I ordered from them and was very happy! Due to situations not of their doing I had to cancel the order. The staff at Maingear were helpfull, professional and answered all questions in a very timely manner. When I get my next computer, it will be from them!

This review was modified by its author, greggb42, on 8/26/08 4:13 PM.

This is a review of my MAINGEAR F131, 4th of July Special. It has been abridged from the version found on the MG forums at  
 
http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?p=14584#post14584  
 
My 'High-end' Dell melted a few months ago. It had served me well enough for a couple of years, but I decided to treat myself and spring for a boutique gaming desktop.  
 
Unfortunately, I had a price cap of $1,500.00, which a few years ago would have put most boutiques out of my budget. I was pleasantly surprised to find that these days many shops offer more affordable selections.  
 
Pre-Build: 9.9/10  
 
Like many in the market for a boutique rig, I did extensive research before purchasing.  
 
In the end I decided on a MAINGEAR Prelude. MG impressed me with its clean, sleek website and configurator, though a couple of sections needed updates.  
 
I also like the look of the builds. None of MG's builds are over-the-top plastic monstrosities, they all use functional, elegant Silverstone cases with minimalist exteriors.  
 
Finally, MAINGEAR had a great rep both among reviewers and the enthusiast community. Questions on their forums were answered quickly and enthusiastically, usually by other customers but also by company reps. Most importantly when I came across situations where MG had made past mistakes they were very quick to correct them in the customer's favor.  
 
The impression I was receiving was that MG would cheerfully spend a great deal of time and effort to make sure their customers were happy *after* they received their computers.  
 
The Order: 10/10  
 
After receiving great input on build and components at the MAINGEAR forums, I was ready to order my Prelude.  
That's when I got lucky A couple of days before I was to place my order, MG put up a special on the F131 which put it within my budget. The F131 is the Prelude's bigger brother, with free overclocking and sweet components, I jumped at the chance to grab it instead. Again, the MG forums were very helpful with component selection.  
 
I placed my order as follows:  
 
F131 Fourth of July Edition  
Customizations:  
Exterior Automotive Color: Black Brushed Aluminum Finish  
Power Supply: 750W Silverstone Strider Power Supply  
Motherboard: Intel® Bonetrail DX38BT X38 Chipset  
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q9300 (2.5GHz x 4) 45nm 6MB L2 Cache  
CPU Cooling: Zalman Ultra Quiet CNPS9500 LED 92mm CPU Cooler w/ Copper Base  
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR3-1066  
Do you want us to Redline™ your CPU?: YES  
Hard Drive One: Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache - SATA II  
Optical Drive One: 20X Dual Layer DVD±RW Drive w/ LightScribe Technology - black  
Video Card: Visiontek ATI Radeon™ HD 4850 512MB GDDR3  
Do you want us to Redline™ your GPU?: NO  
Sound Card: Integrated Sound  
Network Card: Integrated Gigabit Network Card  
Game: Yes, Give me 3 FREE Games!  
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (32-Bit) SP1  
The Final Finesse: Flawless Hand-crafted Wiring and Cable Management  
Warranty: 14 Month Standard Maingear Warranty  
 
With shipping it came in at a bit over $1,700.00, more than I had initially intended to spend, but also a whole lot more computer than I thought I could afford.  
 
The Wait: 10/10  
 
20 minutes after my order I decided to update the order to 64 bit Vista, with the idea that I would upgrade my RAM sometime soon...The MG website made this very easy, and it was changed on the invoice by the tech processing my order, Raphael, the same day.  
 
I was in contact with MG several times during the wait, and each time I was impressed with the friendly professionalism the company reps showed.  
 
I ordered ground shipping, so we would see how well the system held up on its 2k mile journey.  
 
Receiving the system: 10/10  
 
I received the system 3 weeks after ordering it. The chassis was secured in its box by two simple but effective foam restraints, it took a little bit of strength to work it free (which is good).  
 
Along with the system there were several extras, games, backup discs, and a T shirt.  
 
The Aftermath: 10/10  
 
My first impressions of the case were that no pictures could do her justice. The Silverstone chassis is a beast, brushed black aluminum pierced at strategic intervals by meshed venting.  
 
I felt like I had just gotten the Dark Knight's computer.  
 
