Cyberpower Infinity X55 Pro GT Review

Cyberpower Infinity X55 Pro GT Review

Manufacturer: Cyberpower
UK price (as reviewed): £999.60 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): N/A

The launch of Intel's Skylake CPUs and Z170 chipset mark a focus on super-fast storage for the PC industry as the mainstream Intel chipset can finally unleash the power of the latest SSDs. It makes sense for any mid-range PC to tap into this improved performance and that's exactly what Cyberpower has done with its Infinity X55 Pro GT.

The PC sports a 128GB Samsung SM951 M.2 SSD, which offers mind-boggling read and write speeds of up to 1,600MB/sec and 550MB/sec respectively. It's a great way to use the extra bandwidth provided by the Z170 chipset. However, the downside here is that 128GB is a rather slim amount of storage (and also limits the drive's write speed) - we usually consider 256GB to be a minimum to avoid having to constantly watch your C drive in case you run out of space. After all, GTA V uses over 60GB of space alone and with Windows installed too, you'll potentially be approaching 100GB with just Windows and a single game installed.


There is a 1TB hard disk included too so you can use that for any data storage, but we'd perhaps rather see a larger SATA 6Gbps SSD instead of the SM951 as this would be much more useful for storing half a dozen games, your programs and the OS. The SM951 is a pricey bit of kit though, and the 128GB model retails for more than many 256GB SATA 6Gbps SSDs so it's not surprising to see it included here to keep the price under £1000. It's a bit like returning to the SSD situation a few years ago, when most of us could only afford 128GB models, but put up with the paltry storage space because SSDs offered vast improvements compared to hard disks. Here the difference in performance between a SATA 6Gbps SSD and the SM951 isn't really enough to justify the compromise, especially in terms of the performance you'll actually notice. Thankfully, you're also able to upgrade to the 256GB or 512GB models, which are also even faster.


Cyberpower's online configurator is excellent and very flexible so if you're on a tight budget and can't stretch to the larger models, we'd probably recommend opting for a cheaper SATA 6Gbps SSD to house your games (Samsung's 120GB 850 Evo can be added to the spec for just £50 more), leaving the SM951 to deal with your OS and a select few games and programs. Alternatively, as we've already mentioned, you'll get better bang per buck by opting for a 256GB SATA 6Gbps SSD instead of the SM951 - as drool-worthy as it is, it doesn't offer a great price per gigabyte.


The rest of the specification is solid and straightforward. An MSI Z170A motherboard sits at the heart of the PC, providing a home for the M.2 SSD and a Core i5-6600K (expect a standalone review of this chip shortly). The latter has been overclocked to 4.4GHz and is cooled by a Corsair Hydro Series H55 cooler exhausting out the rear of the case. The case of choice is NZXT's gorgeous Source 340, which at 44cm high is fairly compact. You get a great view of the interior through the case's side window thanks to an LED strip that's been secured to the front of the case, illuminating the GTX 970 graphics card. This comes in the form of MSI's 4GD5T OC, which sports a 1,102MHz core (1,241MHz boost) and 7GHz effective memory.


There's 8GB of RAM courtesy of a dual channel 2,133MHz Kingston HyperX kit and powering the PC is a Cooler Master B600 B2 PSU, with all the cables having been neatly tidied both in the main chamber and behind the motherboard tray. As the case has no mounts for an optical drive there's nothing by way of DVD or Blu-Ray readers while Cyberpower has opted to use the onboard audio as well. Windows 10 is now out in the wild in its final release version and comes as standard with the Infinity X55 Pro GT. The system sports a warranty that includes 3 year's labour, two year's parts cover and collect and return for the first year as well as lifetime remote technical support. You can upgrade this in various stages including up to onsite repair for the first year.

Margins are pretty slim in the PC building business, but adding up the components here sees you still saving between £20 and £50 on building the PC yourself, plus it comes pre-overclocked and with a warranty plus the system includes a Cyberpower / Intel game bundle with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain included courtesy of Nvidia too.

Specifications

• CPU Intel Core i5-6600K (overclocked to 4.4GHz)
  
• CPU cores Four physical
  
• Memory 8GB 2,133MHz Kingston HyperX (2 x 4GB) DDR4
  
• Graphics MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB (4GD5T OC)
  
• Storage 1 x 128GB Samsung SM951 M.2 SSD (OS) 1 x 1TB 7,200rpm hard disk
  
• Motherboard MSI Z170A
  
• PSU Cooler Master B600
  
• Optical Drive None
  
• Cooling Corsair Hydro Series H55
  
• Case / Dimensions (mm) 200 x 432 x 445 (W x D x H)
  
• Networking Gigabit LAN
  
• Audio Realtek ALC1150 8-channel Codec (on-board)
  
• Operating system Windows 10 64-bit
  
• Audio and USB Ports 6 x USB 3.1, 3 x USB 2.0, 6 x audio out + headphone and mic
  
• Warranty 3 years (1st year collect and return, 2nd year parts and labour, 3rd year labour only + lifetime technical support)