Maingear Builds

[ViktorStagnetti]

First off I realize building my own computer would be much cheaper so let's skip over that suggestion right off the bat. With tax money coming in I have no problem with shelling out the extra cash just to get it done and over with. Besides its nice to have a warranty to fall back on if things go awry. Basically I'm finally getting a new PC after close to 4 years. My current one is fine except for the fact that it's simply outdated when it comes to next gen gaming. I mean the ol' GTS 250 just isn't DX11 compatible which is kind of a must for now and the future.

I've shopped around numerous custom builders like Falcon NW, Digital Storm, iBUYPOWER, CyberpowerPC, etc. I've read a lot of positive reviews about Maingear especially when it comes to customer service so I thought I'd configure some builds and see what I can work with.

I've narrowed my choice down to 2 and just wanted to get some input on which is the better machine or the better value.

Build #1 - $2,270

Chassis: F131 with VRTX Cooling Technology

Chassis Modification: SilenX 15dB Fan Package (2x120mm, 2x80mm)

Motherboard: Asus® Gryphon Z87 2x SLI/CrossFire

Processor: Intel® Core™ i5 4670K 3.4GHz/3.8GHz Turbo 6MB L3 Cache HD 4600

Processor Cooling: MAINGEAR EPIC 120 Supercooler

Enhanced Thermal Interface Material: MAINGEAR EPIC T1000 Rev2 Metal Alloy Thermal Interface Material

MAINGEAR Redline Overclocking

Memory: 16GB Corsair® Vengeance™ DDR3-1600 1.5V (2x8GB)

Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 770 2GB GDDR5 w/PhysX

Hard Drive Bay One: 1TB Seagate® Barracuda™ 7200rpm 64MB Cache SATA 6G

Hard Drive Bay Two: 250GB Samsung® 840 EVO SSD (w/TRIM) [540MB/s Sequential Reads]

Power Supply: 600W Corsair® Builder Series 80 Plus Certified PSU

Optical Drive One: 8X Dual Layer DVD RW Drive Slot Loading SATA

Audio: Asus® Xonar DGX PCI-Express 5.1 Audio Featuring Dolby Technology

Ethernet Adapter: On-board Gigabit Ethernet

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Angelic Service Warranty: Lifetime Angelic Service Labor and Phone Support with 1 Year Comprehensive Warranty

Special Promotions: FREE! Batman Arkham Origins
Special Promotions: FREE! Call of Duty: Ghosts
Special Promotions: FREE! Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag AND Splinter Cell: Blacklist!


Build #2 - $2,150

Chassis: Potenza with VRTX Cooling Technology

Motherboard: Gigabyte® Z87N-WIFI Featuring 8011.11N Wireless

Processor: Intel® Core™ i5 4670K 3.4GHz/3.8GHz Turbo 6MB L3 Cache HD 4600

Processor Cooling: MAINGEAR EPIC 120 Supercooler

MAINGEAR Redline Overclocking

Memory: 16GB Corsair® Vengeance™ DDR3-1600 1.5V (2x8GB)

Graphics and GPGPU Accelerator: NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 780 3GB GDDR5 w/PhysX

Hard Drive Bay One: 1TB Seagate® Barracuda™ 7200rpm 64MB Cache SATA 6G

Hard Drive Bay Two: 250GB Samsung® 840 EVO SSD (w/TRIM) [540MB/s Sequential Reads]

Power Supply: 450W Silverstone ST45SF 80 Plus Gold Certified PSU - GeForce GTX TITAN Approved

Optical Drive One: 8X Dual Layer DVD RW Drive Slot Loading SATA

Ethernet Adapter: On-board Gigabit Ethernet

Wireless Network Adapter: Integrated 802.11b/g/n Wireless - up to 300Mbps!

Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth Technology Module

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Angelic Service Warranty: Lifetime Angelic Service Labor and Phone Support with 3 Year Comprehensive Warranty

Special Promotions: FREE! Batman Arkham Origins
Special Promotions: FREE! Call of Duty: Ghosts

Moving this from Comp Help to General Hardware, as GH is our primary build forum
-ViRGE

 

[styrafoam]

I would pick #1 just because i would not want to be stuck in a mini ITX setup unless it was something i needed. Save for the videocard, i also like the parts list better in 1 on a personal preference level.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Isth there any way to move to a 4770k? For over 2000.00 I think I would like the added future proofing of 8 threads.

Edit: I just noticed that system 2 has only a 450 watt power supply. Is that correct? Seems pretty low for a 780 and overclocked CPU. Also, as much as I hate the interface of Win 8 for everyday use, you might want to consider it, since win 8.1 does seem to show some benefit in gaming.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

#2

GTX 780 and 2 more years of warranty for less $$$ = win

 

[ViktorStagnetti]

I would pick #1 just because i would not want to be stuck in a mini ITX setup unless it was something i needed. Save for the videocard, i also like the parts list better in 1 on a personal preference level.

This was my initial thought as well but I've had my current iBuyPower for 4 years and never needed to upgrade or swap out parts. Just had to dust it a few times. The confined space isn't really a big deal for me.

The 780 vs 770 is tempting me to lean toward #2. I'm not sure if I would really notice a difference or not after long years of play with an ancient GPU that was released in 2009. Anything would be an upgrade.

 

[ViktorStagnetti]

Isth there any way to move to a 4770k? For over 2000.00 I think I would like the added future proofing of 8 threads.

Edit: I just noticed that system 2 has only a 450 watt power supply. Is that correct? Seems pretty low for a 780 and overclocked CPU. Also, as much as I hate the interface of Win 8 for everyday use, you might want to consider it, since win 8.1 does seem to show some benefit in gaming.

I've always read/heard that an i7 is considered overkill for gaming since none are optimized to use more than 4 cores. Adding that would push the price outside what I'm looking to spend. Have to keep it at $2400 or less.

The 450W PSU was apparently tested for the Titan which uses more wattage than the 780. Not sure what CPU they tested with the Titan but I'll take their word for it. After all with a 3 year warranty it's their behind if they screw up.

Not sure about Windows 8.1. Seems to have a lot of issues catering more to the touchscreen crowd. I'd rather stick with what I know.

 

[Ketchup]

What have you seen about CYBERPOWERPC? I put together a rig very similar to #2 (but with a better power supply) for $1884 and free shipping (2/26 delivery as of today).

 

[ViktorStagnetti]

I ruled CyberPower out awhile ago. I was down to Digital Storm, and Maingear. Both have a ton of good reviews and good standing with the BBB. Reputation for great customer support and service was a big plus for me.

 

[mfenn]

#1 is a definite no-go. $2270 for an i5 4670K + GTX 770 machine? No thanks. That's more than just overpriced, that's highway robbery (100% markup).

The second build is still overpriced, but it is more powerful and is only marked up by ~75%.