We really like the SHIFT. MainGear deserves top honors for taking the risk of building a non-standard chassis and for delivering real benefits as opposed to slick marketing drivel. The case is fully compatible with all standard PC peripherals with just a scant handful of exceptions and the improved airflow gives the system the best acoustics of any system we’ve tested to date. We’d like to see a future version of the chassis without the temperature delta we observed between having the rear grate attached vs. removing it, but that’s a minor point. If you’re in the market for a truly different sort of system, MainGear might have precisely what you’re looking for.

We’d definitely recommend the SHIFT to any of our enthusiast readers looking for a top-notch system, though we’d opt for one at default clock speeds. At stock speeds, the SHIFT is a fantastic blend of speed, low temperatures, and quieter-than-normal operation (particularly if you were to opt for video cards other than the loudish GTX 480s). While we readily acknowledge that the SHIFT was stable in every benchmark except our peak power consumption test, the CPU temperatures we saw while running Prime95 were too high for our taste. Our chat with Intel confirmed that the CPU should have no problem, even at 89-90′C, but the fact that we’re seeing those temperatures in a best-case scenario leads us to believe that the margin of error is too thin for sustained real world operation. While this is a significant concern, it’s also a simple one that MainGear should have no problem solving. The SHIFT is quiet, it performs with the speed and grace of a fat kid hunting cake, and it’s something new and unique in a market that sees far too many retreads of last year’s designs in this year’s colors. We very much hope MainGear keeps on doing things differently, and we look forward to seeing the fruits of their labor.

Read more: http://hothardware.com/Articles/Paradigm-SHIFT-MainGears-Unique-Enclosure-GTX-480-SLI-Powerhouse-Reviewed/?page=17#ixzz0qrKUUVbS

Cons
Six-core CPU only a boon for fully threaded software

Editors’ Take
If you’re looking for an affordable six-core PC, with future-looking connectivity and upgrade room, the Vybe should serve you well. Just be sure your programs can really use all those cores.

Read Full Review Here.

For its $7000 asking price (as of February 1, 2010), one would expect the Maingear Shift power PC to give you a backrub and wash your car while it goes about its day of high-performance computing. What you’re really paying for is this system’s graphics—three single-GPU XFX Radeon HD 5870 graphics cards delivering eye-popping CrossFire performance that’s currently unmatched by any system PC World has reviewed. But even though it’s stacked with all the latest components and chips, is the Shift overwhelming…or overpriced?

Here’s the deal: The Shift’s specs are extremely impressive on paper. The included 3.33GHz Intel Core i7 975 Extreme Edition processor is the fastest money can buy, and an unobtrusive liquid cooling system helps Maingear overclock it all the way to 4.0GHz. Coupled with six gigabytes of DDR3-2000 memory and two Intel X25-M 80GB solid-state drives in a boot-drive RAID configuration (with an accessory 2TB Western Digital Caviar Black drive for storage), the Shift is able to deliver dominating performance on our WorldBench 6 test suite. As you might expect, the tri-CrossFire graphics setup delivers a punishing blow as well: The 204 frames per second it spits out on PC World’s Unreal Tournament 3 benchmark (2560-by-2100 resolution, high quality) sets a new performance record for any gaming or mainstream power PC we’ve tested.

However, the Shift’s general performance is only 15 percent faster than the E&C Black Mamba power PC in WorldBench 6: 181 to 153. The Black Mamba costs a mere $1979–72 percent less. That’s plenty of headroom for an extra dual-GPU GTX 295 video card and, if you’re feeling crafty, a switch from the system’s included 640GB primary drives to SSDs (or a RAID setup of multiple terabyte drives). Heck, replace the included Intel Core i7 920 processor with an i7 975. You could afford all these tweaks and still beat the Maingear Shift’s price. You might not top its performance, but you’ll come pretty darn close with a sack of money to spare.

To its credit, Maingear delivers a full complement of additional accessories and components on the Shift that does sweeten the deal a bit. Every possible permutation of connection is offered on this system–including two USB ports, a FireWire 400 port, and a multiformat card reader on the system’s front, as well as three HDMI ports, three DisplayPort connections, eight USB ports, two gigabit ethernet ports, one eSATA port, one FireWire 400 port, and integrated 7.1 surround sound on the system’s rear. The Shift’s single optical drive is a Blu-ray burner–I would expect nothing less at this price, although it’s a shame to see the Shift come with no fancy input devices of any sort.

The beautiful wiring job on the inside of this monster-size, full-tower chassis is a sight to behold, in that there are…virtually no wires to look at. This makes tinkering with the Maingear’s insides a seamless, frustration-proof process. The Shift’s four free hard drive bays lock into place using trays, and the system’s three free 5.25-inch bays use huge a button to snap your components into place. One complaint: The case has only a single PCI Express x1 slot for motherboard cards–and good luck wedging a PCI card into place in an area that’s dominated by the Shift’s huge video cards.

The PC’s case looks as smooth as silk, perfectly unadorned by any fancy external trappings or eye-catching glitz. The entire system itself is vertically mounted, in that the motherboard connections you usually find on the rear of a system are on the Shift’s top. It’s a unique design that improves the accessibility of these connections. A grilled top preserves the airflow of the chassis and conceals unsightly wires. It’s a great way to eliminate unnecessary distractions in this otherwise beautiful box of a system.

Maingear’s Shift takes a number of dramatic steps forward in the world of high-performance computing. From its tricked-out load-out, to its dominating graphics performance, to its interior and exterior that are as pretty as they are easily accessible, it’s hard to find much fault with this well-designed system. But not everyone can easily afford this Lamborghini of power PCs. Of course, you could build a comparable system for less than the Shift’s $7000 asking cost, but you’ll never be able to get the kind of TLC that’s been built into this beautiful monster.

Read More

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/333803/review/shift_gaming_desktop_pc.html