The side panels are removed by popping handscrews at the back of the chassis. Every stray wire was neatly bundled and tucked up against the chassis wall.  
 
I quickly determined that every connection was solid, and that all cards, etc. had maintained their seating, that, in fact, the PC seemed to be in perfect shape.  
 
Performance (Don't she purr, though): 10/10  
 
Aside from scrapping a Tablet PC application, I couldn't find anything on the normally bloated and inefficient Vista OS that needed tuning, as MG had already done it for me.  
 
So far, my PC handles like a dream. Programs and games load immediately, and the quadcore makes multitasking a joy. I've only had the system for a few days, and I'll update this review if any problems arise in terms of performance it exceeds my expectations and earns a 10/10.  
 
Conclusion: 10/10  
 
Every aspect of the order process, from the useful forum advice to the slick website interface, was excellent. The system arrived on time and in perfect condition. The wiring/cable management is superb and the exterior is unique, solid, and elegant. Finally, every aspect of my interaction with the MAINGEAR staff and technicians left me feeling like I was valued, and could easily come back with concerns or even in search of simple advice.  
 
Minor details of weakness really only serve to highlight the overall fantastic product and service MAINGEAR offers. It's a good feeling, after months of research and careful budgeting, to know you made the right decision after all. It's even better to know you couldn't have made a better one.  
 
Thanks, Kestrel  

I placed the order at Maingear's website. They have a simple and clean interface that many integrators should use. The only problem I could find with it was shortage of parts you could use. For instance, Creative sound cards are available, but not anyone else. Also, they do have a decent selection of processors but all processors that Intel or AMD make are not available, just the mainstream ones. A day after placing the order, Maingear called to confirm the order. After about a month, I received my new PC. Since the PC was made from retail not OEM parts, all the manuals, discs, and equipment that would be in retail packaging was placed into a nice binder to keep it organized along with an order checklist and the typical welcome materials. After unpacking, I opened the computer itself. The internals looked very well done with all the extra cabling tucked neatly out of the way. Once the PC was started, it ran like a charm without any extra bloatware clogging the system. I haven't had a single blue-screen or crash yet. Very highly recommended.

I am now writing this on my brand new MAINGEAR F131 computer which arrived just today. Out of the box it runs great, looks great and was obviously assembled with care and attention to detail. I ordered this computer 4 weeks ago, but since each is hand built and since there is some demand, it has taken a while for it to be delivered but it was worth the wait. the ordering process was easy, any changes I wanted they were able to accommodate me. I wanted to be able to dual boot so they took care of it, setting my up with both Windows XP and Vista 32. I switched two to 2 9600GT video cards in SLI and they were able to handle that also. I probably bugged them once or twice a week and each time they were friendly. The packaging was first rate. the box had some serious dings but the computer is running just fine. Its tweaked well and is a joy to use. I shopped around for over a month at different builders but I settled on MAINGEAR for their quality and their service and the die-hard community that they have built up. I know that if I have any problems, it will be taken care of. I highly recommend them as a builder of quality power machines.

From start to finish, just about the best shopping experience ever. Based on reviews (HardOCP especially), they were the only boutique I had really considered. From initial consideration to the final pulling of the trigger, I was able to get assistance by calling their office, immediately speaking to a well-spoken, informed member of their staff, or by posting to their messageboard which is very well maintained and visited by, again, members of their staff. The price i was quoted was very reasonable, certainly more so than Falcon, and the case isnt some garish thing like an Alienware. I happen to live about 20 miles from their location, so I was able to visit them in person for consultation as well as to pick up my machine (yay for saving some cash and not having to worry about a fedex guy dropping it) and they were always happy to have me there. The machine is a stunner. it runs beautifully, the specs are great, and the build quality is second to none. it's really a piece of art. you owe it to yourself to look at some of their work. my pictures can be found on flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/chronoso/sets/72157603969201908/

I researched buying a custom PC via magazines, the web, and advice from friends. I priced out systems and read reviews on Puget, Vigor, Digital Storm, Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Vodoo, Cyberpower, and iBuyPower. I even looked at Dell, Gateway, and HP. I kept coming back to MAINGEAR and reading their forum, looking at pictures, and reading reviews on the net. I decided to go with MAINGEAR due to all the positive reviews and now that I have the PC and have gone through the buying experience I have to say that I made the best choice I could possibly have. The staff was very professional and answered all my questions. The packaging the PC came in was first rate. The PC wiring and build quality is just amazing. The performance has been rock solid and fast (I have a Prelude). The wait for the PC was long, but I knew that going in to the purchase so that is okay. I highly recommend MAINGEAR to anyone looking to buy a custom built computer. The price is fair for the system you get and the quality is excellent.

