by Jump to: specification | performance | Games | Diploma
It’s often a good bar hop to discuss which gaming PC you would build with a near-unlimited budget. AMD’s cache-heavy, gaming-optimized Ryzen 9 7950X3D is a good starting point that many won’t disagree with, and the monstrous GeForce RTX 4090 has no GPU peer, making it an unreservedly automatic choice. Tasked with a similar assignment, Cyberpower sent in the £3,900 Ultra R79 X3D for review.
Double boxed and with expanding foam inserts to keep everything secure, the PCs are backed by the Gold 5 Year Warranty, which includes two years of pickup and return, two years of parts and labor for the duration of coverage. That’s a good thing and necessary for a premium rig.
specification
Encased in a mid-range Lian Li Lancool 216 that bets on RGB and airflow, first impressions are positive when looking into the window that skillfully showcases the powerful hardware. Remember that the hinged plate will take fingerprints with aplomb, so handle with kid gloves if you want to maintain a flawless finish.
Cyberpower houses front I/O, consisting of two Type-A USB 3.0 and a single Type-C, at the top, although for users placing the system on a desk, the I/O can be moved to the bottom left. It all looks rather inconspicuous when it is switched off, but this changes abruptly for the better when it is switched on.
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Impactful RGB immediately draws attention, and dual 160mm spinners offer ample shooting potential that slides over the mighty RTX 4090 graphics card and RAM/water cooling section. The mesh-everywhere design is great for airflow, but it does mean the system is louder than we’d like when idle – you’ll notice its presence visually and audibly when sitting on the desk.
The boarding reinforces the versatility of the case. Cyberpower chooses an MSI RTX 4090 Ventus 3X 24GB as its pixel provider, and it’s hard to argue with its choice of GPU. Still, it’s the entry-level non-RGB model present on the Gaming X Trio, for example, or Suprim’s huge build. The understated look doesn’t match the rest of the build, although Cyberpower tends to use it on high-performance systems. Given its considerable weight, the system has a useful locking mechanism that keeps everything in place.
The sheer size allows for easy mounting of the 360mm Lian Li Galahad AIO, whose tubes coil on a stock clocked Ryzen 9 7950X3D chip. Given its modest power budget of 120W TDP, there is potential for a near-silent build.
It also looks good, emitting attractive RGB from the pump head and a trio of 120mm fans. We also appreciate the industrial look of the underlying Asus X670-E TUF Gaming motherboard and 32GB Kingston DDR5 RGB running at a decent 6,000 MT/s.
Given the premium nature, a 2TB Solidigm P44 Pro NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD is a good choice, while the motherboard offers three more slots for more capacity. Based on AMD’s latest platform, the top slot occupied by Solidigm is capable of reaching PCIe 5.0 speeds should you feel the need for an upgrade in the future.
Cyberpower sensibly opts for the slightly more expensive Wi-Fi 6E model, but we imagine most gamers will end up using the 2.5G Realtek Ethernet for rock-solid stability. Rear I/O also includes an additional 10 USBs – five of which are 5 Gbps (Type-A), four are 10 Gbps (3x Type-A, 1x Type-C) and, what really delights you, a Type- C at 20Gbps. Thunderbolt is available via an onboard header.
The ensemble is powered by an 850W Corsair RMx Shift power supply – you know, the one with side-mounted connectors for a cleaner build – that provides the required 16-pin PCIe 5.0 connector for a one-cable run contributes to the graphics card. Know that capacity is the bare minimum Nvidia mandates when running RTX 4090. Perhaps a model with a higher wattage would make more sense.
Calculations on the back of the cover suggest that the build-it-yourself route would entail a fee of £3,842 for components and Windows 11, meaning there’s an advantage in going for a fully built machine from a reputable systems builder decide.
Performance
The first Ryzen 9 7000 series chip in the graphics does not disappoint. Thanks to increased cache levels, Zen 4 is primarily equipped for gaming and has more than decent performance with a 120 W TDP. Ultra R79 X3D masters everyday tasks with perfect ease.
Cyberpower offers a bit of an extra oomph by ignoring the DDR5-5200 speeds AMD offers and instead running the Kingston Fury at DDR5-6000. Best results from an AMD system so far, although Intel has the upper hand with Core.
We were wondering where the Solidigm P44 Pro SSD would rank in the pecking order. It’s a prime citizen, topping the sequential charts and ranking high in writes. The manufacturer isn’t a fly-by-night operator, of course, as the company emerged from SK Hynix, which acquired Intel NAND’s business for $9 billion in 2021.
This is where the Ryzen 9 7950X3D’s lopsided dual-CCD design can hamper performance somewhat. The test system is equipped with exactly the same card as the Infinity X139 RTX, but the performance in the first gaming test is about 10 percent lower.
Play
Real-world gaming is where it’s at. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D performs pretty well in Final Fantasy, and we particularly like the class-leading minimum count.
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Fantastic performance from the RTX 4090 duo. Nothing else is in the bill.
| Game | FPS at 1080p | FPS at 1440p | FPS at 2160p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Ultra High Quality) | 215 | 183 | 119 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 (Raytracing: Ultra, DLSS off) | 121 | 84 | 43 |
| Far Cry 6 (Ultra Quality, HD Textures and DXR on) | 129 | 120 | 110 |
| Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction (Ultra Quality, DLSS Off) | 398 | 348 | 203 |
Another gaming investigation is conducted by evaluating performance in four recent, high-quality titles. Cyberpower’s system blasts through everything but Cyberpunk 2077, but even that grueling game can be brought under control with framerate-boosting DLSS 3 technology. 4K120 is very realistic.
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vitals
Ordered by maximum CPU temperature, Galahad does a good job of keeping Ryzen 9 7950X3D at acceptable temperatures. MSI does even better with massive cooling for the RTX 4090, where the Ventus card barely tops 70C.
A total of 10 fans in the system inevitably lead to some quiet noise. However, the system could be quieter as the trio of GPU and single spinner on the PSU shut down under light loads. We can see why Cyberpower plays it safe – more airflow should mean less backflow – but a quick jaunt into the firmware drops the idle figure from 35dB to 32dB. There you are.
Difficult to properly idle Ryzen 9 7950X3D/X670E. The task manager shows that the system sporadically engages a higher gear even when surfing. The same applies to our test system with the same CPU.
Diploma
We are happy that Cyberpower uses the latest AMD CPU technology right from the start. Ryzen 9 7950X3D is an excellent all-purpose CPU and offers additional gaming fun compared to non-X3D Ryzens thanks to innovative 3D V-Cache intelligence. Pairing the powerful chip with an RTX 4090 is a game made in high framerate heaven.
Although it may seem expensive at first glance, the £3,900 price tag is competitive when you factor in the significant payload. Given that we’re sensibly supporting the two excellent, standout components with a well-respected SSD and proven RAM that works at high frequencies, there’s not much we’d change. A fancier graphics card would go well with the light-filled overall theme – the RTX 4090 Gaming X Trio and Suprim are offered as in-place upgrades for £79 and £119 respectively – and we’d up the extra paper for both.
The Cyberpower Ultra R79 X3D is a proven workhorse for the day and a superlative gaming PC by night. It’s expensive, but powerful.
Cyberpower Ultra R79 X3D
Verdict: A performance-packed system showcasing the best components from early 2023.
Advantages
Brilliant 4K gaming
Same price as DIY
Impressive guarantee
The content creator’s dream
Disadvantages
No GPU RGB
1kW power supply would be nice
Obtain
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