Get ready for computers. We're still a week away from E3, but this week still has an exciting convention in Taiwan's Computex, our favorite place to see crazy PC case mods and loads of new hardware. In years past, Computex has served as the launching ground for new graphics cards and CPUs, but we're not expecting any huge announcements this year. But we'll still be scouring the show floor for the latest in motherboards, cases, and everything you can stick RGB LEDs on. Which is, uh, everything.
Here's what to expect (and what not to expect) from Computex 2018 throughout the week.
When is Computex 2018?
Dates: June 4 - June 9.
You'll be able to keep track of all our Computex coverage on this tag page.
What to expect
- A whole slew of new Asus ROG gear: We're visiting Asus' headquarters to get an early look at its full lineup of Republic of Gamers hardware.
- Cases from Phanteks, makers of some of the best PC cases, like the Enthoo Evolv.
- New cases and more from Corsair: Cases and RAM are Corsair's mainstays, and they always come to Computex in force.
- New Ryzen and Coffee Lake motherboards: Ryzen 2 is brand new, and that means a new generation of motherboards should be rolling out. Coffee Lake is more established, which will likely mean only a few new models, but likely some specialized mini-ITX and high-end ATX boards.
- Crazy case mods. Our favorite thing about Computex every year.
- New 802.11ax Wi-Fi: A new Wi-Fi standard that's just emerging this year. We expect a few routers to debut at Computex, but few devices (laptops, phones, etc.) will support the standard until 2019 or 2020.
- Way, way too much Blockchain. We're not going to talk about the Blockchain.
What not to expect
- Rumors have been swirling for months now that Nvidia will deliver its next generation graphics card in July or August of this year, and those summer months are coming up fast. The latest clue is that Nvidia will be discussing its next-generation video architecture at a conference in August. But we can confirm Nvidia doesn't have a major presence at Computex this year, so don't expect any news about the 1100 series (or whatever it's called) to come out of Computex.
- No big CPU launches from Intel or AMD will be coming this week, either. AMD just launched its latest Ryzen CPUs in the past two months, and Intel's next releases seem like they'll be arriving later this year. But hey, there are always new motherboards.
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