Today we review one such PC, the CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 desktop, an overhaul of the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A4 that held a similar title a while back. It receives it’s 15 minutes of fame for having a combination of aspects that define greatness in the gaming scene.
We’ve reviewed more than a fair share of PCs in our wake. And in the midst of our testing, we’ve come to accept the integral parts and aspects that make for a great gaming system…budget PCs with grit and price-friendly prices. Our most recent recommended and best overall budget gaming PC is from CyberPowerPC. CyberPowerPC received our Editor’s Choice for building legendary budget gaming PCs and maintaining a longstanding tradition of superior but budget gaming PCs with their most recent release.
Most noticeable among its features is a great six-core CPU, latest AMD graphics card, plenty of storage, subtle heat emission and noise production. Additionally, it has plenty of space to expand without necessarily changing its case. Read the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 review for more details.
Pros
- Great design and aesthetics
- Improved processor compared to the predecessor
- Plenty of ports
- Great gaming performance
- Easily to upgrade/plenty of upgrade space
- Near silent running system
- VR Ready (HTC Vive and Oculus Rift)
Cons
- Needs an SSD for faster storage
- Measly 8GB DDR4 memory might not suffice most
- Ventilation problem encourages heating
- System: Intel Core i5-9400f 2. 9GHz 6-Core | Intel B360 Chipset | 8GB DDR4 | 1TB HDD | Genuine...
- Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 580 4GB Video Card | 1x DVI | 1x HDMI | 2x DisplayPort
- Connectivity: 5 x USB 3. 1 | 2 x USB 2. 0 | 1x RJ-45 Network Ethernet 10/100/1000 | Audio: 7. 1...
Verdict
The CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 distinguishes itself as the very best budget entry-level gaming PC. Just like its competition, it handles itself with respectable flair. It boasts of a great combination of high-end features for the job. You get a fast Core i5-8400 processor, a bump from the predecessor’s core i5-7400 processor. Also, you get 8GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB HDD, and AMD RX 580 graphics card.
Avid gamers will love the spacious case as it holds extra legroom for future upgrades and out-of-the-box VR capabilities. As a result, it receives our Editor’s Choice for budget entry-level-gaming for likable design, features, and performance.
CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 Specs
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Processor |
Intel Core i5-8400 3.0GHz | Intel B360 Express Chipset |
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RAM |
8GB DDR4 SDRAM | 2 x 4GB sticks of ADATA 2400 |
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Internal Storage |
1TB 7200 RPM HDD |
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Graphics |
AMD Radeon RX 580 4GB Video Card |
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Display |
15.6″ Full-HD display | Resolution – 1920 x 1080 | Anti-glare | LED Backlit | TN panel |
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Connectivity |
802.11ac Wi-Fi | Bluetooth 4.0 |
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Ports |
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Input device features |
Keyboard and wired mouse |
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Audio |
: 7.1 Channel |
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Operating System |
Windows 10 Home | 64 bit |
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Dimensions |
18.5 x 7.9 x 17.9 inches |
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Weight |
28 lbs |
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Warranty |
1 Year Parts & Labor Warranty | Free Lifetime Tech Support |
Design and Features
CyberPowerPC built this gaming rig as a choice for both elite gamers and entry-level gamers. As such the build quality needed to meet that market demand or at least scratch the surface of it. From first glance, the CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 definitely pulled it off with the adopted gaming rig theme.
The continuous red and black theme as is common for most gaming PCs was a good effort; it did scratch the surface. To be fair, in most definitions, the Gamer gxivr8020a5 without all the contours, bling and glamour of other premium gaming rigs, still looks desirable.
The front porch of this tower is made of all black acrylic from the top to bottom. Three concentric RGB-lit-circles adorn the slightly tinted acrylic background bringing a slight touch of flair to the system. Admittedly, this is a scene we’ve noted common with other boutique builders, such as Skytech. The CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A4 Desktop (predecessor) we reviewed comes with the same design too.
CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 Case
Moving on, the right-side panel is also built of slightly tinted but see-through tempered glass. It’s relatively easy to view through it right to the interior most especially as the motherboard and fan glow up with their red RGB-lit light effects. The whole system is held together on an aluminum Cooler Master 5 Lite case. And for airflow support, the case features a dotted ceiling for allowing ventilation.
Ventilation, all things considered, could be the biggest downside to this system, because the vents and inlets, especially at the front aren’t satisfactory enough. CyberPowerPC must have disregard ventilation aspects in order to put more resource for an aesthetical appealing case. The inlet at the front are small while the outlets few; meaning the air doesn’t escape quickly. You might ocassionally experience fluctuation of temperatures creeping up and potentially frying the components. Normally, the system runs at 70 degrees but it could go higher when heat doesn’t properly dissapate in the case (once in a while during intense gaming).
At 18.5×7.9×17.9 inches (28 pounds), the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 has a resounding resemblance to its predecessor CyberPowerPC gamer Gxivr8020a4. It is on a similar threshold with the CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme VR GXiVR8060A5 Gaming PC (7.87×18.46×17.89). However, the latter costs $200 more. The HP Pavilion Power 580-023w/ at Amazon is another favorite average tower PC operating in the same ballpark with competitive prices too.
Upgrade friendly case
The ability to expand is among the most defining factors gamers look for in a pre-built system. Fortunately, the Gamer Xtreme gxivr8020a5 case is wide and tall (18.5×7.9 inches) and accommodates its components remarkably. Getting through to the innards only requires an easy-to-follow opening of the tempered glass hatch. Inside, the components are held together with nice and tight. The cables are zip-tied in place keeping everything admirably orderly.
Ports
A healthy port system is an important section of your desktop. The CyberPowerPC port system supports a myriad of ports including some forward-looking ones too. That includes the most recent kid on the block USB Type-C 3.1 port which comes in handy. For this modern PC, you don’t get a DVD-RW tray. It reminds of when we used to play Max Payne and save up collections of vintage video games on my closet drawer.
But that’s gone with time now. Like me, if you like playing games on your PC, this is a move you gotta accept. Manufacturers are busy upgrading connectivity options to be in line with the mainstream market. So this has now become the new norm and you gotta work with Steam and Origin. But I digress.
Most featured on the CyberPowerPC Gamer GXiVR8060A5 port system are easily accessible ports like two USB 3.0 ports, microphone, and headphone port, reset button and start button (all at the front top section). The rear houses the four USB 3.1 Type-A ports, audio ports, a single Ethernet port, and two USB 2.0 ports.
On the graphics card, you get a single HDMI port and DisplayPort for your monitor connections and VR setup. That includes the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift systems.
Other connectivity options include the LAN 802.11AC Wi-Fi adapter. There’s no inbuilt Bluetooth set up so you might have to purchase one on your own. If you haven’t bought one before, don’t worry they are cheap.
Outstanding Performance
Aside from beautiful aesthetics that appeal to the gaming community, a great rig requires top-notch gaming performance hence high-end components. That means components fit to handle to heat and pressures of AAA games. As mentioned above, the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 is a mere upgrade of the CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme gxivr8020a4 reviewed earlier.
The one difference between the two being an impressive top-of-the-line six-core i5-8500 processor.
On a performance and functionality scale, the Core i5-8400 (CoffeeLake) is obviously faster. Considering it was an overhaul, we kind of expected more on this iteration. Still, it is a commendable upgrade.
While this CoffeeLake processor isn’t the classiest in processor world, it manages 2.8 GHz on casual use and 4.0GHz on Turbo. If I were to nitpick, it is the most affordable six-core processor ever released yet. Also. the Core i5-8400 processor was a no-doubt production in response to AMD’s Ryzen processor.
On our Benchmark tests, the Core i5-8400 processor earned an average CPU Benchmark Mark of 11,778. That’s a notch higher than it’s Core i5-7400 Average CPU Benchmark score of 7391. Ideally, the Core i5-8400 is said to be faster than the last generation of Core i7-7700K.
