CES 2024 closed its doors last Friday, but we had a great time, and were able to discover a lot of new products. Today, we bring you our top discoveries from the show. This is not a sponsored article, but simply a look back at the products that caught our eye the most at the show… From what we were able to cover.
Best CPU: Ryzen 7 8700G, the return of the APU!
On the CPU front, our top picks are the Ryzen 7 8700G: with this chip, AMD finally signals the return of the APU. As a reminder, the company hasn’t released anything new since the Ryzen 5000G… Two years ago.
In short, with the 8700G, AMD returns to the sector with a brand-new APU equipped with eight Zen 4 cores. The iGPU is not to be outdone, with a RADEON 780M containing a total of 12 compute units. This represents 768 stream processors.
In short, coupled with DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0, we’ll have enough to build multimedia and light gaming systems that aren’t too shabby!
Best GPU: MSI Expert
When it comes to GPUs, there’s one graphics card series that particularly caught our eye: the new Expert range from MSI. With the latter, the brand offers us a brand-new line of cards based on a cooling system similar to that of NVIDIA’s Founders.
Best Motherboard: the ASUS BTF series!
ASUS’s BTF project has been around for some time now, offering a series of motherboards with hidden connectors. The interest of the system lies in the cabling, which hides unsightly cables. Where ASUS stands out is on the graphics card power supply, which passes directly through the motherboard.
In short, the series is expanding to include high-end motherboards such as the ROG Maximus Z790 Hero BTF, a true Republic of Gamers board!
Best Cooling: EK Direct Die & XPG Hybrid Cooler!
When it comes to CPU cooling, we’ve seen quite a bit, from Cooler Master’s custom square watercooling components to EKWB’s AIO Direct Die and XPG’s Hybrid Cooler.
As for EKWB’s Direct Die kit, we’re really getting into the nitty-gritty here, with original cooling that’s off the beaten track. The kit is designed to cool your CPU ‘s silicon directly, while offering superior performance to a custom loop, according to the Slovenian brand. In short, this is serious business!
Best Case: ASUS ProArt PA602!
As you may have noticed, there was a lot of new stuff at the show, from DeepCool to XPG. However, if there’s one case that really stood out for us, it’s the ProArt PA602 from ASUS. It’s an impressive case in terms of its format, but above all, it’s packed with features such as a dust cover for the front panel, transport wheels and more. Clearly, a banger!
Best PSU: Cooler Master X Silence 1100W!
This time, we were most impressed by Cooler Master’s power supply stand. The brand was exhibiting a fully passive 1100W block. Clearly, this is impressive, enabling you to power an RTX 4090 and a large Core i or Ryzen without a fan, and without any additional noise. To achieve this level of power, Cooler Master innovated by using the casing as a heatsink. You can find our interview with Cooler Master CEO Jimmy Sha at this address.
Best Laptop: ASUS Zenbook Duo, one laptop, two screens!
Our favorite screen is the ZenBook Duo, an ultra-portable machine with… two screens! Yes, it may seem anecdotal, or a bit of a whim, but when you’re on the move a lot for work, a laptop is sometimes indispensable. Nevertheless, having a dual-screen configuration while having a mobile machine is a definite comfort. And that’s exactly what ASUS is responding to with this machine. Our video on this beauty is coming up shortly.
Best Monitor: MSI Meg 321URX QD-OLED, a screen doped with AI!
Did you know that AI was going to be everywhere? The proof is in the form of the MSI Meg 321URX QD-OLED, a new ultra-high-end display! The latter benefits from AI-related functionalities such as on-screen enemy position indicators, or an LED bar showing your health level or other status by recognizing what’s displayed.
What’s more, the screen boasts some very impressive features: 31.5″ QD-OLED panel, UHD resolution, 360 Hz frequency and 0.03 ms gray-to-gray latency – clearly, it’s got what it takes! There’s also DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification and 99% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage. There’s no doubt that the bill will be doubling!
