CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR8220A Review
Michael C. Smith
The CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR8220A is a midrange gaming PC designed for pro-gamers who’d do with more power, but need to do that on budget. It sports the familiar CyberPowerPC design with a flashy tower that falls somewhere between the desktop midrange and high-end in terms of cost and power. It is part of the Gamer Xtreme range that offers stable performance with appealing configuration options.
Looking at its specs sheet, it looks like a fresh update of our favorite CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5, that packed a six-core Intel Core i5-8400 and AMD’s Ryzen 5 580 graphics card. The new GXiVR8220A features an overclockable Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia’s GTX 1080 graphics card and 16GB of memory. All these count for high-end gaming without spending too much.
Design
The CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR8220A looks identical to the newer CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5, and pretty any other system in the Gamer Series. It stands at 18.6 by 8.5 by 18.5 inches (HWD), all black brushed aluminum. The front panel is half-solid black cover, and the other half is a glass panel that reveals a trio of concentric LED circles.
On the top panel, the system gets a couple of quick-access ports recessed to the right-front side, and the rest of the panel is made of parallel lines, save for grilled vent that lets you view the interior components and lighting from the top.
On the left side is a near-full window made of tampered glass, and gives you a perfect view of the interior components. Looking at the case you’ll realize that it isn’t a small-form-factor, but it happens to be on the smaller side for traditional towers.
For size comparison, the iBUYPOWER AM8520i Gaming Desktop PC stands 25 inches tall, 12.5 inches wide, and 21.38 inches deep, taking up much more space. CyberpowerPC, just like other boutique manufacturers, sometimes go overboard on the bling, but here the design is rather restrained, and I can say –elegant.
Connectivity
The system doesn’t have an optical drive, which is fine given that these days you occasionally need to play from DVDs, as most PC games can be downloaded from digital services like Steam and Origin. Plus, having one on the front would be a scratch on the case’s stylish austerity. As it is, there are easy-access ports on the top panel (towards the front): two USB 3.1, microphone and headphone, and a Reset button.
On the back, it’s a completely different story, it’s there you find the rear panel ports: two USB 2.0, four USB 3.1, one RJ-45 Network Ethernet, and Audio 7.1 channel. The graphics card is yet another part of the system with more ports comprising: one HDMI, and two DisplayPorts, which allow you to connect even to a 4K external monitor.
Storage and Inputs
This configuration is loaded with a 240GB solid-state drive (SSD), and an additional 1TB hard drive, which is a huge amount of room for games. It’s nice that the system gets a speedier SSD, and a bigger large scratch drive for storing files.
In a pricey, roomy desktop, that’s a bit encouraging. The iBUYPOWER AM1000X offers a bold storage option, with a 480GB SSD and a 3TB hard drive, and also the latest Intel Core i9-7900X processor with an 11GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card. On the other hand, the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 offers a 1TB hard drive storage, but skimps on a solid state drive.
Also Bundled into the package is a RGB 7 Colors gaming keyboard and mouse, alongside 802.11AC Wi-Fi for wireless connectivity.
CPU Performance
While this is by no means an inexpensive desktop, you can easily find more pricier rigs out there, so its satisfying that this unit soars in both productivity and gaming.The hexa-core Core i7-8700K CPU with 16GB RAM has been a favorite all year round, posting high score in productivity tests, and clearly demonstrating strong capability for general use.
Plus, it also soars through more strenuous multimedia desktops, getting into the same league as, truly high-end desktops like the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5, Acer Predator Orion 5000 and the HP OMEN 900-250.
On daily productivity, it gets a punch against the competition and can easily beat some pricier machines. Despite being in the cusp of high-end gaming systems on price, the Gamer GXiVR8220A is still a very capable media machine should you need it for work or a hobby. On this machine, multimedia projects should be a breeze, as well, should you need to work on video or photo editing between gaming sessions.
