Maingear F131

Bottom Line

For ultimate 3D gaming on a single screen, the Maingear F131 dominates in tests. You could spend $2,000 more and get more power, but unless you're running three screens simultaneously, you still won't beat the F131.

Performance

Power beyond its price tag. Very similar to the Maingear Potenza Super Stock (*Est. $1,325 and up) the F131 adds one important extra: room for two graphics cards. Even with one card -- a 4 GB EVGA GTX 690M -- the "surprisingly powerful" F131 almost matches the $6,400 Maingear Shift in tests at DigitalTrends.com. In real-life single-screen gaming, the difference is negligible. Other than the graphics cards, this $3,300 F131 test unit is set up like the Potenza experts test, with an overclocked quad-core 4.7 GHz Intel Core i7 3770K processor, 8 GB of RAM and 60 GB solid-state cache.

CNET tests a similar F131 with two 2 GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 cards, a configuration that sells for about $3,000. Again, it performs like a $5,000-plus desktop. It beats pricier systems, including the Origin Genesis, even on demanding games like "Metro 2033."

For ultimate 3D gaming, PCMag.com's $5,300 test F131 is the answer. It substitutes in two Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan cards plus two 256 GB solid-state drives. The result? "Insane benchmark scores," Joel Santo Domingo says. It "took a look at our benchmark tests, ran through them, laughed, and kept going." With this setup, you'll be able to "play strenuous 3D games smoothly on any single monitor with all the eye candy turned on."

For $2,000 extra, you could beat it with a three-card setup, but you'd "need to be an upper strata gamer with the wherewithal to run three 30-inch panels simultaneously to take advantage of the extra horsepower." In short, PCMag.com says, ""The F131 surpasses the capabilities of most high-end gaming rigs we've seen."

Design

Sleek, but stringing cables ruins the effect. The Maingear F131 looks identical to the Potenza except it's a few inches bigger. The square column shape is "sleek, cool, even unique," DigitalTrends.com says. "Very polished," CNET says, until you start snaking cables out of the top-mounted ports. Still, "it's no more of a rat's nest than you get from a standard back-venting desktop."

Like the Potenza, the F131 runs cool thanks to the smart top-vented design. Unlike the Potenza, it's noisy with seven fans spewing decibels as well as hot air. At about 9 by 11 by 19 inches high and 27 pounds, the Maingear F131 is a little bigger than the Potenza, but still smaller than most gaming computers.

The top-mounted port can be convenient if your tower sits on the floor, but it means the Maingear has to add a lid to protect them; Matt Smith at DigitalTrends.com gets tired of moving the lid every time he wants to connect or disconnect anything. Ports include four USB 3.0, four USB 2.0, eSATA, HDMI, DVI, audio, S/PDIF and Ethernet jacks. There's also a slot-loading DVD burner; Blu-ray is optional.

No bloatware is a refreshing plus, as are the easy-access outside panels that clip on and off, no screws. The seven internal fans are hard to work around for upgrades, though.

Support & reliability

Lavish warranty. Maingear backs the F131 with a substantial warranty: lifetime labor and phone support with its own U.S. techs, three years parts and 30 days of two-way shipping. Remote virtual desktop diagnosis is available at your request, and on-site service is "at our discretion."

Value

"Amazing," but overkill for some. "Amazing bang-for-the-buck," says DigitalTrends.com. Other experts agree: The $3,000 configuration of the Maingear F131 performs like a $5,000-plus system for thousands less. Still, unless you do a lot of 3D gaming at max settings, even hardcore gamers will likely be overjoyed with the $2,000 version of the Maingear Potenza Super Stock.