Problems
We had no real problems to speak of with the F131. It booted immediately upon arrival, which is practically unheard of, and partially attributable to a good packing job (and partially to luck). The system was stable throughout our testing, and other than slight anomalies like the stray noise, we did not observe any problems.
Pricing
Our test configuration of the F131 is available on the Maingear website for approximately $2130 before shipping. The margins on components are quite high, particularly on hard drives and video cards. The cooler used retails for about $140, so clearly the $300 premium over the Intel heatsink goes towards the cost of labor. The closest that we came at Newegg with a very similar configuration was about $1530. This isn't that far off the mark from other system builders, but it would really help solidify Maingear's position if they could reduce their margins on video cards to allow for less expensive gaming upgrades.
Final Thoughts
First off, the good: Maingear builds quality systems without bloatware or clogged installations, ships them well, and all evidence shows they support them 100%. Their website is easy to order from, overclocking is "free" and covered under warranty, and their component choices are solid. You really do get the impression that these systems are hand-built with care.
Now then, here are the negatives. We find ourselves acknowledging that Maingear is a solid contender in this market, and understand why they garner customer loyalty, but this system just didn't clinch us completely. We honestly expected to see a bit more performance at this price point. This is supposed to be "the ultimate custom gaming machine" in Maingear's own words. For instance, instead of water-cooling, we would have opted to spend some of that money on a quad-core CPU (for those into video encoding) or a faster video card (for the gamers).
When paying for a system like this, one wants the performance to back up the cost. We also feel that a system like this should come with a 3-year warranty standard; it's an investment surely intended to last more than one year, and quite a few competitors in this area offer 3-year warranties at about the same price. As a third point, while the Silverstone case is elegant and functional, it lacks the glitz and glamour that some people might look for in a gaming system. The ability to choose a couple case alternatives would help. Customization options are available for most components, but they are more limited than other vendors and the price premiums are higher than average.
As we said when opening the review, we like the F131 and are very pleased with its reliability and by all accounts the huge emphasis that Maingear places on support. They are definitely worth a place on the short list of top quality PC suppliers. However, if support is not number one on your list, you may want to look around at some other suppliers to compare prices.
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yyrkoon - Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - link
No, ludicrously bad programming would be Hellgate: London. CivIV or 3 DO NOT take ridiculously long on even a moderate PC. A couple of minutes towards end of the game with hundreds of cities spread across 8-11 AI players is reasonable.headbox - Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - link
Seriously? A $4,000+ computer booting out of the box is practically "unheard of?"The packaging looks terrible. It's like they crammed some stuff into the box a bare case came in. Ever unpack an Apple computer?
PCs haven't changed for years- metal box, cables everywhere, and the best anyone can do is make the cables a little more tidy than the next guy? You'd think engineers (other than Apple) could come up with a better system to mount a board and PSU into a reliable, stylish and sturdy case by now.
Penti - Monday, November 17, 2008 - link
This seriously isn't designed by engineers.It's just stuff independent system-builders put together with retail parts.
They aren't engineers designing and ordering their custom stuff from OEMs/ODMs/EMSs. They don't try to be and they couldn't. They are into assembling stuff. Buy a Dell if you'd would want something like that. Otherwise just build it yourself as you can buy the same exact parts in shops. That's why they are all cluttered and stuff.
D3SI - Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - link
Apple employs engineers? haha good one.
Jedi2155 - Thursday, November 13, 2008 - link
I have to say that Apple probably employs some very damn good engineers. Misguided ones...but damn good ones.strikeback03 - Thursday, November 13, 2008 - link
Not sure if misguided is the word, they just don't mind the functional aspects of the design taking a back seat to the aesthetic aspects. Maybe Apple parties like Max Mosley.Ratman6161 - Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - link
At work we buy dozens of generic cheapo Dell desktops and I've never had one of those that did not work out of the box. If I were paying this kind of premium for a system, I would certainly be upset if it couldn't do the same. Another thought is that one could buy the components and build it themselves for a lot less money. So I would assume that the person who would be buying this system would be someone who does not want to (or does not know how to) mess with it - and is willing to pay for that. That sort of person is probably going to RMA the system if it doesn't boot out of the box.Matt Campbell - Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - link
These systems have large, often dual-slot video cards, extremely heavy copper air coolers or water cooling setups, etc. that make them much trickier to ship than a traditional desktop. Usually it's as simple as reseating the video card or plugging in a S-ATA hard drive. That area does bug me, the S-ATA retention system should really be better.headbox - Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - link
Most people don't know how to reseat a video card or plug in a SATA drive.What if you bought a car that didn't work? It could be as simple as connecting the starter. Do you know how to do that?
3DoubleD - Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - link
First of all, this computer isn't $4,000, it was $2130 + Shipping. If it were an Apple, yes it would be $4,000, but fortunately it isn't so we save ~$1,800. Oh wait.. you can't buy a desktop from Apple unless it is the Mac Pro, so you have to get a dual socket Xeon with FB Dimms. To make things worse, you horrible choices for graphics: 4x 2600XT Crossfire (wow that might be as fast as a single 2900XT in optimal conditions), 8800GT (is Apple clearing out old Nvidia/ATI stock or what?) or Quadro FX 5600 ($2,700 upgrade from the 8800GT). To top it off, the case is fugly. What is with the handles?As for the unpacking process. The computer tower clearly came in the Styrofoam packaging beneath the tray additional parts (extra PSU cables, display adaptors, ect), instruction manuals, recovery CDs, ect. The only difference between the box used here and the box a Mac comes with is that a team of people at Apple wasted their time designing the box to look good. Only a person who buys a Mac gives a crap about fancy Styrofoam and pretty cardboard. The packing was perfectly functional (as the author mentioned in the article, did you read it?).
PCs haven't changed for years... that's true as they still use the same parts more or less. I think another interesting observation would be that Macs haven't stopped copying the PC design and branding it as something else for years! I'm really not sure what you are looking for here. How else to you package computer components together? You could use a large case that is optimized for cooling and noise suppression or you can try to cram the components together and optimize for portability. Hmmm maybe you could stick a monitor on that portable computer... ya, that's a great idea... I'd call it a laptop! Get it... because it fits on your lap!
Finally, do you really think engineers are responsible for the look of Apple's computers or most cosmetic designs for that matter? Usually it is an industrial design artist who's job is to make products look pretty. Unless ergonomics are a factor, an engineer wouldn't even come close to the drawing board. Where the engineer comes into the pictures is to fight with the industrial design artist when they try to hinder the functionality of the original design.
Anyway, the point was that there is nothing wrong with this computer, it is actually not a horrible deal. If I were 20 years older and had a lot more money than time, this is something I would seriously consider. $600-700 isn't bad for the time you save and the quality of the build.