The Best Desktops and PC Components of CES 2024

Since the beginning, CES has been about computers. And, 57 shows later, that beating heart has persisted through wave after wave of consumer electronics trends—even the recent push of electric vehicles into the annual event. This year, CES did not disappoint, with yet another gauntlet of computing innovations including impressive cooling solutions, hyper-compact gaming desktops, and supercharged graphics cards.

If you’re looking for which desktop and component products topped everything we saw at the show, check out our broader Best of CES 2024 article. For a deeper cut into coolest desktop PC products and DIY gear we saw firsthand, though, keep on reading.

Best Gaming Desktop

Asus ROG NUC

CES 2024 Hands On: Asus ROG NUC Resurrects the Mighty Mini PC for Gaming

The revival of the NUC compact PC line under the Asus ROG gaming brand is a welcome one. The Asus ROG NUC emerges as the top compact gaming desktop of the show, packing plenty of gaming prowess into a 2.5-liter space. The mini PC features Intel “Meteor Lake” processors (the options: the Core Ultra 7 155H or Core Ultra 9 185H), coupled with Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 and RTX 4070 mobile GPUs. Weighing under 2 pounds, it’s a console replacement or a living-room PC with AAA-game capabilities. The small chassis supports up to 32GB of memory, upgradable storage, and a range of ports. Given that the ROG NUC’s parts and performance resemble those of gaming laptops, we also expect the pricing to be similar when it launches this spring. —Brian Westover, Lead Analyst

Best Productivity Desktop

ASRock DeskMeet X600

(Credit: John Burek)

From the outside, the Ryzen-based DeskMeet is an unassuming black cube; that’s why we’ve taken a couple of photos of it with its shell off. This compact PC features an unusual internal design that allows for an extraordinary amount of upgrade or configuration flexibility and some cutting-edge specs. You can add 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch drives on one of two brackets, as well as a host of M.2 drives (including one PCI Express 5.0 drive!) on the top and bottom of the pre-installed motherboard. The board supports the latest AMD AM5 processors, so you can install one of these chips and employ its integrated graphics, though compact graphics cards will fit, too.

(Credit: John Burek)

The chassis is just big enough for ATX power supplies, but the back-panel plating also supports smaller SFX models. Plus, the screw-mount design for the PSU makes it easy to slide out the PSU and expose the innards of the case for servicing or upgrades. ASRock showed it off packing a snub-nosed Radeon RX 7600 XT. Most surprising: The PC supports high-speed USB4 through a port on the front panel, from a connector mounted directly on the custom motherboard. —John A. Burek, Executive Editor

Best Graphics Card

MSI GeForce RTX 4080 Super 16G Expert

(Credit: John Burek)

Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 40-series Super graphics cards are a real game-changer. However, of all these card variants we saw at CES, none stood out more than the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 Super 16G Expert. Built like an even-more-premium version of Nvidia’s classic Founders Edition cards (with a blower fan on each side), this new MSI card has prominent metal sections and stylish diagonal metal vents that make it look and feel like a luxury sports car of the GPU world. In addition to having more cores than the standard RTX 4080, the RTX 4080 Super also has faster GDDR6X memory and a lower price, though this top-tier model will likely cost a premium. —Michael Sexton, Analyst

Best Processor

AMD Ryzen 7 8700G

(Credit: John Burek)

AMD’s Ryzen 7 8700G is designed for entry-level gaming performance and a powerful CPU in one convenient and cost-effective package. In its press release, AMD set the Ryzen 7 8700G against an entry-level graphics card, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650, and an Intel Core i5-13400F and claimed that the Ryzen 7 8700G without a graphics card will more often provide a superior gaming experience. We need to test the accuracy of this claim ourselves, but it seems plausible and exciting if true: It will make the cost of building an entry-level gaming PC lower than it’s been for years, with the Ryzen 7 8700G itself costing just $329. —M.S.

