The ‘value’ of a pre-built system is a subjective judgement at the best of times, but that’s even more the case for those with bespoke aspects that take a straightforward configuration to the next level. We can tally up the cost of components, compare it with the list price, and draw a conclusion based on that arithmetic alone; that sort of approach isn’t without merit, but almost by necessity ignores the assembly skill of the engineer as well as delivery and warranty servicing costs. Nonetheless, we’ve attempted a broad breakdown here.

Approx. UK Component Retail Price (inc. V.A.T., various etailers):



So, if you can reasonably expect to source and assemble a total dual-loop water cooling solution for less than £1350, then this might not be the build for you. However, let’s get a ballpark figure for those cooling components:



Totalled, that comes to around £1100 when you throw in 2 litres of Mayhems Clear coolant, and doesn’t include the 12/16mm PETG tubing, 120mm RGB fans, LED lighting controller etc. Shaping hard tubing in particular is also a very hard-earned skill that you will fail multiple times when you try it yourself as a novice.

Realistically, this represents a very minimal premium (5-10%) over the cost of ‘doing it yourself’ if you don’t consider your time to be particularly valuable. In fact Cyberpower’s Hyper Liquid X139 instinctively feels like an excellent way to pursue the path of bespoke water cooling, unless the minutiae of assembling it yourself is part of the fun of course.