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Recently, I chatted with Hyte about case design—not just the genesis of the company’s imminent X50 and X50 Air, but the drive behind what ultimately lands on our desks. And since that discussion, a provocative quote from Rob Teller, Hyte’s product director, has been on my mind: “When I look at computer cases, I really look at them as fashion, far more than I look at them as technology as this point.”
Teller isn’t new to the industry. His history includes stints at NZXT and Alienware before his time at Hyte. He’s had a front-row seat to design shifts over the past 20 years. And for that reason, his words lodged in my brain as quiet but revolutionary. I’d never before considered a world where PCs don’t look like computers.
Is that playing around with semantics? A little. But I’d argue we all collectively buy into the idea that a computer can be identified on sight—an attitude created with the first personal computers and carried through the decades since.
Systems like the IBM PC, the first computer I ever used, had distinctive boxy styling. The PC that replaced that squat white-and-gray Intel 8088 machine was even bigger, a thick slab with double floppy drives, an Intel 286, and an intermittent whine I fixed with varying levels of percussive maintenance. I lost most of my desk space to each of those PCs, but I accepted their footprints. Their bulk represented progress.
Wikipedia
Today, boxiness and bulk still signal that you’re looking at a computer. Consider the landscape: Mid-tower ATX cases dominate. E-ATX implies a build aiming to absolutely rip in performance. Meanwhile, color and size options remain constrained. Designs that stray into unique territory are generally the work of modders.
Even the living room gaming PC I’m building right now stands out as such. The case is a Jonsbo C6, a small black cube that I think is cute. But it’s not going to match anything of my friend’s decor.
I wonder if The Full Nerd crew’s polarized reactions to the Hyte X50 stems from this embedded perception of a computer’s looks. Adam hated it—too bubbly, too round. I liked that it could blend in with a whole home’s vibe, even if you could immediately recognize it as a PC case. A clash perhaps between what we think the future should look like (currently clean lines and minimalist) versus realizing what it could look like.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved messing around with that IBM PC, even if I never could program in BASIC to save my life. But I have no need to hang on to its aesthetic to believe in the future. That’s the job of the hardware inside.
In this episode of The Full Nerd…
Willis Lai / Foundry
In this episode of The Full Nerd, Alaina Yee, Will Smith, and special guest Nathan Edwards of The Verge chat about malware sneaking into Steam games and what makes for an ideal custom keyboard. As was likely inevitable with a reunion of former Maximum PC editors, we end up zigzagging often during the conversation, with tangents galore.
My favorite tangent of a tangent of a tangent: Nathan’s explanation of how to revive a PC from death, after being submersed in flood water for three days.
Also useful, though not a tangent: Nathan’s top recommendations for mechanical keyboard kits under $150.
Tangent.
Alaina Yee / Foundry
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This week’s unusual nerd news
Adam’s on vacation this week, which means I had no one to relay word to about more scented thermal paste. Who would have known other people agree with him about this need in our lives?
Inno3D
- You can store data on a bird: Is Dan Brown still writing novels? Because this seems like the perfect opener for his kind of plots.
- PC Gamer says this controller shouldn’t exist: I’m not going to say the sentiment is wrong. But at the same time, if it were to exist, someone would immediately try to correct for its (glaring) flaws. I would want to see that. I might even put money toward that.
- A single-slot RTX 5090? Sure, why not: The whole point here is the excuse to flex on everyone with your custom cooling skill, yes? Yes.
- Microsoft Copilot now has a face: I said a lot of things aloud at my desk when I read this. I can’t repeat them here. Let’s just file this under, “Who asked for this?”
- I might be down for blossom-scented thermal paste: Don’t tell Adam I said this.
- Can you spot fake AI images? (The answer is no): As it turns out, we humans are not as good as we think at identifying fake content.
Oh dear.
- Please science, save us all: I actually think periodically about our fresh water supplies, and what that could look like in the coming decades. So hearing even preliminary good news about transforming saltwater into drinkable water is comforting.
- I believe the answer is ‘no’: Okay, first—kudos to this Redditor for asking other people’s opinions. I fully commend that instinct. It’s a good one. That said, this picture of this GPU slotted into a machine gave me a mild nightmare. Literally. I read this post just before bedtime.
- Have threads, will rip: Steve Burke over at Gamers Nexus released the team’s review of one of AMD’s newest Threadripper chips, the 64-core 9980X. I bet myself how fast I’d find comments about watching the gaming benchmark results first. I both won and lost.
- Roblox’s CEO needs a reality check: No. Nobody wants Roblox to start a dating service within the game.
- Meanwhile, Valve’s president administers a reality check: Gabe Newell’s take on following your passion is surprisingly solid life advice. That’s so even before considering a massive gaming company’s head honcho doled out this advice while the games industry is painfully contracting.
Catch you all next week—when I’ll likely be exhausted from fighting everyone during the return of the Hardware Hall of Fame. Don’t forget to submit your nominees for award contention! You can share them with us on our Discord server, via email at thefullnerd@pcworld.com, or giving me a holler over on Bluesky.
Alaina
This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld.