Maingear F131

Gaming frame rates were more than respectable. The dual 1GB ATI 4890 graphics boards helped the F131 achieve 109 frames per second in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars at 1920 by 1200 resolution (with antialiasing), and 106 fps in Unreal Tournament 3 at the same resolution (at high settings).

The F131 boasts an immaculately cabled interior complete with a classy CoolIT Domino A.L.C. liquid cooling unit that includes a blue LCD screen for showing the current CPU temperature and fan speeds. The 750-watt power supply is mounted at the bottom of the case to make way for the liquid cooling and to lower the case's center of gravity. Two monster exhaust fans sit on the top of the unit near the CPU and on the lower front of the case to draw hot air off from the aforementioned seven-bay drive cage.

My only complaint about the Maingear F131 is that it had only a single USB port that I could spot on the front; I often have more than one peripheral plugged into the front of my PC. I had no complaints about the high-precision Razer DeathAdder mouse or the backlit Razer Lacosa keyboard (it offers nice tactile feedback for a short-travel keystroke model). That input-device combination, targeted squarely at gamers, rounds out a highly expandable--and tweakable--gaming package.