Are you looking for a quality desktop computer? Well, the Cyberpower Gamer Ultra 8500 SE may well be right up your alley. This powerful system can easily run the most complex applications and graphic intensive 3D games. Anyway, let's now jump into the details and see what this desktop is all about. We also cover the shortcomings of the system and where it falls short.

CPU and Memory

The Cyberpower Gamer Ultra 8500 SE has some nice CPU and memory features. It comes with a dual-core Athlon X2 3800+ processor. The dual-core capabilities makes things like regular antivirus hard drive scans a minor nuisance, rather than the activity-stopping annoyance they were with single-core systems.

The system comes pre-configured with 1 GB of memory, which is plenty for most gamers and casual users alike.
 

Case

The Cyberpower Gamer Ultra 8500 SE has a very cool look. It has a unique teenage, gamer look and is encases in attractive silver and blue colors.

On the front, there are indicators for sound, fan speed and temperature. In all, these little fittings add a nice overall feel to the design. You will also note that the inside of the case is very neat, with the wires all tied up properly.
 

Graphics

The Cyberpower Gamer Ultra 8500 SE comes with an nVidia GeForce 6600 graphics card. While this is great for playing lower resolution games, it is not enough to handle the most extreme graphics.

There is a way out, of course. Since the motherboard is SLI-compatible, you can get another GeForce 6600 graphics card to have a dual graphic card setup. That will blow graphics performance through the roof. It will certainly cost you a tidy sum of money though.
 

Data Storage

The Cyberpower Gamer Ultra 8500 SE comes with a large 200 GB hard drive. While not as big as the Dell Dimension XPS 600 and the Velocity Micro Raptor 64, it should be big enough to store a lot of media and game files.
 

Other Components

Some other points about the 8500 SE are in order. For one thing, it is highly upgradeable and configurable. With the MSI nForce4-SLI motherboard, you have the option of upgrading to nVidia dual-graphics cards.

The Cyberpower Gamer Ultra 8500 SE also comes with a nice 17 inch LCD screen, which I thought is a tad small by today's standards. There's also a dual-Layer DVD+/-RW drive for ample optical storage capabilities.
 

Shortcomings

Other than the slightly disappointing graphics performance (compared to other high-end systems in this category), there isn't really any shortcoming for the Cyberpower Gamer Ultra 8500 SE. There's also a minor flaw - there's an intrusive cooling fan power cord that blocks stuff if you opened up the case.


Conclusion

The Cyberpower Gamer Ultra 8500 SE is one powerful machine. It is a good compromise between high performance and reasonable cost - and it does with quite a bit of style .