The open-frame design for a PC chassis is often created and used for testing and benchmarking. It offers a quick way to replace parts, tinker with cooling, and troubleshoot. At Computex 20204, we got a closer look at the new Neptune Series PC from Colorful, and it quickly earned one of our Best of Computex 2024 awards, not only for its looks but also for the materials, solid construction, and DIY potential for those who want an open-chassis design without having to worry about dust.

It's a unique design that, although it is fully open and customizable thanks to Colorful planning to ship a barebones edition, everything is enclosed with an integrated full-cover waterblock. Regarding PC components, all you can see is the memory, radiator fans, motherboard I/O ports, and the custom waterblock/enclosure for the GPU (a high-end GeForce RTX GPU is installed in the one you see here).

It's a sleek and stylish futuristic design made from solid metals with a brushed silver finish. Colorful notes that within the Neptune, the CPU and other non-visible critical components are all liquid-cooled. It's not only an impressive design but one that will deliver when it comes to thermal performance.

be quiet! is no stranger to the PC case and cooling game, and now the company has unveiled its latest product at Computex 2024.

I was lucky enough to get a full tour of the Be quiet! booth at Computex 2024 where it was explained to me the engineering and thought process behind both the Light Loop and Light Base models. Firstly, the Light Base 900 is the first PC case from Be quiet! to use the the "fish tank", or "show case" aesthetic, enabling users to fully display all of their components through all of the cases windows. These types of fish tank cases have been extremely popular at Computex this year.

The Light Base 900 has a fully windowed front and side panel that enables an almost panoramic viewing angle. Notably, the Light Base 900 has something most other cases, or no other cases (to my knowledge) can do. Be quiet! has outfitted the Light Base 900/600 with the ability to switch between three layouts: left, right and horizontal. This can be achieved by removing the feet from the case, which doesn't require any tools, and then simply attaching them to the desired side.

A new type of keyboard switch? Yes, and we got to go hands-on with the new Ducky One X at Computex 2024 - which features the latest keyboard innovation from Cherry (the creators of the iconic Cherry MX): Induction Switches. These are similar to the magnetic switches we've recently seen that allow you to adjust the actuation point. Lower and faster for gaming, higher for typing to get a more tactile feel.

However, this analog keyboard style requires sensors that use more power, which is why you don't see wireless keyboards with adjustable magnetic switches and long-lasting batteries. With Induction Switches, coils are built into the PCB, and the new switches detect electrical changes as they approach.

We were told that this technology has existed in the keyboard space for a few years, but this is the first time it all comes together in switch and keyboard form. The result is less power required, which means the new Ducky One X will support low-latency wireless, Bluetooth, and wired.

Phison has earned itself a Computex 2024 TweakTown award for its crazy build that uses 16 SSDs with Phison's E26 technology with an Apex Storage card to achieve data transfers of 54.8 GB/s in a single PCIe Gen 5 slot.

I was lucky enough to get a full demo of the new system at the Phison booth where it was explained me to the system was using an Apex Storage X16 PCIe 5.0 card that was equipped with 16 SSDs using Phison's E26 controller. These drives, working together, managed to reach a staggering sequential read of 56 GB/s, sequential write of 54 GB/s, random read of 20M IOPS, and a random write of 19M IOPS. And all on a single PCIe card slotted into a motherboard.

We reviewed the impressive Phison E26 controller back in January, and were blown away by its incredible speeds and now seeing sixteen of these SSDs working together in front of us during a live demo has really put into perspective the incredible industry-leading work Phison is doing in the SSD space. Congratulations to Phison for what it has achieved with this build, the speeds here are truly remarkable and shouldn't be understated.

Sabrent is now teasing its new Apex X16 Rocket 5 Destroyer, which can handle an incredible 16 x Rocket 5 4TB Gen5 SSDs for a monster 64TB of Gen5 SSD in a single PCIe slot. Check it out:

As you can see, there are two parts to this story: the back side of the Apex X16 Rocket 5 Destroyer features 8 x M.2 slots, for a total of 16 x M.2 slots. But... Sabrent isn't finished there, the company teases: Even though these two cards are impressive, with unmatched speed and capacity, we are not stopping here. Apex has turned the sliders up to 11 with this new AIC.

Today, we are showing a few teaser pictures of the Sabrent Apex X16 Rocket 5 Destroyer and the first set of benchmark numbers. As you can see this new Gen 5 card from Apex holds 16 of our Rocket 5 4TB SSDs for a maximum capacity of 64TB of the fastest Gen 5 SSDs on the market, Sabrent's Rocket 5 drives.

