LAS VEGAS— Desktop computers are full of wires, period. That won’t change anytime soon. But many dedicated PC builders (not to mention boutique PC build shops) are obsessed with — or make their living — routing cables cleanly and keeping the inside of a computer clean. This is especially true these days, when a transparent case side (or two, or three…) is standard issue for most enthusiast desktops you see.
Over the past year, one response to that push for cable-cleaning aesthetics has been the “reverse connector” motherboard, of which MSI and Asus are today’s two main proponents. These boards are not so different from their ordinary relatives. Where they differ: They have cable plugs and header connectors — most anything that connects a wire — on the back of the board instead of the front. Paired with specially designed PC cases that have properly aligned holes for reverse-side connectors, these motherboards allow you to plug all your cables behind the board and, therefore, out of sight.
(Credit: John Burek)
Asus calls its reverse connector solution Back to the Future (BTF), while MSI’s is Project Zero. I did a test build of Project Zero on the eve of the 2024 edition of CES, and a colleague tested the Asus BTF ecosystem a few months ago in the same way. The solutions are similar, and you just need to match a reverse connector board with a box that supports that particular ecosystem to get started. (Some cases support BTF and Project Zero.)
(Credit: Mark Stetson)
MSI, however, is escalating the cable-busting battle, at least in prototype form, with a new initiative it’s calling Project Zero X. It follows the same general approach as the original, but takes on the last frontier of cables – the adhesive of cables off the back edge of your computer—and out of sight entirely.
90 degrees below zero
MSI’s designer did all this by rotating the entire concept 90 degrees. Thought: What if, on a typical tower computer, the wide panel on the right side was the new “back”? This will allow you to place a tower against, say, a wall, with the internals of the case visible from three sides, instead of just one or two.
(Credit: John Burek)
This obviously presents some not insignificant logistical challenges. The I/O area on your typical motherboard is on its rear edge, and this includes many ports. The Project Zero X build model that MSI was showing off had repositioned whole Rear panel I/O on the wide right side of the case. Plus, the entire face of the motherboard, barring a cutout around the CPU socket, was wrapped in a brushed metal heat shield.
(Credit: Mark Stetson)
Now, whether MSI built a custom motherboard with all of its external I/O on its rear surface, or were feeding the Zero X’s rear panel via an elaborate array of cables between the “regular” input area /output of the motherboard and the custom case, MSI was not showing. But one clue could be that the triple-fan GPU also had its DisplayPort and HDMI connectors here on the same panel, which would suggest some cable extenders between the graphics card and the mobo and I/O on the back of the case. panel.
(Credit: John Burek)
However, you can’t argue with the clean look. The only cable we noticed was a short bend of the GPU’s power cable visible along the left edge where it fed into the case cutouts. As mentioned, the motherboard was covered by a set of full-board heatsinks that masked the PCB, any identification marks, surface-mount M.2 SSDs, and the like.
(Credit: Mark Stetson)
MSI wasn’t prepared to say what desktop platform it built this prototype on, but the Project Zero X powered up and powered on, though it wasn’t connected to any external displays for a “real-life test” or check its ingredients.
Future X is unclear
All that said, this is another intriguing step in trying to hide the wires inherent in any PC build. MSI had no further information on whether Project Zero X will ever be released as a commercial product. But I wouldn’t count it, or anything like that. At first I was skeptical about the staying power of the original BTF and Project Zero – but, hey, here we are with a small but healthy selection of gear for both. And MSI has laid out a rough map of where it might go from here.
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About John Burek
Executive Editor and Director of PC Labs
