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Maingear Apex Force PC: Starting at ~$6000
Maingear's beefiest gaming PC pairs stupendous specifications with custom cooling to create a machine that is both beautiful and bad-ass.||
||hot flat*** Impeccable Attention To Detail
Extravagant Maximalist Design
Quiet, Despite Its Power
Easy Upgrades & Maintenance**|not flat*** Bulky And Heavy
Awkward Motherboard I/Ohothardware recommended small
Angled Base Forces Custom Tubing Angles**||
Maingear is a name that will be familiar to PC enthusiasts and especially HotHardware readers. We've reviewed many a Maingear machine over the years, but this Apex Force is truly the "apex" of the boutique builder's efforts. By combining the best of DIY PC ingenuity with a carefully curated selection of potent parts, Maingear has crafted something truly awesome in this latest system.
When we initially picked up the Maingear Apex Force at the company headquarters in New Jersey, the team wasn't sure if we'd manage to get it back for testing without assistance. Maingear selected a Phanteks NV9 full-tower PC case that weighs in at 43 lbs before you even put any hardware in it. Add the requisite components and weight of the liquid cooling system, and we're creeping close to the 100-pound mark. With that in mind, you might want a second person to help you move and unbox the Apex Force.
maingear office
A collection of custom PCs at Maingear's office In New Jersey.
After the Apex Force is unboxed and put on display, the first visual impressions are striking. A transparent glass panel wraps around the front and side of the chassis, giving you a clear view of the meticulously installed components inside. Maingear has a long history of making over-the-top liquid-cooled PCs like the SHIFT Personal Supercomputer from way back in 2010, so building systems like this is practically old hat for the boutique vendor—but that doesn't mean they put any less effort into this machine, of course.
After the initial shock and awe of its outward reveal, the cleanliness of the build is remarkable. It features a dual-loop liquid-cooling system with different coolant colors for the CPU and the GPU. The CPU at play here is the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which is paired with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4090 at the time of review. If you're disappointed, don't worry; NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs are now available—they simply weren't at the time we acquired the machine. Let's take a look at the full specifications for the machine as we tested it:
Maingear Apex Force: Hardware and Specifications
maingear apex force specifications
The magic truly happens inside this machine's expansive glass panels. At its core, we have the ASRock Phantom Gaming X870E Nova WiFi motherboard rocking the aforementioned AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D. This is currently the best CPU on the market for pure gaming workloads, and that makes it the perfect option to pair with a GeForce RTX 4090.
We reviewed the ASRock Phantom Gaming X870E Nova Wi-Fi motherboard in our three-way shootout of X870E boards back around Christmas, and it was our favorite of the three. It has an extremely overbuilt 20+2+1 VRM design that will have no trouble pushing the Ryzen 7 9800X3D to its limits, even with Precision Boost Overdrive enabled. According to Maingear, each Apex Force has its CPU hand-tuned and overclocked for maximum performance, which is another reason a well engineered motherboard is paramount. Maingear also uses liquid metal for its thermal interface material, which means the Ryzen 7 9800X3D stays super chill—especially when coupled with the highly-capable Apex liquid cooling system in this machine.
rgb 4
T-Force Xtreem RGB DDR5 RAM running at 7600MT/s contributes to both performance and aesthetics thanks to the RGB LED accents on top. One area we could complain about is that our review unit came packing a 4TB T-Force A440 Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSD, not a PCIe Gen 5 drive. Maingear noted that it beleives there are diminishing returns with current Gen 5 SSDs, which run hot and don't make much difference in real-world usage -- unless you're moving massive files around constantly. Gen 4 drives run cooler and provide excellent real world performance anyway, so this isn’t much of a concern in our opinion.
For the power supply, Maingear picked an XPG Fusion 1600 Titanium. This 1600W power supply easily handles the GeForce RTX 4090, and wouldn't break a sweater under the load of a GeForce RTX 5090's 575W TDP, either. If you're feeling less power-thirsty, Maingear does offer less extravagant options too.
