We are at the Computex trade fair taking place in Taiwan. Here we visited the MSI booth, where we checked out concept PCs assembled from the company’s components, cases, a display (though of a somewhat different kind than you might expect), and graphics cards. You may have already heard that MSI is planning a new generation of the iconic Twin FROZR coolers, but another classic cooler design from even earlier times also makes a return.
MAG Demo: A Project Zero Rig
One of the recent innovations in desktop PC space is motherboards with hidden connectors, which are facing back directly into the case’s cable management space. This is likely an attractive feature for those wanting a “clean” interior. MSI labels these boards as part of the “Project Zero” concept. The computer on display at the company’s booth utilizes precisely this design.
The build is based on the MSI MAG X870E Tomahawk WiFi PZ motherboard (PZ = Project Zero) and is housed in an in-house chassis – the MSI MAG Pano 130R PZ. It’s a so-called panoramic case with a glass front, featuring “front” fans placed on the side panel, allowing a clear view from the front. Incidentally, these front fans have reverse impellers. This is because, when set up as intake fans, they face the case with their blades and hubs rather than the motor’s back side. Thanks to the reversed impeller, the decorative illuminated part of the fan is fully visible instead The case also supports vertical GPU mounting, though that is not utilised in the build. The power supply used but mostly unseen is the MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 White.
There’s only one power cable running to the GPU, and the rest of the internal traffic is limited to the hoses of the AIO cooler (MSI MAG Coreliquid R13 360). Besides the mandatory USB4 support, the motherboard supports four M.2 SSDs, 5Gb/s Ethernet, and WiFi 7. It is set to go on sale in July, with a reported global price of 369 USD.
LCD in the Case
Note how instead of the typical three front fans, the case is fitted with a 12.3″ LCD panel connected via USB (which is ideal for internal displays like this – no need to route an HDMI cable externally). It’s called the MAG Vision Lite 12, in case you are interested. The screen is managed through the MSI Control Center application and can display PC status info or serve a purely decorative function (like, playing a video or animation). It can also be used externally, as seen to the left of the computer.
Will Project Zero-Style Motherboards Become a New Standard?
These motherboards with rear-facing connectors naturally pose compatibility issues with cases, unlike with the classic ATX format, which allows tremendous flexibility in pairing boards with all sorts of case. It’s not necessarily difficult to add openings for connectors, but since their placement varies between boards, standard compatibility is lacking, and cases must be custom-tailored. We were curious whether manufacturers were planning to agree on some standard to harmonize cutouts for connectors, and we had the opportunity to ask MSI representatives directly at Computex.
According to them, the ecosystem around this type of board currently operates pretty much independently. An MSI representative told us that, at least for now, there haven’t been any attempts at standardization among motherboard makers (who are, naturally, competitors). However, there is limited collaboration with case manufacturers, as MSI communicates with companies developing cases for its Project Zero. In some instances, MSI directly commissions and produces these cases – like the MAG Pano 130R PZ. In these cases, it’s more about compatibility alignment within a complete system or the company’s own product lineup.
MEG Demo: Glass on Three Sides
A similar panoramic case concept is taken even further in another build based on various MEG series products. This PC uses the MSI MEG Maestro 900L case, which features glass panels on three sides.
The motherboard is mounted in a standard position, so cables to the rear I/O and GPU outputs (the GPU is riser-mounted for aesthetics) must be routed internally. You’ll notice the case extends far beyond the motherboard to provide space for this. The case is notably large. It can also be laid flat and used like a benchtable (with optional cover). You can see the case’s interior core in a benchtable position to the left of the case in the following photo.
This system includes the MSI MEG X870E Godlike motherboard and a Ryzen 9 9900X processor cooled with MSI’s AIO cooler – the MEG Coreliquid E13 360. A unique feature of this AIO is its six-inch display mounted on the pump, which can rotate and display various system screens or other visuals.
The AIO also has shortened hoses to better fit a top-mounted radiator – the tubes connect at the center of the radiator rather than the sides.
If you’re interested in the fans used, they’re the MSI MPG D160 ARGB. These fans have a ring in the impeller that divides the blades into two sections, creating a unique visual effect. The components in this setup are almost entirely from MSI (Spatium M482 SSD, MEG Ai1600T PCIE5 SPU, the GPU used is the the GeForce RTX 5080 16G Suprim SOC). Only the DDR5 modules are from Kingston.
Graphics Cards
We have already seen GeForce RTX 5060 cards at Nvidia booth yesterday. MSI, of course, displayed a wider selection of their own Nvidia-based cards in the company’s suite. One notable version we liked was the Inspire edition. In an era where GPU designs often lean toward what can be called “aggressive gaming design” aesthetic (an actual phrase from a past press release of another company), the simple, elegant metallic shroud of these cards really stands out.
In addition to the dual-fan GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16G Inspire 2X OC, there was also a triple-fan variant used on the GeForce RTX 5070 12G Inspire 3X OC. We hope to see more of this design language, hopefully this series will continue to get new cards.
This is the top of the line: GeForce RTX 5090 32G Suprim Liquid SOC. This card is primarily cooled using an AIO system with a 360mm aluminum radiator and a copper water block with an integrated pump, cooling both the GPU and memory. The rest of the card is cooled by an additional fan.
Twin FROZR 2025
What caught our attention is the return of classic cooler brands. MSI is preparing new cards featuring the Twin FROZR cooling solution, once a highly efficient and popular choice when dual-fan GPUs were the norm even in the high-end segment. Of course, this will now be a modern design incorporating updated features.
It is expected to appear on the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16G Twin FROZR 2025 OC card. The cooler will apparently feature a heatsink with fins made from a composite of copper and aluminum.
Retro Meets Cutting-Edge
Another comeback is the cards with the Cyclone Visual cooler, a return to the radial fin stack cooler concept. This was a big trend in CPU cooling twenty years ago, and in graphics cards, the Cyclone design augmented it with heatpipes that extend the effective heatsink body to the sides. It will be used in a compact single-fan graphics card intended for Mini-ITX cases – in this case, the GeForce RTX 5070 12G Cyclone Visual OC.
There’s also a new feature that is extremely current day, though: A circular display on the central hub of the fan that can play videos – a very modern touch.
MSI also showcased prototypes of new and improved heatpipes and vapor chambers, which may be used in future graphics cards. These aim to improve heat conduction – for instance, the vapor chamber design should better spread heat from the center above the chip to the sides, where it can dissipate more effectively.
Does MSI See Value in GPUs with M.2 Slots?
By the way, during our visit, we asked whether MSI was planning to implement the idea that surfaced two years ago: integrating M.2 SSD slot or slots into graphics cards that use only eight lanes from the sixteen provided by a PCIe ×16 slot, which can make use use of the extra bandwidth otherwise going to waster. We were told that MSI does not plan to pursue this, noting that the number of M.2 slots can be addressed in other ways – mainly by including more slots on the motherboard proper, in the first place. Or through add-in cards, which the company also manufactures.
It’s true that there’s considerable pricing pressure especially on cards like the GeForce xx60-series. Adding an M.2 slot and modifying the cooler to accommodate it could increase costs that might be better spent on the GPU’s core functions. Additionally, the usefulness is limited, as many motherboards can already redirect PCIe lanes to other onboard slots on their own.
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
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