The RGB lighting can be controlled in two different ways: with a module in the MSI Center software or an LED button on the case itself. I wish MSI had gone with this option across more configurations. There's plenty of room for a 240 mm cooler at the top of the case, and even a dust filter for fans there. A 120mm fan at the rear serves as both the exhaust and cools the radiator for the all-in-one liquid cooler.

Three 120mm intake fans are located at the front of the case behind a dust filter. If you've seen just about any mid-tower PC case, this will all be familiar to you. The right side is metal and hides all of the cable management. The left side of the case consists of a dark tempered glass window, which lets you see the colorful lighting inside from the fans and the CPU cooler. The rest of the design is a bit less daring. If you're looking to stay under two grand (and this PC did fall to a lower sale price during our testing), the Aegis is one to keep an eye on, even if it's a bit barebones. You can get superior performance if you spend a few hundred dollars more on a desktop with an RTX 3070 card. And it's not crazy expensive considering it has AMD's Ryzen 7 5800X and a Radeon RX 6700 XT.īut while it delivers in those areas, MSI's CPU cooling here has a negative effect on performance, especially for those also using this PC for multi-core productivity workloads. The MSI Aegis ZS ($1,999.99 as tested), is composed primarily of the company's own parts, making it as upgradeable as something you build yourself. But the best gaming PCs really only need to hit two spaces: using enough standard parts to be easily upgradeable, and delivering value for the parts it contains. When push comes to shove, they're all components in a case.

When you're buying a gaming PC off the shelf, the number of choices can be a bit overwhelming.

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