Maingear is a renowned name in customizable PCs. Through their services, many individuals are able to get top-notch gaming PCs without spending days and even months just to learn how to build one from individual components. With this in mind, it would be interesting to know whether Maingear’s prime offering, the SHIFT Super Stock, is a suitable choice for gamers who seek the best possible performance in a gaming system. Specifically, is it possible to build the ultimate gaming PC just by choosing the most expensive options? This Maingear SHIFT Super Stock Desktop PC Review aims to answer such a question.
After choosing the most expensive components in the Shift Super Stock system builder, the total cost was $6,557. Aside from a few basics such as SHIFT’s chassis, all the other options have been set to the best possible choice. The resulting PC has the following components: Intel Core i7 2700K CPU, Gigabyte Z68X motherboard, 16GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM, dual GTX 590 video cards, 1500w Silverstone Strider PSU, 600GB SDD, and 3TB HDD. Indeed, the following specifications include top-tier components for an LGA1155 setup. It must be pointed out though, that an LGA2011-based PC would have been faster.
Despite the obvious limitations of the LGA1155 platform, it is still necessary to test the resulting SHIFT PC. Using 3DMark 11, the system garnered more than 10000 3DMarks at default settings. After comparing the SHIFT’s score to those of other systems on the benchmark tool’s site, it became clear that the $6500 PC from Maingear performs well enough to be included in the same tier as PCs with Core i7 920 processors using the same GPU configuration. Playing games, such as Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty MW3, on the SHIFT was also entirely stutter-free even at the highest settings.
As it seems, the SHIFT is more than capable of handling the most demanding games of the year despite not having the fastest components currently available in the market. While performance is indeed superb, there are still a few flaws that may be identified from SHIFT’s custom PC builder. For one, while most components are reasonably priced, it seems that miscellaneous add-ons such as fans and sound dampening are too expensive. Also, while using the system builder for this Maingear SHIFT Super Stock Desktop PC Review, it was striking to find out that both RAID and WiFi have been left out as core features.
As made clear, Maingear does not provide the most cutting-edge options in their SHIFT gaming PC. With this in mind, those who truly want to purchase the fastest gaming PC regardless of the price, should look elsewhere. On the other hand, PC gamers who would already be satisfied with flawless gaming performance and do not bother themselves with benchmark rankings and maximum FPS values, would find the SHIFT to be a top choice. As proven in this Maingear SHIFT Super Stock Desktop PC Review, while the SHIFT may not be the fastest custom PC, it still offers blazing performance in current games.
Sun, Dec 25, 2011
Hardware Reviews