Maingear Apex Force Inside And Out
top down front
Nobody would refer to a a full-tower PC bristling with RGB LEDs and dual-custom-loop liquid cooling apparatus as "minimalist," but inside the Apex Force's glass exterior is a neat and tidy system designed with the user in mind. Maingear has been a big proponent of reducing cable clutter with systems like its Maingear ZERO Gaming PC. This system doesn't use the MG-RC rear-mounted connectors found on the ZERO, but the chassis does support them. That said, our Apex Force sample is still exceptionally clean inside thanks to careful cable routing.
tubing 2 maingear
Custom-cut acrylic tubing runs neatly and simply to the multiple reservoirs at a slight 10-degree offset angle. This is a clever choice made to flow with the case itself, which is designed with an angle to elevate the components for more airflow. Maingear's design also minimizes cable clutter as much as possible, with only the necessary GPU and motherboard cables visible. Even those necessary components are decorative, though; Maingear uses gorgeous custom braided cables that add to the appeal of the interior. For our machine, Maingear has creatively tuned the RGB to be set to a firey red and blue, perhaps as a nod to the HotHardware theme. The attention to detail continues as Maingear also offers a custom badge for the Apex Force, a personal touch for its owner.
d30 fans
Thick 140x30mm Phanteks fans provide plenty of pressure to push through thick radiators.
Both CPU and GPU in the Apex Force get their own independent 420mm radiator. These units are nearly three times as thick as typical liquid-cooling radiators at 60mm. This improves cooling performance when paired with high-static-pressure fans, which means that the Apex liquid cooling can handle even the most beastly GPU with ease. There are three 140mm Phanteks D30 fans on each radiator, which can be configured in either regular or reversed airflow, to help maintain a unified look across the system. A bridge connection between fans also reduces cables, leaving the Maingear Apex Force free to display its neatly configured internals.
hinged door
A hinged door gives access to the front reservoir.
The large size of the Phanteks NV9 case and easy access to the rear and sides also makes maintenance and upgrades relatively straightforward. To be fair, this is still something that will require some knowledge and care, so it is not for the faint of heart. Maingear has put thought into the process, though. The Apex liquid cooling system has quick-disconnect drain ports that allow the tubing to be removed without leaking. The idea behind this ingenious internal design is that Maingear's technical support can guide an owner of the Apex Force through many maintenance duties on this rig. Our review unit has clear transparent acrylic tubing, which looks gorgeous with the red and blue liquid. Maingear has various options for tubing and colors, ranging from acrylic to metallic, and matte variations too.
apex force rear
Stepping around to the far side of the PC is where we find the cable management area and the power supply bay. It is closed off initially by a hinged door, which swings open to reveal the rear reservoir. The prominent heatsink-like piece on the rear looks striking. However, this does make it more challenging to plug in certain smaller USB dongles if you approach it from the wrong angle or if the case is on the floor
back2
The I/O cluster is normally concealed by another hinged door.
Currently, the Maingear Apex Force is not yet, but potential buyers can put down a $100 reservation that is refundable. At the time of review, final pricing information was not yet available, but Maingear estimates that a similar Apex custom build with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 GPU will cost somewhere around $7,000. The Maingear Force "Shroud Edition" that does not feature Apex cooling starts at $5999. These prices are certainly lofty, but considering the workmanship and care that goes into the assembly of such complex systems, the pricing is really par for the course for systems with this level of power and expert customization.
Maingear Apex Force: Software Experience
asrock polychrome
ASRock's Polychrome Sync software for RGB customization
When first turning on the Apex Force, you are greeted with a clean Windows 11 installation. No bloatware here, as Maingear prides itself on a minimalist custom OS installations. You'll get just the bare requisites, such as the motherboard RGB software and brand-themed wallpapers. We really appreciate this approach and lack of third party bloat onboard, as it makes for a much smoother experience.
As mentioned previously, the motherboard chosen by Maingear is the ASRock Phantom Gaming X870E Nova WiFi, which uses ASRock's Polychrome Sync RGB software. Together with the Phanteks NV9 case, the addressable RGB headers really do coordinate quite a show, and of course they can be configured to a plethora of combinations. We're big fans of the red and blue theme ourselves. The included Phanteks D30 RGB fans also put on a dazzling display with D-RGB lighting, along with the Team T-Force Xtreem DDR5 RAM, which can both be controlled via the same software.
Overall, our out-of-the-box experience was absolutely flawless. Boot-up was fast and error free, a WiFi 7 connection worked immediately and there have been no glitches or abnormalities during many weeks of daily use. System drivers were also updated to the very latest at the time of our testing. The NVIDIA GeForce App makes GPU driver downloads straightforward, along with the built-in Windows NVIDIA Control Panel for fine tuning things such as resolution and refresh rate.
Now that we're familiar with the Apex Force, let's put it to the test with some benchmarks and see how it stacks up...