We purchased this earlier than the RTX 50 GPUs had been introduced, so particularly contemplating that, the worth was really glorious on the time we purchased it. Again then, it was a couple of $200 markup on the DIY price. That’s some of the aggressive costs we’ve seen. So, a few of the elements are well-chosen, the worth is aggressive, and now it’s as much as Cyberpower to construct it correctly.
Overview
Currently we’ve been on the lookout for some really good pre-built PCs and we’ve had blended success. The Thermaltake Vista 470M was actually good for a pre-built, however the small kind issue ASUS G22CH-DH978 was really the worst we’ve reviewed to date.
We jumped on this technique from CyberpowerPC as a “Each day Deal” as a result of it had a Ryzen 9800X3D with configuration on paper at what seemed like an inexpensive value at $1,865. Once more, that’s earlier than the 50-series was introduced. It was additionally a rotating day by day deal, which phased out and in.
Cyberpower’s MO is rather less about cringe advertising and marketing and extra about completely flooding you with overwhelming configuration choices whereas buying. Simply take a look at the madness within the pictures above. Not even counting the a number of base SKUs and rotating choices like this “Each day Deal,” when you get into customization, it’s utterly overwhelming. Every little thing is “simply $20 extra” or “simply one other $10,” taking the automotive mannequin of including each small piece of trim and ending up paying 30% extra on the finish.
We actually hope the net builders at Cyberpower receives a commission per radio button. The product web page was so lengthy that Firefox actually refused to screenshot the entire thing. A few of that is good – we like choices – however that is the Cyberpower approach.
In reality, Cyberpower’s upsell techniques listed below are so well-known that we all know individuals exterior the business who consult with add-on flooding as “getting Cyberpowered.”
It’s not prefer it’s a nasty apply, it’s simply their enterprise mannequin. We didn’t add something to our system as we predict many individuals will simply purchase it as the corporate offered it.
There are numerous good issues in regards to the PC on the floor: the on-paper half selection made sense, cable administration is great, and normal worth is fairly rattling good for a pre-built. However there’s at the very least one large destructive, and it’s the CPU thermals. We’ll come again to that beneath.
Pricing
CyberPowerPC 9800X3D Pre-built | Half and Value Breakdown | GamersNexus
| Half Identify | DIY Equal Half | DIY Half Value | |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D | Similar | $480 |
| CPU Cooler | CyberpowerPC Bitspower Infinity 240mm ARGB Liquid Cooler | Thermalright ARGB 240mm Liquid Cooler | $50 |
| Motherboard | ASUS PRIME B650M-A AX II | Similar | $150 |
| Reminiscence | 32GB (16GBx2) DDR5-6000 | Similar | $80 |
| Storage | 2TB ADATA LEGEND 800 GOLD NVMe M.2 SSD (Gen4) | 2TB ADATA Legend 800 NVMe M.2 SSD (Gen4) | $120 |
| GPU | NVIDIA RTX 4070 Tremendous | NVIDIA RTX 4070 Tremendous | $610 |
| Case | CyberpowerPC AMETHYST 360M | Montech X3 Mesh | $55 |
| Energy Provide | 1000W 80 Plus Gold | Rosewill CMG1000G5 | $120 |
| Pre-built Value: $1865 | DIY Complete: $1665 | ||
| Pre-built Premium Over DIY: $200 |
This desk has the components. Keep in mind that we’re this knowledge from again once we purchased it, not as we speak, as a result of we wish to decide it in opposition to the time of buy. That was across the final week of November. Pricing for the Cyberpower system is nice to common, with a $200 premium over DIY for actual components on the time. The wildly well-liked 9800X3D continues to be going out and in of inventory, making it continuously above MSRP as a result of third-party opportunism. We’re displaying it as $480 for the sake of this chart because it restocks continuously and could be purchased for MSRP with endurance and we don’t suppose you need to pay a scalped value for it.
The Bitspower 240mm cooler and white-labeled Cyberpower case can’t be bought retail from wherever we noticed, so we subbed these out with cheap alternate options for DIY comparability.
