As part of the expansion of the diversity of the “Laptops and PCs” section, it’s high time to talk about ready-made gaming system units. Yes, we at 3DNews pay a lot of attention to computer components and ways to make excellent assemblies from them. However, our market offers a wide range of ready-made systems – and such products are wildly popular. For some, this will be a revelation, but not all 3DNews readers are interested in “tinkering” with self-assembly. Today we will talk about the so-called single-brand PCs – system units assembled using components from one company. In this case, we will talk about an interesting model MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd from the Taiwanese company MSI.
MSI MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd
⇡#Technical characteristics and equipment
It is easy to guess that the system units of the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd series are based on the LGA1851 platform – this is clearly indicated by the slightly overloaded name of the computer. Other characteristics of MSI assemblies are listed in the table below and on the company’s official website.
Core Ultra 7 265K
GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
GeForce RTX 5070
GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER
1 × M.2 2260/2280/22110 PCI Express 4.0 x4
1 × M.2 2242/2260/2280 PCI Express 4.0 x4
1×M.2 2242/2260/2280 PCI Express 4.0 x4 and SATA 6Gbps
4×SATA 6Gbps
1 × USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A
4 × USB 2.0
2 × USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C
5 x 3.5 mm jack
2 × DisplayPort
2 × HDMI
1 × PS/2
850, 1000 or 1200 W
Windows 11 Home
Our editorial office received a system unit with the full name MSI MPG Infinite X3 AI 2NUG7-006XRU. At the time of writing, the device cost 333,999 rubles in the DNS computer network. It includes the following hardware:
- Intel Core Ultra 7 265K central processor;
- Maintenance-free liquid cooling system MSI MAG CORELIQUID E360;
- Modified version of MSI PRO Z890-P WIFI motherboard;
- Two Samsung M323R2GA3PB0-CWMOD RAM modules with a total capacity of 32 GB (DDR5-5600);
- MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16G VENTUS 3X OC graphics card;
- Samsung MZVL81T0HELB-00TW 1TB solid state drive;
- Power supply unit MSI MPG A1000G PCIE5 1 kW;
- OEM MSI midi-tower case.
The package includes a power supply cable, motherboard Wi-Fi antennas, and two SATA cables. The assembly comes without a pre-installed operating system.
⇡#Appearance and design features
What you see here is a classic system unit assembled in a midi-tower case. Recently, MSI has taken up the production of cases for desktop PCs, but the hero of the review clearly uses a unique OEM modification. However, externally, the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd has a quite recognizable appearance – at least for those who often use MSI hardware.
Overall, the system unit is assembled well. Judge for yourself: the cables of the components are neatly assembled, the hardware is securely fastened. I don’t see any reason for stuffy jokes: when you buy a fully assembled system, it is very important that everything is fixed, as they say, tightly. In the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2NUG7-006XRU, for example, a support is attached to the video card, but the gaming accelerator is also additionally fixed to the protective wall of the case. An excellent solution, I think. Or here is a solid-state drive – it is additionally fixed to the motherboard using a thick thermal pad. The little things are taken into account and that is the main thing.
The case dimensions are… standard, I guess. I mean, neither the ultra-tower form factor nor the wide aquarium case are used here. However, if you eventually want to install a more powerful and larger graphics card in the system, you can do so without any problems. The length of the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16G VENTUS 3X OC is 322 mm, and its weight is a good one and a half kilos. The power supply is located at the bottom. There is also a basket for 2.5- and 3.5-inch storage devices. The case is equipped with two dust filters: on top in the form of a kind of magnetic mat and on the bottom in the form of a thin metal perforated grid.
The system unit is equipped with RGB backlighting. The side panel is entirely made of tempered glass. The “rainbow” mood is provided by case fans and impellers of the liquid cooling system, a water block, as well as an LED strip fixed to the front panel of the case. All RGB elements are connected to the motherboard – the latter is equipped with three 3-pin ARGB connectors and one 4-pin RGB connector. The backlighting is easily configured in special software from MSI.
The RAM modules and the video card are not equipped with RGB lighting.
In terms of cooling, we are dealing with a classic design. The tower case has four fans. The device belongs to the MESH category, since the front panel has a combined structure: half is equipped with a grill, the second part is made of tempered tinted glass. 120-mm “Carlssons” mounted on the front panel work for blowing. Another 120-mm fan mounted on the back wall blows out heated air. The “water cooler” fans also work for blowing. Recently, our website published an article “Computer of the Month, Special Edition: How to Build a Gaming PC in an Aquarium Case”, which clearly shows that this arrangement of “fans” is the most effective when it comes to a gaming system.
