14 DAY TRIAL // Maingear has a history of putting together top-tier, customized personal computers, releasing such names as the SHIFT “personal supercomputer” and even upgrading it with the Radeon HD 5970 graphics card. The company has just launched a new, customizable computer series aimed at hard-core gamers. Known to be part fo the F1X series, these computers combine the might of overclocked central processing units with that of advanced graphics in multi-GPU configurations, large storage capacities and significant amounts of memory.
The lineup is currently represented by the F1X 200, F1X 500 and F1X 750. All of them use the same chassis as the award-winning ePhex PC with a two-camber design and enough space to house full-ATX motherboards and the latest (and largest) of graphics adapters. Even storage is maximized thanks to the computers' ability to house up to six hard drives. The F1X 650 uses the P55 platform, whereas the other two employ the X58.
The F1X 200 is the less capable of the three, even though it is still a highly powerful, high-end performance system in itself. Its base configuration employs a 2.93 GHz Core i5 750 CPU, 8GB of RAM, a Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive with a storage capacity of 1TB. The graphics performance is enabled by dual ATI Radeon HD 5750 cards in CrossFire. The power is enabled by a 750W PSU and the computer runs Windows 7 Home Premium.
The second in the line is the F1X 500. More powerful thanks to the Core i7 950 set at 3.3 GHz, the system packs 12GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive and the same type of power supply as the F1X 200. The configuration uses two ATI Radeon HD 5770 cards, also in CrossFire. The used OS is Windows 7 Professional.
The third, and strongest, configuration of the three currently being listed is the F1X 750. This system runs an overclocked Core i7 975 CPU at 3.6 GHz, has 12GB of RAM, a 1.5TB hard drive and a CrossFire configuration of two Radeon HD 5870 cards. As a performance boost, the system also features an 80GB SSD drive for faster boot times and better performance when running disk-intensive games. Unlike the other two, the F1X 750 runs on a 1,000W PSU and also Windows 7 Professional.
All three models employ a 22X DVD-burner, and the X20 liquid cooling mechanism. The F1X 200, F1X 500 and F1X 750 have starting price tags of $2,249, $3,099 and $5,149, respectively. They are available exclusively through TigerDirect.com, CircuitCity.com and CompUSA.com.