The monstrous, momentous PC hardware of Computex 2019

CES is where the technology industry goes to dream. Computex, in Taipei, Taiwan, is where things get real ahead of the crucial back-to-school and holiday seasons. At this year’s show, some of the PC’s most ambitious dreams are finally becoming tangible.

This was a Computex to remember. AMD flexed its hard-earned 7nm muscle, beating both Intel and Nvidia to the punch with cutting-edge Ryzen and Radeon chips. But those giants pushed back hard, rolling out new laptop initiatives—and Intel’s long-delayed 10nm processors.

Chipmakers weren’t the only companies strutting their stuff. Computer makers showed off all sorts of wild new gear, from wood-clad laptops to funky multi-screen notebooks to a radical new vision for desktops that move beyond the boring-old ATX form factor. And did we mention PCIe 4.0 is a thing now?

Buckle up, and be sure to hit those links throughout to learn more about each topic.

1. AMD’S CUTTING-EDGE RYZEN ONSLAUGHT

with a bang, revealing its hotly anticipated Ryzen 3000-series processors—culminating in a monstrous 12-core, $500 chip that marks the debut of the Ryzen