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Processors (CPUs)back to top
Before you decide on any other components you must select which CPU you need.
Processor choices are a bit more difficult now than they were before. It is still really a choice between an AMD and an Intel processor. The difference really comes in how many cores there are in the processor and its relative speed. Dual core processors have two Cores for data processing, quad core processors have four cores and Hex cores have 6. Dual core processors are very good for games and quad core processors are fantastic at games and video editing and multimedia tasks. 6 cores are a new technology and are great for everything, to future proof a system a 6 core is recommended.
CPU's are determined by the type of system you order. Only the CPU's for that specific system will appear on our configurators. Currently we have 6 configurators but some can carry other CPU's that support the socket. The RAM options are important when selecting a CPU, as you need to know if you want DDR2 (Double Data Rate) or DDR3 is (Double data Rate with higher speeds).
| AMD DDR2 | AMD DDR3- |
| Socket AM3 Athlon X2 | Socket AM3 Athlon X2 |
| Socket AM3 Athlon X4 | Socket AM3 Athlon X4 |
| Socket AM3 Phenom II X2 | Socket AM3 Phenom II X2 |
| Socket AM3 Phenom II X4 | Socket AM3 Phenom II X4 |
| Socket AM3 Phenom II X6 | Socket AM3 Phenom II X6 |
| AMD Hex Core | |
| Socket AM3 Athlon X2 | |
| Socket AM3 Athlon X4 | |
| Socket AM3 Phenom II X2 | |
| Socket AM3 Phenom II X4 | |
| Socket AM3 Phenom II X6 | |
| Intel i5/i7 P55 | Intel i7 X58 - |
| LGA 1156 Intel® Core™ i5(7x0 no HT) | LGA 1366 Intel® Core™ i7(HT) |
| LGA 1156 Intel® Core™ i5(6x0 HT) | LGA 1366 Intel® Core™ i7 Extreme(HT) |
| LGA 1156 Intel® Core™ i7(HT) | |
| Intel C2D DDR3 - | Intel i3/i5 H55 |
| LGA 775 Pentium™ | LGA 1156 Intel® Core™ i3(HT) |
| LGA 775 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo | LGA 1156 Intel® Core™ i5(7x0 no HT) |
| LGA 775 Intel® Core™ 2 Quad | LGA 1156 Intel® Core™ i5(6x0 HT) |
| LGA 775 Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme | LGA 1156 Intel® Core™ i7(HT) |
HT = Hyper Threading means for each processor core that is physically present, the operating system addresses two virtual processors, and shares the workload between them when possible.
Note : The Intel i3 and i5 6x0 series comes with onboard GPU (VGA card) when used with a H55 mainboard.
Memory (RAM) back to top
Most types of desktop pc's on the market today use a type of memory known as DDR 2memory. DDR3 memory is becoming standard in desktop systems and is faster than DDR2. The amount of memory you choose for your pc is very important as along with the processor it determines how fast your pc will run. In days gone by pc's could run on small amounts of memory however today we recommend at least 2gb of ddr2 memory if you are using Vista or 7 however 4gb ddr2 would now be considered a normal amount of ram to put in your pc.
DDR2 and DDR3 have different speeds and can carry different sizes, speeds and channels.
The higher the speed the quicker you're RAM will run, so for DDR2 the 1066MHZ RAM runs 266MHZ quicker than the 800MHZ RAM. The quicker the speed the quicker the data flows between the CPU and the RAM.
Some RAM are more expensive than others on our website even though they are the same speed. This can be due to if they have heat spreaders, large heat spreaders to keep the RAM cool or lower latency. Latency means the delay time which elapses between the moments a memory controller tells the memory module to access a particular column in a selected row, so the lower the latency the quicker this becomes which increases the bandwidth between the RAM and CPU.
In relation to our configuartors, your options are:
| Dual Channel DDR2 | Dual Channel DDR3 |
| 2GB , 4GB, 8GB (800MHZ and 1066MHZ) | 2GB , 4GB, 8GB, 16GB (1066MHZ and 1333MHZ) |
| AMD DDR2 | AMD DDR3 |
| AMD Hex Core | |
| Intel C2D DDR3 | |
| Intel i5/i7 P55 | |
| Intel i3/i5 P55 | |
| Exceptions: Asus M2N68-AM, M4A78LT-M LE and Gigabyte H55M-S2H only have 2 x RAM slots. |
|
| Triple Channel DDR3 | |
| 3GB , 6GB, 12GB, 24GB (1333MHZ ,1600MHZ and 2000MHZ) | |
| Intel i7 (LGA 1366) Exceptions: Gigabyte X58 only 6GB max RAM in triple channel mode. |
|
Mainboardback to top
Everything around the PC you buy will operate on the mainboard. Every component will be plugged into the mainboard (motherboard) in some way, which is why it acts like a heart that everything relies on. In car terms it is like an engine, and you want the most reliable engine you can get.
