CyberPower Gamer Xtreme 8500: How Far Can SLI 450's Go?
by Dustin Sklavos on September 16, 2010 12:15 AM ESTGaming Performance on the CyberPower 8500
This is the part where things should get really interesting. The GeForce GTS 450's together cost about $280 total, while the Radeon HD 5870 in the AVADirect unit costs a staggering $410. Ryan's review of the GTS 450 saw the SLI setup nipping at the 5870's heels most of the time, but what happens when you overclock the crap out of the processor?
So what have we learned, kids? The overclock on the processor clearly isn't for naught, especially when you get into a game like StarCraft II that eats up as much CPU power as it can get. The 3.85GHz clock on the i7-875K gives the graphics subsystem room to breathe in situations where it would otherwise be CPU-limited, with the CyberPower unit besting the competition in StarCraft II and generally coming in reasonably ahead of the AVADirect unit with the slower CPU. Again, though, keep in mind: the Nano Cube is a Mini-ITX system that has much tighter thermal constraints than the two ATX systems it's showing up with here.
Let's see what happens when we put a tighter crunch on the graphics hardware.
Here the fortunes change somewhat. The gap between the 8500 and the Nano Cube closes a little, the gap between the 8500 and the XLC widens, and now that anti-aliasing is taxing the graphics cards, the GTX 470's can flex their muscle in StarCraft II.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
30 Comments
View All Comments
Roland00 - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
I agree with your logic on the video cards, but factually... the sli gts 450s are almost exactly the same speed of a gtx 470 (in most benches within 5% of each other) if the games scale well with sli. Two 450s are faster than 1 460 even a 1gb version of 460 if the game scales well with sli.You could always OC the 460 1gb to get very close to the sli gts 450s/gtx 470; but at the same time there is nothing stopping you from OC the 450s or the 470.
Still I can't recommend the gts 450s for you can get better value from other video cards picks
adonn78 - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
The GTS 450 is like a 5750 that uses more electricity and costs more money. I'd get 2 5770's Crossfire , a single 5850 or GTS 470. For less money and better performance, great review. I am waiting for the AMD 6770 to come out in October before I buy a New PC. And i am considering getting a cyberpower sicne they have the Asetek liquid cooling and affordable prices. I personally could ahve configured a better computer for less mone but you guys wanted to test out the new mediocre geforce cards.AstroGuardian - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
If you are so much of a n expert then why don't you assemble the perfect computer for you? Why cyberpower?acooke - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
Can you guys do me a favour and tell me if it's OK to take this kind of computer as carry-on (on Delta)? Can I carry a laptop too?The reason I ask is that I will be visiting the USA for a few months and am going to build my own machine in this form factor. But I need to be able to carry it back to Chile... Thanks!
acooke - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
Sorry - see my other comment here - I thought this was smaller form factor system. I'll wait for the Cube review and ask again...softdrinkviking - Friday, September 17, 2010 - link
i have done a lot of traveling lately, and i experienced a bit of trouble with some of my baggage.I think that you should be prepared to check it, or picked up from a claim desk with a ticket or something.
You could probably take it carry on, but they might open it up and look around and waste your time in a major way, and they also might force you to check it so they can put it through their security devices.
i think it depends a lot on the temperament of the airline employees you deal with, and also on the constantly changing rules that get passed to the security people at the gates.
for example, i actually got a nail clipper taken from me once, and the next time i got on a plane, i realized i had a new clipper with me, and i offered it to the officer who promptly told me that the rules had changed and i could now take it with me!
so don't assume anything, pack it with foam inserts on the inside of the case, and have a good enclosure or box prepared.
personally, i would pack it up all crazy and mail it, but you can probably do a claim ticket for it so it won't get thrown down the luggage ramp.(for some xtra $)
Roland00 - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
A single gts 450 is going for 130 to 140 at the time of writing.The gtx 460 (768) is much faster and is currently going for 180 and higher
The gtx 470 is the speed of a sli gts450s and you can get this card for 249.99+tax at Frys(everyday not a sale price, it has been this price now for 3 weeks). If you don't have a Fry's nearby you can get a gtx 470 for 300 online. (If you do MIR it is cheaper than 300).
The gtx 470 is the speed of two gts 450s in sli if everything scales. If it doesn't scale then the 470 will clobber it. Also you don't have to worry about the little issues with sli such as microstutter and profiles and such. The 470 solution is either cheaper (if you get it for 250 such as the fry deal I mention), or if you get the parts online for 300 for the gtx 470, you will have ot spend the 40 dollars extra on a sli motherboard (since only the high end p55 or almost any x58 motherboards support sli, thus you are spending extra on the motherboard.)
If you must have sli, well the sli gtx 460s is much faster than the sli gts 450s, and is only 80 dollars more.
The only reason I can see you getting the sli 450s instead of a 470 is if you must have nvidia surround to do 3 displays. If you must have this, I would so recommend stepping up to the 460s or better for running 3 monitors at once is hard and you have already spent 400 at least on 3 monitors, and probably 1500ish on the computer, you should spend 80 more for surround.
jfelano - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
Too big a psu and too little video card. HD5850 performance and a 750w Corsair psu??flipmode - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
I swear I'm going to spam every system review with this. It's absurd that you've been doing all of these system reviews and there is no link to the systems category of articles.flipmode - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
7 articles in 2010, none of them accessible to anyone that doesn't know to manually type the URL.