Corsair offers two PC cases for mATX and ATX form factors designed for Asus and MSI motherboards with mirrored connectors soldered behind the PCB, allowing developers to practically hide all the cables. These are the 2500X and 2500D micro-ATX cases and the 6500X and 6500D ATX cases, with glass X and D suffixes and black and white mesh front panels. Corsair showed off these cases during CES 2024, with the release date initially announced as February 27.
Corsair calls these new “dual-chamber cases,” and they are the future of their previous dual-chamber cases. These cases are the first to be compatible with motherboards with reversible connectors such as Asus' Back-To-The-Future and MSI's Project Zero. All of these cases are available at retail via Amazon UK at the time of writing. the Corsair 6500X And 6500 D It is priced at £169.99 in the UK, which is approximately US$215.53, and 2500X And 2500 D For £129.99, about $164.81, as pre-orders.
Corsair has not listed detailed specifications for these cases, nor have they been listed on their website yet. Aside from reverse connector compatibility, the 2500 and 6500 series cases are compatible with graphics cards up to 400mm and are compatible with 120mm and 360mm radiators. Users can install up to nine 120mm/140mm fans in the 2500X and ten in the 6500X, with D variants for both cases featuring two additional fans mounted on the front panel, providing plenty of options for 120/140/240 and 280 installations. mm and 360 mm radiators.
Thanks to the dual-chamber design, the motherboard, CPU cooler and graphics card will be on full display, with the SATA and power supply hidden away in the section behind the motherboard tray. These cases also allow for further customization with interchangeable panels and vertical GPU mounts.
MSI and Asus have motherboards specifically designed to have connectors on the other side of the PCB for power, I/O, and fans. While MSI has these reversible motherboards listed under Project Zero, Asus has BTF variants under the ROG and TUF brands. Asus works with multiple companies to ensure a wide choice of compatible cases.
MSI has the B650M Project Zero motherboards designed for Intel's 12th Gen and later Ryzen 7000 series CPUs and the B760M Project Zero, both in the microATX form factor. This is clearly a direction that motherboard makers want to go in because it helps users create aesthetically pleasing systems, but this requires PC case makers to have cases available side by side.
Judging by the cutouts on the motherboard tray, it also appears to be compatible with graphics cards that use HPCE connectors to hide their power cables, such as the RTX 4070 BTF that was introduced to the Asian market. It is not known whether we will see these graphics cards available worldwide.
Do we need cases specifically designed for these motherboards?
Since motherboards have connectors on the other side of the PCB, they will need a clearance and cable management specifically designed to be compatible, as traditional cases only have enough clearance on the right side for cable management. Having attachable cables on the other side gives system builders a simpler, cleaner aesthetic. Asus has four motherboards, and MSI has three, but because of this design, it had to go hand in hand with PC case compatibility. MSI already has its own Pano M100R PZ mATX case, which we used to build using the B650M Project Zero motherboard.
Currently, Asus and MSI are the two companies that have retail motherboards on Intel and AMD platforms. Gigabyte (and MSI) have been working with Maingear for “Project Stealth” in 2022, so it shouldn't be surprising if the Taiwan-based motherboard maker has some differences. With Corsair making such cases available, it shouldn't be surprising to see other case manufacturers and motherboard makers jumping on the bandwagon, providing more options for users. Based on Robeytech live streamingAt the very least, the 6500X's case is also compatible with motherboards with typically placed connectors. It's not known when Corsair will release the wood aesthetic of these cases as displayed during CES 2024, but it shouldn't take that long.
Will reversible connectors become mainstream, making standard connectors a thing of the past? It largely depends on how many users quickly switch to these options. While it's good to see motherboard and PC makers working together to introduce a new standard, it would be nice to have a new standard for front panel connectors. Change is good. And with mirrored connectors, system builders can hide those neatly sleeved cables out of sight.
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