How to build a BTF PC that tucks the wires and cables out of sight

It’s time to say goodbye to wires stretched across the interior of your chassis. Get ready to give a not-so-fond farewell to the power cable dangling off the side of your graphics card. To all the USB header cables, wires for power and reset buttons, and beefy 24-pin motherboard power cables: it’s been real, but we’re tired of looking at you. The future of PC building is clean, tidy, and simple. Our BTF ecosystem of PC DIY components makes it possible to build a PC that tucks unsightly cables out of sight, and these parts are available today.

BTF stands for Back-To-the-Future, and it’s built on paradigm shift for constructing PCs. With BTF motherboards, components attach to the front, while cables plug into the back. This arrangement allows you to route your cables completely out of sight, leaving you with a fantastically clean-looking build.

Only one question remains: which BTF components are best for your next PC? Here, we’ll introduce you to our full lineup of options and help you find the ones that best fit your needs and budget. And if you act fast, you can even win a package of products from the BTF ecosystem by participating in our “The Ultimate Simplicity” giveaway campaign, running from May 27th, 2024 to June 30th, 2024. Read on for more details.

BTF vs. Advanced BTF: What’s the difference?

Our ecosystem of BTF components gives you plenty of options as you’re planning a hidden-connector build. With the combination of a BTF chassis and a BTF motherboard, you can tuck away nearly all the cables that connect directly to the motherboard, including the cables that supply power to your motherboard, connect 2.5-inch SATA drives, hook up your case fans, and connect your front-panel buttons and I/O.

Yet that’s not quite all the cables in a modern PC build equipped with a powerful graphics card. GPUs often require more power than the PCIe x16 slot can supply, so they require you to connect a PCIe power cable. For users that would prefer to hide that wire as well, we offer the Advanced BTF approach. Advanced BTF motherboards include a graphics card high-power slot ready to supply all the power that a BTF graphics card needs. You’ll need a graphics card with a graphics card high-power (GC-HPWR) gold finger in order to build an Advanced BTF PC.

Motherboard and chassis options for your BTF PC

The BTF ecosystem of PC components ranges from affordable options well within the reach of most builders to cutting-edge components designed for PC enthusiasts ready to push all boundaries. Our most budget-friendly BTF motherboards are the TUF Gaming B760M-BTF WiFi and TUF Gaming B760M-BTF WiFi D4, available in select countries.

These B-series motherboards deliver incredible value for any builder who desires the effortless performance of a 14th Gen Intel Core CPU, but doesn’t intend to take advantage of CPU overclocking. While they don’t go toe-to-toe with our high-end Z790 options, these microATX motherboards might surprise you with their rich feature set. They offer a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot that’s ready for the best graphics cards of today and tomorrow. A trio of onboard PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots make it easy to build a spacious and speedy storage array, and you’ll get fast networking with WiFi 6 and a 2.5Gb Ethernet port.

Since the TUF Gaming B760M-BTF WiFi and TUF Gaming B760M-BTF WiFi D4 hide all their connectors on the underside of motherboard, they offer a strikingly clean aesthetic. Their clean lines, inky black color scheme, and understated style make them an easy fit with a wide range of components.

A BTF motherboard does require a BTF chassis with cutouts in the motherboard tray that allow you to access the connectors. We have several cases for you to consider, and we’ve partnered with many chassis manufacturers to give you even more options. Our most affordable model is the ASUS A21 case.

This wallet-friendly microATX chassis is ready for BTF motherboards right out of the box. With its support for 360mm radiators, graphics cards up to 380mm in length, and CPU air coolers up to 165mm in height, you’ll get broad compatibility with today’s PC hardware. Its mesh front panel provides excellent airflow, and you’ll have ample space for cable management with its 33mm-wide compartment behind the motherboard. The ASUS A21 is available in black or white, and it includes color-matching cables for a tidy look — not that many people are going to ever see your cables in a BTF build.

