I used the Maingear MG-1 to play quite a lot of Bethesda’s Starfield–which, regardless of being an influence hog, does not help ray-tracing–in addition to the newest replace to Cyberpunk 2077, which does. Both held up surprisingly properly. After enjoying on the 3090 Ti in my essential desktop, and even the 4070 laptop computer GPU within the Razer Blade 14, I anticipated the 4060 to be a mild step down, however I performed each video games with minimal points.

Starfield struggled probably the most, although. With settings cranked to Ultra, at 1080p, I used to be in a position to constantly hit 30 frames per second, although the sport began to slog a bit in crowded areas, like cities. Updates because the recreation’s launch have improved efficiency a bit, however in case you’re hoping to make use of brute drive to beat some less-than-optimized video games, you may at the very least wish to step as much as the MG-1 Platinum, which comes with an Nvidia RTX 4070.

While enjoying Cyberpunk 2077, I used to be in a position to crank the graphics settings as excessive as they might go—together with utilizing the ray-tracing options, which look unimaginable—at 1440p (whereas testing a distinct show), however the system nonetheless typically struggled to interrupt 50 fps. When I went again to my 1080p monitor, I used to be in a position to flip the ray-tracing options again on and constantly hit 60 fps.

Beyond that, although, the MG-1 is mercifully properly tuned. There’s nearly no bloatware put in. It’s principally Microsoft’s personal apps that every one Windows PCs include, like Office apps.

Customization and Repairability

The comfort of prebuilt PCs can generally come on the expense of upgradeability, however Maingear has fortunately made it fairly straightforward to swap out elements and improve parts. The glass panel on the aspect is secured by two thumb screws that simply come off. A second panel on the alternative aspect may be eliminated to deal with cable administration beneath the motherboard.

Nearly the whole lot within the PC is accessible from the principle compartment, except for the facility provide. That is siloed in a smaller compartment on the base of the tower, with energy cables extending from just a few holes to run to the motherboard the place wanted. This can be the area the place HDDs will likely be mounted in case you add them throughout customization. However, if you wish to add drives later, you’ll must get the brackets they mount to, as they don’t include the PC with no drive.

Of course, it’s value noting how a lot you possibly can customise the PC earlier than you even get it. Maingear’s Live 3D Configurator permits you to swap out elements, add upgrades, and alter the RGB shade to see what it is going to appear to be with completely different aesthetics. You may even add your customized artwork for the entrance panel to preview what it is going to appear to be when printed.

The configurator shows your preferences in a 3D viewport that you would be able to orbit and zoom in on, and it’s surprisingly detailed. When including an HDD, for instance, it not solely provides the drive and the brackets, however even provides the cable operating to the SATA port precisely the place it will likely be when it arrives. You can get extra data right here about your construct than I’ve ever seen in every other PC builder.

The 3D configurator additionally checks compatibility for all of the elements you’ve got chosen, so you possibly can’t by accident find yourself constructing a customized rig that does not work. For instance, after I chosen the RTX 4090 graphics card, which might require far more energy to run, the configurator lit up with brilliant yellow warnings telling me to decide on a stronger energy provide earlier than I may add the PC to my cart.

I used to be shocked at how a lot I loved utilizing the Maingear MG-1 Silver. It’s value noting right here that you can in all probability get an identical, extra highly effective rig for cheaper in case you constructed it your self, as I did, but it surely’s nonetheless beefy sufficient to deal with a number of the most demanding video games. Better nonetheless, it is one of many best methods to get a customized gaming rig with out having to discover ways to construct one from scratch. You can decide from just a few preset choices, or select which elements to improve in an easy-to-use interface, and it arrives absolutely assembled. All you must do is plug it in and begin gaming.