as 8dB to 10dB. The fans also won't start until the PSU reaches 50% load, at which point they kick in. The TX-1600 is ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 compliant and comes with a set of modular power cables to match the design. The PSU is expected to be available in June for just over $500.
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