Shifting into gear
While the enthusiast market for systems has been slowing decreasing as more and more users focus on mobile and portable computing, the competition for the niche field hasn’t been slowing down at all.
Recently we have looked at high end gaming rigs from companies like Puget Systems, AVADirect, Alienware, CyberStorm and others all with something unique and interesting to differentiate themselves.
Today we are taking a look at our first Maingear computer – the F131 that resides in a somewhat mid-range placement in the company’s lineup. There is nothing mid-range about this computer though…
If our video review wasn’t enough for you, check out our photos and benchmarks below!
Inside the Maingear F131 System
While the Maingear F131 technically starts at $1269, our tested model will run you quite a bit more. Here is the quick list of specs in this expensive, yet powerful gaming computer:
* Core i7-970 6-core overclocked to 4.5 GHz
* ASUS P6X58D X58 motherboard
* Self-contained water cooling
* 6GB of Kingston DDR3-1600 low latency memory
* 2 x GTX 480 graphics cards in SLI
* 1 Kw Silverstone power supply
* 128GB Crucial SATA 6G SSD
* 1TB Western Digital SATA 6G HDD
* Silverstone-based chassis
Our case came with a logo etched in the side, completely free of charge. It actually looks really nice in person though when I was told about it I thought it would be cheap feeling.
There are a few other designs available though the most interesting part is that you can submit your own artwork that can be applied to the side.
Up top on the case you see a huge case fan drawing cool are down into the case; this is a change from what most users would do but this is because of the requirement for an exhaust fan on the Asetek water cooler.
System Performance
As I said before, even though the Maingear F131 falls into the middle placement in their lineup, our system configuration is far from middle of the road.
A highly overclocked Core i7 6-core processor and GeForce GTX 480s in SLI definitely make this a system to reckoned with…
The rest of our benchmarks again put the Maingear F131 at the top of our list making it about as good as you get for computing and gaming performance.
Closing Thoughts
Maingear really impressed us during our review process and everything from the custom made packing materials to the free custom etched side panels and the high level of personal service available to customers really shows that Maingear knows what it takes to impress customers and keep them coming back.
It doesn’t hurt of course that the F131 as we tested it was easily the fastest computer we have ever reviewed.
Our system price was just about $4200 based on the specs we listed on the previous pages.
That is obviously a very steep entry fee though you are getting the best of the best in both hardware and support with that cost.
But Maingear does indeed offer lower cost options in the F131 segment with P55-based Intel solutions and even mainstream AMD Phenom II-based options.
Those will likely be more attainable for the average gamer that wants a system built for them rather than doing it themselves.
Source:http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=989&type=expert&pid=1