In MSI marketing materials, this arrangement of components is called Silent Storm Cooling AI – a technology whose main feature is the division of hardware inside the case into different sections with independent ventilation. Plus, intelligent regulation of the rotation speed of PC fans is indicated.
In total, the desktop motherboard allows you to connect up to seven fans to it.
The three-section maintenance-free liquid cooling system MAG CORELIQUID E360 is responsible for cooling the central processor — a detailed review of this “water cooler” was published on our website. The device is a typical representative of the liquid cooling system in its class. At the same time, my colleague Sergey Lepilov awarded this model the “3DNews recommends” award — for the fact that MAG CORELIQUID E360 has proven itself to be a very effective liquid cooling system for the processor, capable of removing up to 265 W of thermal energy. What is especially important is that the device does this at a comfortable noise level. The “water cooler” pump works almost silently.
As already mentioned, the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd uses a modified version of the MSI PRO Z890-P WIFI motherboard. The differences are immediately obvious. First, the power converter of the device used in the desktop lacks aluminum radiators. I will definitely analyze in detail how this affects the system’s performance in the “Heating, noise and performance” section. For now, I will note that the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd motherboard is equipped with an impressive power subsystem operating according to the “2×7+1+1+1” scheme. The circuit uses power assemblies, each of which can withstand a load of 55 A. The processor is powered through two 8-pin EPS connectors.
Secondly, the desktop motherboard is deprived of some ports on the I/O panel. HDMI and DisplayPort video outputs, Thunderbolt 4 and the BIOS firmware update button were cut. Perhaps the most offensive thing is parting with a fast communication interface, the throughput of which reaches 40 Gbps. MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd assemblies use processors with integrated graphics. It turns out that if you want to sell the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER over time, you will have to buy a replacement for it right away – you won’t be able to sit out some time on the “integrated” one.
You can see the photo with the I/O panel connectors yourself. The full list of interfaces is given at the beginning of the article — plus the list includes the 3D accelerator video outputs and connectors on the case’s I/O panel. In the second case, we are talking about USB ports of types A and C with a throughput of 5 and 10 Gbps, respectively. The power and system reset buttons are also located there.
And a little more about the motherboard. The modified version of the PRO Z890-P WIFI is equipped with four expansion slots – a video card is installed in one of them. It also blocks the PCI Express x1 port. Another slot – PCI Express x4 4.0 – is blocked by the support of the gaming accelerator. So it turns out that only the lowest PCI Express x4 4.0 slot remains free. Keep this in mind if you want to install a discrete sound card in the system. By the way, they saved on sound in the PRO Z890-P WIFI, having soldered a frankly simple Realtek ALC897 codec on the printed circuit board.
Finally, the motherboard of the hero of today’s review is equipped with four M.2 slots at once. Interestingly, the Samsung MZVL81T0HELB-00TW solid-state drive is installed in the second port – it is blocked by the video card. Obviously, there is nothing terrible (from the point of view of the efficiency of SSD cooling) in this. During the tests, the drive of the Korean company heated up to 74 degrees Celsius – this is far from critical indicators. At the same time, the upper M.2 slot remains free. This means that you can easily install a second SSD in it yourself. The connector supports the PCI Express 5.0 interface and is directly connected to the central processor.
By the way, only the upper M.2 slot is equipped with an aluminum radiator. And the memory modules and the motherboard chipset also have passive cooling. The radiators are called Glacier Armor.
There are four SATA ports soldered to the board. Two cables are included with the system unit. The power supply cables are already connected, so adding more storage devices to the case will not be difficult. The case supports the installation of two 3.5-inch storage devices and one 2.5-inch.
As for the power supply, the test model of MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd has a kilowatt model MPG A1000G PCIE5. A detailed review was also published on our website. The power supply supports the 80 PLUS standard and has a fully modular cable management. The device produces an honest 1 kW on a 12-volt line. For a test assembly, such power, of course, is excessive. In games, the real power consumption of the system reaches 450-500 watts. However, we know that the maximum efficiency of power supplies is observed at 50 percent load. And if you turn on the ZERO RPM mode, you risk never hearing the operation of the power supply fan – in this mode, the PSU fan rotates only at a load of 40% and above. Therefore, the MPG A1000G PCIE5 will last a very long time. Over time, no one will stop you from replacing the same GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER with a model of a higher class. Let it be a conditional GeForce RTX 6090.
