TAIPEI—The 2024 edition of the Computex trade show was defined by a host of mobile and desktop chip announcements from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm, but it was also, under the radar, a resurgence of sorts for PC DIY. You can buy graphics cards again; RAM and SSD prices may be poised to skyrocket but, for now, are under control; and the buzz around local AI processing of LLMs and other kinds of AI models has brought new life to the market for multi-GPU desktop PCs and huge PC cases.
The AI gold rush also seems poised to rejuvenate the PC cooling and power industry, as hot-running chips are in vogue, and users once again need 1,000-watt-plus graphics cards to power multiple cards in AI workstations. Here's a rundown of some of the big and small items of interest to builders that we saw at the show. We have treated PC cases separately in our Computex coverage; also check out our roundup of the best PC cases at Computex 2024. (See also our best overall hardware picks from Computex 2024, as well as our favorite PCs that debuted at the show.)
Cooler Master Universal GPU Holder Kit RGB
(Credit: John Burek)Riser cards are useful devices that let you mount your graphics card vertically. In some PC cases, this is necessary due to space limitations, but most of the time, you do it just because it looks cool. Regardless, riser cards themselves tend to be quite plain affairs. Not Cooler Master’s, though, which went to the next level with its Universal GPU Holder Kit RGB via a more robust riser card with added features. It supports PCIe 4.0 and has a built-in quick-release system, making swapping graphics cards faster and easier. It’s also adorned with a rotatable ARGB light strip to add some flair and cover up the PCIe connector.
Cooler Master SSD Kaza Heatsink
(Credit: John Burek)If you want to get the most out of an SSD, keeping it cool is essential–and that is a growing problem as newer and faster SSDs (especially PCI Express 5.0 ones) become harder to tame. Cooler Master’s Kaza heatsink is one of the more innovative and device-friendly designs we’ve seen. It uses ultra-thin vapor chambers that measure a mere 0.5mm thick to cool chips on both sides of the SSD with a minimal physical footprint. It also uses what Cooler Master refers to as a Murata wick to interface with the chips and help extract the maximum amount of heat. Thanks to the thinness of the design, an SSD with this heatsink attached is still thin enough to fit inside a Sony PS5, and it should fit equally well in compact PCs.
Thermaltake SFX Titanium 1200W
(Credit: John Burek)The tech industry is all about fitting more into ever smaller packages, and that’s just what Thermaltake has done with its SFX Titanium 1200W power supply. SFX power supplies are built to support compact cases and are typically much smaller than regular ones. This saves space for other components and can help make the overall PC build much smaller. As a trade-off, however, they typically can’t support as much power draw as their larger counterparts due to their smaller size. That’s not the case for Thermaltake’s SFX Titanium 1200W, which supports 1,200 watts of current. (The previous ceiling for SFX PSUs was typically 1,000 watts.) That’s far more than the average PSU of any size and more than all but the most power-hungry compact PCs need. It’s also highly efficient, with an 80 Plus Titanium rating.
NZXT F-Series RGB Single Frame Fan Unit
(Credit: John Burek)NZXT’s new F-Series fans provide a simple yet convenient design change. Many cases with room to mount fans inside will support two or even three 120mm or 140mm fans mounted side by side. Mounting these single fans in a row lets you add fans one at a time as needed, but it also means a fair bit of cabling, especially if you install the maximum number of fans possible, with fan power/control cables, RGB cables, and RGB pass-throughs making a mess. NZXT’s F-Series fans comprise single units that contain two or three fans, filling the space that two or three 120mm fans normally would. This makes the installation process easier, as a single power connector runs all of the fans, which also helps to reduce clutter from extra wiring in the case. It’s a simple and seemingly obvious idea, a clever one that leaves us wondering why this hasn’t been done before.
Lian Li Edge Power Supply Series
(Credit: John Burek)The power supplies in the Edge series from Lian Li scream, “Where have you been all my life?” Designed for PC cases, notably dual-chamber models, that require you to mount the power supply vertically, the Edge power supplies put the modular connectors on an extension plate that juts out the back of the enclosure. This allows for easier access to the modular cables’ sockets as needed, and it allows room for a four-port USB hub that can expand one of the headers on your motherboard. The Edge power supplies come in white or black, with a larger range of available capacities in black.
Noctua NH-D15 G2
(Credit: John Burek)Noctua is nothing if not thorough in the design of its fans and CPU coolers, and that aesthetic extends to its new NH-D15 G2 CPU cooler. (It’s a follow-on from its flagship NH-D15 air cooler, which has stood the test of a full decade.) This twin-fan air-cooling beast for the major current consumer CPU sockets is refinement personified. This whopper features eight heat pipes (up two from the last generation) and tweaks to the fin density and pitch to improve surface area. Two of the company’s recently upgraded fans are mounted, sandwich-style, on the twin fin stacks.
Even more interesting is the fact that Noctua is issuing three variants of the cooler with variations in the convexity of the cold plate: a normal, a high-convexity, and a low-convexity model. This is in response to documented cases of LGA 1700 CPUs getting slightly bent with other coolers, due to variations in pressure caused by the design of the socket. The bending can lead to less-than-perfect surface contact between the CPU’s thermal interface material (TIM) and the CPU cooler's bottom. Expect the N15-DH15 G2 by the end of June.
Seasonic Prime TX-1600 Noctua Edition
(Credit: John Burek)Looking to build out a PC all outfitted in Noctua carmine and beige? Plenty of influencers have done it with a Noctua CPU cooler, Asus’ Noctua Edition GeForce cards, and lots of Noctua case fans. But the Seasonic TX-1600 is about more than just the distinctive Noctua look and color scheme; it’s about longevity. Seasonic has a long-earned reputation for power supply (PSU) longevity and parallel warranties to back that up, and the partnership with Noctua is around quieter and more efficient operation from the cooling fan. Noctua says that the use of its latest fan, plus a careful redesign of the PSU grille, can drop operating noise by as much as 8dB to 10dB under load. Also, the fan does not operate until the PSU hits 50% load, at which point it kicks in. The TX-1600 is ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 compliant, and it comes with a set of design-complementary modular power cables. The PSU should be out in June at a bit over $500.