Asus built a case with vertical expansion slots to show off your graphics card

It seems Asus is increasingly interested in computer cases these days and is making a spirited run at the product category, including some designed to show off the best graphics cards. Its newest model—and only its second standalone case in over a decade—is the ROG Strix Helios that was teased at CES. It now has a product page.

Asus classifies the ROG Strix Helios as a mid-tower. It has 10 expansion slots, though two of them sit vertically so you can display your graphics card in the same orientation. It's not clear if Asus will bundle a PCIe riser cable or not.

For storage, there are four internal 2.5-inch drive bays, and two more that can accommodate both 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch drives.

The case comes with three 140mm fans in the front and another one in the rear. There's room for two more up top, or three 120mm fans if you prefer. If you're going the liquid cooling route, you can fit up to a 420mm radiator up front, up to a 360mm radiator up top, and up to a 140mm radiator in the rear.

It will be interesting to see how seriously Asus takes the case market going forward. Up to this point, its efforts in this area have been sporadic. In November, it launched the rugged TUF Gaming GT501, and prior to that you have to go all the way back to 2005, when it released the Ventoo 3600 (that one still gives us nightmares).

Asus has also offered custom cases as part of its prebuilt systems, and collaborated with Lian Li on the "ROG Certified" PC-011WGX, essentially a PC-011 with ROG styling.

Where Asus goes from here is anyone's guess. As for the ROG Strix Helios, the company has not yet announced a price or said when it will be available to buy.

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).