⇡#Testing methodology and software
We have developed a separate testing methodology for computer equipment used at home and on the go and designed for modern games with high system requirements. Since laptops, all-in-ones, mini-PCs and system units included in this category often use the same platforms and components, we have the right to compare such devices, as they say, head-on. Then the user will choose which type of PC suits him best.
To provide a clear comparison of different models of laptops, all-in-ones, and other gaming PCs, we have introduced a performance index, in which the test results of the reference system are taken as 100%. It consists of a Core i7-14700KF central processor (Intel profile), DDR5-7600 (36-48-48-84) RAM, a GeForce RTX 5070 graphics card, and an Intel 760p 2 TB solid-state drive. The points are calculated as a percentage of the performance of the reference gaming system, multiplied by 10. The test bench used the Windows 11 operating system with all installed updates (spring 2025) and drivers, including GeForce Game Ready Driver 576.40 and Intel Chipset Driver 10.1.20020.8623.
The following resource-intensive applications were used:
- Blender 4.3.2. Determining the speed of final rendering in one of the popular free packages for creating 3D graphics. The duration of building the final classroom model is measured.
- Cinebench R23 and Cinebench 2024. Measuring the performance of photorealistic 3D rendering in the CINEMA 4D animation package, CPU test.
- Corona 10 Benchmark. Testing rendering speed using the renderer of the same name. The speed of building a standard scene used to measure performance is measured.
Comprehensive gaming benchmarks:
- 3DMark Professional Edition (current Steam version at the time of testing). Testing in the scenes Time Spy, Fire Strike, Speed Way, Steel Nomad, Steel Nomad Light, CPU Profile and SSD Test.
- Futuremark PCMARK10 Professional Edition (current Steam version at the time of testing). Testing in the scenarios Essentials (usual work of the average user: launching applications, surfing the Internet, video conferencing), Productivity (office work with a text editor and spreadsheets), Digital Content Creation (creation of digital content: photo editing, non-linear video editing, rendering and visualization of 3D models).
Browser tests (Firefox Portable 136.0.1):
- JetStream 2. Test web scripts based on JavaScript and WebAssembly assemblies covering a variety of complex workloads and programming techniques.
- WebXPRT 4: Test web scripts based on HTML5, JavaScript, and WebAssembly, covering a variety of complex workloads and programming techniques.
The testing was conducted in 20 games in three popular resolutions: Full HD, WQHD and Ultra HD for 16:9 format and WUXGA and WQXGA for laptops with 16:10 displays. The full list of applications and graphics settings is given below:
- Counter-Strike 2. DirectX 11. Dust II map (FPS Benchmark map from the workshop). Enhanced Player Contrast – On, NVIDIA Technologies – Off, Max. FPS – 1000, Templates – Very High.
- PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS. DirectX 11 Enhanced. Training Base. Display Scale: 100, First Person Field of View: 90, Overall Graphics Quality: Ultra, Sharpen: Off, Motion Blur: Off.
- Dota 2. DirectX 11. Record match. Advanced settings – on, texture and effects quality – “High”, shadow quality – “Very high”, screen rendering quality – 100%, maximum frames per second – 240, NVIDIA Reflex – off.
- Baldur’s Gate III. DirectX 11. A Walk Through Baldur’s Gate. Overall Graphics Quality: Ultra, Upscaling: Off, 16x AF, TAA, Crepuscular Rays: On, Bloom: On, Downlight: On, Dynamic Crowds: On, Ambient Light Occlusion: On.
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Complete Edition. DirectX 12. Novigrad and surroundings. Ray tracing — off, TAAU, dynamic resolution — off, sharpening — High, HBAO+, screen space reflection quality — High, effects — on, NVIDIA HairWorks — on (8x AA, high quality), default graphics quality — Beyond+, DLSS frame generation — off, NVIDIA Reflex — off.
- Cyberpunk 2077. DirectX 12. City Ride. Quick Quality Setting – Impressive, Resolution Scaling – Off, Frame Generation – Off, Texture Quality – High, Ray Tracing – Off, Crowd Density – High, Normal Settings – On (High Motion Blur), NVIDIA Reflex – Off.
- Alan Wake 2. DirectX 12. A Walk in the Woods. DLAA, Resolution Scaling Off, Effects On, Quality Preset High, Post Processing Quality High, Volumetric Lighting High, Spotlight Quality High, Shadow Resolution High, SSAO, Ray Tracing Off.
