X50

The Y series had so many iconic features that copycats were everywhere, even when they didn't take the whole formula. Customers knew the Y series so well that I felt the right move was to pivot. We could only refine so much before the refinement went beyond what the market could stay excited about.

The Y70 had crossed over to people who had never owned a gaming PC. Coming out of COVID, women and teenagers were building incredible PCs and theming them to their rooms. Our strawberry milk and taro milk colorways exploded. I felt the market was correcting for the masculine taste that had dominated PCs since the beginning (black, tactical, powerful) and moving toward fun, soft and easy. So I started to dream about what that case would look like.

I kept going back to what we'd explored on the Z90: round corners, unbroken expansive surfaces, and metal. If we could design something that looked round and soft but was physically strong with excellent performance, we could build a coalition of divergent desires into an entirely new market. The Y series had always been designed in white and black, because it depended on contrast. I designed the X50 around purple, because purple is gender agnostic. It was part of a bigger push, along with the FA12 fans, for the many people who wanted color but not RGB.

The outside came together early: a mid-tower with a full metal mesh front and curved glass that makes the case feel open even when it's closed. I'd wanted louvered vents for a long time. Stamp the steel, then twist each blade, and you get the best balance of strength and airflow. Thanks to the Y series' success, the factory finally figured out how to do it in mass production. I put the power supply at the top to prioritize GPU cooling, and wrapped it in a heavy, deep-drawn piece of curved steel that the glass hugs. The front holds up to 10 fans on an adjustable mount, and the interior carries the same round, soft feeling instead of stopping at the outside.

The hardest part was the front panel. Round compound corners are very hard in steel and almost impossible with mesh around the curve. We experimented with different processes and zinc mixtures in the steel, and the factory even tried welding. Then the team asked if we could just make the whole thing mesh. I said yes, absolutely. That let us form it on a slower hydraulic press, and we had the magic we set out to find.

I consider the X50 my opus: the anti-Y series, built for a market at peak Y-series saturation.