Best of Computex 2025: More hardware than hype

Each spring, most leading PC hardware vendors gather in Taiwan for Computex, a huge showcase of everything from giant laptops to mini PCs, monitors, cooling, storage, CPUs and graphics cards. If you love PCs like we do, this show is the most important one of the year.

This year’s expo was dubbed “AI Next,” because every computer and component has to at least claim to benefit from AI. However, many of the most innovative products were iterating on tried-and-true formulas that are either unrelated to or tangentially related to the training and inference features we commonly associate with AI.

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The new Threadripper 9000 series drops into the same sTR5 motherboard platforms as the previous-gen Threadripper processors, making upgrades as simple as a BIOS update. The new processors deliver up to 22% more performance in threaded workloads than their predecessors. AMD does expect a few motherboard refreshes as part of the launch, but most vendors will stick with their existing platforms. That’s a win for upgraders, especially given that all existing sTR5 CPU coolers will also be compatible.

Now that Nvidia has dropped its mid-range level cards, AMD used Computex as a stage to set up its competitors. AMD's Radeon RX 9060 XT comes out in a few short weeks, and we're very interested to see how it compares to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti.

The card starts at $299 for an 8GB version and $349 for a 16GB model, though that assumes you'll be able to find them at retail price (a caveat we're seeing a lot with GPUs lately).

The 9060 XT will use AMD's new Navi 44 architecture with 32 Compute Units (CUs), and it boasts a 3,130 MHz boost clock, even higher than the Radeon RX 9070 series. In some charts, AMD had the 9060 XT beating the 5060 Ti, though it compared a 16GB AMD card to an 8GB Nvidia card. That being said, the 16GB 9060 XT's $349 starting price does put it on better price footing.

We're hoping this card will deliver in the value segment where it's desperately needed.

The Phison E28 delivers huge efficiency gains by using a smaller 6nm process node that cuts power consumption dramatically. At Computex 2025, Phison demoed its new controller handily beating the competing SMI 2508 in power consumption during nearly every type of operation. That equates to lower heat generation, meaning these SSDs won’t require bulky coolers, and will also help PCIe 5.0 SSDs finally make their way into mainstream OEM laptops.

At 3.5 pounds and 0.68 inches thick, with a snazzy haptic touchpad and a pretty, 14.5-inch 2880 x 1800 OLED screen, Acer’s Predator Triton 14 AI looks to take on the best of what Razer has to offer, while appealing to both gamers and creators on the go.

It also has an oddball pairing of a lower-power Lunar Lake Core Ultra 9 288V CPU with RTX 5070 graphics. Time (and testing) will tell how this affects frame rates. But it also might mean significantly better battery life for those times when you aren’t gaming. I look forward to getting this ultraportable gamer in for testing to see how it compares to the also-new Razer Blade 14.

I saw dozens of cases at Computex, but Corsair’s Air 5400 stands out because it combines the popular curved glass front and side panels with a fair bit of innovations and firsts. Rather than churning out another dual-chamber chassis, Corsair added a third chamber, isolating the 360 mm radiator by basically putting it outside the rest of the case, pulling in air from the front and venting it out the side.

To cool the GPU and other components, a duct funnels the bottom intake (provided by a trio of reverse-blade fans) directly over the motherboard area, while heat gets exhausted out of the top. And back-connector motherboards are supported for the cleanest interior possible.

The Air 5400 is also the first case I’ve seen with three USB-C ports on the top panel. But while I appreciate the more modern move here, I still would have preferred at least one USB-A port.

Look, I’m not sure there’s a huge market for a high-end, split keyboard for gamers. But I have definitely had moments playing FPS and RTS titles where I only needed half the keyboard and the other was cramping my mouse game.

For those who have that feeling often, or who also prefer a split layout for more comfortable typing, Asus has delivered the Falcata. It features pre-lubed HFX V2 magnetic switches that feel smooth, and the whole keyboard feels built like a tank – albeit one that has been split down the middle and held together by a braided USB-C cable.

In a climate where everything feels like it’s lurching toward unaffordability, I was shocked when Cooler Master told me that all of its Elite PC case lineup is expected to sell for less than $100, and that at least one of the curved glass models should sell for just $70. That doesn’t include tariffs, though, so there’s a good chance the prices will be at least somewhat higher in the U.S.

But even if you tack on an extra $20 or so, these still look to be some nice-looking mainstream cases that would have cost significantly more a couple of years ago. Sure, you might not be able to afford a GPU, and inflation is still inflicting pain on our wallets elsewhere. But it’s nice to know we can look forward to some decent sub-$100 PC cases later this year from Cooler Master.

Not to be outdone by anyone on the affordable case front, Lian Li’s V200 is somehow expected to sell for $110, complete with two glass panels, touch controls on the front for power and fan speeds, and a big 8.8-inch screen embedded in the side of the bottom chamber. That screen will also be sold separately – for $85. So if you really want to feel like the V200 is a bargain, think about it like you’re buying the screen and getting the rest of the case for $25.

Again, I would expect this case to sell for at least a little more when it comes to the U.S., but even for $130, this case seems like a bargain when Corsair wants to charge $249 for its case screen alone.

Granted, Corsair’s screen is much larger and supports touch input, but it’s hard not to be impressed by a pretty $110 PC case with a big screen on the side and other fancy features. Lian Li even angled the bottom intake area so the fans do a better job of blowing cool air at your GPU while also giving you a better look at the RGB in your fans.

Read more: Lian Li is replacing mesh front panels with tempered glass on its new Lancool cases

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Avram Piltch is Managing Editor: Special Projects. When he's not playing with the latest gadgets at work or putting on VR helmets at trade shows, you'll find him rooting his phone, taking apart his PC, or coding plugins. With his technical knowledge and passion for testing, Avram developed many real-world benchmarks, including our laptop battery test.

Best of Computex 2025: More hardware than hype

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 9000 Series

AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT

Phison E28 SSD controller

Asus ProArt RTX 5080

Crucial T710 SSD

Predator Triton 14 AI

Corsair Air 5400

SilverStone FLP02

Seasonic Prime Power Supplies

Asus ROG Falcata

Cooler Master Elite case line

Lian Li V200

MSI X50 Gaming Monitor

Asus ROG Strix Ace XG248QSG Monitor

Thermaltake MineCube 360 Ultra ARGB AIO

V-Color Xfinity Manta DDR5 RAM