Intel has officially unveiled its next-gen Xe2 GPU which will drop into Lunar Lake CPUs later this year, while next-gen Arc "Battlemage" discrete GPUs will arrive after.

During the Intel Tech Tour 2024 event, Intel fellow and ex-NVIDIA staffer Tom Peterson talked all things next-gen Xe2 GPU architecture. Intel is making things easier to understand with its next-gen GPU architecture, where instead of using LP, LPG, HP, and HPG naming schemes (which can be confusing for people), Intel is calling its next-gen GPU lineup Xe2. Internally, the company will still use codenames, but they won't be used on the client side moving forward.

Intel has designed its next-gen Xe2 GPU from the ground up, with higher utilization, improved work distribution, and less software overhead. There are multiple (major) problems that were inside of Xe "Alchemist" GPUs, which are now fixed in Xe2. Intel has promised some major IP performance efficiency for Xe2, with performance gains of up to 12.5x in particular use cases.

If you're a Windows 11 user who misses the old File Explorer from Windows 10, here's some good news.

It's possible to access Windows 10's File Explorer within Windows 11 using a frankly unbelievably simple trick, allowing for the old interface to be used whenever you want a break from the new UI - or indeed when you want to avail yourself of the ability to drag and drop files into folders in the address bar.

(If you recall, that functionality didn't make the cut for Windows 11 - though to be fair, it is finally returning in testing right now).

The fishbowl PC case aesthetic is extremely popular, where multiple glass panels present a multi-angle look at your build's various components, cooling setup, and RGB action. At Computex 2024, one of the best we saw was the new Evolv X2 from Phanteks, which makes the GPU look like it's floating and part of a space station from the future.

The Evolv X2 from Phanteks is still in the design or testing stage, so it might undergo a few minor revisions before launch, but what we saw was immediately impressive. Thanks to the aluminum interior panels (available in black, silver, and gold), it shares a similar style and aesthetic with NVIDIA's Founders Edition graphics cards for the GeForce RTX 30 and 40 Series.

We asked the team at Phanteks why they chose a ROG Strix GPU to showcase the case (which, admittedly, looks excellent in the Evolv X2) and not a Founders Edition card. We weren't the first, so we can probably expect some cool shots of the Evolv X2 from Phanteks with an FE GPU at some point before launch.

ASUS has been dominating the gaming monitor space for quite some time, and now it's officially showcased what many competitive gamers would consider the cream of the crop when it comes to gaming monitors.

Introducing, the ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDP, a 26.5-inch 2560 x 1440p (QHD) OLED gaming monitor that comes with a blistering fast 480Hz refresh rate. ASUS has said the 480Hz refresh rate makes the PG27AQDP a world's first in its specific specification. Additionally, the PG27AQDP has a 0.03ms response time thanks to its OLED pixel technology, and will come with the latest Micro Lens Array (MLA) technology that enables 30% higher peak brightness and 20% wider viewing angles over previous ROG OLED monitors.

As for connectivity, we expect the PG27AQDP to feature "extensive" options that will include DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.1. Notably, the PG27AQDP uses a third-generation WOLED panel from LG that will be cooled with a custom fan-less heatsink. Furthermore, ASUS says the PG27AQDP will come with DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro compliance, and ELMB support. As you can probably imagine, ASUS is aiming the PG27AQDP directly at eSports gamers that want as many frames per second as they can possibly get.

It's hard to miss the Corsair 9000D; it's a monster of a case. Now, you might have a large PC chassis once or twice before, and if you're at Computex 2024, you probably have walked past dozens or hundreds on the show floor. As the successor to the 1000D, the new Corsair 9000D (which we saw up close) is something else - a beast that lives up to its size with build quality, features, and design touches to make it a true one-of-a-kind.

The Corsair 9000D Airflow supports two PCs: a full-sized gaming rig and a second mini-ITX rig that could be used as a streaming setup. It doesn't stop there, as there's room for almost a dozen SSDs, 21 (yes, twenty-one) 120mm fans, and enough room for two 480mm radiators or five 360mm radiators.

At Computex 2024, Corsair displayed a fully built 9000D with an awe-inspiring water-cooling setup with multiple tubes and piping neatly hidden alongside the cables. The case supports the latest BTF motherboard designs from ASUS and others, which feeds into the unique front I/O setup.