• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Help with Botique Configuration

Status
Not open for further replies.
grooverider said:
Now the real question on the Maingear end would be.. E8400 Overclocked to 4.0 or the QX9650 overclocked to 4.0 :p
Click to expand...

if you can afford it, go the 9650. if the cores are clocked the same, even if your apps/games can't use all four cores you will still see the same performance levels as the 8400.

if your apps do use all four cores it will beat the dual core hands down.
 
Mmmm, the quad-core vs dual-core philosophy...personally I'm quad-core all the way...especially with Vista. 2 Cores for Vista, 2 Cores for your games. ;)
 
Listen, I am bigger than you and will not waste responding to your silly attemts to look good, if anything, you are that small kitty as gaming is only a part of what we do.
Click to expand...

I am not afraid, instead I applaud your excellent use of the english language. :confused:

As far as where you buy your memory, it matters not. I am not a kitty, I am a human being and you probably are bigger than me. ;)

We will be posted on Asus, Zalman and Thermaltake's site as authorized system builders. Our reviews will only keep coming so I'll let my actions speak for themselves.
Click to expand...

Congratulations, you've reached 'MAINGEAR 5 YEARS AGO' status.

I'm sorry if I offended you you big man you. I'm gonna go lick my paws now. =)
 
avadirect said:
Listen, I am bigger than you and will not waste responding to your silly attemts to look good, if anything, you are that small kitty as gaming is only a part of what we do.

To give you an idea, we buy direct from all the major RAM manufactures: Corsair, OCZ, Kingston and Crucial. We will be posted on Asus, Zalman and Thermaltake's site as authorized system builders. Our reviews will only keep coming so I'll let my actions speak for themselves.

Misha
Click to expand...

Need I remind you of the "Big" AVA builds on this site that have gone to the shitter? There were more than one. Your Beige box business may be better than most, but the boutique end needs a bit of work compared to the others...

EDIT: In other news, I <3 This thread. :D
 
Usquabach said:
i think omaura is Chris Morley formally Managing Editor [H] Consumer and now with Maingear - if so we have 3 Maingear employees who post on [H] - pretty good representation if you ask me.
Click to expand...

Actually 4 ... ;)

Only my thing is more to the Operating Systems section. Anyway, I am loving this thread too! :D
 
0mega said:
EDIT: In other news, I <3 This thread. :D
Click to expand...

+1 - i haven't posted this many times in any thread

anyone looking for a boutique builder should read this no doubt

PS - Omaura site looks good - i take it you specialize in HTPCs?

Endeavor - your Vista tips at the Maingear forums have been well appreciated by myself - thanks a bunch!!!
 
I must say the fact that Wallace actually responded to my email as CEO says magnitudes about Maingear. Not to mention all of you guys who have been responding all along in this thread.

Misha did respond to my PM as well, and Heather responded immeadiately to my email as well, so I have nothing but positive things to say about them as well, A+.

You Maingear guys are great. We are in the same mold, I would stick up for my company as well, it shows you guys give a shit about your company and what you produce. That really means alot to a consumer such as me.
 
In response to what someone mentioned (probably a page ago)...if it's not on our configurator, just ask. We do special orders all the time. What you see on the website is simply indicative of what we have in stock.
 
0mega said:
Need I remind you of the "Big" AVA builds on this site that have gone to the shitter? There were more than one. Your Beige box business may be better than most, but the boutique end needs a bit of work compared to the others...

EDIT: In other news, I <3 This thread. :D
Click to expand...

Omega, please PM me. I had no idea you bought from me and had problems.

On the other hand, we build 50+ gaming rigs weekly + hundreds of notebooks, home/office pcs, workstations, barebones :) , parts and servers so problems are guaranteed but gaming is one of our main passions and that will not change in future. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely, one who claims otherwise is a fool.
 
avadirect said:
Omega, please PM me. I had no idea you bought from me and had problems.

On the other hand, we build 50+ gaming rigs weekly + hundreds of notebooks, home/office pcs, workstations, barebones :) , parts and servers so problems are guaranteed but gaming is one of our main passions and that will not change in future. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely, one who claims otherwise is a fool.
Click to expand...

I personally didn't, but I had someone who was going to, and after You pointed out it wasn't possible to ship internationally and I asked a few more quick questions you stone walled me...
 
Back on topic, if you need the help we're here for that. I'll even build you your PC. ;)
 
0mega said:
I personally didn't, but I had someone who was going to, and after You pointed out it wasn't possible to ship internationally and I asked a few more quick questions you stone walled me...
Click to expand...

by internationally do you mean to Canada or outside of North America?

if it's the former then AVA really needs to pick up the pace...who can't ship to Canada (besides Newegg of course :p)
 
Usquabach said:
by internationally do you mean to Canada or outside of North America?

if it's the former then AVA really needs to pick up the pace...who can't ship to Canada (besides Newegg of course :p)
Click to expand...

Outside of. I don't remember where though... I Point him to Puget and Maingear to decide for himself which was best... Don't know where he went with it though.
 
just to give you some information on ratings.

Falcon-Northwest-8.28 (32 reviews)
Digital Storm-8.33 (171 reviews)
Velocity Micro-8.50 (281 reviews)
AVA Direct-9.46 (305 reviews)
Vigor Gaming-9.63 (183 reviews)
Maingear-9.88 (21 reivews)
Puget-9.91 (558 reviews)

As you can see, Puget has both the higest rating and the highest number of reviews by a longshot. So that tells you their price is worth it. AVA Direct was 2nd in sales review with 305 reviews but 4th in ratings. Maingear has the 2nd highest rating, but ONLY 21 reviews. Probably cause alot of them are on their forums, which like I said before had negative reviews with stability/BSOD issues, but still they're really high.

But another company you should consider is vigor gaming, high sales and high ratings, also good prices.
 
WhiteGuardian said:
just to give you some information on ratings.

Falcon-Northwest-8.28 (32 reviews)
Digital Storm-8.33 (171 reviews)
Velocity Micro-8.50 (281 reviews)
AVA Direct-9.46 (305 reviews)
Vigor Gaming-9.63 (183 reviews)
Maingear-9.88 (21 reivews)
Puget-9.91 (558 reviews)

As you can see, Puget has both the higest rating and the highest number of reviews by a longshot. So that tells you their price is worth it. AVA Direct was 2nd in sales review with 305 reviews but 4th in ratings. Maingear has the 2nd highest rating, but ONLY 21 reviews. Probably cause alot of them are on their forums, which like I said before had negative reviews with stability/BSOD issues, but still they're really high.

But another company you should consider is vigor gaming, high sales and high ratings, also good prices.
Click to expand...
Reseller ratings is useless. Its sooooo easy to post false reviews. Monarch was doing it shortly before closing up...

Despite my top 2 being in the top two, I still wouldn't recommend them based on that score alone.
 
when maingear sends a system, the homepage of the browser is set to the maingear forums. those kinds of forums probably give the most accurate reviews IMHO

reseller is very helpful but is only another piece of the puzzle in choosing a boutique

EDIT: OPC is a prime example. when they were bought by VM, their forums went downhill faster than ever...
 
Not to add more confusion to the choices available but if someone is interested in overclocking but perhaps not doing the overclocking themselves could take a gander at Overdrive PC, I do believe they warranty the overclocks that they do.
 
0mega said:
Reseller ratings is useless. Its sooooo easy to post false reviews. Monarch was doing it shortly before closing up...

Despite my top 2 being in the top two, I still wouldn't recommend them based on that score alone.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but customer reviews were never and never will be useless, I believe a website as big as resellers won't let false reviews pass buy, and even if, they're mostly real customers that I believe provide a better POV than people that actually work there. You can't really say that you're giving an "unbiased" opinion about a company if you work there..

and if maingear forum reviews are so inaccurate, it exactly proves my point about the stability issues
 
WhiteGuardian said:
I'm sorry but customer reviews were never and never will be useless, I believe a website as big as resellers won't let false reviews pass buy, and even if, they're mostly real customers that I believe provide a better POV than people that actually work there. You can't really say that you're giving an "unbiased" opinion about a company if you work there..

and if maingear forum reviews are so inaccurate, it exactly proves my point about the stability issues
Click to expand...


You make it sound like every one is about a bluescreen?

