There’s nothing like the feeling of building your own PC. However, cable management can be a massive pain — especially if you like to build in small form factor cases. Gigabyte seems to have a solution to simultaneously make cable management easier while sporting a spotless build. That said, there may be a huge caveat to consider.
Aorus, Gigabyte’s gaming sub-brand, revealed a concept called Project Stealth on the Aorus France Twitter page. This venture basically involves creating an entire ecosystem of products for the sole purpose of having a clean build and easier cable management.
Gigabyte’s custom ATX motherboard puts all the power and I/O connectors on the back, so all the cable management is done in the back instead of on the front. This includes all the front panel I/O, SATA ports, the 24-pin power connector, CPU power connector, and other important connectors like fan and USB headers. Presumably, this would make the build seem cable-free when looking through a transparent case window.
Obviously, a motherboard with reversed connectors would be incompatible with all other ATX cases, so Gigabyte also helpfully created their own case with openings on the back of the motherboard tray to access the different connectors and headers. French website GinjFo got their hands on pictures that show the back of the motherboard. There are even cutouts for the rear-facing PCIe connectors.
Of course, no PC build would be complete without the graphics card. Gigabyte thought of that also by creating a custom graphics card shroud, which also moves the power connectors in line with the PCIe connector itself. It’s unknown whether this shroud could be placed on a de-lidded GPU, or if Gigabyte themselves would have to make the graphics card.
As a PC builder, I love the concept of being able to simply “plug in” my motherboard and components in the front while doing all the cable management in the back. The NZXT H1 also tried to simplify cable management by including a built-in power supply and all-in-one water cooler, while pre-routing most of the cables for you. Any attempt to simplify the PC building process and bring more into the hobby is laudable.
However, the big caveat with Gigabyte’s solution is that all of their parts must be bought together if you want the full cable-less look. If you dislike the look, color, or pricing of Gigabyte’s offerings, there doesn’t seem to be an alternative. The company is rumored to unveil more details of Project Stealth at CES 2022, so we’ll hopefully get pricing and availability then.
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