MSI Project Zero Deep Dive – Are back-facing cables a good idea?
A look at MSI’s MAG PANO 100L Project Zero Case
Meet the MSI MAG PANO 100L PZ – MSI’s first Project Zero PC Case
Alongside their Project Zero motherboards, MSI has released their first Back-Connect compatible PC case. This case is the MSI MAG PANO 100L. This PC case features a panoramic case window with a “270-degree reinforced glass design”. The MSRP of this case is $129, though the version we received appears to be a more expensive model with seven included fans.
We can’t hide all cables – Yet!
When looking though the side panel window of this case, only two sets of cables are visible. These cables come from our MSI CoreLiquid CPU cooler and from our graphics card. Honestly, I don’t see how we can make the cable from the AIO disappear, though there could be ways to make the cable more visually appealing and easier to tuck away. Perhaps future MSI AIOs will use larger rounded USB style cable and not these unsightly ribbon cables? Just a thought.
The 12VHPWR cable of MSI’s RTX 4080 SUPRIM graphics card is also visible. Again, I don’t see how we can make this cable disappear. Unless it can get its power from the motherboard underneath it, I think GPU power cables are here to stay. Then again, a feature could be made of these cables if they were braided and matched your PC’s colour scheme.
Tidy at the front, Messy at the back
MSI’s Project Zero is all about how the front of your PC looks. The problems come when you move behind your PC’s motherboard tray. All of the cables that would usually be visible have moved here. That means that all of the cable length is there too. Standard PSU cables are too long for Rear-Connect PCs, and that creates the cable mess that you see below. Shortened cable kits could address this issue.
One problem that we saw with this case is that the USB 3.2 connector is almost too long to fit properly. This case should ship with an angled connector for this cable, as it would prevent the sudden bend when we move from the connector and into the cable proper.
Below we can see that the MSI MAG PANO 100L PZ features holes for both Project Zero style motherboards and traditional PC motherboard designs. We expect a lot of future PC cases to feature similar designs, making them suitable for standard and back-connect style motherboards.
Much of the cable clutter of this PC cases comes from its included fan/RGB controller. That’s a lot of cables in a location where there is already a lot of cables. Perhaps this controller would have been better placed towards the top of this case, where there are fewer cables present?
Will Project Zero change PSU design?
When looking at these Back-Connect motherboards, it has become clear to us why Corsair created their “Shift” series of power supplies last year. Wouldn’t it be handy to have motherboard and PSU power connectors facing the same way? Add on some shorter than normal cables and cable management would be a breeze! Once these kinds of motherboards catch on, Corsair’s Shift series PSUs, and similar designs, are going to see a huge boost in popularity.