Best Showcase PC Case

Thermaltake The Tower 300

(Credit: John Burek)

We’ve tested several of Thermaltake’s The Tower series of PC cases over the years, some big and some small, but we may like the 300 best of all. This Mini-ITX case stands tall and can take up to a 420mm radiator down the right side. The front glass panel is a three-piece prism shape with snap connectors, and the side panels attach and remove via neodymium magnets. You can get an optional front-face LCD kit to complement the case bottom, and an optional horizontal stand, paired with a replacement base, lets you lay the case down sideways on your desk with the glass interior angled up at you. Best of all, though, are the color choices: yellow (“Bumblebee”), Matcha Green, and Thermaltake’s new signature Hydrangea Blue, which celebrates the company’s 25th anniversary. —J.A.B.

Best Motherboard

ASRock Phantom Gaming B760I Lightning WiFi

(Credit: John Burek)

What’s so special about a B760-chipset Mini-ITX motherboard? How about one that supports the highest-power and hottest-running Intel desktop processors? A muscled-up VRM cooling configuration, a 14+1+1 phase design, and a reduction in the depth of the I/O ports to accommodate more robust power circuitry: All that together makes the B760I Lightning one of the few compact Intel LGA 1700 motherboards that’s recommendable for use with high-end chips such as the Core i9-14900K. Plus, this board is no slouch when it comes to other features, such built in Wi-Fi. —J.A.B.

Best Power Product

Enermax PlatiGemini 1200W

(Credit: John Burek)

Enermax is known for its long warranties and use of 100% Japanese capacitors. This power supply’s possible claim to fame, though, is different: With Intel’s ATX12VO initiative in the air for the last couple of years, this power supply, a 1,200-watt model, straddles the line between present and a potential ATX12VO future, while also supporting the emerging ATX 3.1 standard and featuring 80 Plus Platinum support. This high-end PSU sports support for both the emerging ATX12VO 10-pin connector and the full 24-pin power connector used by the vast majority of modern boards. If you want some insurance while using today’s standards in favor of tomorrow’s possible ones, in a power supply that you’re likely to keep through your next PC and maybe the one after that, the PlatiGemini is an intriguing option. —J.A.B.

Best Cooling Product

XPG Hybrid Cooler

(Credit: John Burek)

This two-fan cooler supports CPUs up to 280W TDP. The differentiator here, though, is that it’s halfway between an AIO liquid cooler and a pure air model. The “radiator” is actually sandwiched between the two 120mm fans, and internal liquid circulates through the body of the cooler and through the top module, which is serviced by a small impeller-type mechanism inside.

(Credit: John Burek)

XPG says it should support all modern platforms, including even mighty HEDT ones like Intel Xeon and AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro. It’s designed to compete with top-end, big, “pure” air coolers from the likes of Noctua. —J.A.B.

Best New DIY Ecosystem

Cooler Master Mythril Open-Loop Series

(Credit: John Burek)

Mythril is Cooler Master’s ecosystem of a la carte liquid-cooling components, made to allow for easy, soup-to-nuts custom loop projects, fed by a variety of connectors, elbows, and distribution plates. What makes it extra-special, though, is the option to use square acrylic tubing, a departure from the usual round hoses or tubes.

(Credit: John Burek)

Specially designed fittings allow you to easily connect and disconnect these square tubes (you can’t screw in a square, of course!), and Cooler Master will sell a special tool for angle-bending square tubing. The lineup will also include a variety of colored coolants. —J.A.B.

Best Sustainable PC DIY Product

In Win POC One

(Credit: John Burek)

Think of the cardboard, the container volume, and the fuel required to ship what’s essentially an empty box (which is to say, a PC case) across oceans. In Win has a clever solution for reducing all that: a foldable PC case. The company showed off its original POC case last year; it was a case that shipped in something resembling a pizza box, with sheets of metal that were bendable, origami-style, into a lightweight Mini-ITX chassis.

(Credit: John Burek)

Consider the new POC One (shown as a prototype at Computex 2023, and now preparing to ship) a premium version of the original. All-aluminum styling and rubber silicone hinges allow In Win to ship this Mini-ITX case packed flat. It’s easy to fold it into shape and attach its included pop-down acrylic panel to the front face. The price will likely be in the low $200s, and the POC One will come in black or silver. —J.A.B.