Internal cable management is the most frustrating part of building a desktop PC. Wait, that’s not right—the most frustrating part is making sure all your parts are compatible. Okay, that’s not right either—the even more frustrating part is how expensive all those parts are. But cable management is definitely in the top five, especially if you like to tinker frequently with your setup. There’s an emerging trend for PC hardware this year, and the PCWorld editorial staff has christened it the War on Cables (fave. co/43xR09Q).
PC hardware manufacturers are coming up with ever more elaborate tricks to keep your desktop enclosure nice and tidy, eliminating power and data cables whenever possible, and when not, tucking them all behind the motherboard so the main chamber looks like a minimalist office lobby. (I guess that would make the CPU cooler than the massive reception desk?) You can leave that lobby bare, or fill it up with nerdy stuff to show off through your case’s big window.
I suspect this trend really got started years ago, when motherboards started coming with M.2 slots. When system builders could stick primary storage right on the motherboard (fave.co/40dU7Bm) and get rid of both power and data cables for SATA, it started an itch. They’re now itching that scratch, and we’re seeing it in new design tweaks for motherboards, fans and liquid coolers, lighting, enclosures, and even graphics cards.
GIVING PROPS TO GIGABYTE
Esta historia es de la edición July 2023 de PCWorld.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición July 2023 de PCWorld.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
If you get a phone call from LastPass, it's a scam
A new breed of sophisticated phishing scammers are targetting LastPass users with phone calls and emails.
Sick of ads in Windows? This ingenious program eradicates them all
This clever free tool removes all the ads that Microsoft keeps stuffing into Windows 10 and 11.
Controversial Windows 11 Start menu ads begin rolling out
Microsoft has pushed “Promoted” apps from the Store to the Windows 11 wide build just a few weeks after they started appearing to Insiders.
Ring of bogus web shops steals 850K credit card numbers
Fake online storefronts, which show up in great numbers in Google and other search engines, are becoming a big problem.
This free, ancient Windows app will watch your laptop battery
BatteryInfoView gives you the laptop battery information you didn’t know you wanted.
How to use your smartphone as a Windows 11 PC webcam
Windows 11 now allows the wireless connection of Android smartphones for use as a webcam.
How to digitize VHS tapes the cheap way
Preserve your old video tapes with an inexpensive capture card and free software.
Aomei Backupper Pro: All-in-one backup, now with online storage
Now with cloud storage, Backupper Professional is swinging with the backup big boys in terms of features.
SK Hynix Tube T31: Looks like a USB drive, performs like an SSD
SK Hynix’s Tube T31 looks like a standard thumb drive, but performs more like the external SSD it actually is.
Adios, cheap SSDs? WD and Seagate warn that PC storage prices are going up
If you’re considering a storage upgrade, act sooner rather than later.