- A Plague Tale: Requiem. DirectX 12. Mission “Under a Different Sun”. Resolution optimization – maximum quality, NVIDIA DLSS SR and FG – off, NVIDIA Reflex – off, chromatic aberration – “Normal”, number of animated rats – “Medium”, rat refresh rate – “Medium”, NPC refresh rate – “Medium”, graphics settings – “Ultra”, shadow tracing – off.
- Red Dead Redemption 2. Vulkan. Built-in benchmark (last scene). NVIDIA Reflex — off, quality preset — “Quality”, TAA antialiasing — “High”, advanced settings locked.
- Kingdom Come Deliverance II. DirectX 12. Mission: Easy Riders. Image quality: Experimental, SMAA 2TX, H. FOV: 90, Resolution scaling: Off, Motion blur: Object, Near depth of field: On.
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows. DirectX 12. Built-in benchmark. Field of view — 100%, dynamic resolution — off, TAA 100%, frame generation — off, motion blur — on, chromatic aberration — on, global presets — “Maximum”, global illumination in ray tracing — “Scattering + reflections (everywhere)”.
- Black Myth: Wukong. DirectX 12. Built-in benchmark. Motion blur: Very noticeable, Anti-aliasing oversampling: 100, TSR, Frame generation: Off, Full ray tracing: Off, Graphics settings: Realistic.
- Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. DirectX 12. Built-in benchmark. Scaling method – off, TAA, dynamic resolution – off, NVIDIA Reflex – off, frame generation – off, configuration – “Max”, field of view – 0%, speed effect – 10, sharpness – 5, effects – on.
Testing of devices in games, resource-intensive applications and complex benchmarks was carried out with the fastest mode suitable for these tasks (if any) activated. Performance in games was determined using the well-known CapFrameX program. It allows you to get the rendering time of each frame. The use of the 1st percentile instead of the minimum frame rate indicators is due to the desire to clean the results from random performance fluctuations that were caused by reasons not directly related to the operation of the main platform components.
⇡#Heat, Noise and Performance
Interestingly, the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd motherboard is equipped with a full-fledged BIOS. The Z890 chipset allows you to overclock and configure the central processor and memory. We will definitely discuss further how necessary this is. Therefore, no one will stop you from optimizing the system the way you want it to be. If anything, you can always roll back to the basic BIOS settings – they contain all the main parameters of the processor, RAM and devices connected to the motherboard. But let’s be honest: ready-made PCs are bought in order to mess around with assembling hardware and configuring it as little as possible, and ideally – not to mess around at all. I am sure that the owners of such systems will, at best, use the MSI Center application modes. That’s what I did, testing the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd with the “Extreme Performance”, “Balanced” and “Silent” presets enabled – they automatically regulate the operation of the central processor and video card, as well as the fans connected to the motherboard. Let’s start the “debriefing” with resource-intensive applications.
Extreme performance
Balanced
Silent
Heating of the motherboard power converter (Extreme Performance mode)
In idle mode, the system unit operates quite quietly. At a distance of 30 cm, the noise meter recorded a value of 35.7 dBA. For example, if you place the case under the table, you will no longer hear it. If the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd is flaunting itself on the table in front of you, a barely audible hum is noticeable, which, however, is not at all annoying during everyday tasks. The noise is generated by the case fans and the impellers of the “water cooler”.
The Core Ultra 7 265K power limits have been removed, meaning the CPU is operating at maximum efficiency. We see that the 20-core Intel processor consumes around 240-280 W in work applications. The unattended liquid cooling system copes with its task, but the hottest core remains consistently above 90 degrees Celsius. You can’t count on overclocking the Core Ultra 7 265K as part of the MSI build. On the contrary, you should think about configuring the CPU to reduce power consumption and heating. Fortunately, I repeat, the motherboard has all the necessary tools for this. I wrote about this in detail in the article “Computer of the Month, Special Edition: Everything About Setting Up a Gaming PC.” Keep in mind that there are no two absolutely identical processors in the world.
What was a pleasant surprise was the low noise level of the system unit operating under maximum load. The PC’s operation is clearly audible, but many gaming laptops perform resource-intensive tasks much louder.