BTW - it wasn't by accident that RR was never mentioned in any [H] Consumer review.
 
maingear forums...inaccurate??? :eek:

i have read them in depth..even signed up a while back but never really posted...they seem to be less populated by maingear staff than [H]

does that make [H] inaccurate...i think not!
 
Usquabach said:
maingear forums...inaccurate??? :eek:

i have read them in depth..even signed up a while back but never really posted...they seem to be less populated by maingear staff than [H]

does that make [H] inaccurate...i think not!
Click to expand...

lol that's what I meant. If you say they're accurate, then it proves my point for there being numerous unresovled BSOD errors. Yes I make it sound like every case is a BSOD issue, but like you said, it's true, and of course among that various hard drive failures.

http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=320&highlight=BSOD
http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=926&highlight=blue
http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=549&highlight=blue
http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=439&highlight=blue+screen
http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=391&highlight=blue+screen
http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=873&highlight=BSOD
http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=792&highlight=BSOD

I just did a simple search for complaints about BSOD errors. Reading about someone being so excited to receive their system yet unable to play anything cause of BSOD just makes me feel sorry.
 
WhiteGuardian said:
lol that's what I meant. If you say they're accurate, then it proves my point for there being numerous unresovled BSOD errors. Yes I make it sound like every case is a BSOD issue, but like you said, it's true, and of course among that various hard drive failures.

http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=320&highlight=BSOD
http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=926&highlight=blue
http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=549&highlight=blue
http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=439&highlight=blue+screen
http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=391&highlight=blue+screen
http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=873&highlight=BSOD
http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?t=792&highlight=BSOD

I just did a simple search for complaints about BSOD errors. Reading about someone being so excited to receive their system yet unable to play anything cause of BSOD just makes me feel sorry.
Click to expand...

PCs sometimes have issues. You have seen just a few of MGs customers that also happen to have issues - and we do everything we can, and beyond what most will do, to make it right. What you're also seeing is a company with completely transparent forums. I wonder what some of these other companies' forums would look like if they had them? Makes for good FUD-fodder I guess...
 
Omaura said:
PCs sometimes have issues. You have seen just a few of MGs customers that also happen to have issues - and we do everything we can, and beyond what most will do, to make it right. What you're also seeing is a company with completely transparent forums. I wonder what some of these other companies' forums would look like if they had them?
Click to expand...

I'm not dissing maingear, I know it's a great company, I'm just showing how I feel when I read those customer reviews. But I fail to see your reason of putting AVA Direct down. It is a good suggestion though, I wish AVA and other boutiques would implement some forums.
 
I really don't see the presence of a forum as a big factor,hell,even Monarch had a forum,what good did it do their customers? I also get a little tired of hearing about one or two 'bad systems" continually brought up to show how bad a builder is,while the fact that hundreds more they built were problem free is conveniently ignored.And while I can understand a builder wanting to put his own business in a positive light here,doing so by dissing others(or denigrating customer's reviews) won't score any points with me.
 
WhiteGuardian said:
I'm not dissing maingear, I know it's a great company, I'm just showing how I feel when I read those customer reviews. But I fail to see your reason of putting AVA Direct down. It is a good suggestion though, I wish AVA and other boutiques would implement some forums.
Click to expand...

May of your links are not reviews, they are in facts posts in the help section. Also, check some of the dates (early 2007) with no response from the OP about what is happening, I would think something good happening and issues got resolved. While you have a few links, do not just look at the "bad," but maybe also look at how they were handled and what support was able to do. Yes, there are some problems, but when you produce hundreds of computers customized for each person you are going to have problems, that is where support comes in.
 
I'm still looking and in the process of deciding and will keep the thread updated with pertinent information as I get it.

I want to comment though, Maingear (Wallace especially), Puget (Heather is great), and Ava's sales rep have been awesome. All three of them have been nothing but helpful guiding me in this decision.

Alienware flat out gave me generic responses and did not even bother with me (they were very low on the totem pole anyway), and VM did not even respond to me, maybe they are still mad about the nasty letter I sent them way back.

Also I would caution re-seller ratings because some of the more negative reviews on companies are sometimes not warranted but some are. Keep that in mind as well.
 
We do tend to stay under the radar a bit, as the majority of our business is geared toward local service contracts, servers and workstations here in the twin cities.

