Maingear just announced a new 18-inch gaming laptop, the Ultima 18. It's Maingear's "most powerful laptop to date," and looking at the specs, it's hard to disagree.
NVIDIA's latest high-end mobile GPUs, including the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090, are available to configure, and they're joined by an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor with 24 cores.
The massive 18-inch display comes with a 3840x2400 (UHD+) resolution, a 200Hz refresh rate, NVIDIA G-Sync compatibility, and 100% DCI-P3 color reproduction.
The new Ultima 18 is available to buy now directly from Maingear, and prices start at $3,599. In usual Maingear fashion, there are pre-configured models ready to ship, which can be "boosted" to double the memory and storage.
There are also customizable models available should you want to make some tweaks to the setup before checkout.
Maingear's Ultima 18 comes with up to an RTX 5090, but that doesn't mean you should buy it
Maingear is positioning its new Ultima 18 as a "no-compromise desktop-class gaming rig that fits in a backpack," according to CEO Wallace Santos. Beyond PC gaming, it should easily handle creative work and AI apps without issue.
Here's a deeper look at the specs that make up the Ultima 18.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Maingear Ultima 18 |
|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX |
Graphics | Up to NVIDIA RTX 5090 Laptop GPU |
Memory | Up to 192GB DDR5 (4x 48GB) |
Storage | Up to 4x M.2 SSDs (1x Gen5x4, 3x Gen4x4) |
Display | 18 inches, 3840x2400 (UHD+), 16:10 aspect ratio, NVIDIA G-Sync, Advanced Optimus, 100% DCI-P3 |
Ports | 2x Thunderbolt 5, HDMI 2.1, 2x USB-A 3.2, microSD card reader, 2x 2.5Gb Ethernet, 3.5mm audio |
Wireless | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 |
Camera | 5MP + IR, Human Presence Detection, shutter |
Audio | 5 speakers |
Battery | 98Wh |
Weight | 8.8 pounds (3.99kg) |
Intel's Core Ultra 9 275HX seems to be a very popular chip for high-end gaming laptops, and for good reason.
The "Arrow Lake" CPU is the same one I tested in my ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18 review, and it came out ahead of every other chip we've tested in terms of synthetic CPU-focused benchmarks.
Although the chip lacks a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) powerful enough for Copilot+ — it hits 13 TOPS, well below the 40 TOPS cutoff — the NVIDIA RTX 50-series mobile GPUs will pick up the slack when using AI-powered apps.
That's the only situation where I'd recommend splurging for the NVIDIA RTX 5090. For PC gamers who aren't looking at development or AI work, the RTX 5080 should be the cutoff point.
As I discovered in the Scar 18 review, the mobile version of the RTX 5090 hardly outperforms the RTX 5080 when gaming, yet it costs anywhere from an extra $800 to $1,000+.
No matter what Maingear has cooked up here in terms of cooling and power management, the awful value of the RTX 5090 rests on NVIDIA.]
In other areas, the Ultima 18 is not messing around. It comes with four M.2 slots for storage, one of which can handle PCIe 5.0 for the fastest SSDs possible. On the memory side, it supports up to 192GB of DDR5 RAM split up into four slots of 48GB each.
Premium features, including human presence detection
Speaking of cooling, the Ultima 18 appears to have two large rear exhaust vents as well as extra venting on the sides. Between the rear vents are the more permanent ports, including dual 2.5Gb Ethernet, HDMI 2.1, the power hookup, and a lock slot.
I'm happy to see these rear ports still in place, as they help a lot with cable management. Windows Central's Zachary Boddy recently reviewed the Legion Pro 7i (Gen 10), putting the redesign's lack of rear ports down as one of two downsides.
The other downside of that Legion review was a lack of Windows Hello support. Maingear has not only added an IR sensor and shutter to the 5MP webcam for facial recognition, but it's also gone one step further.
Something I don't think I've ever seen on a gaming laptop (correct me if I'm wrong in the comments section below) is human presence detection.
It can be set up to automatically lock and unlock your PC when you depart or approach, something that's more convenient than you might think.
Other standout features on this 18-inch laptop include five speakers split between tweeters, drivers, and a subwoofer, Wi-Fi 7 for fast and reliable internet, and modern Bluetooth 5.4 for wireless accessories.
Maingear re-enters a limited 18-inch gaming laptop market
The Ultima 18 is Maingear's first gaming laptop this size since the eX-L 18 from about 16 years ago.
Looking back at the eX-L 18's specs, Maingear also set out to produce the fastest laptop possible for the time in 2009, with dual NVIDIA GTX 280M GPUs in SLI, 8GB of dual-channel DDR3 RAM, an Intel Core 2 Extreme X9300 processor, dual 500GB SATA II HDDs, and a DVD burner.
How far we've come.
Returning to modern times, the Maingear Ultima 18 enters an 18-inch gaming laptop market that's not very crowded. It's even less crowded if I'm only counting the PCs with the latest NVIDIA RTX 5000 mobile GPUs inside.
To name a few, there's the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI that launched in May, the Alienware 18 Area-51 that launched in March, the Lenovo Legion 9i 18 (Gen 10) that just became available, and the Razer Blade 18 from March.
It's important to point out that Maingear develops its gaming laptops in collaboration with CLEVO, an OEM out of Taiwan that provides the basic chassis design.
I've tested first-hand Maingear's pre-built desktop gaming PCs — which are some of the best on the market — but I've not had a chance to test its laptops.
Hopefully, that will change soon, as I'd like to get a better idea of how well Maingear's collaborative laptops are built.
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