Question about Maingear Custom loop pre-built

DEADPOOLSMOM · May 14, 2021

Hey guys,

Long time member here. I've built 10-15 pcs over the years so I am nowhere near a noob. Anyways. I recently purchased the maingear vybe1- https://www.microcenter.com/product/606287/maingear-vybe1-gaming-computer for the price of 1650( I would NEVER buy it for 3500 lmao) total as an open box return from microcenter and I just have a couple questions about it. I recently sold my main rig for a little more than I paid due to the current gpu issues. I have a big trip coming up so I thought it was a good time to "downsize" my pc. I stumbled upon this deal and I was able to due so without getting THAT much worse of a rig out of it. I am coming from a 5800x/6800 build I built myself. I actually nearly built a custom liquid cooling loop a couple years ago and I ended up selling all of the gear because the case I bought was horrific for water cooling and I was forced to give up. Anyways, I have a few questions.

1. How relevant is the 9900k/watercooled 2080ti in 2021? I actually wanted to switch to Nvidia anyways due to the better video encoder but the 9900k worries me a little bit for the future as it is a super dead end socket.

2. On a scale of 1-10, how big of a "pain" is custom liquid cooling in the long term? I know I have to switch out coolant every 6-12 months etc. but how big of a deal is it really beyond that.

3. What are my chances of a leak? The watercooling equipment in this build is bitspower and microcenters professionals filled it.

4. If it does leak, which in theory is inevitable I suppose, is it generally catastrophic? Like fry the gpu/cpu/expensive parts etc, or is it more typically minor leaks that can be fixed.

5. Is it possible to upgrade my motherboard/cpu using the same fittings/bends. I would like to keep this case for literally as long as possible and use the same hard tubing/bends/etc. For example, when Zen 4 comes out, if I bought a waterblock for it with the same spacing between the two ports, would it work in theory without needing new bends? Is cpu placement typically drastically different between amd/intel and brand to brand?

6. This pc was built last July, why has it been rotting on the shelf since then? Am I the only one dumb enough to buy it? I mean 2080tis are almost worth by themselves what I paid for this whole rig. So it confuses me.

6. Am I over my head? Should I just return it? I have 15 days

RONOTHAN## · May 14, 2021

1.) Very relevant still. It's only 2 generations old, and can still keep up pretty well. Yes it is a dead-end socket, but realistically unless you want to be on the bleeding edge, it would last you another 2-3 years easy.

2.) If it was a soft tubing loop, it would be a 2.5. Since it's a rigid tubing loop, it's a bit closer to a 5 or a 6, since you need to drain the loop every time you want to upgrade anything. It's not that bad, but if you're like me and swap out the GPU what feels like every other week, it might be a good idea to swap out to soft tubing eventually (can be expensive with the price of fittings)

3.) Not that high, leaks can develop over time, but you should drain and refill the loop once every 6-8 months, so as long as you're evaluating for leaks then, doing an overnight leak test, you shouldn't have to worry about it too much.

4.) Most of the time if it leaks, it's not bad. As long as the GPU has a back plate and the PSU is fan side down, the odds of something going wrong if a leak occurs is very low. Usually if you have a leak, just reseat the tube or replace the o-ring, it's not usually that big a deal.

5.) In theory it's possible, but CPU location usually isn't exactly the same between motherboards and it will more than likely be at least a couple millimeters off from working. If you want to keep the case and not bother with trying to bend your own tubes, just buy a couple soft tubing fittings and do a mix of hard and soft tube (it doesn't look amazing, but it will work without any issues.)

6.) No idea why. People haven't really though about buying prebuilts until somewhat recently, and MC could have had the price closer to $3k until somewhat recently.

7.) Keep it. If you really don't like having a water cooler, just buy a couple air coolers and don't bother with using the water cooling of the case (just make sure to unplug the pump). with the prices of GPUs RN, $1650 for one of those systems is a steal.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask. I've had all my systems since 2015 be fully water cooled, and though I haven't had much experience with hard line, I know enough to help you out. If you like building computers, water cooling is just that but on steroids.

DEADPOOLSMOM · May 14, 2021

10 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

1.) Very relevant still. It's only 2 generations old, and can still keep up pretty well. Yes it is a dead-end socket, but realistically unless you want to be on the bleeding edge, it would last you another 2-3 years easy.

2.) If it was a soft tubing loop, it would be a 2.5. Since it's a rigid tubing loop, it's a bit closer to a 5 or a 6, since you need to drain the loop every time you want to upgrade anything. It's not that bad, but if you're like me and swap out the GPU what feels like every other week, it might be a good idea to swap out to soft tubing eventually (can be expensive with the price of fittings)

3.) Not that high, leaks can develop over time, but you should drain and refill the loop once every 6-8 months, so as long as you're evaluating for leaks then, doing an overnight leak test, you shouldn't have to worry about it too much.

4.) Most of the time if it leaks, it's not bad. As long as the GPU has a back plate and the PSU is fan side down, the odds of something going wrong if a leak occurs is very low. Usually if you have a leak, just reseat the tube or replace the o-ring, it's not usually that big a deal.

5.) In theory it's possible, but CPU location usually isn't exactly the same between motherboards and it will more than likely be at least a couple millimeters off from working. If you want to keep the case and not bother with trying to bend your own tubes, just buy a couple soft tubing fittings and do a mix of hard and soft tube (it doesn't look amazing, but it will work without any issues.)

6.) No idea why. People haven't really though about buying prebuilts until somewhat recently, and MC could have had the price closer to $3k until somewhat recently.

7.) Keep it. If you really don't like having a water cooler, just buy a couple air coolers and don't bother with using the water cooling of the case (just make sure to unplug the pump). with the prices of GPUs RN, $1650 for one of those systems is a steal.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask. I've had all my systems since 2015 be fully water cooled, and though I haven't had much experience with hard line, I know enough to help you out. If you like building computers, water cooling is just that but on steroids.