Excellent customer service. You talk directly to the tech and there is no run around. Quality of the computer is over the top excellent.

Placed my order with Maingear on 2/22/08, after hearing there great reviews in Games for Windows, and here on RR.com. I called the following day requesting it be sent out ASAP, they said order procsess is 2-3 weeks, but they would rush my order. Maingear came through and sent out the PC 3 days later, had the PC with in 1 week of ordering!! I was very upset to find out the PC wasn't working as soon as I got it, the PC they sent me was busted from the start, but I called tech support and was put through to the person that built my PC(much better than talking to someone in a different country). Tech support was helpfull but could not fix the problem. Out of frustration I wanted to return the PC, but support at Maingear told me they would let me keep the PC I have so I can use it for internet and basic purposes, send me a brand new one, and then let me send the old one back at no expense. I had the same problem with Alienware awhile back and they never extended the same service and they took weeks to send me a new one, Maingear came through big time with there support and my new PC works perfect, and has about the best build quality I have ever seen in a custom PC. Maingear customer for life.

Smooth experience from beginning to end. I purchased an Ephex in January haven't looked back since. I had originally picked two 8800Ultra's in SLI to run them on a 19" LCD screen. MAINGEAR actually undersold me saying that two 8800's were not necessary. It’s rare to find companies who take care of their customers like MAINGEAR does. Thank You!

Smooth process from start to finish. Maingear provided me with a fast, stable system that has a build quality I haven't seen anywhere. Their support has been wonderful(a problem caused be vista). They delivered a clean system with no bloatware and as shown by the welcome pack (all driver disks, recovery disks, benchmark/testing info, contact info, all in a neat, organized binder) they have a great attention to detail. I was also impressed with the quality of the components and build quality for a price I could not match anywhere, be it big box or other boutiques. Overall a wonderful experience, I would highly recommend this company and their products to anyone.

Having problems with my pc. Maingear is in the process of rebuilding my pc. I'm not sure what went wrong with the first build yet but so far my experience has been very frustrating... Maingear staff as always is very friendly and courteous. My frustration is having to make 3-4 trips to maingear to bring my pc in because of bluescreens. I understand hardware can fail and computers can be very tricky at times. Unfortunately I'm the one having these problems. I specifically asked the tech to take his time with my pc because all I wanted was a stable system. After going back&forth to the maingear shop with my pc I told the tech I don't care if it takes 2 weeks just give me a stable system. Got the pc back after the last visit and it had the same problems. I finally asked for a rebuild and maingear complied. The original dual 8800gtx graphics cards didn't OC well at all and ran hot. I was offered an upgrade for $180 more to ultras. I already plunked down about 1450.00 for the GTX'S. The hard drives are from my previous system and at maingears request I agreed to let them put in a new hard drive just to make sure that's not the problem. My experience so far is rare because most maingear owners have no problems and are very happy.. That's all I want, to be a happy M.G. customer. So far I can't say that's the case. Hopefully I will get my rebuilt machine and have a positive experience. I would consider building it myself next time around because of the cost and trouble I'm having. This is my 3rd machine from boutique builders. First was digital storm, stable but poor support. Then overdrive pc recently purchased by velocity micro. Overdrive was my best experience so far. They are no longer the same company in my opinion thats why I didn't go with them. I believe I'm just having some bad luck here with M.G. My advice would be to buy as close to home as you can in case you have situations like mine. Support should be on top of your list and I think M.G. support is very good but theres always room for improvement. Would I buy from M.G. again??? It's too early too tell. I will update my experiences here when I get my machine back.. They are nice people and very pleasant to deal with. All I want is a high performance luxury machine because thats what they claim they build and many customers seem to attest to that claim. HERE IS AN UPDATE ON MY EXPERIENCE WITH MAINGEAR...On 12-22-07 I'm sitting at my rebuilt from scratch maingear pc. All of my problems listed above have been solved by maingear above and beyond my expectations!!! Here is what maingear did for me without my asking. Gave me a new hard drive no charge. Installed an upgraded 780i motherboard without my asking. Previously I had a 680i. Maingear RMA'D my old hard drives for me at no cost. The hard drives were from my previous system (not a maingear). Turns out the hard drives might have been the reason for all these problems to begin with. Maingear is a company you can buy from and trust 1000% without any reservations. They genuinely care about their customers experience and stand behind their computers. All this was done very quickly in the midst of the holidays too!!! How can you beat a company that treats it's customers like this. I want to personally thank the C.E.O of the company Wallace Santos for taking special effort to turn my experience with maingear around. Thank you, you now have a loyal customer who will look to maingear for all their pc needs and tell family and friends about the way you treat your customers. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 
Iv'e been a Maingear Owner for over a year now. Today I brought my pc in to reseat the heatsink which I thought I broke after changing the cpu myself. Gus was there to take care of the situation for me. He checked it out put a new heatsink in for me then Overclocked my new cpu at my request. Gus also noticed the bios needed updating and took care of that for me as well. While I was there I had a maingear energy drink on Gus. My pc is running great now. I also had a peek at the new nehalam I7 system The white case with the smoke looks awesome!!! The pics on here don't do it justice. If your here reading customer reviews and your thinking of getting a maingear system??? I can tell you from personal experience. DON'T EVEN HESITATE!!!! Maingear treats it's customers like pure GOLD!!!!! A whole year later and I'm still excited and very glad I went with Maingear over all the others. Thanks for your great treatment Maingear

