Following Intel's recent launch of the Core Ultra 200S Plus desktop CPUs, Maingear has announced three new MG-1 series pre-built desktop PCs based on the new Intel Arrow Lake Refresh CPUsf. All three PCs feature the same Maingear Epic 360 AIO cooler, MG-1 case, and case fan setup, consisting of 3× 120 mm RGB intake fans, 2× 120 mm exhaust fans, and 1× 120 mm RGB rear exhaust fan. Front I/O is also identical across all three models, featuring dual USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a single USB 3.2 Type-C port, and a 3.5 mm combo audio jack, and the MG-1 PCs all come with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. All three MG-1 systems also come with the same 32 GB of DDR5-6000 memory running in dual-channel configuration and a 2 TB T-Force A440 Gen 4 M.2 NVMe SSD, and are preloaded with "Bloatware Free" Windows 11 installations. Gamers also receive a free copy of Resident Evil: Requiem and the Intel Holiday Bundle, which offers the choice of Battlefield 6, Assassin's Creed: Shadows, Sid Meier's Civilization VII, or Dying Light: The Beast.

[Editor's note: Our in-depth review of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus CPU is now live]

The Maingear MG-1 Emerald is the least expensive version of the Intel Core Ultra 200S series PCs, coming in at $2,549, and is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus with 18 cores (6 P-Cores, 12 E-Cores) and 18 threads in an MSI Z890 Gaming Plus WiFi motherboard, paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB GPU and an MSI 850 W I + Gold PSU. The $3,549 Maingear MG-1 Sapphire gets the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus with 24 cores (8 P-Cores, 16 E-Cores), an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 16 GB, and the same motherboard as the Emerald. The top-end Maingear MG-1 Amethyst keeps the same Intel Core Ultra 7 270K but bumps up the GPU to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 32 GB, with an MSI MEG Z890 Ace motherboard, a 1250 W 80+ MSI PSU, and a whopping $5,199 price tag. The MG-1 case used in the Amethyst, Emerald, and Sapphire pre-built PCs is compatible with Maingear's MG-1 Panels, which are themed front panels that can change up the look of a PC build.

With motherboard vendors going big on the AMD "Valhalla" platform (a combination of 3rd generation Ryzen processor and AMD X570 chipset), we got to see MSI pull out every single high-end motherboard label it has, including MEG GODLIKE and MEG Creation. We sneaked into the MSI booth to take some snaps of the other X570 boards, including a close-up of the MEG X570 Ace, and three other MPG series boards. The MEG X570 Ace is largely carved out of the MEG X570 GODLIKE with a little toning down of the style and features. This is still a formidable board built for serious manual overclocking. We also get the sense that MSI is replacing its "Gaming M7" moniker with MEG Ace in its product stack, as we couldn't find an "X570 Gaming M7" anywhere.

With the MEG GODLIKE and MEG Creation expected to be priced north of $300, the MEG X570 Ace could be priced around the $260-mark. Positioned below it around $200-220, is the MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon. This board offers everything you need to build a super high-end rig where the focus is on gaming. It has decent CPU overclocking chops, too. The onboard audio and networking features are premium, and we expect MSI to deploy 802.11ax Wi-Fi. The new MPG X570 Gaming Edge is a lighter variant of the Gaming Pro Carbon, and is largely based on the same PCB. If you don't care all that much about board design, the MPG Gaming Edge is the way to go, with its roughly-$180 price. The MPG X570 Gaming Plus is a cost-effective product, and has all of the essentials gamers need for this platform. It is expected to go for around $150.

The folks over at Videocardz have treated us to a leak on MSI's upcoming X570 motherboards. The company's mid-tier MPG motherboards usually include the likes of the Gaming Carbon and Gaming Plus motherboards, and this round of motherboard development is no different. Both motherboards join leaked designs from other brands that showed active cooling being mounted on top of the chipset, a throwback to another era.

The leaked Gaming Plus is the lower-tier of the two leaked solutions of today, cutting on reinforcements on some expansion ports (such as the PCIe 16x slot). The Gaming Pro Carbon features a fancier design (with RGB lighting); the chipset hroud also serves as cooling for M.2 slots you can populate underneath (or so it seems). The Gaming Pro Carbon has more attention to detail on the placement of connectors such as SATA, and seems to have a slight advantage on the overall motherboard power delivery circuits, but these are just being eyeballed. One thing we can see is that while the Gaming Pro Carbon features MSI's Audio Boost feature, the Gaming Plus doesn't. Expect more details to be available closer to launch.