Advanced BTF courtesy of TUF Gaming

TUF Gaming also gives you the components you need to construct an Advanced BTF build that goes the extra step to hide the PCIe power cables for your graphics card. It starts with a motherboard equipped with the necessary graphics card high-power slot: the TUF Gaming Z790-BTF WiFi.

This fully loaded board leans into a classy white aesthetic that’s a natural fit with the visual themes of BTF. With an enhanced power solution with 16+1+1 power stages, a six-layer PCB, ProCool sockets, alloy chokes, and durable capacitors for stable power delivery, it’s more than ready for your 14th Gen Intel Core CPU. And that’s on top of WiFi 7 support, a 2.5Gb Ethernet port, an onboard USB 20Gbps Type-C port, and a total of four PCIe M.2 slots.

Your Advanced BTF build needs a GPU that’s ready to receive its power through the graphics card high-power slot. The TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER BTF White Edition is your ticket to the hidden-GPU-power-cable party with its graphics card high-power (GC-HPWR) gold finger. What’s more, it features a snowy white style that perfectly complements the TUF Gaming Z790-BTF WiFi.

Otherwise, it’s the TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER that you know and love. It delivers a high-end 1440p gaming experience, and its deep 16GB pool of VRAM makes it well-equipped to handle the VRAM-hungry games that we’re starting to see in the gaming market. A generously oversized heatsink, a trio of Axial-tech fans, and a vented backplate work together to keep temperatures and fan noise low.

The eye-catching white surfaces of the TUF Gaming Z790-BTF WiFi and TUF Gaming GeFore RTX 4070 Ti SUPER BTF White Edition just might have you thinking about a color-matching PC case. For you, we offer the TUF Gaming GT302 ARGB chassis.

Prepped and ready for great out-of-the-box cooling, equipped for wide compatibility with high-performance parts, and thoughtfully constructed inside and out for an easy PC DIY experience, the GT302 ARGB resets expectations for a mainstream case. On top of all that, it includes the motherboard tray cutouts you need to access the connectors on a BTF motherboard.

Dominant power and show-stopping style with an ROG Advanced BTF build

Our most powerful and cutting-edge BTF components come from none other than our ROG lineup. With these parts serving as the foundation for your build, you’ll have more performance, more versatility, and more bold style — all in a super-clean Advanced BTF build.

The first BTF motherboard from ROG is none other than the ROG Maximus Z790 Hero BTF. This cutting-edge board is the perfect partner for a high-end 14^th Gen Intel Core CPU thanks to its beefy VRM featuring 20+1+2 power stages. Thick VRM heatsinks keep this vital circuitry cool under pressure.  Across its impressive spec sheet, you’ll find an impeccable set of features: DDR5 support, a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, a whopping 5 onboard M.2 slots, one wired for PCIe 5.0, dual onboard Thunderbolt 4 ports, WiFi 7, and more.

The high-end ROG Maximus Z790 Hero BTF motherboard deserves an equally mighty partner in crime. So when we selected the first graphics card to represent ROG on the BTF front, we went straight to the top. The ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 BTF Edition graphics card takes our highest-performance ROG Strix GPU and gives it even cleaner aesthetics by swapping out the traditional 16-in external power connectors for a graphics card high-power (GC-HPWR) gold finger.

Without the power cable hanging off the side — and without any follow-up worries about whether you’ve firmly and completely inserted that connector — you’ll be better able to appreciate everything this potent graphics card has to offer. Built with one of the finest GPU cooling solutions we’ve ever designed, this large-and-in-charge card stays cool and quiet with its massive heatsink, scaled-up Axial-tech fans, and patented vapor chamber. The diecast shroud, frame, and backplate add rigidity and are vented to maximize airflow and heat dissipation.

Let’s wrap up your ROG Advanced BTF build in a chassis that’s worthy of the moment. A special edition of our award-winning chassis, the ROG Hyperion GR701 BTF Edition takes the original’s premium feature set and adds motherboard tray cutouts perfectly positioned for you to access the connectors of your BTF motherboard.

