At CES 2025, MSI showcased the Project Zero X computer with several features: panoramic layout, concealed connections, and a panel of ports on the large rear side.
MSI launched the Project Zero series in 2023, which includes MSI motherboards and cases that allow moving cables and connectors to the backside to make the computer visually appealing and free from wire chaos.
At its booth, MSI demonstrated several Project Zero PCs, along with Project Zero X. It is unknown what specific components are used in the computer. The build is created on an Intel platform — the liquid cooler mount corresponds to LGA1700 and LGA1851 motherboards. The graphics card resembles the MSI RTX 4080 Gaming X Trio White.
From the front side, no cables are visible except for the one going from the graphics card back and the wire going to the cooler. However, some modern formats might even eliminate the need for cable connection to the graphics card.
It’s interesting how the connectors on this PC are implemented. There’s no access to the usual motherboard connections due to the graphics card’s placement. Behind the motherboard itself there are also no connectors. The graphics card outputs are also inaccessible, as they are oriented downwards. Among the connectors on the rear panel are three Thunderbolt 4 ports, four USB 3.2 Gen 1, four USB 3.2 Gen 2, USB 2.0, 5Gb Ethernet, Wi-Fi 7, and audio. There are also DisplayPort and HDMI connections from the graphics card.
MSI provided no details on how this was achieved. It seems that the company’s engineers literally moved the I/O connectors from the motherboard to the back panel of the PC, possibly using a daughterboard. The same was done with the graphics card.
Source: Tom`s Hardware
Spelling error report
The following text will be sent to our editors: