The War on Cables is the hottest desktop PC trend of 2023

New PC products mean your case’s interior will be clean as a whistle

- MICHAEL CRIDER

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