32GB of DDR5-6000 is the best selection for this AM5 Ryzen gaming system, in order that’s good to see. RAM is a typical space that pre-builts screw-up since they underspec the velocity, however that is good. The 2TB capability on the SSD can also be good. The ASUS Prime B650 motherboard is fortunately an off-the-shelf mannequin with public drivers and BIOS, which implies you possibly can preserve it your self.
The 1,000W PSU is overkill for this 9800X3D and 4070 Tremendous (learn our evaluation) configuration, however on the very least retains the door extensive open for a future GPU improve to something presently obtainable – even to a used 4090 (watch our evaluation) a while sooner or later.
General, the paper itemizing of the specs appears like moderately chosen components. There isn’t any proprietary BS on this record, which is nice to see.
Tear-Down
Time to get into the tear down.
The case has a mud filter on the highest of the exhaust. It’s not mandatory and may impede airflow a little bit. We seen the mud filter had a quality-control challenge with it splitting aside at one finish.
We additionally seen a screw in the back of the case being screwed in at an angle.
There are issues we like and don’t like relating to the case. We like how the entrance door has an indentation that means that you can simply push out the glass facet panel, which we discovered to be a pleasant, easy mechanical characteristic.
The entrance of the case is perforated, however the porosity is low. It’s positively loads higher than what Cyberpower used to do, which was to make use of a glass wall. The LED bar, nonetheless, utterly blocks airflow. As a matter of reality, there’s a fan behind it, which does near nothing because of this.
The underside of the case technically has holes, however there’s not a lot room for it to breathe between the mud filter and the case’s brief ft. This most likely chokes the consumption of the facility provide. On the constructive facet, the filter pulls out from the entrance, which prevents homeowners from having to maneuver it from the wall to tug it from the again.
The again fan can also be an space with room for enchancment because the case blocks off roughly 20% of the fan right here. The design may have used extra perforation to permit extra breathability.
Opening up the case, the cable administration appears fairly good. The zip ties are additionally lower to look a little bit cleaner. We did discover a random twist tie that was on there, which wasn’t doing something. That’s minor and we gained’t take off any factors for that.
The PC additionally makes use of an inexpensive PCB for all of its RGB cables.
Internally, the RAM sticks are within the right slots, which is nice. The cables are totally seated. We are able to see that Cyberpower makes use of a Bitspower 240mm liquid cooler, which has been re-badged to characteristic a Cyberpower brand.
Subsequent, we wished to take away the cooler to see what should be blamed for the construct’s thermal points. Taking it off, we will affirm that every part was totally seated and that there have been no free screws. We did, nonetheless, discover a cable coiled round one of many screws, which can have prompted some unlevelness.
Analyzing the cooler’s coldplate, we seen there wasn’t good contact between the cooler and the CPU through the paste sample. It was uneven. It might have doubtlessly been brought on by the aforementioned cable wrapped round one of many cooler’s screws. Trying down on the CPU itself, the paste was not unfold properly, which can have prompted poor efficiency. The cooler itself could also be unhealthy as we haven’t examined it standalone. A 240mm cooler must be sufficient right here if it’s not trash, so it’s disappointing to see unhealthy thermal efficiency right here.
Testing
CPU Thermals vs. Fan Velocity – Full Torture
Time to get into testing:
CPU cooling is the most important drawback this technique has, so we’ll begin the charts with CPU thermals vs. fan speeds over time throughout our full system torture load.
Tdie jumps over 90C as quickly because the check begins, then dips because the CPU followers ramp to attempt to preserve it below management and because the GPU load prepares to run. The fan ramp comes with an acoustic price. We are able to see that the AIO pump and entrance panel fan speeds don’t change in any respect, even because the CPU hits 95 levels Celsius. The pump is ok because it’s maxed out, however the comparatively low 1,200RPM on CPU_OPT isn’t superb. It might be as a result of particular fan selection topping out at that RPM, or as a result of some inherent conduct of the CPU_OPT header which isn’t straight controllable in BIOS. Both approach, what’s clear is that this temperature is completely unacceptable. It’s unlucky, as numerous different points of the machine had been good. This has been our historic expertise with Cyberpower, although: The corporate simply actually appears to wrestle with thermals.
