Entered CNET Catalog: 06/16/2006
SKU: CNETMaingearXCube
Manufacturer: Maingear
Product summary
The good: Most up-to-date small-form-factor gaming PC on the market; great-looking PC inside and out; strong gaming performance.
The bad: Athlon CPU price cuts are expected later this summer, so you'll save some dough if you postpone your purchase a month or two.
The bottom line: Falcon Northwest's FragBox might be the best known small-form-factor gaming PC, but Maingear's X-Cube is currently the most up-to-date. With the latest of everything, if you want a gaming desktop for on-the-road fragging, look no further.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/20/2006
Our X-Cube review unit arrived coated in the striking Speed Yellow custom paint--a $300 option (other color choices are available in addition to the two no-cost options of black and silver). Inside, Maingear outfitted the X-Cube with all manner of blue LED lights attached to a handful of strategically placed cooling fans. The internals also feature the attention to detail that we like to see in expensive PCs (all PCs, really), such as neatly bound and routed cables for easy access to the components and maximum airflow. The net result of these design tweaks is a polished system that doesn't look gaudy--a trap that often snares many custom-built PCs. The X-Cube's 8.5-by-10.5-by-15.5-inch case (HWD) is roughly the same size as that of the Falcon Northwest FragBox, but Falcon Northwest is behind in its configuration options.
This timeliness is what distinguishes Maingear from the other SFF PC vendors. PC Club is the only other SFF vendor we've found that offers AMD's new Socket AM2 interface and the Nvidia 6150 motherboard chipset, which lets you configure the AMD's latest CPUs (our unit used the reasonably priced Athlon 64 X2 4400+). The new chips for the AM2 chipset feature improved power efficiency, which is of particular benefit to the tight, hard-to-cool case interior of an SFF PC. And while one other SFF vendor is current with chip technology, no one but Maingear sells one with both the Socket AM2 chipset and GeForce 7900 GTX cards, but with only half of the requisite internal space and a much more power- and heat-conscious design (the 7950GX2 takes up the space of two expansion slots). If we had $3,300 or so to spend on a PC, we'd probably wait, knowing that Intel's Core 2 Duo chips, and Nvidia's and ATI's DirectX 10 graphics cards are due out before the end of Q3. But considering that Maingear is up-to-date with this particular config, you can either loop back to this same load-out when the price drops in a few months or have confidence that Maingear will be able to supply the higher-end parts you'll be looking for.
Because it uses a midrange CPU, we didn't expect the X-Cube to dominate our performance benchmarks. That said, its application performance was where it should be, statistically tying the similarly configured (and equally yellow) PC Club Enpower Media Center Xpress Special Edition on CNET Labs' SysMark 2004 application benchmark. Its 3D performance was even better, where the X-Cube and its overclocked 3D card beat nearly every other system in its class save a Polywell system with two GeForce 7900 GTX cards.
Our Maingear X-Cube review system featured an Ageia PhysX processing card (a $300 option), a single 500GB hard drive, and a DVD burner complete with LightScribe capabilities for burning custom images onto the surface of your homemade discs. And that's about all the X-Cube's SFF case can handle, considering the dual-slot 3D card. If you'd rather opt out of the PhysX card, Maingear offers a range of Creative X-Fi sound cards, a PCI wireless networking card, and other accessories and upgrades, but for anything that goes inside the box, it will likely be at the expense of some other feature. However, if you're shopping for an SFF desktop, chances are you're ready to make a few sacrifices. You won't want for RAM at least; the X-Cube can accommodate up to 2GB of 400MHZ DDR2 SDRAM, which is what came in ours.
Maingear sent the X-Cube to us with a strong accessories package. From its selection of mice and keyboards, Maingear bundled the awesome Saitek Eclipse gaming keyboard, both of which come with free matching paint if you opt for a custom paint job. The games Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter also come by virtue of the graphics and physics cards. Maingear includes eTrust's free EZ Antivirus software, with the option to upgrade to a year of Norton AntiVirus 2006. The system also has three years of parts-and-labor coverage and a toll-free support line open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. Maingear promises that it will put you in direct contact with the tech that built your system when you call. The best Maingear's online help has to offer is the general FAQ and a helpful breakdown of the restoration disc.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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BAPCo SysMark 2004 rating | |
SysMark 2004 Internet-content-creation rating | |
SysMark 2004 office-productivity rating |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Doom 3 1,600x1,200 4XAA 8XAF | |
Doom 3 1,024x768, 4XAA 8XAF | |
Half-Life 2 1,600x1,200 4XAA 8XAF | |
Half-Life 2 1,024x768 4XAA 8XAF |
Find out more about how we test desktop systems.
