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Maingear proves that all-in-ones can be monster gaming PCs

The Alpha 34 has performance you'd expect from a custom tower in a much smaller space.

Ask gamers why they don't buy all-in-one PCs and they'll usually give you two main reasons: The hardware isn't beefy enough, and it's rare that you can upgrade after the fact. Well, Maingear might have both issues licked. Its new Alpha 34 crams genuinely good hardware behind a curved, 34-inch 1440p display -- we're talking up to an 8-core Intel Core i7 processor (or an 18-core Xeon chip), NVIDIA Titan X graphics and other parts you'd normally expect in a big tower. You can still expand it with desktop-sized parts, and there's optional liquid cooling to spare you from listening to fans all day.

If there's a gotcha, it's the cost. The Alpha 34 starts at $1,999, and that's with a modest Core i3, 8 GB of RAM, Radeon R7 360X graphics and a 1 TB hard drive. You don't have to spend too much more to get a truly speedy model, but that's still a hefty premium to pay. Look at it this way, though: If you're tight on space and refuse to compromise on performance, this is currently your best bet.