A little background: I have been building my own gaming PC's for almost 20 years now. My last build was a little over 2 years ago.
The scenario: When my wife's 6 year old iMac wasn't able to keep up with the graphic requirements of World of Warcraft, I decided it was time to get her a gaming PC. However, I have been very busy at work and didn't have the time to research the latest chipsets, motherboards, etc. Also, money is tight and I didn't want to sink $2k+ in a computer that would only be used for gaming.
The solution: I did a little bit of research and found that CyberpowerPC had decent reviews. Given Amazon's amazing return policy, I decided to give them a try and ordered the $1k model. I was a little concerned because I have never purchased a pre-built computer before and I didn't know what the quality of the build would be.
The results: I was pleasantly surprised. The build quality was excellent with all the cables expertly managed. The computer started right up and after about 30 minutes for Windows to get itself updated, my wife was off and running. The speed and graphics quality were excellent.
What you get: A mid-range gaming computer that looks pretty cool if you like red. Some vendors use proprietary cases/parts to keep you from being able to upgrade on your own. Not the case here. The parts are standard which makes it easy to upgrade down the road (additional memory, upgraded graphics card, etc.); a decent mouse and keyboard; operating system pre-installed and ready to set up as soon as you turn on the PC.
What you don't get: No bloatware (I didn't see anything installed on the PC besides the operating system, no offers for anti-virus, no adds, nothing); no optical drive (most builders don't offer these standard anymore, but you can get an external drive for $25); no monitor.
Final thoughts: For a pre-built system, I really feel like I got my money's worth. It did exactly what I needed it to and for what I spent, I am happy with the performance. More importantly, the lack of bloatware and the ability to easily upgrade down the line were a nice surprise and really cemented the 5 star rating.
UPDATE: 2 months of daily use and not a single hiccup. Everything is running smoothly. No crashes or weird behavior.
Day 1 Review:
So this is a first 24-hour review of this PC:
The PC was packed tightly, and arrived in immaculate condition (and quickly, thanks to Amazon Prime). No issues to report in this department; unlike other users, there was no missing screws, nothing broken. No flaws what-so-ever.
Setup of the computer itself was rather self-explanatory, after unpacking. Aside from minor updates, to Win10 there was no really anything to be done. There was no installation, or updates that needed to be applied before the PC itself could be used. It was literally plug in and play.
As far as performance goes, it seems fine. Installed MSIAfterburner, as well as Nvidia's GeForce Experience app. All drivers updated and good to go.
Unfortunately, I am having some as-of-yet unresolved hardware issues. As of this writing, War Thunder, Rising Storm 2, and Red Orchestra 2 / Rising Storm, are unplayable. RO2/RS and War Thunder have both been optimized through the GeForce Experience program for an added layer of certainty, but I haven't had the time to diagnose the issues yet. However these are games that are quite a bit older than the hardware for the most part. Post-Scriptum plays fine, on a mix of Epic/High settings at around 50fps averaged. I'll update with whatever solution can be found.
As far as the ventilation issues that may be inherent with this case, I only just broke 65 C last night after playing Post-Scriptum for several hours. However it is quite clear that the ventilation has been obstructed for the sake of aesthetic value, which is quite perplexing but as of yet a non-issue.
Thus far I'm wholly satisfied with my purchase, as it is my first-gaming PC and I'm not avid enough to build my own, or interested enough to at this point - the pricepoint for what one gets has been about perfect for the entry-level PC gamer.
edit One: I'm an idiot and will be committing seppukku after writing this for dishonring my lineage. Make sure your monitor is connected to the graphics card, not the motherboard. All games running now at 60+ FPS. Also kudos on intel's onboard for supporting Post-Scriptum at max settings at 40fps. Color me impressed.
I purchased this PC for my grandson as he is getting into gaming at age 11.