ABS M6 Sniper
Windows XP Professional SP2; 2.6GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-60; Nvidia Nforce 4 SLI X16 chipset; 2,048MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; two 256MB Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX (SLI); two Western Digital WD946D 74GB 10,000rpm Serial ATA, one Seagate, 500GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA; integrated Nvidia Nforce 4 RAID class controller (RAID 0)
Cyberpower Gamer Ultra X1900 XT
Windows XP Professional SP2; 2.6GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-60; ATI RD580 (ATI CrossFire Xpress 3200) chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; two 512MB ATI Radeon X1900XT (PCIe CrossFire); two WDC WD740GD-00FLA2 74GB 10,000rpm SATA; one Western Digital, 250GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA; integrated ULI SATA/RAID controller CM1575/N1697 (RAID 0)
PC Club Enpower Media Center Xpress Special Edition
Windows XP Professional SP2; 2.2GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+; Nvidia Nforce 4 SLI chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; two 512MB Nvidia GeForce 7900GT (SLI); Western Digital WD1500AHFD-00RAR1 150GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
Maingear X-Cube
Windows XP Professional SP2; 2.2GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+; Nvidia Nforce 430 chipset; 2,048MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 512MB Nvidia GeForce 7900GX2 (PCIe); Western Digital 500GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
Polywell Poly 939N4-SLI2/FX-60
Windows XP Professional SP2; 2.8GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-60; Nvida Nforce 4 SLI X16 chipset; 2,048MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; two 512MB Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX (SLI); two Western Digital WD946D 74GB 10,000rpm Serial ATA, one Western Digital WDC2500KS-00MJB0 250GB Serial ATA II; integrated Nvidia Nforce 4 Serial ATA RAID Controller (RAID 0)
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6out of 6 user reviews
I Own an X-Cube myself and its simply spectacular
Pros: Perfect for LAN Party's, very eye catching, and an amazing tech support group.
Cons: Paid for a $300 Lime Green Paint job. but Base colors are free though.
out of 6 user reviews
Absolutley Horrible
Pros: none at all
Cons: rude & incompetent staff
out of 6 user reviews
The perfect company
Pros: quality, speed, components, attention to detail, tech support
Cons: Took a bit longer than I was hoping for to get the system
I chose Maingear based on the stellar review they recieved over at HardOCP. You see, I'm one of those rare avid gamers who doesn't really know much about computers. Due to my lack of expertise, I decided I needed a system from a company that would back up their product after the sale, and based on every review I've seen, particularly HardOCP's, Maingear seemed to fit the bill.
It took longer than I hoped for to actually recieve the system (~5 weeks), though that very well could be my fault as I specifically told Raphael, who called me a few days after I placed the order online, to take his time with the build as I was far more interested in a quality, rock-solid computer than I was in getting it quickly. As the days passed, I grew more and more anxious, having drastically underestimated my enthusiasm and anticipation. All my angst melted away when the computer finally showed up at my door.
It was well packed, without a scratch on it. The case is a new Lian Li, an upgrade from the case pictured on the site (btw, when are you guys going to update your site photographs of the F131 with the new case?). It's very well-constructed, and solid. The wiring is immaculate. It's obvious, even from my less-than-expert perspective that Maingear put quite a bit of effort into building this machine. They seem to believe that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
After I had set up the computer, imagine my horror when I flipped the switch and nothing happened. That's right, the computer simply didn't turn on. After checking everything I could think of, I finally broke down and called Maingear. I won't go through everything, but suffice to say that Giovanni (the guy who took the call), patiently walked me through half a dozen different possibilities, from re-seating the memory sticks to re-seating the CPU heatsink and fan and even the CPU itself. Nothing seemed to work. After ~1.5 hours on the phone, we finally identified the problem as a tiny little switch plugged into the corner of the motherboard that needed to be re-seated. The computer has worked flawlessly since. I thanked Giovanni (and I'll thank him again: Thanks!
) for his patience and help, and I was off and gaming.The bottom line is, and I'm 100% in HardOCP's corner on this one, anyone can build a kickass gaming system benchmark-wise. When that's the case, it seems to me that what separates the good companies from the bad is everything else. I went with Maingear based on their reputation for attention to detail and quality in the aforementioned everything else, and I have not been disappointed. They're expensive, to be sure, though not any more expensive than other "boutique" builder, yet unlike most of their competitors, they're definitely worth the prices they charge. If you want a righteous machine and you're not a computer expert or you don't have the time and patience to build it yourself and/or provide your own tech support, you can't go wrong with Maingear.
out of 6 user reviews
Awesome Awesome Awesome
Pros: everything is a pro!
Cons: took a little over two weeks to get my machine
out of 6 user reviews
Oh my.....
Pros: The CPU, GPU & PPU are all top of the line!
Cons: the Case coloring and inside the box crammed!
BFG Tech Gaming machine.
best parts from:
AMD + Agiea + Nivida can't
beat that deal. Slim and has all the latest
and fastest record holding
components. I wish they made it a little
bit bigger, to avoid the cramming
of the wires and hardwares, still
and Insane machine for all the Gamers,
This is one of those we like to call
"A Must Have!or AMH"
out of 6 user reviews
Awesome product and great customer service!
Pros: Excellent build quality, upgreadable, great phone support.
Cons: i can't seem to think of any
