In the era of mobile computers, desktops get less love than they used to before. Yet, there are still good uses for good old desktop computers. Gaming is one of them. You will probably get much better performance for your buck if going for desktop rather than laptop – and who doesn’t want to save money? This review concentrates on Cyberpowerpc Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR2600A, a gaming desktop with tolerable price and some excellent user feedback…
Is this a beast for gaming?
I would almost call CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR2600A a gaming beast. “Almost”, because there are one or two graphics cards that are better than the included MSI GeForce GTX 1070 (8GB video RAM). Nonetheless, a huge performance is still guaranteed with this graphics engine. It was designed with 4K gaming mind, and indeed with such a resolution all games will run smooth, although some might require medium to high settings for that. For example, the notoriously demanding Witcher 3 would get around 50 frames per second with such a setup. GTA 5 would easily be in the above 60FPS range.
In addition, the card supports VR so Oculus Rift and similar devices are welcome here. Keep in mind the motherboard has no SLI support so installing an extra graphics card isn’t possible.
General performance
CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR2600A enjoys extremely high performance when it comes to processor. The manufacturer has decided to put Intel Core i7-7700 inside – that is a 3.6GHz clock speed processor from the Intel’s 7th generation line of Kaby Lake units. The chip also supports turbo boost of up to 4.2GHz, and the processor naturally runs on four cores. The CPU Mark score it achieves is a very high ~11000 which makes it almost the best desktop processor you can currently get.
CyberpowerPC has decided to go the conventional hard drive route in the storage department. A two terabytes 7200RPM HDD is installed there, certainly giving you enough space for all the files and games you could ever dream of. However, you might be dubious about its performance, and rightfully so. Solid-state drives fare much better when it comes to transfer rates, and fortunately this motherboard has M.2 slot under the graphics card. Also, free 2.5″ slot should be available in the bay. You indeed have upgrade options for storage drives.
The system comes with 16GB DDR4 RAM which is enough for gamers, power users and anybody in 2017 (and later). I think there are two 8GB SODIMM sticks installed – four slots are available all in all. You could theoretically go as high as 64GB in RAM, but that serves no purposes in my opinion.
The motherboard seems to be MSI B250M BAZOOKA for anyone interested. It has six SATA 3 ports and the aforementioned M.2 slot. One PCI-e x16 slot and two PCI-e x1 ports are available as well. The form factor is micro ATX.
Ports and interfaces
The networking adapter is a Gigabit Ethernet circuit on the mainboard, with RJ-45 port on the back panel. Transfer rates will be speedy, although they are limited to cable only – the desktop does not support WiFi out of the box. If you want wireless compatibility, get a cheap (few dollars) USB dongle and plug it in to the back panel.
Speaking of USB ports, the desktop has two USB 2.0 and six USB 3.0 connectors available. That is a lot, I think you won’t ever use all of them at the same time. Nonetheless, prefer the USB 3.0 ports since they offer much better frame rates than USB 2.0.
The graphics card offers outputs for HDMI, DVI and DisplayPort. You can use a three-monitor setup if you want, the GTX 1070 should be able to play few games with a display trio at the same time.
There is a DVD burner installed in the desktop. Feel free to install games from discs, if you still have them.
Miscellaneous things
CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR2600A includes a 7 color gaming keyboard and mouse, both of them are wired. You might already guess that monitor isn’t provided, you must find money to buy one (or use your old display).
The system uses liquid cooling. There is no need to assemble it, just turn the desktop on and all is set.
As far as I know the PSU is a 600W one, easily enough for the default components this computer has.
Why should I buy this?
CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR2600A makes a perfect companion for gamers. In-game settings can be upped high and also high resolutions can be used, the GeForce GTX 1070 will handle all that on newest games without issues. Few reviews also point out the desktop stays cool under extended gaming sessions.
In addition to gaming, the desktop will be ideal for running complex software that requires extra performance from the system. Yes, the Intel Core i7-7700 is a beast, and the 16GB worth of memory will only help with multitasking. If you want to make the desktop even faster, put in a solid-state drive – it’s easy to upgrade this rig!
The two terabytes hard drive means you essentially get a file storage system at your fingertips.
Why should I not buy this?
In case you are not interested in games, but have still been eyeing CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR2600A, I can say with full confidence that it would be a waste of your money. There’s no reason to pay for the dedicated GeForce card if you are not a gamer. Better use your money wiser and get a non-gaming desktop instead.
Verdict
CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR2600A is, as many people put it, the essential gaming desktop. No title is too much for it, as the GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card will take care of games heavyweight or light with plenty of eye candy turned on. The performance that stems from other components, such as processor and RAM, is also top-notch – however the lack of solid-state drive might bother some. Liquid cooling should keep the system cool at all times. For the money you are getting a decent amount of gaming performance, so I can recommend this CyberpowerPC for players.
