With the announcement from Intel during Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle this week, computer manufacturers have had to quickly adapt to the new hardware that gamers are demanding.
Maingear, one of the companies represented on stage during Intel's panel, announced that it was moving into building computers with the X99 chipset and Haswell Extreme Edition processors during the show.
The company had one of its Force desktop models on display during the show at Intel's booth, giving people a chance to try out the power that the new Intel hardware was offering. Speaking with Nery Hernandez, who handles public relations for Maingear,
Electronista was able to gain some insight on how the company approaches new hardware and the care that go into building systems.
When it comes to putting the new Intel hardware in the machines, the company is offering ASUS motherboards across most of it desktop models. To get ready for PAX, Maingear only had two days to put the display machine together because of the surprising nature of the hardware announcement. This issue was complicated by the first machine taking damage when it fell off a pallet in transit, and the fall pushed one the acrylic tubes out of the side of the case. The team has been able to handle the transition to the new hardware quickly, thanks to their dedication, according to Hernandez. In fact, in the little time that the manufacturer has had with the new hardware, the new processors have been pushed to a stable 4.2GHz.
The quality and work that goes into the Maingear machines was witnessed when examining the Force during the show. From the smooth-feeling exterior paint to the care and engineering put into each of their builds, the experience and passion for computers can be seen in machine. Hernandez said that every employee has passion for what they are doing, something that helps drive their experience in the sector. He added that engineering is in the blood of the company from the CEO down.
Of particular note was the cooling system in the Force, a feature of Maingear that has drawn attention for because of its construction. From the cooling blocks to the tubes plumbing everything together, a lot of the inspiration for the design comes from automobiles. Hernandez said that many employees are also auto enthusiasts, so cues like the chrome fittings and straightforward nature of the system have been inspired by cars.
On the engineering side, the system was created in a way that two radiators are included in some options. If part of the parallel system fails, valves can quickly be turned to reroute the liquid in the system to keep everything functional. Because the system has that redundancy, putting in a replacement piece becomes much easier.
Even with the new technology being included, no other hardware is being dropped from the lines in the foreseeable future. However, that doesn't mean that everything is staying the same, either. Hernandez said that Maingear is working on changing the way they do LED lighting to an electroluminescent system instead of strips of LED lights. No official announcement has been made, but it's something the company is working to include in the future.
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