As a reminder, the 9800X3D shouldn’t be just like the 7950X (watch our evaluation) or early AM5 silicon. The CPU doesn’t enhance to 95C. It simply runs up in opposition to its energy restrict. The chip is remarkably simple to chill when contemplating its efficiency, and but one way or the other, Cyberpower has failed to try this. We’ll speak extra about what prompted that failure within the conclusion.
CPU Frequency
CPU frequency is subsequent. This exhibits the efficiency affect of working in opposition to the 9800X3D’s temperature restrict like this.
The Cyberpower system’s CPU cores averaged out to five,023MHz throughout the CPU-only portion of our check – that’s 200MHz decrease than in our unique evaluation of the 9800X3D. This can be a gigantic drop when contemplating it’s utilized throughout all cores. This means that the CPU’s not in a position to devour sufficient energy to maintain clocks excessive as a result of thermal constraints. It’s throttling. This can be a large disappointment for an in any other case promising system. A drop of 200MHz is huge when an all-core load.
System Thermals – Full Torture
We subsequent manually set the followers to 100% in BIOS, however even this wasn’t in a position to preserve the CPU below 95C, partly as a result of the followers had been ultimately ramping to 100% anyway. It might assist enhance barely larger initially, however doesn’t resolve the throttling.
The remainder of the system’s thermals additionally remained inside variance between the 2 configurations. GPU, chipset, SPD hub (which is RAM), and drive temperatures had been inside anticipated ranges. The 67 diploma GPU temperature is nice.
Acoustics – Full Torture
Subsequent up is testing in our hemi-anechoic chamber.
Acoustic testing in our hemi-anechoic chamber underscores the rapid fan ramp, because it immediately jumped from the idle common of 31.6dBA to 37.9dBA common below load. That’s louder than we’d like to listen to at each ends of the spectrum, however can also be an enormous and instantaneous change and that’s the half that basically issues right here. There’s no gradual ramp. It simply immediately dumps an additional 6 decibels of noise as quickly as there’s a load, which is one thing an finish person would discover.
Subjective evaluation of the noise profile doesn’t flip up any harsh tones, simply the everyday sound of loud followers. Right here’s a pattern.
Energy – Full Torture
Energy testing is subsequent. It’s examined on the wall. That is largely to find out if Cyberpower selected a big sufficient PSU.
Logging energy on the wall exhibits a really flat steady-state with a mean of 500W throughout our torture load of Blender on the CPU and 3DMark Port Royal on the GPU. This stage of load is rare in gaming eventualities, because it closely hundreds each core elements directly. This places the 1000W PSU at 50% capability, leaving loads of headroom and conserving the PSU in a great place on its effectivity curve.
BIOS, OS Setup, and Software program
Time to get into BIOS, working system setup, and software program or bloatware presence.
Booting into the BIOS confirmed model 3042 from October 22, 2024 – one model outdated once we bought it on the very finish of November. We search for essentially the most up-to-date model at time of buy, however inside a month is total good.
The EXPO reminiscence profile was enabled, ASUS’ efficiency enhancement was disabled, and virtually every part else was set to auto. Cyberpower has a clear BIOS setup that we agree with total. The one change we’d prefer to see is disabling the Armory Crate bloatware installer, which is sadly a default setting. However EXPO and disabling ASUS’ enhancements are each right.
Home windows setup itself was regular and never appended with any third-party software program agreements.
The desktop was clear and with out bloatware – the one additional software program in any respect was ASUS AURA RGB software program, which technically provides performance. The brand new NVIDIA App was preinstalled with driver model 566.36, which is definitely from December 5. That’s superior to see because it was the newest model earlier than the PC shipped out the door. There have been no lacking drivers in Gadget Supervisor both. There additionally weren’t any stray information left behind. Having a driver from proper once we bought is superior, so good job to Cyberpower.