The system arrived properly boxed and complete with gaming mouse and keyboard. Setup was easy and it was up and running in 10 minutes. He likes the lights that are on front and side of tower case. I opened tower case to take out shipping foam. The motherboard and all connections were neatly done and well laid out. System has Windows 10 home and does not require product key as some have written.
Grandson loves the mouse with mutiple controls and the gaming keyboard.
I have built PC's in the past, but the value of this one would make it hard to duplicate for the same price if I were to try and build a similar system.
Overall it was a great purchase. Only reason for taking away one star were the instructions with it. There is a brief one page setup instruction sheet, Asus manual on motherboard (not many users would be accessing it contents without PC hardwre experience), and CD for video card.
I would recommend this to purchasers who want a good gamins system under $1,000. Better deal that a Del that I priced out for same features.
Covers everything I need, plays games beautifully! A great deal for anyone wanting to jump into gaming. Sadly the 'Tempered Glass' has a pretty long scratch running through it, that is the only issue. Worth the price, just wish the side panel didn't have a pretty bad scratch through it. Front middle fan stopped working.
Edit:
I contacted support and got the fan and side panel replaced. Took over a month though.
This computer is perfect for 1080p gaming. This computer will run most games on ultra settings, 1080p.
The fist game I bench-marked was Fortnite. On the epic preset at 1080p, the average frame rate was 113. The minimum it dropped was 78, but this was during abnormally high action and was not noticeable while playing.
The second game I bench-marked was Skyrim. It is not a very damanding game, but it supports many mods that can make it demanding. For this benchmark, I played at 1080p on ultra settings. My monitor locked my frame rate at 60 fps, but the frame rate never dropped, even in very demanding situations.
The final game I bench-marked was Metro: Last Light. This is a very CPU and GPU demanding game but at 1080p, ultra settings, and high anti-aliasing, the game ran at 80 frames consistently. The lowest it got was 64 and the highest was 112. I’m sure that you could bump up the resolution to 1440p with very little performance drop.
Aside from the gaming performance, this is an overall great computer. I finally made the jump from a HDD to a SSD and I could never go back. The computer boots up in a matter of seconds. Applications like word and google open near instantly. The included keyboard and mouse are fantastic. I am very happy with this computer.
Feature Product
- System: Intel Core i5-9400f 2.9GHz 6-Core | Intel B360 Chipset | 8GB DDR4 | 120GB SSD | 1TB HDD | Genuine Windows 10 Home 64-bit
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 6GB Video Card | 1x DVI | 1x HDMI | 1x DisplayPort
- Connectivity: 6 x USB 3.1 | 2 x USB 2.0 | 1x RJ-45 Network Ethernet 10/100/1000 | 802.11AC Wi-Fi | Audio: 7.1 Channel | Gaming Keyboard and Mouse
- Special Feature: window side Case Panel | Custom RGB Case Lighting | RGB 7 Colors Gaming mouse
- Warranty: 1 Year Parts & Labor Warranty | Free Lifetime Tech Support
Description
Destroy the competition with the CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme VR series of gaming desktops. The Gamer Xtreme VR series features the latest generation of high performance Intel Core CPUs and DDR RAM to easily handle system intensive tasks, such as high definition video playback. Coupled with powerful discrete video cards and the new intelligent system acceleration Intel Optane Memory, the Gamer Xtreme VR series provides a smooth gaming and multimedia experience.
This computer runs super fast and is perfect for its price. The mother board and the graphics card are great. The one terabyte hard drive is all you'll ever need, you won't need more storage space then that. The four fans are decent enough, they do there job. The tower of course looks beautiful. The red LED lights on it are pretty good if you care about how your computer look like with its lighting. The key board and mouse it comes with are decent, they are good but not great. But this is more about the PC then what it comes with. But over and all its an outstanding computer and its specs are great, for its price in my opinion. Its better to purchase this specific computer here then Best Buy and other stores that sell pre-built PC's. Definitely worth five stars in my opinion.
