TheRetroArcade
Veteran
Posts: 11,141
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
AMD Ryzen 9800X3D and Nvidia RTX 5080 thrown in, too, just because.
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RGB lighting? Storm-trooper-white styling? Real wood accents? Fuggedabowdit. What you really need to stand out in today's crowded custom PC market is heat-reactive titanium-alloy cherry blossoms that unfurl as your CPU and GPU temps climb. Yes, really.
I give you the Cherry Bloom from Aussie PC maker Aftershock, a custom PC you can actually order today. To quote the company: "Inside the system, 70 handcrafted cherry blossoms made from a special heat-reactive titanium alloy open as the PC comes alive, turning power, temperature, lighting, and performance into a living showcase."
It's a bit of a sidenote, but the rest of the specs involve an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, Nvidia RTX 5080 graphics, a 2 TB NVME drive from Lexar and 64 GB or memory. All told, you're looking at a retail price of $19,995 Australian dollars.
That works out at a sniff over $14,000 in USD and about £10,000 in old money. That's a hill of cash, obviously. Okay, an RTX 5080 is about $1,500 alone these days, high performance DDR5 in that capacity is probably getting on for $1,500, the 2 TB Lexar SSD is nigh on $500, likewise the 9800X3D CPU.
But even throwing in some fancy liquid cooling complete with a full curved display on the CPU block, a 1,300 W PSU and the APNX V2 White case (which provides wrap-around glass on three sides to ensure optimal viewing of the cherry blossom sculpture), you're at, what, about $8k for the titanium animated flowers? Still, at least those flowers should be reliable.
After all, they don't use motors. Instead, the movement is a function of heat generated by the system components being conducted through the metal petals. Shut down and as the heat is dissipated, the petals will curl up, again.
It's a pretty neat idea, even if the resulting banzai-tree-style aesthetic may not exactly be an obvious choice for most gamers. And I think once you're at $14,000 for this configuration, you way as well pile another $5-8k on top and stick in an RTX 5090.
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But who am I to judge what you spend the thick end of $15,000 on? In the end, I suppose it's nice to know that the cost of living clearly doesn't apply to everyone. And, heck, this Cherry Blossom PC is only a little more expensive than the $18,000 AUD Medusa rig Aftershock built a few years back.
1. Best gaming laptop: Razer Blade 16
2. Best gaming PC: HP Omen 35L
3. Best handheld gaming PC: Asus ROG Xbox Ally X
4. Best mini PC: Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT
5. Best VR headset: Meta Quest 3
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Jeremy has been writing about technology and PCs since the 90nm Netburst era (Google it!) and enjoys nothing more than a serious dissertation on the finer points of monitor input lag and overshoot followed by a forensic examination of advanced lithography. Or maybe he just likes machines that go “ping!” He also has a thing for tennis and cars.
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Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
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When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
RGB lighting? Storm-trooper-white styling? Real wood accents? Fuggedabowdit. What you really need to stand out in today's crowded custom PC market is heat-reactive titanium-alloy cherry blossoms that unfurl as your CPU and GPU temps climb. Yes, really.
I give you the Cherry Bloom from Aussie PC maker Aftershock, a custom PC you can actually order today. To quote the company: "Inside the system, 70 handcrafted cherry blossoms made from a special heat-reactive titanium alloy open as the PC comes alive, turning power, temperature, lighting, and performance into a living showcase."
It's a bit of a sidenote, but the rest of the specs involve an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, Nvidia RTX 5080 graphics, a 2 TB NVME drive from Lexar and 64 GB or memory. All told, you're looking at a retail price of $19,995 Australian dollars.
That works out at a sniff over $14,000 in USD and about £10,000 in old money. That's a hill of cash, obviously. Okay, an RTX 5080 is about $1,500 alone these days, high performance DDR5 in that capacity is probably getting on for $1,500, the 2 TB Lexar SSD is nigh on $500, likewise the 9800X3D CPU.
But even throwing in some fancy liquid cooling complete with a full curved display on the CPU block, a 1,300 W PSU and the APNX V2 White case (which provides wrap-around glass on three sides to ensure optimal viewing of the cherry blossom sculpture), you're at, what, about $8k for the titanium animated flowers? Still, at least those flowers should be reliable.
After all, they don't use motors. Instead, the movement is a function of heat generated by the system components being conducted through the metal petals. Shut down and as the heat is dissipated, the petals will curl up, again.
It's a pretty neat idea, even if the resulting banzai-tree-style aesthetic may not exactly be an obvious choice for most gamers. And I think once you're at $14,000 for this configuration, you way as well pile another $5-8k on top and stick in an RTX 5090.
The PC Gamer Circuit Breaker newsletter breaks down the latest PC gaming tech, and finds you the best deals on the best products
But who am I to judge what you spend the thick end of $15,000 on? In the end, I suppose it's nice to know that the cost of living clearly doesn't apply to everyone. And, heck, this Cherry Blossom PC is only a little more expensive than the $18,000 AUD Medusa rig Aftershock built a few years back.
1. Best gaming laptop: Razer Blade 16
2. Best gaming PC: HP Omen 35L
3. Best handheld gaming PC: Asus ROG Xbox Ally X
4. Best mini PC: Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT
5. Best VR headset: Meta Quest 3
👉Check out our list of guides👈
Jeremy has been writing about technology and PCs since the 90nm Netburst era (Google it!) and enjoys nothing more than a serious dissertation on the finer points of monitor input lag and overshoot followed by a forensic examination of advanced lithography. Or maybe he just likes machines that go “ping!” He also has a thing for tennis and cars.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?