Once more, the software program facet of setup is strong for this technique. This complete facet of pre-builts has so many potential pitfalls that getting all of it proper like this deserves commendation.
Packaging
Packaging was tremendous, although the field confirmed typical delivery put on we see when not double-boxed, which is most popular. Cyberpower didn’t try this. The inside of the PC had a big pack of increasing foam defending the GPU from affect. That is what we’d wish to see, so one other space the place Cyberpower excelled.
Equipment
Equipment included with the CyberpowerPC system had been higher than common. The RGB keyboard (that includes quantity curler) isn’t notably good, however simply clears many of the garbage-tier peripherals we’re used to seeing with pre-builts.
The bag inside held a sport cross promo card, fast begin information, USB stick card, and bill in addition to the standard motherboard pack-ins. The mouse, surprisingly, even has thumb buttons — that alone will get the “It’s Higher Than Dell” award.
The short begin information is nice. Step 1 guides the person to take away inner packing foam and to examine for free cables. Step 2 instructs the person to make use of the show connectors on the GPU as an alternative of the motherboard, which is the commonest mistake, and Step 4 takes care of the second-most frequent by displaying turning the facility swap as “on” on the PSU.
The strangest factor included is a USB drive embedded right into a fold-out card. At first we thought this is likely to be the standard factor and comprise drivers and perhaps a handbook, however as an alternative, it acted like malware. Plugging the USB drive into the system triggers a script that quickly opens Run and kinds https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/share, launching the default browser to that handle, and looking out extremely suspicious within the course of.
The web page it takes you to isn’t even helpful – it’s only a touchdown web page to push you to put in writing a evaluation of the system in change for 2 $10 reward playing cards two to 4 weeks after approval. So, nice… Even worse, the USB machine doesn’t present up as an precise drive in Home windows or Gadget Supervisor, rendering it an utter waste of assets. It wasn’t malware, nevertheless it positive acted prefer it.
Conclusion
We might have appreciated to advocate this CyberpowerPC 9800X3D system, however we won’t due to the way in which it was arrange, nevertheless it’s shut. This technique is metaphorically one step wanting greatness. It reminds us of one other Cyberpower pre-built we reviewed, the place we concluded it was good, however ought to have its cooler changed. Which means the PC represents an odd combination of somebody who needs to purchase an fanatic pre-built PC however continues to be okay with manually making modifications to the construct.
It does loads appropriately, however critically fails to supply ample CPU cooling, inflicting the followers to ramp consistently and loudly. This additionally hinders efficiency throughout the heavy CPU load eventualities by dropping 200MHz beneath what it ought to run at.
As for the remainder: The half configuration is nice on paper, with the potential exception of over-speccing the PSU, however at the very least that doesn’t harm the system. And bear in mind, this predates this 5070 announcement. The 9800X3D is clearly an exceptional CPU for gaming and the 4070 Tremendous is robust sufficient to play video games at 1080p at excessive refresh price and most video games at 1440p, probably needing to decrease settings in graphics-heavy titles.
The OS, driver, and software program setup are all strong, with updated drivers and an unbloated Home windows expertise. Cyberpower’s consideration to element on the GPU driver actually impressed us, as they should have put in that proper earlier than it went out the door. The included keyboard and mouse are literally OK, as was the short begin information for novices. The automatically-executing script on the USB drive shouldn’t be solely suspicious, but in addition only a disappointing waste.
Cyberpower did most of this properly. It’s unlucky that we’ve been by way of this with Cyberpower just a few occasions over a couple of decade of shopping for their pre-builts now, as a result of they typically nail numerous it — they usually’re particularly aggressive on value — however screw it up on the thermals. We don’t know what it’s that’s so exhausting for them within the thermal configuration course of, but when Cyberpower can determine that out and completely rectify it, we actually wouldn’t have a lot to complain about. They’d most likely get our suggestions repeatedly.
