But, wow. It's so blue (sorry, "Fusion Blue")! And that $300 paint job is just the tip of the iceberg. What the Shift Super Stock lacks in humility or frugality ($7967, as configured) it amply recoups in performance, versatility, and style.

The PCs that grace our tend to focus on utterly demolishing demanding tasks (generally, games) as efficiently as possible. Most of the boutique vendors whose models grace our charts rely on off-the-shelf parts, which translates into a deemphasis of aesthetics. As a result, the chart is densely populated with drab black boxes. But a few vendors--Maingear among them--do things differently.

Maingear's Shift chassis is a recurring guest at or near the top of our charts. It's Maingear's own design, created in partnership with Silverstone. You'll be hard pressed to find anything like it on the market; the closest analog may be the .

The big Shift chassis leaves plenty of room for large motherboards, triple SLI or Crossfire configurations, and liquid cooling--all standard fare for the category. But the Shift difference lies in design underlying its name: The machine's innards are tilted 90 degrees, so that the "rear" faces the top. It's simple really: heat rises. So the chassis packs large, slow-moving fans that pull cool air from the underside of the case, pushing warm air up and out the top. The components inside dissipate heat a bit more efficiently, slightly increasing their longevity and allowing you to dial the fans down a tad, to keep sound levels in check.

The model I reviewed included a window on the side and a white LED strip inside, so you can see the hardware in action. Getting into the chassis couldn't be easier: Just push a latch, and the case walls pop right off. Cable management is immaculate, too. The cables are routed through grommets into a chamber on the opposite side of the motherboard, leaving the main cavity of the PC readily accessible should you need to make changes inside. Though the hard drive bays offer tool-free access, you'll have to break out a screwdriver to get at the graphics boards.