This review was modified by its author, Trashman10306, on 10/31/08 1:59 PM.

*** UPDATE: The fan on my video card began to fail. An email to Maingear tech support and a replacement was on the way! Fantastic customer support ... I highly recommend Maingear. *** Absolutely perfect! Highly recommend! I ordered on Oct. 1 and received my EPHEX on Oct. 15. The computer and monitor were well packaged. No problems at all. My computer booted without a problem. Everything that I read about Maingear was completely and utterly TRUE! I contacted Maingear via email while I was waiting for my build date to arrive, I asked to alter my invoice and it was done effortlessly. Maingear was in contact with me throughout the process ... right up until I received an email that my order had shipped. I felt very comfortable throughout the process and will definitely buy from them again.

This review was modified by its author, mark1cal, on 3/24/08 8:23 AM.

I highly Recommend Maingear to everyone.  
 
I myself started out by looking around on forums and reviews just like everyone else. i finally decided on maingear. after talking with them on the phone; i had no doubt thats whom I'm ordering from.  
 
during the build process of my ephex system they hit a couple snags. they fixed them no problem. such as giving me a better upgraded motherboard, and the cleanest built WC'd system Ive ever seen.  
 
i would definitely order from them again. they even emailed me pics of my PC when requested. one suggest though, and my only gripe if any. there should be a more updated order status put into play....yet again you can call and talk to them anytime.  
 
if your looking for a well buily, clean pc from a company with excellent custom service look no further. Maingear is the one for the job....  
i bought two :). a prelude and a ephex system.  
 
