"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"

"*** 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."

"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 "

"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!"

"After some extensive research and being swayed by some outstanding reviews, I ordered my Maingear Prelude around July 7th. It arrived on Friday July 20th and I am having a blast. Right now the only game I have to push it with is HL2 and Episode 1, but I am tearing through them with all settings maxed out. I am anticipating Bioshock and the Oblivion GOTY release. Also Episode 2 and Portal of course.

I have had a great experience so far, except for the shipping. But that is because FedEx sucks, nothing to do with Maingear. I had to call for a little support on Saturday morning and within 10 minutes I was good to go. I have had great experiences with the support at Maingear, from questions about configuration all the way to support after delivery. That is the main reason I chose a Maingear and I am glad to see I made the right choice.

I chose to find a monitor, mouse and keyboard on my own, so I could feel and see them before I bought them. I ended up with a Samsung 906BW which I believe is the successor to the 941, which Maingear sells. I also picked up the Logitec MX518 for gaming.

The only disappointment I have is that in the reviews I read at [H]ardOCP, the folks at Maingear asked if they wanted any software pre-installed. I was stunned by this in the review, but it seemed really cool. I am only disappointed because I had to wait for HL2 and its buddies to download over Steam and I couldn't play right away. I can imagine there would be several reasons that this is not offered anymore, the least of which is that it could take a day to install something like WoW.

There was nothing I didn't want on the computer when I got it and everything was nicely presented. They put a few company wallpapers on the machine, all of which looked pretty cool. All the information and documentation was in a neat binder, and all of the CDs and DVDs were present. They had installed the most recent drivers and put those on a CD as well.

The inside of the machine was gorgeous, even my girlfriend (who doesn't know how to assemble computers) thinks it is a fancy looking box. I don't think I could say enough good things about the experience so far."

"I actually ordered my current Prelude back in 2007 with Maingear. After a year and a half of researching boutique computer builders (started with Alienware, WidowPC, and numerous others), a HardOCP won me over with Maingear. To try them out on some of the basics of hardware knowledge (which I read reviews and test cases for over a year), I even called twice prior to deciding to putting in my order and they answered my questions about the graphics card and the quality of hardware they use with ease.

It's now more than 3 years later and my machine has continued to perform in great shape (I'm sure the neat cabling job didn't hurt... =). I've had to restore it once, reinstall the entire operating system once and just this past weekend, and replace a corrupt memory stick. Just last Thursday, my computer refused to even boot to showing the motherboard so I called their tech support (which, by the way still allows you to get directly to a human after just one press of a button when you dial the customer service number) and got to Danny. As he wasn't able to diagnose the problem over the phone, he suggested that I go to the store directly to have them take a look. The next day I arrived, but no Danny. Instead Gus was there and directly picked up a message that I guess Danny left with the team that I might have been coming in and went straight to troubleshooting. After a short time, he found the troublesome ram stick and directly went to their memory stack and found the same make and model I had in my computer and replaced it (despite my computer being out of warranty). I even bought a graphic cards (with a broken fan) for another computer I had at home, though that was a bit more challenging to find a spare part for. Nonetheless, Wallace came along, handed me a card and suggested me to follow-up the next day with a quick e-mail for a specific fan replacement option he would recommend.

Looking back, it was already great to get a fast and smooth-running computer, but now the experience that I’ve had over the past 3 years has been even bettered by their service. So thank you Danny, Gus and Wallace once again for a great product and service to top it all off!"

"Very good overall experience with Maingear. We initially had some shipping issues with FedEx but all is well now. Very satisfied with how the CEO stepped in to resolve my initial problems."

"I purchased a system with Maingear after doing my research on the net. Though I was a little skeptical about making such a large purchase online, I decided to make the 2 hour drive to visit them. I was not disappointed.

They showed me around and introduced me to the staff. They also explained their business philosphy to me. I viewed several of their high quality system, some finished and some being built. I knew then that this was a reputable company. I sat down and ordered my system right there. It even cost me a little less than I had planned because they told me some of the higher priced items I wanted were not necessary for my uses.

I received my computer and I am extremely happy with it. I use it for photo processing and it is extremely quick, while running quiet and cool. The quality of the system build is extremely high and the system looks great. I can't say anything as to tech support because as of this time I have not needed any, but I do have the convidence that if any issues arise, they will be taken care of.

While their site looks like it is geared towards gaming, the systems they produce can be used for any application. "

"I pre ordered a F 131 highly customized PC on 12/30/07, but actually paid for it on 1/8/07. The ordering process was great; I had lots of questions, and the tech I was speaking to had all the answers, knowledgeable answers, without pressure, and solid guidance. I normally build my own PC's, but had decided to treat myself to Top O' the Line Custom PC. I had hoped Maingear could build me that dream, could actually care that I was spending good money, that I would be treated better than just a order number.

I found Maingear after looking at the other custom integrators out there, you know the names, then reading a Gold Award review from a trusted tech review site, [H]hardocp.com. I then searched other reviews and other sites, and everyone only had Great things to say about Maingear.

I received the machine on 1/31/07. The machine was very well packaged and arrived in pristine shape. It booted up to the desktop without any need to activate software, install anything, nada. ZERO un wanted software, like the big sites install, just instant SPEED! The F 131 has the free option of Overclocking, while still keeping it under their warranty, and this baby is overclocked from standard e6700 speed of 2.67Ghz to 3.33Ghz! I swear, opening any application is INSTANT. All the drivers were to the moment current. Very stable. I have had ZERO problems. The build quality is beyond amazing! I mean, my baby looks like it just came from the floor of a trade show. A Genuine SHOW MACHINE. Perfectly quiet, PERFECT wiring, PERFECT Automotive Paint job ( included in the price as well )This machine is truly a show stopper.

Game play is..well..Mind blowing. I play MMORPGs like EQ and Wow, and it screams. Applications open at the speed of light.

Even as an aside, a small gesture, showing their Amazing attention to details, I ordered my F 131 in Yellow from their available colors. I playfully started calling the yellow "Sponge Bob Racing Yellow" in my signature block on a few tech forums. Well, when I received the machine, the first thing I saw was a giant 3' Sponge Bob doll i the box! The doll is irrelevant, but the GESTURE ( learning something silly about me, and my purchase, without my intervention ) was truly a level of personalization you just can't find, or even buy. Choosing Maingear is to become part of an extended family of enthusiasts.

Sincerely, THANK YOU Maingear for exceeding my dreams! "