An important and controversial point in the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd is the savings on the cooling system of the VRM zone of the motherboard. The thermal imager photo clearly shows that in a well-ventilated case there is no overheating of the power converter components. Yes, the power assemblies heat up noticeably, but the board can withstand a load of 240-260 W. Stable operation of the system is ensured – and this is the main thing. In my opinion, a load of 250 W for such a configuration is a kind of ceiling. I would not risk “straining” the system beyond the limit. Although extensive experience in testing various devices suggests that if the PRO Z890-P WIFI modification for the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd had a high-quality cooling system for the power converter, it would cope with a 300 W load.
The “Balanced” mode turns the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd into a truly quiet and cool system. I recommend using it whenever there is no need to “shovel” a large amount of content. After all, today we are talking more about a gaming system than a workstation.
But can the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd be used as a workhorse? Definitely yes! The same Core Ultra 265K outperforms the Core i7-14700K in a number of applications, but consumes less power. And many scenarios related to content creation can be “hung” on the video card. And don’t forget about the AI capabilities of such a build.
In games, the system unit was tested in the “Extreme Performance” and “Balanced” modes. In the first case, a slight overclocking of the video card is observed for the chip and memory. When the “Silent” preset is enabled, the system too aggressively reduces the frequency of the P-cores of the central processor, but does not become quieter.
Please note that in games MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd works quite quietly. The system uses a high-quality liquid cooling system and a video card with a powerful three-fan cooler. As a result, removing about 450-500 W of thermal energy, the temperature of the graphics chip does not exceed 70 degrees Celsius, and the Core Ultra 7 265K heats up to 75 degrees Celsius on average. Quite working indicators, which, again, can be significantly reduced manually – albeit at the cost of some drop in performance.
In games, the power consumption of the central processor reaches 150 W, but on average it stays at 115 W. Under such a load, the motherboard power converter heats up noticeably less.
Extreme performance
Balanced
We tested many GeForce RTX 4080 SUPERs back in the day, so the gaming potential of the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd was known in advance. My opinion has not changed since then: the video card is great for gaming in WQHD resolution – because its performance level is sufficient for both games using maximum graphics quality and for “games” with ray tracing and modern scaling and anti-aliasing methods. Simple fact: during testing in this resolution, comfortable FPS was obtained in all games. Drops below 60 frames per second are observed only in Black Myth: Wukong, Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Kingdom Come Deliverance II. We can safely throw the latest project of the Czech studio Warhorse Studios aside, but the first two titles were originally developed with upscalers in mind. These are the realities of developing so-called AAA games.
Let’s imagine that you need a fast PC for gaming in Full HD resolution – a brand new monitor with a fast matrix has already been purchased. In my opinion, in such a situation, it is more profitable not to chase the fastest video card that can be bought on the market. Tests show that the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd is well suited for multiplayer projects – 200+ average FPS were obtained in Dota, Contra, and PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS. And yet, I cannot help but remind you that the assembly does not use the fastest RAM. I recommend reading the article “How to increase the performance of Core Ultra 9 285K in games by 16%” when you think about upgrading the system.
MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd can be recommended for Ultra HD gaming, but with some reservations. Obviously, most new AAA games will have to use DLSS technology. The contenders for the title of “benchmark game” are the same.
⇡#Conclusions
By mid-2025, we have a full understanding of what modern mainstream gaming platforms are capable of. At the moment, systems based on AM5, LGA1700, LGA1851 and (with some reservations) AM4 solutions are considered relevant. Yes, assemblies with Core Ultra 200 chips do not look so convincing in games – we have repeatedly talked about the reasons why this happens. At the same time, this does not mean at all that such configurations have no place on the shelves of computer stores. In the end, no one has canceled the basic desire to try something new. The GeForce RTX 50 series of video cards also turned out to be controversial, causing heated discussions on specialized resources. So I see no point in criticizing the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd for the fact that this series of desktop PCs uses Arrow Lake chips and GeForce RTX 40 graphics, which are outdated on paper.
What was the result? MSI has made a good desktop overall. The system turned out to be completely stable, and in most modes we can talk about its quiet operation. The user will definitely not have problems with subsequent upgrades. The key to success is simple: the use of high-quality MSI components in the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd, from the case to the video card. Yes, it looks strange to “save on matches” in the form of the absence of a cooling system for the motherboard power converter. However, I repeat, the assembly with the Core Ultra 7 265K works stably. But the presence of a simple sound codec in a PC worth 300+ thousand rubles is truly disappointing. But you can live with this, I’m sure.
Perhaps the only noticeable drawback of the MPG Infinite X3 AI 2nd is the price. An experienced PC master will have no trouble assembling a gaming system faster but cheaper. But earlier we found out that not all users are interested in “tinkering” with self-assembly.