CyberPower Core i7-920

Problems and Concerns

We had essentially no problems with the CyberPower Core i7. The system was very stable and would complete hours of testing without issues. We upgraded the video drivers to avoid issues with Far Cry 2. We had one fatal crash in Far Cry 2 with the new drivers, but were able to reboot and continue testing, so we wrote this off as an anomaly.

We will mention in this section, however, that the consumer must take care when ordering their system to ensure a balanced solution. Custom PC suppliers often restrict the range of components that can be ordered with a specific system, to provide a minimum baseline of performance. For better or worse, CyberPower does not restrict choice at all, so an uninformed buyer could purchase a $1500 "gaming" system with a GeForce 7400 GS or HD 4350. Choice is great, but the number of options really demands an informed buyer when placing the order and their website simply does not offer that level of guidance.

Pricing

We looked at CyberPower's margins in our previous reviews and found that they are fairly low compared to what a consumer will pay for the parts and operating system. This comes at the expense of niceties such as custom BIOS tweaking, system manuals, etc., but does include a 3-year parts warranty, 30-day money back guarantee with no restocking fee, and lifetime (24/7) technical support. In this case, pricing the components at Newegg actually came in around the sticker price, so these services essentially come for "free". We also verified that a system is in fact available on the website that can match this configuration at this price, and there are several such systems ("Gamer Xtreme XT-K" was one). This corroborates what we stated in our Holiday Guide - around the $1500 mark, the bang-for-your-buck here is very high. Unless you simply enjoy the process of putting together your own PC, even enthusiasts would be happy with what CyberPower offers.

Final Thoughts

This is our second look at CyberPower. For high-end systems, we recommended looking at other suppliers before ordering, since they don't offer enough "uniqueness" or handholding that buyers in that market typically prefer. Then again, even high-end users can find a lot to like, provided they're not interested in anything more than a no-frills, high-performance solution. If you feel a need for special binders, custom paint jobs, etc. you will likely want to look elsewhere. For the midrange, however, we're quite pleased with what CyberPower has to offer: good warranty and tech support coverage, good components, and a lot of system choices, all at a very competitive price. We were impressed with the value of their Core i7 system, and they should definitely remain on the short list of suppliers for low- to midrange gaming systems.