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.
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alephxero - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
Umm.... top of the page, directly above the headline. Unless you mean as part of the menu buttons common to all pages on the site. But really, is it that hard to bookmark http://www.anandtech.com/tag/systems ?flipmode - Friday, September 17, 2010 - link
Yes, I meant as part of the standard menu buttons.You want me to bookmark it? I have a bookmark for Anandtech already.
Even if I did want to bookmark it, what about all the people that come here that don't know there is a "System" section or don't know how to find it? Some people just remember seeing a real cool article on Anandtech about a Dell computer that Anandtech says they were impressed with. Since the "Search" feature of Anandtech sucks crusty balls, that's of little help.
Drewoid13 - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
While its nice to see anandtech reviewing a working rig, the one I bought from them I've had to get the mobo replaced three times, and now its randomly dropping HDDs on my newest one.I can't recommend this company.
Schrodinger's Lolcat - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
Given the horror stories I've read about this company, I have to wonder why anyone would risk buying from these guys. Is the price premium worth it if they still botch your system and you have to pay for repairs?http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/dctag/maki...
Toms83 - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
1700 dollars for 4GB of system memory? did i read that right? my system from gateway has 8GB of system ram and it cost me just under a grand minus the monitor and the frame rates are comparable to those seen in this systems graphics tests.JarredWalton - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
You know you can actually spend an extra $100 to get another 2x2GB in the system if that's what you're after. Anyway, more RAM isn't inherently better, but it's not bad either... it might make overclocking a bit more difficult at worst.Pricing all the components used in this system on Newegg, I came up with a total of $1500, and another $90 or so to find the Asetek 570LX (not at Newegg). So, even at $1700 for this system it would be a very good deal, and $1499 would be a steal. Except we're not at all sold on the dual GTS 450 setup.
Does your $1000 Gateway have a CPU anywhere near the speed of a 3.83GHz i7-875K? Does it have graphics power anywhere near the dual 450 SLI setup? The best $1000 Gateway FX that I can see right now is the FX6840-01e, which comes with:
Core i7-860
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
8GB DDR3-1333
1TB 7200RPM SATA hard drive
ATI Radeon HD5570 1GB
16X DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti Drive
500W Power Supply
If that's your system, your claim that "frame rates are comparable to those seen in this system's graphics tests" is downright laughable. A single GTS 450 is already slightly faster than the HD 5750, and that GPU has 720 stream processors clocked at 700MHz with 73.6GB/s of bandwidth. Your HD 5570 on the other hand comes with a stellar 400 SPs at 650MHz and 25.6GB/s of bandwidth. So roughly half the performance of a single 5750, which a single GTS 450 already surpasses. The only area where it comes out ahead is RAM, which is as I mentioned a $100 upgrade.
quibbs - Thursday, September 16, 2010 - link
I ordered a Black Mamba system from CP. It should arrive this coming Monday. Liquid cooled gtx 480 sli gpu(s) and liquid cooled cpu. The case I chose was the Xion 970. It seemed from the video (released by CP) and the Xion's website to be well laid out and spacious for a mid-tower (which I require since my box sits in a built-in cubby hole in my desk). Looked comparable to the CM 690 II.Curious to see if the Xion will be a let down or not. For anyone interested in the Xion 970 I'll post my thoughts in this thread when once my pc arrives.
sulu1977 - Friday, September 17, 2010 - link
I've got a radical idea: how about developing a fast pc that's totally quiet and doesn't act like an electric room heater! You think that's too much to ask for? You think we have the technology and intellectual genius to accomplish such a feat? Could it be done within 5 years? ... or perhaps 10?Ninjahedge - Friday, September 17, 2010 - link
You mean you are asking for something that can play all the games at excellent detail levels, a constant and humanly perceptable framerate, and is PRACTICAL in terms of space, power and noise levels?C'maaaahn! ;)
Seriously though, I agree with you. There are many out there that would like to find that $1000 rig that would be able to do these things and not worry about gettingthe fastest test results. As many may claim this, few can see the difference between a 60fps and a 120fps performance (if both are kept constant and you experience no tearing or artifacts.).
Getting a rig that can play on a Sony JumboTron at 300FPS while in a mass explosion level on "Where's my Shorts III" isn't exactly the bet thing to keep constantly, well, shooting for.
Dustin Sklavos - Saturday, September 18, 2010 - link
Easy: Get an Antec P183. Put an i7-870 and a Radeon HD 5850 in it, and put a halfway decent air cooler on the processor.My desktop's actually pretty quiet. I'm using an Antec P182, and I have five hard disks and an SSD, a Radeon HD 5870, a GeForce GTS 450, and an i7 930 OC'ed and undervolted to 3.6GHz cooled with a Xigmatek Dark Knight.
Sure, it's big and heavy, but it's damn quiet.