Maingear vs MSI

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Promit Ghosh

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Jul 19, 2013
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I'm looking at the Maingear Pulse 14 and the MSI GE40 20C-008US (I want the ODD).

I'd customize the MSI on xoticpc.com and the Maingear on maingear.com

The maingear ends up being 1634 with the following specs:
i7-4702MQ
16gb corsair vengeance 1600 mhz
nvidia gtx 760m
256 Plextor P5S SSD
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 802.11ac + Bluetooth

what it has that MSI doesn't:
Lucidlogix® Virtu MVP Mobile

MSI GE40 (xoticpc) (1728 or 1753):
i7-4702MQ
8gb kingston hyperx 2133 mhz
nvidia gtx 760m
256 Plextor M5M mSATA SSD (1728)

OR

256 Samsung 840 Pro Series SSD
Intel® Dual Band Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module | Up to 450Mbps (3x3) [NO BLUETOOTH]

what it has that maingear doesn't:
IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU

COPPER COOLING UPGRADE - Extra Cooling Copper Heatsinks Applied to the Heatsink/Heatpipes

Redline Boost My Operating System

Professional Monitor Calibration

cost: 1713

Which one should I go for? I've read that the GE40 goes HOT while gaming, so I'm concerned about the thermal compound and the extra copper cooling.
The maingear pulse 14 has the same chassis (but weighs a less for some reason-3.8 lbs vs 4.4 lbs-but doesn't mention anything about doing things to reduce the heat felt at the surface of the laptop.

I've also never dealt with any of these companies so some feedback would be appreciated.

FYI about RAM-I won't be doing photo editing or video processing so the 16 gb is a little overboard for me; 8 gb is enough, in case that is a factor in deciding.

The maingear site also doesn't mention anything about stress-testing or making sure the product is working fine before sending it out; can someone confirm one way or the other (ie whether they test or not before sending)?
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
Jun 5, 2013
67,883
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Of the two, from the specs I'd go maingear, then from the name I'd go maingear - it's a personal thing, I won't touch MSI, I had too, too many problems with their products in the past and get too many calls on systems, in particular with problems with MSI mobos....Not to mention many DOAs and extremely poor support
 
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Promit Ghosh

Honorable
Jul 19, 2013
24
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10,510


that's definitely something i can get behind :p, but I since this is coming through xoticpc's testing, I'm not so sure that I'd end up with a bad product.

Unless you mean problems that weren't DOA's but rather problems that arised like 2 weeks or a month into usage?

I forgot to mention that shipping is about 70 bucks on maingear...which means the prices are basically equal X)

 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
Jun 5, 2013
67,883
40
126,960
Yes, as I mentioned, I won't build on them (MSI), but I get calls all the time for problems and repair work, and run into many that are MSI based, and the people couldn't get any help from MSI (mobos in particular), they'll tell me they called, and were told things like "It's the RAM", "it's your PSU" and often things that have nothing to do with the problem, and then I'll look and it's usually the mobo, or they send a mobo in and get a DOA (dirty used mobo) in return - I mean who wants to buy a brand new mobo, have it fail 35 days later, RMA it, and get one in return that looks like it went through a war
 
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Promit Ghosh

Honorable
Jul 19, 2013
24
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10,510


Yeah, I've been reading a LOT of reviews of maingear and out of the 10 pages i read, I noticed only a handful of reviews that weren't 5 stars.

It also ends up being cheaper, I think, even with shipping.
 
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Promit Ghosh

Honorable
Jul 19, 2013
24
0
10,510


MSI GE40 does have a tendency to get hot (according to a large forum thread i read somewhere by people who currently own that laptop).

However, what I don't understand are 2 main things: the Pulse 14 uses the barebones of the MSI GE40 (they look identical cept the paint job) but the MSI GE40 weight 4.4 pounds while the Pulse 14 weighs 3.8

Also, would Maingear be using MSI parts since the Pulse 14 is a barebones? If that's the case, is there really a difference in the hardware, or does it end up being a difference in customer support (which hopefully I will never have to use)?
 
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Promit Ghosh

Honorable
Jul 19, 2013
24
0
10,510
One more thing that I'm concerned about is the SSD models that Maingear and XoticPC are offering.

On XoticPC, I could either go with the samsung 840 Pro series 256 gb (which I'm currently favoring) or the 256GB Plextor PX-M5M Solid State mSATA III.
Would the mSATA slot on the MSI be SATA III or SATA II?

On Maingear, the 256 gb SSD they are offering is the Plextor P5S SSD SATA III 256 gb, which has significantly decreased write performances compared to the options on XoticPC.

P5S: 390 write speed
M5M: 420 write speed
840 Pro: 500 write speed

Does the write speed make a difference in regular usage and gaming? From experience, is there a quality difference between Plextor and Samsung?
 
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Promit Ghosh

Honorable
Jul 19, 2013
24
0
10,510
WOOOO!
I found an option for the i7 4702 on HIDevolution.com!
I can also get a 512 gb Samsung 840 Pro SSD in that price range LOL.
Definitely getting the sager then hehehehe.

Thanks for all your help guys!
 
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