I used the Maingear MG-1 to play loads of Bethesda’s Starfield–which, regardless of being an influence hog, does not assist ray-tracing–in addition to the most recent replace to Cyberpunk 2077, which does. Each held up surprisingly effectively. After enjoying on the 3090 Ti in my major 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 Extremely, 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 sport’s launch have improved efficiency a bit, however when you’re hoping to make use of brute drive to beat some less-than-optimized video games, you may not less than wish to step as much as the MG-1 Platinum, which comes with an Nvidia RTX 4070.
Whereas 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 usually struggled to interrupt 50 fps. Once 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.
Past that, although, the MG-1 is mercifully effectively tuned. There’s nearly no bloatware put in. It is principally Microsoft’s personal apps that every one Home windows PCs include, like Workplace apps.
Customization and Repairability
The comfort of prebuilt PCs can typically come on the expense of upgradeability, however Maingear has fortunately made it fairly straightforward to swap out components and improve elements. The glass panel on the facet is secured by two thumb screws that simply come off. A second panel on the alternative facet may be eliminated to deal with cable administration beneath the motherboard.
Almost every part within the PC is accessible from the primary compartment, apart from the ability provide. That’s 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. That is additionally the area the place HDDs might be mounted when you add them throughout customization. Nevertheless, if you wish to add drives later, you’ll must get the brackets they mount to, as they don’t include the PC with out a drive.
In fact, it’s price noting how a lot you may customise the PC earlier than you even get it. Maingear’s Live 3D Configurator permits you to swap out components, add upgrades, and alter the RGB colour to see what it’s going to seem like with totally different aesthetics. You may even add your customized artwork for the entrance panel to preview what it’s going to seem like when printed.
The configurator shows your preferences in a 3D viewport which you can 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 will probably be when it arrives. You may get extra data right here about your construct than I’ve ever seen in another PC builder.
The 3D configurator additionally checks compatibility for all of the components you have chosen, so you may’t by accident find yourself constructing a customized rig that does not work. For instance, once I chosen the RTX 4090 graphics card, which might require rather more energy to run, the configurator lit up with shiny 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 stunned at how a lot I loved utilizing the Maingear MG-1 Silver. It is price noting right here that you can most likely get the same, extra highly effective rig for cheaper when you constructed it your self, as I did, but it surely’s nonetheless beefy sufficient to deal with among the most demanding video games. Higher nonetheless, it is one of many best methods to get a customized gaming rig with out having to learn to construct one from scratch. You may decide from just a few preset choices, or select which components to improve in an easy-to-use interface, and it arrives totally assembled. All you must do is plug it in and begin gaming.
