MaxForce Reviewed: 3-Way SLI and 4 GHz+
SCS Is Dead. Long live MaxForce.
It’s been almost a year since we reviewed a couple of PCs from Solaris Computer Systems—a company that has nothing to do with the Solaris operating system from Sun Microsystems, for the record. Those systems proved to offer strong performance at their respective price points. The company proved to be very accessible and willing to accommodate individual customers’ needs and requests. We concluded that the upstart Solaris Computer Systems might have a sunny future ahead as long as it could prove to be a reliable vendor in the long term.
Fast forward to today. Solaris Computer Systems is still doing what it was doing a year ago, but now it is doing it under another name: MaxForce PC. It seems likely that the folks at Solaris were tired of having their company confused with an OS, so the firm chose a clever twist on the first name of the firm’s founder, Max Feinstein.
The new name doesn’t reflect a fly-by-night company, as MaxForce continues to honor all warranties sold under the Solaris Computer Systems banner. In our original review last year, Solaris Computer Systems was having some teething troubles with its Web site. The new site at maxforcepc.com is much more put-together, although when this article was written the site’s online system configurator didn’t spit out accurate pricing—this is a pretty big chink in the armor, but Max let us know it was being changed.
On the plus side, Max let us know that MaxForce is upgrading its hardware warranty to three years instead of the original two, so all hardware is covered for a minimum of three years and labor is covered for each system’s lifetime. A little snooping around on the Web showed us that Max is building a reputation for excellent communication and customer support, so while we don’t have any personal experience with MaxForce warranty issues, we prefer stumbling across positive feedback versus lists of complaints.
Now that you have a little background on the company itself, let’s see if MaxForce can still offer a compelling system at a reasonable price.
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neiroatopelcc "xtras 1BG USB Flash Drive http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_drive , Assassin ’s Creed (game)" on page 2 - sure u don't mean 1GB?Reply -
wahdangun "a GDDR3 motherboard, and no less than three of the fastest video cards money can buy"Reply
hmmm i think it have alot of typo in here -
random1283 OK maybe GDDR3 is a typo but GTX280s are the fastest SINGLE GPU video cards out there and I think thats what he meantReply -
Pei-chen 3 years warranty and water cooling don't go together. Water cooling requires too much maintenance compare with high-end air cooling.Reply
The choice of 2GB memory and Vista 32 sounds like a joke. Think of telling your friends your $4000+ system is running 2GB and Vista 32. 4GB should be minimum and 8GB optional. -
rubix_1011 Are you kidding me? Offering 2GB of RAM and a 32 bit OS shouldn't even be a consideration when paying $4000+ for a performance machine. Give me a break: OEM builder Vista 64 is like $80 and I am sure you can get 'volume' discounts for boutique builders like these. Tossing in the other 2GB of DDR3 shouldn't set you back any more than $50 (again, volume purchase discounts).Reply
I say OS switch-out is negligible cost. You MIGHT see minor price increase due to 4GB RAM as opposed to 2Gb...but still 4GB should be the starting point in a system with this hardware.
Running 3 280's? You are using over 1/2 your available system memory allocation due to GDDR. 64 bit only. -
cleeve rubix_1011Are you kidding me? Offering 2GB of RAM and a 32 bit OS shouldn't even be a consideration when paying $4000+ for a performance machine.Reply
Please tell me you're not serious. 2GB and Vista 32 is no good for a gaming machine? What are you guys smoking?
If you guys can provide some evidence that Vista 32 can't stand up to Vista 64 when gaming, I'd be real interested in seeing it. 2 GB or not.
It sounds to me like you gents are getting caught up in leetness without looking at the bottom line. Vista 64 and 8GB of RAM aren't going to supply higher framerates, gents.
I thought we were about tangible performance, not bragging rights.
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cleeve Pei-chen3 years warranty and water cooling don't go together. Water cooling requires too much maintenance compare with high-end air cooling.Reply
Falcon and HP managed to do it, admittedly with a slightly lower warranty. Frankly, chances are it will keep the CPU working longer.
On a side note, MaxForce let me know that they will install custom kit like water cooling at the customer's request.