CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme FTW: Performance at Any Cost
by Dustin Sklavos on June 1, 2011 1:05 PM ESTApplication and Futuremark Performance
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I expect that outside of StarCraft II, the CyberPower Gamer Xtreme FTW will be the fastest tower we've ever tested. (And yes, the irony of the number of times I've wound up saying "fastest tower/machine I've/we've ever tested" in these reviews is not lost on me.) It boasts what is arguably the fastest processor we've ever seen (there are a few cases where a similarly clocked SNB chip will beat the 990X), the fastest storage subsystem, and the fastest graphics hardware. So how does it pan out?
And that's basically how things turn out. The instant Sandy Bridge's clock-for-clock performance lead is taken away, the Gamer Xtreme FTW tears to the front of the pack with a commanding lead. You'll note we've dropped PCMark05 from our benchmarks; we're adding PCMark 7 (which the GX FTW scored 5601 in) and Cinebench 11.5 (which the GX FTW scored 11.47 in), so in future reviews expect to see graphs for those benchmarks.
It looks like these settings are mostly CPU-limited in 3DMark06 with this configuration, and keep in mind it does require a substantial amount of additional processor horsepower to drive four GPUs instead of two.
In keeping with our benchmark refresh, we've also dropped the lion's share of 3DMark benches and added two. From this point on, 3DMark Vantage will be tested with the "High" preset (I'm eschewing the "Extreme" preset due to its 1920x1200 resolution instead of 1080p), and 3DMark 11 will be tested with the "Extreme" preset. The scores for the Gamer Xtreme FTW are 41485 in 3DMark Vantage, and 5644 in 3DMark 11.
So far, CyberPowerPC has acquitted themselves fairly well. Let's see what happens in real world gaming testing.
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Souka - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
I think AT should do a giveaway for this unit...If so, first entry post! 8-O
Souka - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
OMG the wattage this thing draws at idle is more than my current setup draws at load.With this unit under load I'd have to get a AC unit for my computer room (except during winter)...yikes!!!!
cknobman - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Im in for a giveaway!!!!!!!!Sardius - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
$5k for a PC sounds like so much money to spend on a PC these days.Then again, my first gaming rig (early 1998) consisted of a 266 MHz Pentium II, 64 MB RAM, nVidia Riva 128 4MB AGP video card, 8GB hard drive. Not to mention the 17" Trinitron monitor, AWE64 sound card and a beefy set of 2.1 Altec Lansing speakers.
Total cost: just south of $4k. The 333 MHz processor was also available and probably would have brought the cost closer to $5k.
Makes me want to go play some (GL) Quake!
Spivonious - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Similar to my first machine, although I had a 333MHz Celeron "A", 256MB of RAM, and a 6.4GB hard drive (7200RPM!! ;-) ). It cost around $2k sans monitor.Souka - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
From about 1979 to late-90's a decent home computer setup cost almost $2,000I saw a nice graph showing "avg. home computer cost"
szimm - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Another overpriced Hunk-o-Junk, which will be outdated only slightly later than a system built with well-balanced parts, for a third of the cost. It's a mystery to me why anyone would buy this kind of machine. Either it would be an attempt to future-proof, which is pointless, or just to show off - meaning the size of said persons genitalia must be severely lacking. I direct you to a recent episode of South Park for details on this phenomenon.Anyway, the pleasure of building computers (for me, at least) has always been to see just how much awesome you could squeeze out of any given budget. I've had just as much fun building net-tops and lowpower PC's for friends and family, as I have building powerful rigs for myself and my gaming buddies.
And seriously? What's with the 6x2 GB RAM in a system like this? The least they could do is make it 3x4 to ease the upgrade path...
Alchemy69 - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
That five grand amounts to a stupidity tax.Lazlo Panaflex - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Good Lawd, that case is absolutely fugly...wth were they thinking?tpurves - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Maybe the ugliest computer I have ever seen.