CyberPower Gamer Xtreme 8500: How Far Can SLI 450's Go?
by Dustin Sklavos on September 16, 2010 12:15 AM ESTConclusion
The MSRP we were given for the CyberPower Gamer Xtreme 8500 was $1,499. As of this writing, that particular machine still isn't up on CyberPower's site. I tried to assemble a similar build using their "Rattler:" it's basically identical and it cost a pretty hefty $1,715, so here's hoping that MSRP eventually shows up and sticks. Going through the custom Intel P55 Configurator results in a similar price.
What do we get for the money? If you can get it for $1,499, that brings the build pretty close to what you'd pay for the components individually and in that case it's not that bad. These are all quality components, though again the case feels a little like a cut corner. Maybe a softly sanded, rounded corner, but it's still a place where money was saved on the build. Everything else is fairly choice, though, and while a single GTS 450 may underwhelm, a pair in SLI make an excellent alternative to single-GPU solutions like the Radeon HD 5870 and the GeForce GTX 470.
The drag is that the overclock is another lazy one. Seriously, auto voltages in the BIOS? And again, they couldn't be bothered to try and leave SpeedStep or Turbo enabled, and they couldn't be bothered to use the "Offset" mode. I don't understand this, and it's a problem that's shown up in all three boutique units I've reviewed now: yes, it takes time to properly tune an overclock, but there's no reason a series of builds can't be lined up on a bench and tuned for a day. Just leave Prime95 running overnight to be sure. It's not like you have to actually sit there and calculate pi with the program. Instead we have watercooled processors with so much juice being shoved into them that they idle in the forties. Good thing it comes with a three year warranty and lifetime technical support.
Having all four bays taken up straight from the factory may also be an issue to some users. It's a minor complaint, but if you're like me you like being able to have one optical drive designated to hold a game disc and the other for regular use. In other words, we didn't find the Aerocool Touch 2000 worth the two bays it occupies.
On the other hand, the performance is there. We'd probably recommend upgrading to a pair of GeForce GTX 460s to really let the overclocked i7 soar, but other than that everything seems to be in its right place. If you had to choose between the 8500 and the iBuyPower Paladin XLC we reviewed, we'd probably recommend the 8500 for the faster processor and quieter graphics solution. At $1,499 as quoted to us, the Gamer Xtreme 8500 is a solid choice and reasonably easy to recommend. On the other hand, if you have to pay the $1,715 I ran into on their site, it may be time to learn to roll your own. At that price, it isn't worth the markup and doesn't separate itself from competing solutions.
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vol7ron - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
Not too bad for the price. The hard drive is kind of weak. I'd expect at least an 80GB SSDwolfman3k5 - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
It's to expensive for what it is. To me, a 40GB SSD doesn't make much sense. I'd rather have a 300GB VelociRaptor as an OS drive for that price. Anyway, great review. And again, the system isn't worth the price tag.Roland00 - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
40 GBs is enough for the OS and any non program you may want to install (with the exception of games.)Games don't benefit that much from random access times for most of their data is sequential, you just need a fast hard drive to access these (and many normal hard drives have similar sequential reads compared to a VR). The OS and other programs benefit muchly from an SSD since most of their data is random thus the access time matters much more than sequential reads.
My personal experience with ssds also backs this up.
Bitter - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
What about the power cosumption? Could be an important factor7Enigma - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
Seconded. Seems odd it was mentioned in the conclusion that it was idling in the 40's but then no power consumption, temp, or noise results. Seems like an entire section was left out.LtGoonRush - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
I see three main issues with this build, the liquid cooling system, the choice of SLI GTS 450s, and the low-end SSD. Using liquid cooling doesn't make much sense, as a high-end air cooler (like the Noctua NH-D14 or Thermalright Silver Arrow) provides better cooling performance, lower noise levels, and higher reliability, all at a lower pricepoint. The SLI GTS 450s are also a poor choice, as a single GTX 460 1GB offers very similar performance, but with substantially lower power usage and noise levels, and at a lower pricepoint. Finally, the use of a low-end, 40GB SSD really hamstrings the system, as there really isn't enough room after the installation of the OS for the games and other applications that you want to load quickly.By eliminating the unnecessary fan controller (~$60) and using a single GTX 460 1GB (~$60), CyberPower could have included a 120GB Sandforce-based SSD, providing ample capacity for a number of games, as well as substantially improving performance. Depending on the cost of the liquid cooling system they used, they may have even been able to upgrade to 8GB of RAM, though I'll grant that may have impacted their ability to run at 1600Mhz, and there aren't very many applications aside from desktop virtualization that need more than 4GB. This would have also given owners the option to upgrade to SLI GTX 460 1GB cards if desired at some point in the future, for truly formidable gaming performance.
Overall, this isn't a bad system, and I applaud their choice of an LGA-1156 processor, Asus motherboard, and Corsair power supply, but it seems like they made too many concessions to make the system LOOK extreme, rather than balancing it for the best performance possible.
Meaker10 - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
A small water cooling system is less likely to break in transit than some massive air cooler.The SSD is OS and a game only, but is perfectly acceptable for an OS drive (I have used one).
Hopefully you can configure and make your own balance.
Roland00 - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
Furthermore while it doesn't perform better, most people assume watercooling is better based on name. Some youthful people also think watercooling is more "elite."Thus sales wise you are more likely to sell the watercooled solution even if in reality good aircooling would have performed just as well.
acooke - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
The water cooling takes up less space. It's difficult to fit a high end air cooler in these boxes - there's not the vertical space.acooke - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
Duh. I'm an idiot. The review mentioned the Cube and so I assumed this was also small form factor, but I just read it again and it's not. Sorry.