COMPUTEX 2016: Avalon Concept - The Future of DIY

The evolution of the PC has seen monotonous beige boxes turn into assorted sizes, shapes and colors. Even internally, aesthetics has become just as important as performance.  As time progressed, for the sake of simplicity, aesthetics and reduced overall package, one trend continued just as mobile phones have continued to grow bigger yet thinner - the departure of cables. ROG Avalon was designed to be the next step in evolution.

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Remember when assembling a PC meant managing a large collection of ribbon cables? It was a nightmare trying to perfect cable management with IDE (picture below, imagine your case filled with that!), floppy, RS232, parallel, gameport, and let's not forget PS/2, TV-out, CD-rom audio and all the power cables. No matter how good you were, it would still look like a lame effort by today's standards. If you are unfamiliar with any of these cables, consider yourself lucky because time can be better spent doing more important things (or fun things such as overclocking and actually playing games!).

Moving from a separate data cable and a power cable to a simplified socket, the M.2 SSD was a great leap forward by eliminating cables. Such a seemingly small step not only made the inside of your PC build simpler and neater, future generations of SSDs are already catered for since cables can eventually be the bottleneck in performance (hence memory is always right next to the processor). The elimination of cables can also make troubleshooting easier, yes once in a while the cable certainly does fail; a component which partially fails is far worse when you're trying to troubleshoot. 

The distinct advantage of having a desktop over an all-in-one or a laptop is undoubtedly the ability to upgrade and achieve superior cooling for overclocking. The implementation of Edge Connectors and daughterboards eliminated cables (not entirely, wide adoption can be faster if graphics cards do not have to conform exclusively), configured perfectly to allow upgrades to slide into place. ROG Avalon is the best of both worlds, the advantages of desktops, and at the same time the advantages of an all-in-one or laptop by making upgrades just as easy if not easier. This is a desktop anyone can complete.

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Upgradeability 

Being a compact build, as any builder can attest, getting your fingers (two at a time sometimes) into the case is tremendously challenging. Avalon provides enough expandability to ensure you have a serious gaming powerhouse with plenty of storage, while doing so is a cinch even in a case this size. All the key components an enthusiast would upgrade is upgradable, if not considering the expense of a whole new platform. The processor, memory and M.2 socket can be accessed through the top transparent compartment.

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  M.2 (bottom left) / CPU (Center / Memory (right)
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  Connected to IO

On the right is the cooling (liquid-cooling is also an option) compartment, and graphics card on the left. Avalon meets and exceeds the power and cooling requirements for the latest flagship graphics cards such as the ROG Strix GTX 1080.

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  PCIe Daughterboard
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  Ready for air-cooling
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  Ready for liquid-cooling

If you can operate a toaster, you can swap out SSDs - without getting into the case.

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  SATA without cables
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  Up to four SATA drives

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  Pop it in
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  Voila

You can also swap out the modular IO (VR / workstation / home theater) and the PSU (power supply unit) without opening the case. Depending on the purpose of the PC, the IO ports can be easily swapped out and are connected to the motherboard via PCIe. Since this is a concept, the ports will be revised to provide you flexibility with the latest and fastest ports available (an extra M.2 socket is possible). 

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  Modular IO  
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  Flexibility without the hassle

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  PSU with custom Edge Connector
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  Just slide the IO and PSU in!

Cooling

Avalon can be air-cooled or liquid-cooled, and if the latter - the processor and graphics card will be ready for better overclockability. As an ROG product it possesses the ROG spirit, so don't expect overclocking to be overlooked.

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  Air or liquid?
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  Air
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  Liquid

The Avalon is a premium desktop that'll look great wherever you put it. 

Whether this ROG concept sees the light of day is up to you! Let us know what you think and how you will be using the ROG Avalon.