Thermaltake's new AIO cooler requires paid OpenAI subscription to generate custom backgrounds for $0.04 per prompt — "AI Forge" feature taps into OpenAI's platform and JiMeng
32 GB RAM costs $400 because of this.
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A few months ago, we covered Thermaltake's "AI Forge" feature for the first time, detailing how it can generate custom backgrounds for you based on AI prompts. At the time, we even highlighted how it must connect to the internet to use some diffusion model instead of running anything locally. Today, Thermaltake has finally given the feature a purpose with its new MAGCurve 360 Ultra ARGB Sync AIO, and it turns out that you do need a paid subscription to either OpenAI or JiMeng to create the images.
The cooler itself looks maximalist in the best ways possible. It's another entry in the line of L-shaped AIOs with curved OLED screens, a trend that the Tryx Panorama kicked off last year. Thermaltake's iteration uses a 6.67" AMOLED panel that wraps around the pump block, and features a resolution of 2240 x 1080, which puts it in the territory of a phone display. It's very sharp, but we don't have info on max brightness or refresh rate.
You need to use Thermaltake's TT RGB PLUS 3.0 software to customize this display, and there you'll find the option for AI Forge. Clicking on it will open up a new window where you can type out a prompt and an image will be generated using one of two available models: OpenAI's Dall-E 3 and JiMeng — both of which require their own setup.
There's an entire FAQs page that tells you how AI Forge works, where you'll also find the manual. For Dall-E, you need to have a paid OpenAI subscription, which you'll need to connect to the TT Plus software with an API key. Each image created with a prompt will cost roughly $0.04 based on OpenAI's pricing structure.
Thermaltake is kind enough to mention that if this is your first time using an OpenAI account (separate from a ChatGPT account), a minimum top-up of $5 is required using your credit card. That $5 can generate up to 125 images. On the other hand, JiMeng is free for the first 200 images, but costs $0.03 per image credit afterward. Either way, you're likely paying up if you want to use AI Forge in the long-term.


On the contrary, you can just use Gemini, ChatGPT, or even Grok to generate images for free, taking the downloaded JPEG and puting it in the TT Plus software manually. The built-in image generation gives you a static image anyway. Funnily enough, the software does include six built-in dynamic backgrounds that don't look far from AI slop to begin with.
Listings for MAGCurve 360 Ultra AIOs have popped up online but there's no official MSRP despite the fact that this cooler was originally unveiled at CES last year. It's available in both black and white. Since it's a brand-new option in the market, there are no reviews for it yet, but the last Thermaltake AIO we looked at ended up placing second in our best AIOs roundup.
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nameless0ne Just came here to vent regarding RAM prices... That article description felt personal.Reply -
Shiznizzle So this is how planes are being made to get money from AI.Reply
I know that AI does wonders in the medical field cutting down research by years but that does not deliver money directly. So far all we have seen is that the money goes in circles, with one AI company being paid by others who are their suppliers who in return buy their stock. The money is just going in circles and everybody is happy while consumers pay out of the rear for electricity and on silicone.
8 TB M2 for over 2300 dollars? That was not even 600 or at the most 800 not so long ago. We need to stop buying tech -
yahrightthere Reply
Agree, prices are so high that i am done buying & paying for outrageous tech.Shiznizzle said:8 TB M2 for over 2300 dollars? That was not even 600 or at the most 800 not so long ago. We need to stop buying tech
What's next the air I breathe, here's your bill for taking in oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide! -
SonoraTechnical the money grabbing by the technocrats is unbelievable. That's it... I'm moving to Ruby Ridge Idaho as soon as I convince the wife. J/k.Reply
In all seriousness... Truly an outrageously expensive solution desperately looking for a non existent problem (non-existent problem translates as opportunity to prey on fools).
If people buy this... They only have themselves to blame. I won't condemn the technocrats greed, nor defend the end users stupidity. This is just one of the most useless things I've ever seen introduced in the tech space. -
SkyBill40 Damn. And here we thought that microtransactions in game were a nuisance. Dare I even ask what's next?Reply -
JayGau It's really unbelievable that Thermaltake refuses to include the most fundamental feature any AIOs should have (coolant temperature sensor) but goes full throttle with this. We should treat that like we did for the NFTs: massively reject any attempts to milk us with this.Reply -
SonoraTechnical Reply
Microprocessors used to be quite expensive.. And it's what led many to attempt to build alternatives to Intel's x86 CPUs. I remember building many PCs (back when that was profitable in the Win3.1 to Win2k days) that featured Centaur (winchip), VIA, Cyrix, and yes plucky AMD x86 alternatives to make the PCs more affordable.yahrightthere said:Agree, prices are so high that i am done buying & paying for outrageous tech.
What's next the air I breathe, here's your bill for taking in oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide!
That said, I think the barriers to entry are so high and the encombants so entrenched (receiving soooo much money from govt's and other businesses operated by wealthy technocrats) that there isn't the opportunity for new entrants to come along and lower the prices. It's very anti-consumer at the moment and I don't think there is an appetite for any anti-trusts bodies to challenge it.
I'm literally trying to move all of my computing for a new business I'm scaling up to run everything on RaspberryPIs... As the 16GB Pi5 w/ a minor overclock and an M.2 NVMe drive is plenty quick. Linux on arm.