Plenty of Storage for data hogs
Everything else on the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 remains the same as the predecessor. CyberPowerPC fired up an 8GB DDR4 memory (two 4GB sticks of ADATA 2400) and 1TB hard drive storage (7200 RPM). The storage is should be sufficient for data hogs looking to save data, media files, movies, and video games. However, that might not suffice if speed and boot times are on your mind.
At this point, you can upgrade to SSD (at least 120GB SSD or 256GB SSD) or find an alternative PC. The CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 is a similar configuration that offers 1TB HDD and 120GB SSD for $200 more. If you can afford it, it should work faster and better. It also comes with GeForce GTX 1060 3GB DDR5 graphics card for all those Nvidia fans.
Respectable Gaming Performance
For gaming and 3D tasks, there’s an AMD RX 580 graphics card just as in the HP Pavilion Power 580-130 desktop. Together, all these components aid the system glide through multimedia, video editing, gaming and other run-to-the-mill home/office tasks with flair.
With the MD RX 580 graphics card, the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 offers brilliant Full HD gaming performance and decent 1440p gaming while at it. The RX 580 represents AMD’s latest mid-range cards as a replacement to the RX 480 from 2016. As it is, the AMD RX 580 is the biggest rival to Intel’s Nvidia GTX GeForce 1060 GPU with the difference between the two being nail-bitter!
On gaming runs, the card stays ahead with high fps mostly on 1080p gaming and quite decently on 1440p. If you’re looking to game on 4K, you might get a bit disappointed. The CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme gxivr8060a5 thrives well in entry-level gaming meaning it can handle a few dozen AAA titles but leave out the hardcore stuff for the big-league premium category. Most games play above 60 fps and above on 1080p settings.
Gaming Performance of AMD RX 580 and Core i5-8400
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CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 motherboard
The CyberPowerPC motherboard is the foundation of great gaming performance. While a powerful processor and GPU make for a great gaming and VR capable system, the motherboard is essential for near seamless performance. The Gamer Xtreme gxivr8020a5 works with an Asus Prime motherboard based on the latest B360 chipset.
Power Supply
The power supply can be the most unappreciated component in a desktop. But if you want the strongest, most versatile and upgradeable PC, then the power supply is one component you have to take seriously. You need a reliable power supply (PSU) to supply power to your components. The CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 sports a 500 watts PSU which is plenty for casual use and gaming. If you plan to upgrade to power-consuming parts, then you should consider upgrading to a higher-end power supply unit.
A Gaming Beast on Budget
The deal on the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5 goes beyond just remarkable design. It’s an attractive and likable design sandwiched in a beastly-performance and budget-friendly pack. Additionally, the system runs silently under pressure and is VR friendly (HTC Vive and Oculus Rift).
On a feature-by-feature basis, it boasts of desirable high-end components, the only caveat being lack of solid-state drive (SSD). Still, if you have a few hundred bucks to spare and know your way around a PC, you can get at least a 120GB SSD. If not, there are pre-built options such as the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5.
It comes with Core i5-8400 processor, 8GB DDR4 memory, 1TB HDD, 120GB SSD, and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card. It should cost you a dipper dive into your wallet; about $200 more.
For that one reason, our unit has one over the CYBERPOWERPC Gamer Xtreme GXIVR8020A5. It won’t’ break the bank! As a result, it receives our Editor’s Choice for best-budget-entry-level-gaming desktops.
- System: Intel Core i5-9400f 2. 9GHz 6-Core | Intel B360 Chipset | 8GB DDR4 | 1TB HDD | Genuine...
- Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 580 4GB Video Card | 1x DVI | 1x HDMI | 2x DisplayPort
- Connectivity: 5 x USB 3. 1 | 2 x USB 2. 0 | 1x RJ-45 Network Ethernet 10/100/1000 | Audio: 7. 1...
