CES 2024 | MSI debuts all-new Vision gaming PC alongside refreshed Aegis and Codex with high-airflow designs and AI integration

Pre-built gaming desktops provide users with the all the upgradeability, customisability, and power of a desktop without the hassle of having to build the PC. At CES 2024, MSI revealed the updated versions of its existing Aegis and Codex desktops featuring Intel's 14th Gen Core processors. The brand also introduced the Vision RS desktop, built in the high-end MSI MEG MAESTRO 700L PZ chassis also revealed at CES.

The new kid on the block, and the most interesting of the lot, is the MSI Vision RS desktop. Intended as a showcase PC, the Vision RS will be built on the MSI MEG MAESTRO 700L PZ case, meaning it will feature a motherboard with MSI's Back-connect design. This design eliminates cable clutter by moving all of the cable connections to the back of the motherboard and placing cutouts in the case for cable pass-through.

The Vision RS desktop will be equipped with Intel's 14th Gen processors, with up to an Intel Core i9-14900K paired with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090. Although MSI hasn't announced pricing just yet, the MEG MAESTRO 700L PZ is a $419 case, and the system is equipped with flagship hardware, so it wouldn't be surprising to see this pre-built also cost more than a pretty penny.

MSI's Aegis RS and Codex R desktops are the company's more mainstream pre-builts, with more sensible hardware options and less expensive cases. Of the two, the Aegis RS is the more premium, with hardware options ranging up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080, while the Codex R tops out at an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti. MSI bills the Aegis RS as a do-it-all machine, capable of running just about anything from AAA games to productivity and creative workloads. The Codex R, with its more modest hardware, seems to target mostly e-sports gamers, although, as we found in our testing of the RTX 4060 Ti, it is perfectly capable of running almost anything at playable frame rates.

One thing all of MSI's new and refreshed gaming desktops have in common is that they will all have MSI's AI Engine pre-installed. This AI suite is supposed to help tune your PC's performance and settings in a task-dependent manner, switching between options for gaming, creative tasks, productivity, and content consumption. MSI claims it will be able to automatically adjust sound, lighting, performance, and visual settings when it detects certain applications or usage situations.

Further, MSI will also ship the desktops with an AI image generator tool, called AI-Artist, based on Stable Diffusion. MSI says that AI-Artist generates Adobe Photoshop files for easy editing, but these images will likely still just be flat, layerless images, making the difference somewhat meaningless.

If you're not into desktops, the MSI Katana 17 Gaming Laptop with 13th Gen Intel Core i7, GeForce RTX 4060 and 17.3" 144Hz FHD Display is available on Amazon.