Asus’ first production-ready cableless graphics card is now available for purchase in China. Known as the RTX 4070-O12G-BTF, the card features a hidden HPCE power connector that replaces the 8-pin/16-pin for supplying supplemental PCIe power to the card. Due to compatibility restrictions, Asus’ cabless 4070 can only be purchased in a bundle with either a compatible motherboard or with a motherboard and a compatible case.
The new RTX 4070 is part of Asus’ new “Back To Future” (BTF) product stack that prioritizes experimental designs that enhance system aesthetics above everything else. Part of Asus’ new design philosophy incorporates hidden power connectors that are completely hidden from the front of the system, thus promoting a cleaner and “more minimalist appearance.”
The RTX 4070’s full name is the Tianxuan TX Gaming-RTX4070-O12G-BTF. The card sports a big triple-fan cooler design and is painted in an Anime-inspired white and light blue color theme. Of course, the card’s party trick is the lack of supplementary power connectors on the side. Instead, it gets all of its supplementary power from a small HPCE power connector located right behind the PCie x16 slot that plugs into a reciprocating HPCE connector on the motherboard.
The RTX 4070 comes bundled with a Tianxuan TX B760-BTF motherboard, which supports Intel’s latest Alder Lake and Raptor Lake CPUs. The board shares the same Anime-inspired theme as the graphics card and features a 12+1 power delivery system as well as WiFi 6 support. The board also comes in a standard ATX form factor and features a black PCB, but most of it is covered by plastic, similar to Asus’ ROG motherboards. Like the RTX 4070, the B760-BTF features an HPCE connector behind the primary x16 slot for powering HPCE-compatible Asus graphics cards.
The card is available for purchase from one of Asus’ official online retail outlets in China, and it isn’t clear if or when the card will debut on North American shores. The RTX 4070 costs 5289 Yuan (~$727 USD) as a standalone item, but it can also be bought as a bundle with either a compatible motherboard or a compatible case plus the motherboard. The case is an Asus GT502 BTF chassis designed to work with Asus’ hidden EPS and 24-pin motherboard connectors installed at the back. The graphics card motherboard combo retails for 6998 Yuan (~$962 USD), while the full bundle featuring the GPU, motherboard, and case can be bought for 8297 Yuan (~$1141 USD).
It’s unknown if any of these Anime-inspired Asus BTF components will make their way to the United States or any market outside the Asian region. However, Asus has already demoed its hidden power connector designs in other BTF components using TUF-branded components, so we should products brandishing the HPCE power connector in other markets soon.