WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.120 Motherboard manufacturers are trying to solve possibly the most annoying thing about building a PC. 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:11.760 Cable management. Three of the largest companies that crank out motherboards, 00:00:11.760 --> 00:00:15.240 ASUS, MSI, and Gigabyte all now offer boards 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:20.280 that place most internal connectors on the back of the PCB with the idea being 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:23.920 to let you build a PC with few to no cables showing. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:26.960 But hold on a sec, why exactly did it take so long 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:31.920 for these companies to bring this to market? I mean the first American patent was filed back in 2011. 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:37.160 The answer is not only that there wasn't yet broad support from hardware manufacturers, 00:00:37.160 --> 00:00:41.360 but also that the priorities of the PCI DIY community 00:00:41.360 --> 00:00:46.040 weren't quite the same as they are now. Let's start by talking about those priorities. 00:00:46.040 --> 00:00:52.440 It really wasn't all that long ago that building or just buying a PC was primarily a means to an end. 00:00:52.440 --> 00:00:57.480 You wanted to accomplish something specific on a PC, play a game, make a video call, 00:00:57.480 --> 00:01:02.880 re-derive calculus, whatever. So you built something in an opaque beige box 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:06.240 that could accomplish that task, and there was a good chance you didn't care too much 00:01:06.240 --> 00:01:09.960 about how it looked. But as the years went on, laptops, tablets, 00:01:09.960 --> 00:01:13.320 and smartphones became able to handle more and more functions 00:01:13.320 --> 00:01:16.880 that used to be the sole domain of desktop PCs, 00:01:16.880 --> 00:01:23.000 meaning that a larger proportion of the remaining desktop PC community was made up of enthusiasts 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:29.600 who cared more than the average person about not just how their PC performed, but how it looked. 00:01:29.600 --> 00:01:33.280 During that time, PC aesthetics evolved gradually. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:37.800 Cases with Windows didn't start becoming common until the early to mid-2000s. 00:01:37.800 --> 00:01:41.320 We didn't see cable management grommets until around 2010, 00:01:41.320 --> 00:01:45.120 and RGB didn't hit it big until the mid-2010s. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:50.520 And of course, modern social media platforms that allow hardware manufacturers to easily get the pulse 00:01:50.520 --> 00:01:55.240 of the community haven't been around for very long. But since they took off, it's been clear 00:01:55.240 --> 00:02:01.160 from social media feedback that aesthetics have only increased in importance for PC enthusiasts. 00:02:01.160 --> 00:02:04.960 We haven't proved that RGB makes things faster yet, but we'll get there. 00:02:04.960 --> 00:02:10.320 And there's an additional benefit aside from aesthetics. Connectors on the rear mean that you won't have to worry 00:02:10.320 --> 00:02:15.200 about negotiating your way into tight spaces created by other components once you're ready 00:02:15.200 --> 00:02:20.120 to connect your cables. The eight-pin EPS connector is notoriously tricky. 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:23.040 Manufacturers are hoping that not only will rear connectors 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:27.360 look better, but they'll also serve as a more builder-friendly option to those folks 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:31.800 who are interested in PC DIY, but intimidated about taking the plunge. 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:34.880 And there are more of those people out there than you might think. 00:02:34.880 --> 00:02:38.480 So that brings us to actually getting this idea to market. 00:02:38.480 --> 00:02:43.360 How did we get there? Although Manegear filed a patent for the rear connector concept in 2011, 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:49.040 which other companies now license, it wasn't until 2019 that ASUS showed us a rear motherboard 00:02:49.040 --> 00:02:52.440 connector on their concept Prime Utopia board. 00:02:52.440 --> 00:02:58.320 Gigabyte then became the first major motherboard brand to bring a rear connector motherboard to market in 2022 00:02:58.320 --> 00:03:02.520 with Project Stealth, followed by MSI's Project Zero 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:06.960 in 2023, and ASUS's BTF in 2024. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:11.800 And since the primary concern here is aesthetics, some boards also include shrouds 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:16.160 that hide the unsightly solder marks that are now on the front of the board. 