MAINGEAR Vybe Gaming PC Review – Intel Core i7-6700K & NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti

By Steven Kean

Final Thoughts and Conclusions

Maingear-Vybe-Z170-Overview

MAINGEAR did a great job at ensuring the Z170 Vybe ran flawlessly and looked like a piece of art. MAINGEAR offers upgrades from their base model, starting at $799, allowing the end user to choose the options to keep anybody happy. Starting off, they took the Corsair Graphite 230T and changed the interior by painting it the Rossa Secundia, which really makes it stand out. Next they filled the system with enough hardware to keep any gamer happy for many years. Their cable management is some of the best I have seen, and keeps the system interior nice and tidy.

Maingear-Vybe-Z170-System-Internal

The system we took a look at, is one of the highest end systems with a single graphics card, you could choose two additional graphics cards if you wanted to. It included the latest Intel Skylake i7-6700k processor running at 4.0GHz, 16GB Corsair DDR4 2666MHz memory, PNY GTX 980Ti 6GB graphics card, Samsung 500GB SSD, and the customized Corsair H60 to keep the processor cool. The MAINGEAR VYBE configured in this review costs $2,326 and then around $75 for Fedex Home Shipping. You could save a little money and purchase the components individually, build the system yourself, install the operating system, drivers, clean up the operating system, take the time to do the cable management, and do the overclocking. Or you can go to MAINGEAR and let them do all the work for you, providing you a top notch system that works flawlessly when you plug it in.

If purchasing the components yourself, here is what you might end up paying:

  • Processor: Intel Core i7-6770K – $350.00 (MSRP)
  • Motherboard: MSI Z170A KRAIT Gaming – $149.99
  • Graphics Card: PNY GTX 980Ti – $679.99
  • Memory: 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 2666MHz – $124.99
  • SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB – $176.56
  • Storage: 1TB Seagate 7200RPM – $50.97
  • Power Supply: EVGA SuperNova 750 B2 – $79.99
  • Case: Corsair Graphite 230T – $75.73
  • Cooling: Corsair H60 – $72.18
  • Optical Drive: 16X DVD Burner – $18.24
  • OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit) – $119.99

Purchasing the components individually, you would spend right around $1,900 for this system. Which shows that MAINGEAR is charging just shy of $430 for the for their expertise, custom components, labor and warranty. If you are familiar with building systems, and taking the time to get everything looking and working perfectly, you might decide to save the money and build it yourself. However, for those that would rather spend the time gaming and doing other things, the premium for a plug-n-play experience might be a worthy investment. It’s really nice getting a world class gaming system dropped off your door that is built correctly and is ready for your software and games to be installed!

LR_Recommended

Legit Bottom Line: MAINGEAR offers the latest Intel Skylake processors, along with a large number of optional hardware, to give you the performance you want, at a reasonable price. Their expertise in building a system while not charging an extreme premium on building the system puts them at the top of my recommendation list.