Hands-On Maingear's VYBE Enthusiast Gaming PC Platform For DIY Builders At PAX East
When it comes to preconfigured versions of the VYBE, you have your pick of just about any AMD or Intel desktop processor option along with the full range of graphics cards from AMD and NVIDIA including the Radeon VII and GeForce RTX Titan. Maingear also has provisions to support up to dual-GPU configurations for the best flexibility when it comes to boost graphics performance.
From the factory, pre-built VYBE systems will be configurable with up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM and a wide range of Western Digital Black NVMe SSDs (up to 2TB) to handle your storage duties. On the cooling front, closed- and open-loop liquid cooling systems are available (including Maingear’s own APEX hardline liquid cooling option that debuted on the F131).
For those that want to build their own rig from scratch, the VYBE DIY Edition will be available to purchase either direct from Maingear or Micro Center brick and mortar locations across the United States. The company will also make available its Apex Integrated Cooling System (ICS) in kit form for DIYers.
Maingear says that pricing for the preconfigured VYBE Enthusiast Platform starts at $699 with a Ryzen 5 processor (and will ship within 24 hours of ordering), while the VYBE DIY Edition (chassis) is priced at $119. Pricing for the Apex ICS kit has not yet been announced.
Now to take a slight tangent, Maingear is an automotive-inspired company (as witnessed by the automotive-quality paint finishes that the company offers), so CEO Wallace Santos brought along his personal car to PAX East, and it’s quite the looker. The car is a Porsche 911 GT3 (991.2) decked out with Maingear livery. The GT3 is powered by a 4.0-liter naturally-aspirated flat-six engine pumping out 500 horsepower at 8250rpm and a healthy 339 lb-ft of torque at 6,000 rpm. The insane powertrain is enough to send the 911 GT3 from a standstill to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds.
In case you were wondering, the Porsche 911 GT3 starts at around $150,000…
