CyberPower: 4.0 GHz QX9770 and SLI GTX 280s
by Matt Campbell on August 22, 2008 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Setup and Startup
Many systems that are shipped, and particularly the large ones like this, get knocked around and often need a little re-seating of everything prior to bootup. Upon first power up, we were greeted with a "Media test failure" from NVIDIA Boot Agent. Pushing a loose S-ATA connection back in fixed this error, and we tightened the SLI bridge while we were at it, which was also loose.
First, let's take a look in the BIOS. The review system came factory overclocked to 4.0 GHz.
Obviously the CPU and memory voltages have been increased, and the multiplier increased, but this is a pretty straightforward overclock with little tweaking necessary. The Memory Settings are "Optimal" but could have been played with further. This is still a good result, it's just not the same level of attention that a boutique would offer (and questionable value at an extra charge of $100 over a stock QX9770, though the manufacturer warranty remains in effect). Note the temperature sitting at 60C at idle - we'll address this further later.
So what are we greeted with at first boot?
 |
Overall, quite a nice result. The desktop is relatively clear at startup (particularly if the CoreTemp configuration and log files are ignored). The number of processes is a little higher that the absolute minimum, but 44 for a prebuilt PC is an excellent result. Also, we see that CyberPower lists their Support contact information in Vista, which is always a nice touch. However, automatic updates was delivered turned on, which is annoying on this type of machine - at the most it should be set to download automatically, but prompt for installation. We also have to note the lack of an anti-virus system, even if it's an optional install on startup. (Ed: Many of us at AnandTech avoid AV and Internet Security software these days, but then we also build our own PCs.) Other than these minor nits, the startup experience is a pleasant one.
The video card drivers were up-to-date at the time of shipping (177.39), and were used throughout this review except where otherwise noted. Vista also shipped with Service Pack 1 installed.
Almost brings tears of joy, doesn't it?
 |
On to performance!
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
30 Comments
View All Comments
agliboyph - Friday, August 22, 2008 - link
for this kind of money, gat a maingear and live happily ever afterbill3 - Friday, August 22, 2008 - link
They get a lot of crap online, but I think people just like to whine. My brother bought a rig from them a while back and it's been nothing but great, and the price was great too, practically cheaper than you can build it yourself. And saves you the hassle, which as I age becomes a bigger factor, I dont really enjoy building my own PC's anymore, installing windows and all that crap.The customizability is what sets them apart, from buying a crap Dell or a PC from Best Buy or something imo. And the fact you can hand pick name brand quality components. The main downside imo is the 2 week build/ship time (newegg can have you parts to you in 2-3 days if you're building your own, and I like instant gratification).
But anyway, now on to my comments about this rig and away from general comments about cyberpower..my main complaint is for a 5k rig, this isn't nearly as extreme specced as you'd think it should be. Terabyte HDD's are rapidly nearing $99 nowdays, so you should get at least two of those imo (hell for 5 k, if not 3 or 4!). The fact you only get Vista Premium? Should get Ultimate befitting this monster rig. And then the RAM, I was browsing PC's in Best Buy the other day and noticed a "budget" $600 PC with 6GB RAM already! Granted it may be an overclocking thing or something, but this rig should come with 16GB RAM or something like that you'd think (8GB at the very least). Cant really argue with the video cards/PSU's though.
badputter - Sunday, August 24, 2008 - link
It isn't always folks that "just like to whine," I tried to buy what looked like a great deal on system from them about 8 years ago that turned me off of them completely.
This was back when the PIII was just moving to on-die cache...(back in the good old Slot 1 days...) Ordered a system with the on-die cache... system comes with the older version with external, half speed cache, that was about $40 cheaper to buy...
Call Customer service... generally took 30+ minutes to get through to anyone in their call center... system had other problems as well... just not stable... problem with the motherboard... could not work with anyone in customer service going up the chain. Finally ended up disputing the charge with Discover... Cyberpower never responded to Discover's dispute of the charge. Eventually they sent a prepaid shipping label to me to send the system back.
Had the system worked fine, I would have been a happy customer like your brother. I figured they could put it together for less than I could buy all the components... then they didn't ship me what I ordered... then they had lousy customer service and tech support...
They may have gotten better... or they may have found that the go for the cheap customer and hope for the best is more profitable...
Calin - Friday, August 22, 2008 - link
They use two 1000W PSU for a system that uses less than 600W from the wall outlet? A single 1000W PSU should have been enough.HOOfan 1 - Friday, August 22, 2008 - link
If you look at some of their in magazine ads, they will often show a configuration like the system above with only a single 420W generic PSU.HOOfan 1 - Friday, August 22, 2008 - link
Also to add, this system doesn't even use 600W in their test. They measure AC draw from the wall outlet. Assuming these Thermaltakes can be 83% at those lower loads. 5798 * .83 ~ 481 So the system isn't pulling any more than 500 Watts of DC in their tests. Considering PSUs are rated on DC output and not AC input, this system is only drawing ~25% of the theoretical power available to it.Christoph Katzer - Friday, August 22, 2008 - link
Wasty, They could have gone with two much smaller PSUs to keep load and therefore noise low on both. The two 1k units are not necessary and waste a lot of budget for the system. Too bad these companies have no idea how to choose sufficient power..bill3 - Friday, August 22, 2008 - link
Oh and I forgot to mention one thing that amazed and made me envious of my brothers cyberpower..he got a windowed case and the cabling/routing they did was incredibly clean and minimal. I mean, no clutter whatsoever, just perfect. I'm just sloppy and stupid, but I hated staring at my cable clutter in my windowed PC for years (why I didn't buy a windowed case this time hehe)HotdogIT - Friday, August 22, 2008 - link
Remember the HardOCP reviews, where they tested the technical support? Yeah, I loved those, and miss those. Obviously it ended up killing their H-Consumer line, as it cost a lot of advertising dollars, but it was so unique, and special, and cool.You guys should do that. That's what I'm cleverly hinting at with my reminiscing.
Rev1 - Friday, August 22, 2008 - link
Yea that was great, it actually swayed me to purchase a comp from cyberpower because they had a few decent reviews on there.