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:23.400 But hold everything. How the heck does this work, considering that most cases don't have the correct holes 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:28.640 in the motherboard tray to plug in cables at the back? Unsurprisingly, you're gonna need a new compatible case 00:03:28.640 --> 00:03:32.680 for these new motherboards to work. Gigabyte collaborated with Manegear 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:38.680 to make a case for its Project Stealth products, while MSI and ASUS both make their own cases now, 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:44.120 and also collaborate with outside case manufacturers in order to ensure you can actually hide all your cables 00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:47.880 without having to take a Dremel to your existing case. Unless you want to. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:52.520 I mean, it's fun. And in case you were wondering why these manufacturers 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:56.880 can't just design the motherboard so the rear connectors poke out of the existing cutouts 00:03:56.880 --> 00:04:00.040 for CPU coolers, there are just too many electronics 00:04:00.040 --> 00:04:03.360 already in that area for such a solution to be practical. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:07.420 Although the current lack of an open standard for rear connectors means you'll have to ensure 00:04:07.420 --> 00:04:12.660 that the case you want is specifically compatible with the particular motherboard brand you want, 00:04:12.660 --> 00:04:17.360 this may not end up mattering too much in the long term. Lots of niceties that we're used to, 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:22.800 such as right angled SATA connectors, top mounted radiators, and the various RGB ecosystems 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:29.080 don't have official standards defining them, but they enjoy widespread support and interoperability. 00:04:29.080 --> 00:04:34.440 So if rear connectors end up being in high demand from consumers, you can bet that there will be plenty 00:04:34.440 --> 00:04:41.560 of compatible boards and cases to choose from. But a possible wrinkle is how to handle the pesky fact 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:44.680 that most graphics cards require extra power cables 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:48.680 that connect to the top of the card. Oh no. 00:04:48.680 --> 00:04:53.640 For now, limited solutions exist. Gigabyte sells special cards that feature a connector 00:04:53.640 --> 00:04:56.920 on the bottom closer to the PCI express contacts, 00:04:56.920 --> 00:05:00.080 while ASUS sells cards with an extra smaller set 00:05:00.080 --> 00:05:03.840 of contacts for power that work with compatible ASUS motherboards. 00:05:03.840 --> 00:05:09.800 While this limits which graphics cards you can use to get that totally clean look inside your case, 00:05:09.800 --> 00:05:14.400 the hope is that more cards will adopt solutions such as these as time goes on. 00:05:14.520 --> 00:05:19.960 And the fact that ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI, also all manufactured graphics cards and cases 00:05:19.960 --> 00:05:24.200 means they also have the ability to push these rear connector ecosystems forward, 00:05:24.200 --> 00:05:27.520 even if a particular outside company isn't interested. 00:05:27.520 --> 00:05:32.160 But is any of this really a good idea? Well, other than a small amount of increased costs 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:36.040 to begin with due to these companies having to tweak their manufacturing slightly, 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:39.480 there aren't really any major drawbacks to rear mounting connectors. 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:43.960 But even with these benefits, only time will tell if this new connector paradigm will emerge 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:47.440 as a widespread alternative to traditional cable routing. 00:05:47.440 --> 00:05:52.600 And I know how much some of you like seeing that sweet RGB spaghetti every time you fire up your rig. 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:57.040 So we'll have to see. And you know what I like to see is you coming to the end of this video. 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:00.920 How'd you get here? Thanks for watching. Like the video if you liked it. 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:04.640 Dislike it if you disliked it. Check out our other videos. Comment below with video suggestions. 00:06:04.640 --> 00:06:09.840 And don't forget to subscribe and follow what your favorite flavor of RGB spaghetti is. 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:11.560 There's lots.