Not to jump into the fray though, or perhaps to smoothe things over - Maingear, Puget, Ava and Alienware are all shining examples of great boutiques and I don't believe you could go wrong with any of them. Our philosophy is that with the current economy the way it is and the niche nature of our companies, a spirit of collaberation instead of competition is more in order.

Nearly all boutiques sell the exact same products; same motherboards, same RAM, cases, etc. All that sets one apart from another is build quality, price and support.

There'll always be that 'nightmare system' you hear about and don't let that detract you from any of those companies. It's the 'vocal minority' that gets the attention and the hundreds of satisfied customers may never be heard from. The RAM, Motherboard, video card, sound and drivers in all of our systems were all manufactured by other companies and are prone to failures.

Even we've seen more than one occasion in which a system was QA'd to heck and then a stick of RAM or power supply dies a week after it arrived at the customer's location.

I hope that helps and I wish you all the best for the day. :)

Sincerely,

Zachary B
 
Zach-HiPe said:
We do tend to stay under the radar a bit, as the majority of our business is geared toward local service contracts, servers and workstations here in the twin cities.

Not to jump into the fray though, or perhaps to smoothe things over - Maingear, Puget, Ava and Alienware are all shining examples of great boutiques and I don't believe you could go wrong with any of them. Our philosophy is that with the current economy the way it is and the niche nature of our companies, a spirit of collaberation instead of competition is more in order.

Nearly all boutiques sell the exact same products; same motherboards, same RAM, cases, etc. All that sets one apart from another is build quality, price and support.

There'll always be that 'nightmare system' you hear about and don't let that detract you from any of those companies. It's the 'vocal minority' that gets the attention and the hundreds of satisfied customers may never be heard from. The RAM, Motherboard, video card, sound and drivers in all of our systems were all manufactured by other companies and are prone to failures.

Even we've seen more than one occasion in which a system was QA'd to heck and then a stick of RAM or power supply dies a week after it arrived at the customer's location.

I hope that helps and I wish you all the best for the day. :)

Sincerely,

Zachary B
Click to expand...
Your post alone elevated me from "Stay away, I don't know you" to "Probably worth checking out"

Congrats :D

I was going to post earlier "Should probably stay away, I haven't heard of them either, and I'd be wary of them without seeing an [H]-Style review" But i'd say its DEFINITELY worth a look now. :)
 
grooverider said:
Also I would caution re-seller ratings because some of the more negative reviews on companies are sometimes not warranted but some are. Keep that in mind as well.
Click to expand...

I like to think most people understand that you have to use common sense when reading reviews at resellerratings or other similar sites.

That being said, a place like resellerratings can give you a pretty good idea if the company you are looking at has systemic / recurring issues. At the end of the day it should be one of many tools you use to make an informed decision.
 
Zach-HiPe said:
Not to jump into the fray though, or perhaps to smoothe things over - Maingear, Puget, Ava and Alienware are all shining examples of great boutiques and I don't believe you could go wrong with any of them.
Click to expand...


eh, Alienware is boutique? :DDD
 
From looking at HiPe's web site, they appear to have some very high-end systems... even Dual-CPU! However, they don't have very many component choices, and some items don't have a brand name, so you don't know which brand you're getting.
 
Maybe not so much anymore post Dell and product placement, but in my eyes they were one of the original boutiques. I still think they earn some good marks for the level of success they've enjoyed.

Their systems aren't nearly as bad as people say though. Today we had a customer bring in five Alienwares for data transfer onto machines we had sold them and I reckoned they were smart little machines, albeit heavy as a small volkswagon. Seriously, each one weighed about 80 pounds.

I think I need to add some weights into my mouse and build up my string bean arms a wee bit. Even my female manager, who is about 5'3" and tiny, was able to carry one in one arm.
 
Damn, I can't believe I missed this thread! What a load of fun!

So, for the record, Chris, can you officially confirm/deny that you are infact working for Maingear in some paid capacity? Are we competitors?
 
Velocity_Micro said:
Damn, I can't believe I missed this thread! What a load of fun!

So, for the record, Chris, can you officially confirm/deny that you are infact working for Maingear in some paid capacity? Are we competitors?
Click to expand...

Yeah, you missed quite a lot.

Not sure this is the right place to ask Chris that question, but I admit, I'm curious about the answer, too. ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top