Not only is this pc versatile and beautiful, it is fast. My son saved his money for a new gaming computer and he is very happy w the purchase. As I am the Mom, I love the fact that my 2 boys can also use this for homework as well as the gaming part of it. It will obviously go w my oldest son wen he goes off to college and I have full confidence this pc will serfve him well throughout the years. I think my son made a very smart choice in buying this computer. Just shows hard work mowing lawns and other odd jobs all summer completely paid off for my boy!
I am completely satisfied so far . Have only had it a few days but for my first gaming PC , I couldn’t be happier. Most my parts are MSI brand which are quality parts. Boot time is super fast . 1060 GPU card delivers plenty of FPS at mid to max settings. If you are in the market for first gaming PC you have found what you want. Fast shipping I placed order and came in 1 day. Partly because I live close to where it was located So far I have not found anything negative. I had my own Keyboard and mouse . A lot of PCs will not include them . Yet you get a nice set that includes gaming side buttons that are almost needed in most games like Fortnite. I added Funko Pops to at a bit of flare . Also was only expecting red led fans ..... nope it came with full blown RGB and remote . Countless different modes . This made me extremely happy because it was something I was going to upgrade to but now no need .
I've had this computer for about a month and it works great! Very smooth when running games like No Man's Sky, Civilization V, and Subnautica. The case is easy to access the stuff inside for upgrades further on and the look is very sleek. Only downside is that it does not have a cd drive. But even then you can just buy one or exlusively use steam. For a beginner not knowing a whole lot about computers, this is a good way to go.
About me: I'm a former IT professional who was looking to replace my PC with a durably designed PC for gaming. I'm not a 15 year old professional gamer looking to overpay a premium for an overclocked, unbalanced, and unnecessary FPS status symbol.
I'd been reviewing logical increments and pcpartpicker to prepare my own balanced build. My budget was between $1k-$1,200 -- but after evaluating the time/effort and expertise required, I decided that self-assembly was not cost-effective. Instead, I was quite pleased that everything arrived ready to use. And, cheaper to purchase Cyberpower as a rig via Amazon compared to various vendor sites.
Note that Cyberpower is a reseller. You get the various name brand parts. An equally good solution is to hire your next door neighbor to design, acquire components for, and assemble a modern custom PC to meet your specs. Most people don't have that neighbor, so Cyberpower serves a great role.
Carefully unpacking the physical box, inspecting secure cables was actually the greatest task. Their packing is exceptionally thorough -- a good thing. Rookies should refer to the quick start instructions which point out exactly where to plug your graphics card and HDMI monitor for optimal use.
That said, for my particular build, I chose the following options: CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR8060A5 Gaming PC (Intel i5-8400, 8GB DDR4, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, 120GB SSD+1TB HDD, WiFi & Win10 Home) Black case. Was $949 including some special discounts.
After much research, I felt it was the sweet spot between performance and cost. (a) First of all, I chose not to upgrade components of my previous Dell in order for it to remain intact to give to my kids. One could save about $60 by not including a Win10 license. If this applies to you, don't forget to purchase a wireless card. ....(b) By the same token, this system is completely upgrade-able by components. Compared to cost, I'm not as worried about future proofing this system because I have years of games to catch up with. For example, I selected the GTX1060 because standalone graphics cards are currently inflated because of cryptocurrency. ....(c) I was not interested in jumping right into VR, but I could easily accommodate that at some point. Just make sure you have an adequate PSU, case room, and cooling for growth. ....(d) For building advice, review the 'recommended' requirements for your favorite games (via steam, etc.) and work backwards. ....(e) I've appreciated my decision to get the SSD and omit the optical drive. Again, I figure I can get one later if I choose to. Consider upgrading your monitor separately if you'd benefit. ....(f) I went ahead and got the 4 year warranty, but I don't know if I'll need to use it. ...(g) I don't particularly care for the LED case, but they were out of Hello Kitty stickers. We all have our own sense of style.
Oh, and sure. This machine can play tetris like a bandit.
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