Maingear Apex Force Gaming PC: A Custom Liquid-Cooled Masterpiece

The Maingear Apex Force performed exceptionally well in our game benchmarks, but more impressive is just how quiet and composed the system is.

Total System Power Consumption, Noise, And Thermals

We tested power in a few scenarios. While idling at the Windows desktop, the system pulled about 145 watts from the wall. That’s actually a bit high, but considering the system’s high-end components, lighting, and the massive number of water-cooling components and fans in the system, it’s not a surprise at all.

To test power while gaming, we loaded up a few games such as Ghost of Tsushima and Cyberpunk 2077 with Ultra settings. While playing actual games, we saw total system power consumption closer to 580 watts under load, on average.

To test somewhat of a worst-case scenario, we also used Furmark to fully load the CPU and GPU simultaneously. In this scenario, we saw a peak of 649 watts, which is obviously not a problem for the top-shelf 1600 PSU used in the rig.


The Maingear Apex Force has a lot more going on under the hood than a typical pre-built gaming PC. It has a myriad of water-cooling components, including two independent reservoirs that each house their own water pumps. There’s a large number of fans too, including three 140mm Phantek D30s on each 420mm radiator. The cooling setup in the system effectively isolates the CPU from the GPU and provides optimal cooling for both.

With a massive 420mm radiator the 8-core Ryzen 7 9800X3D ran relatively cool throughout our testing. After hours of benchmarks and testing, even when taxing the CPU with a 100% load, we saw core temperatures hove in the 80°C max.


We should note that Maingear configures the system with a conservative, silent fan curve option in the BIOS. Selecting the standard or performance fan curve options will help temperatures somewhat, but at the expense of some additional fan noise. Even with the performance option enabled, however, this system still remains very quiet. The water pumps were set to operate at 100%, but they’re virtually silent and don’t contribute much noise at all.

The Bitspower water cooling block for the RTX 4090 performs best with a higher flow rate anyway, so the quiet pump is best to run at full tilt.


Maingear engineered the Apex cooling system to offer maximum airflow for both the CPU and GPU cooling loops. The CPU loop, pictured with the blue liquid, connects directly to the 420mm radiator on the top of the case, where its fans are used for exhaust, expelling warm air from the system.


The GeForce RTX 4090 GPU is paired to the lower 420mm radiator with the red liquid. In this configuration, its fans will serve as an intake, and the GPU is cooled by air pulled into the system from the outside. Since the RTX 4090 uses much more power than the 9800X3D, it makes sense to configure the radiators and fans in this way, though it does mean warm air is pumped into the system when the GPU is under load.

Noise levels are excellent with this system, and the fans only ramp up occasionally in the system’s default configuration. When under full load, the fans are audible but are not loud or annoying by any means. The Phanteks D30 140mm fans put out an impressive 71.93 CFM of airflow and at full tilt they'll generally stay below 32 dBa, which is nice and quiet.

Maingear Apex Force: The Verdict

The Maingear Apex Force is more than just a spec sheet and handful of benchmark numbers. The component list in this system doesn’t convey the amount of though, work and craftsmanship that go into a system of this type. Building a system like the Maingear Apex Force requires an expert hand that goes well beyond slapping off the shelf components into a case and installing Windows.


The expert built and custom Apex cooling is what brings this system to the next level. Whether gaming, surfing the web, and sitting pretty at idle on a desk, the Maingear Apex Force excels on all fronts. The system is fast, well mannered, and looks great. It’s not perfect, of course. The Maingear Apex Force we tested was extremely heavy. The liquid cooled system is engineered for relatively easy access for maintenance and upgrades, but it’ll likely seem daunting for less tech-savvy gamers than run of the mill air cooled machines. The Maingear Apex Force also commands a premium, but for this level of customization, build quality, and performance, that’s customary in the boutique gaming PC market.

If you’re an enthusiast gamer shopping for a top-shelf, custom boutique PC, with the latest components and features, that also happens to be a work of art, the Maingear Apex Force may be for you. The system we tested was impressive all-around and imaging anyone with the budget for such a masterpiece will be more than please. The Maingear Apex Force is awesome.