here are the specs for my ephex system-  
 
Exterior Automotive Color: Black Brushed Aluminum Finish  
Side Window: Translucent Window Side Panel w/ LED Lighting Bundle  
Power Supply: 1000W Enermax Galaxy Power Supply  
Motherboard: NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard  
Processor: QX6850 Core 2 Extreme Edition (3.0GHz x 4)  
CPU Cooling: Maingear Arctic 120mm CPU Water Cooling System  
Memory: 4GB Corsair XMS2-8500 DDR2-1066  
Do you want us to Redline™ your CPU?: NO  
Hard Drive One: Western Digital Raptor Enterprise 150GB 10K RPM 16MB Cache - SATA  
Hard Drive Two: Western Digital Raptor Enterprise 150GB 10K RPM 16MB Cache - SATA  
Flash Card Reader: All-in-One Internal USB 2.0 Flash Card Reader & Writer  
Optical Drive One: 20X Dual Layer DVD±RW Drive w/ LightScribe Technology - black  
Optical Drive Two: 20X Dual Layer DVD±RW Drive w/ LightScribe Technology - black  
Video Card: 2x NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra 1536MB PCIe in SLI  
Video Cooling: Maingear Arctic Liquid GPU Cooler  
Do you want us to Redline™ your GPU?: NO  
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi™ XtremeGamer  
Network Card: Dual Gigabit LAN  
Speakers: Logitech® Z-2300 2.1 Speakers  
Display One: SAMSUNG 305T Black 30" 6ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor  
Game: FREE! Guild Wars: Factions PC Game  
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (32-Bit)  
Keyboard: Logitech® G15 Gaming Keyboard  
Mouse: Logitech® G5 Laser Mouse - Free Paint Match!  
Warranty: 3 Year Maingear Warranty

This review was modified by its author, jdbrown_82, on 10/17/07 1:17 PM.

I really like my Maingear PC. It runs great, is reasonably stable and I feel I have personable, knowledgeable service available to me if I have issues or questions.  
 
Unfortunately things didn’t start out that way. My computer arrived 2 months ago, and I could not have been more excited. I opened it up and plugged it in… it was unstable and sound did not work consistently. Packing was poor, resulting in a damaged user manual. Several applications that were promised to be installed, were missing all together. Inspection of the hardware, led me to discover miss-leading wording on MG’s website, resulting in 4x1gb DIMMS instead of the expected 2x2gb DIMMS; this is a big disappointment as it effects the upgradeability of my machine (on my recommendation they changed the wording on the website). Overall, attention to detail was sorely lacking, and I have no idea how the machine could have successfully passed their 72 hour burn in test.  
 
Maingear’s response: they sent me the missing software titles, and we tried several things to identify the source of instability issues. After a month or so of back and forth communication, I received a replacement sound card to install, and a new bios release became available. I flashed the new bios, blew away my partition and did a clean install of windows, downloading/installing updates and all drivers. I reloaded my software and reconfigured my machine. After a few configuration steps, the pc is up and running, and I’m rather happy with it.  
 
Initially, when it didn’t work, I should have had the option to send it back right away and get one that did. Eventually, this option was given, if the rebuild didn’t work, but since it did, I didn’t exercise that option. Any Maingear customizations, recovery disks, benchmarks, testing etc… are gone or invalid, though of course I could redo them myself. What I did get out of the deal was quality phone support and some walk through info that I found especially helpful while reapplying overclocking.  
 
I consider myself originally disappointed, but eventually satisfied. There customization options are fantastic, the pricing reasonable, there is a nice forum community, they support overclocked machines, they are very personable and I’ve never seen a cleaner wiring job in my life.  
 
A lot of people have had good luck with MG, and as long as you have some technical know-how, I still think they are a good option. Certainly something like a 3rd party bios release is out of Maingear’s control, but shipping product with components not work correctly for whatever reason is. Based purely on my own experience, if you are a computer novice, I would go somewhere else.  

First and foremost, I want to apologize to Maingear for taking so long to write a review. If I'd had a negative experience, I'd have surely posted sooner, but as you can see...4 months after delivery and this baby is still running smooth...even with lousy Vista to try and muddle things up. Ordered a MG F131 with 1000W PS, 680SLI MB, Intel E6700 Core 2, Zalman CNP 9500 CPU cooler, 2GB Corsair XMS2-8500 RAM, WD Caviar 500 GB HD, 8800GTX 768 PCIe card, and a few other tasty fixings. I have had absolutely no hardware problems. Lots of software "issues" most likely stemming from early gaming with Vista, but a call to tech support and a total recovery to factory settings took less than 10 minutes.  
 
There tech support is absolutely flawless - those Portuguese dudes know their stuff. :) My only minor gripe with the whole experience was the 1 month wait after ordering - longer than original forecast from company, but about average for the premium boutique industry...at least when I ordered.  
 
Best selling point? Overclocking covered by warranty. I run a rock-solid machine powered by a CPU OC'd from 2.66 to 3.2 Ghz. Oh, and the case with free wheels and the window on the side looks cool as hell. Please forgive me MG - you rock!