Like the original, it boasts outstanding cooling performance with its dual 420mm radiator support, four 140mm fans, and a built-in fan hub. It offers plenty of elbow room for even the beefiest of graphics cards, and it aids your build process with a 34mm-deep cable management chamber with a 46mm-wide routing channel.

Picking a power supply for your BTF build

Let’s talk about power supplies. Even though BTF motherboards change many things about the process of building a PC, they’re compatible with standard power supplies, so you do have a full market of options. That said, we think you’ll have a more seamless building experience when you use an ASUS power supply for your BTF build. ROG and TUF Gaming power supplies are equipped with flexible embossed power cables that make cable routing easier. Furthermore, all our BTF components have undergone stricter validation tests with our power supplies to ensure the best compatibility, stability, and performance.

We offer a wide range of power supply options for you to consider from our ROG, TUF Gaming, and Prime product families so that you can get a high-quality option that fits your needs and budget. To learn the differences between each series and get an easy breakdown of how to pick a PSU, click here.

If you’d prefer a quick recommendation instead, we’ll point you to one of our high-wattage ROG Thor PSUs for an ROG BTF build, like the ROG Thor 1000W Platinum II. For your TUF Gaming BTF build featuring the TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super BTF White Edition, our TUF Gaming Gold series offers complementary style and battle-proven durability at a great price. The TUF Gaming 750W Gold might be the perfect choice.

Even more chassis options from the BTF Alliance

As proud as we are of the look and feel of the ROG Hyperion BTF and TUF Gaming GT302, we know that builders like to have a full menu of options as they’re picking out a chassis for their next PC. That’s why we’ve partnered with many of the biggest names in the PC case industry to create the BTF Alliance. Through this partnership, you’ll have your choice from a wide range of PC cases that are fully compatible with our BTF motherboards. Options from Aerocool, be quiet!, Cooler Master, Corsair, DIY APE, InWin, Lian Li, Phanteks, Silverstone, and Thermaltake are all in the works, and many are available right now.

If you’d like a panoramic view of your gear and a dual-chamber layout, check out the Corsair 6500X.

Cooler Master has added the MasterBox 600 to its popular MasterBox lineup, and on top of BTF motherboard support it offers optimized airflow, versatile cooling options, and two color options.

The InWin F5 stands out from the pack with striking style and great out-of-the-box cooling, and the InWin D5 offers a fresh take on the classic black PC chassis.

You’ll have a chance to win one of these BTF chassis options from our partners through our “The Ultimate Simplicity” giveaway campaign.

Build a new PC with the ultimate simplicity through this exclusive giveaway

Our BTF ecosystem of motherboards, graphics cards, and PC cases ushers in a new era of PC building. The interior of your PC no longer needs to include a visible tangle of cables and wires stretching every which way. With BTF components, you can keep them tucked out of sight from the start of your building process.  And through our partnership with a wide variety of PC chassis manufacturers, you have a wealth of options for picking parts for your custom BTF PC build.

To help you get started on your BTF setup, we’re running an exclusive giveaway from May 27^th, 2024 to June 30^th, 2024. The prize list is stacked from top to bottom: one lucky winner will take home the ROG Maximus Z790 Hero BTF and the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 BTF Edition, and another will take home the TUF Gaming Z790-BTF WiFi and the TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER BTF White Edition. Other prize winners will score a BTF chassis from ROG, TUF Gaming, Corsair, Cooler Master, or InWin and a BTF motherboard that’s a perfect aesthetic fit. And we have a stack of ROG Falchion RX Low Profile gaming keyboards, ROG Gladius III Wireless AimPoint gaming mice, and ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova gaming headphones that we’re ready to give out, as well.

This is a limited-time giveaway, so don’t wait to head over to the giveaway site for all the details on this exclusive opportunity.