CES 2024: New PC Parts From ASUS May Finally Fix Your Messy Cables
If you’ve built a computer before, then you already know how tedious and difficult it can be to properly route cables. (If not, consider yourself lucky.)
Good cable management can be extremely important not only for the appearance of your PC, but also for maintaining a safe temperature. Having a bunch of cables in your PC’s airflow path can be disastrous, which is why cable management has become something of an art for PC builders. However, ASUS is now going to introduce a new series of components designed to make cable management even easier.
What if, instead of using cable ties and intricately running cables through your computer, you could simply hide them? This is the idea behind the new BTF components from ASUS. BTF, which stands for “Back to the Future” (the company says the pun is “very much intended”), includes motherboards equipped with cables that connect at the back.
ASUS claims this is easier to handle compared to modern motherboards, which require cables to be routed through the case and around the front panel. Plus, no connections on the front of the board means fewer cables, which means a sleeker look and better air circulation for your PC.
The ecosystem of BTF and Advanced BTF components includes more than just motherboards. The company also introduced the new TUF Gaming GT302 ARGB case, which comes with four 140mm ARGB fans and is already designed to accommodate the new ASUS BTF motherboards.
Some of these motherboards also come with special connectors that allow you to connect your BTF graphics card (yes, they have those too) directly to the board. If you’re using a card that doesn’t support BTF, you’ll still have to connect it the old fashioned way, which is probably what ASUS is hoping to use to promote these new cards. Of course, there are other benefits to BFT cards, as you won’t have to worry too much about making sure the horizontal space in your case is large enough for your card to fit into it without having cables jammed against the side of the card. happening.
For now, it looks like ASUS will only offer BTF versions of the Nvidia RTX 4090 and RTX 4070 Ti Super, although this could change in the future. This is exactly what the company has announced for now. ASUS also says it has partnered with be quiet!, Aerocool, Cooler Master, Corsair, Inwin, Lian Li, Phanteks, Silverstone and Thermaltake to supply BTF-enabled cases.
Prices for these new components have not been disclosed at this time. But if you love building PCs and care about keeping your build as clean and optimized as possible, these options might be worth considering for future builds.