GPU Performance
The GeForce GTX 1080 is no slouch, averaging over 130 frames per second (fps) on the Heaven and Valley gaming tests set to Ultra quality settings and 1080p resolution. Surprising, dialing the resolution to 4K reduces the scores to around 30 fps and 40 fps respectively, on these synthetic benchmarks. That’s almost exactly in line with the Acer Predator Orion 5000, an Intel Core i7-8700K-based system that also includes a GTX 1080.
For some real-world gaming, the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR8220A tells similar stories on modern titles including Rise of the Tomb Raider and Far Cry 5. At maximum detail settings at 1080p, the Gamer GXiVR8220A averages 126fps on Rise of the Tomb Raider and 108fps on Far Cry 5, a bit lower than the benchmark tests, but impressively above 60fps.
However, on the same settings at 4K, the system averages 47fps and 41fps. That’s notably better than the benchmark tests, which is the best news you can get for your gaming experience, and over 30fps regardless.
Of course, not many people are truly aiming to play AAA games at max detail and 4K. So, as demonstrated by the 1080p scores, you’re in very good shape playing at any lower resolution.
The fact that it sticks so close to gaming rigs high up in the category like the Origin Chronos, make it a more desirable system given the price differences. The system doesn’t come bundled with a monitor, you’ll have to grab one like the ASUS ROG Swift PG348Q that will let you view content and play games at even 4K resolutions.
Behold the new RTX 20-Series GPUs (RTX 2080, RTX 2080 Ti)
That said, CyberPowerPC just released the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR8080A4 outfitted with the newer Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics and a snappy Intel core i7-8700 CPU. From the onset, the next-generation GeForce RTX 20-series graphics cards (starting with GeForce RTX 2080 and GeForce RTX 2080 Ti) look like the most significant generational upgrade to the gaming cards. The RTX 2080 system included in this system uses new Nvidia Turing architecture that boasts more cores than existing GTX GPUs.
Spec by spec, the RTX 2080 boasts 2,944 CUDA cores, 8GB GDDR6 memory and 1710MHz boost clock, which is far better than the GTX 1080’s 3,584 CUDA cores and a 1,600MHz boost clock. As a result, the new graphics card gets a jump of 20-40 fps in frame rates, and at 4K the RTX 2080 here can easily hit as high as 60 fps, which is damn impressive.
Some real-world game scores, the RTX 2080 manages to achieve 42 fps on Shadow of the Tomb raider at 4K at the highest setting, while Destiny 2 yielded 73 fps, once again at 4K and Ultra settings, with HDR turned on. This is pretty impressive for a single card GPU, and for the price it can’t get any better. Plus, short of the Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti, you won’t find another more capable graphics card than what you have on this system.
The Bottom Line
The CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR8220A is an efficient, ready-to-go gaming PC with a distinct (yet common) style. Whether you personally like the aesthetic is a question for another day, but at least it has some personality and the trio of rings on the front panel and a transparent side make it stand out. The design, love it or leave it, is just a part of development that houses a unique array of components that are of more interest.
Of interest is that, the GXiVR8220A offers decent performance and racks up well against expensive gaming PCs in both productivity and Full HD gaming, thanks to its Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics cards and a capable hexa-core Core i7-8700K CPU. With this combination, you don’t have any reason for DIY endeavors, since this high-end system has it all for much less than the competition.
That said, with a few hundred dollars more, you can get the future-proof CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR8220A, a gaming powerhouse and a productivity beast with the latest components including Nvidia’s RTX 2080 Founders Edition graphics card. Except for the Nvidia GTX 2080 Ti GPU, the graphics card installed in this system is second to none, and the same muscle extends to gaming performance. It is our newest Editors’ Choice value high-end gaming desktop PCs.
CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme VR Gaming PC, Intel i5-9400F 2.9GHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 6GB, 8GB DDR4, 120GB SSD, 1TB HDD, WiFi Ready & Win 10 Home (GXiVR8060A7, Black)
2 used from $799.99
CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR8220A
US 1+
