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The big picture: If you've ever looked at an AI chatbot interface on your screen and thought "what if this had a body of its own, and that body resembled a box, and the box looked like a PC?" then people would probably think something's wrong with you. But for those eccentric few, MSI has the perfect desktop.
The company showed off its bold new MEG Vision X AI PC concept at IFA 2024 in Berlin, which along with packing the latest hardware, also features a huge vertical touchscreen you can use to talk to an AI assistant.
PCWorld's Michael Crider, who ran into this computer at the event, aptly describes it as "a desktop PC that's truly thicc." At first glance, the MEG Vision X does look like some freakishly oversized gaming PC that also houses a massive front panel. While PCs with displays aren't a new concept, MSI is marketing it as a "Human Machine Interface" for its new AI Engine, allowing you to chat with an AI assistant without having to pull up a separate app or website.
As for what you will be chatting with this AI assistant about, MSI says it can search through documents in your local file folders to analyze and summarize content, answering questions based on that data. It can also be used to generate high-quality images through "MSI Artist x MSI Chat." The company touts the security benefits too, since the AI runs locally without having to upload any private info to the cloud.
In addition to the AI chat features, MSI is positioning the MEG Vision X as an optimized gaming desktop thanks to the AI Engine's intelligent detection capabilities. It can automatically adjust hardware settings on the fly based on what games you're playing to ensure peak performance.
Speaking of performance, that bulked-up body packs either AMD Ryzen 9000 or Intel Arrow Lake flagship processors along with your choice of powerful discrete Nvidia or AMD graphics.
It's worth mentioning that the Vision X was first unveiled at Computex in early June. Back then, the company also revealed that the big front panel could pull double duty as a traditional gaming command center, displaying system stats, temperatures, and RGB lighting controls. So even if you're not feeling particularly chatty, it should come in handy while gaming or just keeping tabs on the vitals.
Unfortunately, since the MEG Vision X AI continues to just be a preview, MSI isn't sharing any pricing or final specs yet. But you can expect it to command a premium price tag whenever it eventually hits the market later this year.
MSI also showed off some fresh monitor and laptop models at IFA. The MEG 31URX is a 32-inch OLED gaming monitor that can sync its rear LED lights to match the on-screen colors using some "AI Sky Sight" tech. On the laptop front, MSI is refreshing its Summit, Prestige, Stealth, and Creator lineups with the latest processors and now obligatory "AI" branding. The standouts include the sleek Stealth A16 gaming laptop packing a beefy AMD Ryzen 9 HX chip and RTX 4070 graphics into a 0.79-inch chassis.
Image credit: PCWorld