You should already have an idea of which CPU and RAM you want and then the choice of mainboard is simple. Only the mainboards on the selected configurator will work on the type of CPU and RAM you have chosen.
Just because a mainboard is cheap it does not make it any less reliable. Cyberpower only source components from top quality manufacturers, so if a mainboard is cheap it means it does not have as many features a more expensive mainboard. Next to each mainboard on our configurators, please click on this symbol 
to find out the specific features of that mainboard.
What is a feature?
Chipset - This is who makes the chipset that drives the mainboard. Some are made by the CPU manufacturers such as Intel (X58 example) and AMD (790FX example) and some are made by a 3rd party (Nvidia 780i example). The 3rd party chipsets will be fully compatible with each CPU as they work together with the CPU manufactures' to get them to work.
FSB - The Front Side Bus (Intel Core 2), HyperTransport Link (AMD) or Base Clock (Intel i7/i5) is the bus that carries data between CPUs and RAM. The higher the FSB bandwidth the quicker the PC will run. A board that allows for higher than normal FSB/HT/BLCK is needed when trying to overclock a system. Typical FSB speeds are (266x4) 1066MHZ and (333x4) 1333MHZ for socket 775, 200MHz for AMD and 133 for i5/i7.
PCI-E 16x Physical - This is a dedicated slot for VGA cards. All VGA cards Cyberpower fit into the PCI-E slot. Some motherboards do have more than 1 16x PCI-E slot to accommodate multiple graphics card technologies such as SLi or Crossfire. This means you can get more than 1 VGA card working together to make a better all in 1 VGA card. If a mainboard has more than 1 16x PCI-E slot it will tell you in the item description on our website if it is SLI or Crossfire and how many slots it has (example : EVGA nForce 780i SLI Mainboard ).
PCI-E 1-4x Physical - They are smaller in size and have a lower bandwidth than 16x, and can be used for such devices as:
Sound cards, Firewire IE1394 cards, TV Tuners, Wireless cards and network cards.
Note: Some of these slots may get covered by double slot VGA cards, so may not be accessible.
PCI-E 1/4/8x Electrical - This is physically the same as 16x but runs at lower bandwidth. They can be used for VGA cards and other add-in cards. Many SLi and Crossfire boards may operate in x8 or x4 mode when more than one graphics card is connected.
PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) is an older slot that is still used on most mainboards. It is slower than PCI-E and it connects older devices, it will take equivalent components to the PCI-E 1x slots but they will run at a lower speed.
Note: Some PCI and PCI-E slots may get covered by double slot VGA cards, so may not be accessible.
IDE - Integrated Drive Electronics or IDE comes on every mainboard. Most modern boards just come with 1 IDE port which can hold up to 2 IDE drives. These drives are normally DVDRW. All Cyberpower PC's come with SATA HDD so we do not sell IDE HDD and all Blu Ray drives are SATA so the IDE channel is solely used for DVDRW drives.
Floppy - Some mainboards still come with Floppy ribbon connector even though it is old technology. Please check the next to your desired mainboard to see if it has a floppy connector on it.
SATA - Serial ATA or SATA are dedicated ports for HDD and Blu Ray drives. Although SATA ports are all the same speed, each mainboard has different number of SATA ports. 4 is normally the minimum on modern systems. So if you have 4 x SATA ports then you could fit 4 x HDD or 3 x HDD and 1 x Blu Ray drive. Please check the number of SATA ports on your desired mainboard by checking .
SATA II is rated at 3GBs per second and SATA III is rated at 6GBs per second. Although you will never see double the data transfer rate speed the hardware is capable. It is still worth buying a SATA III mainboard even if you want SATA II HDD as the will run quicker due to the speed of the port.
RAID - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks or RAID is a way of getting HDD's to perform at a higher speed or a higher level of security. To run RAID you need identical HDD's with a Minimum of 2. The options are:
RAID 0 - This is called a Stripe and it allows 2x HDD to run as one but faster than they would as a single drive. So you would only see 1 drive present but it would be double the size of a single disk. So 2 x 500Gb in RAID 0 would show as 1 drive of 1TB.
RAID 1 - This is called a Mirror. This is for security, it needs 2 identical drives and one backs the other up in "real-time". So if anything happens to the first drive you will not lose any data as it is backed by the second drive. So you will only see 1 x drive show up , so if you buy 2 x 500GB this will show as 500GB. There will be 2 drives physically in the PC but you will not see the second drive unless the first drive develops a fault.
RAID 0+1 - This is sometimes know as a mirrored stripe, it requires 4 HDD drives, two are configured as a Stripe which is then mirrored by the second pair of drives. This provides both the speed benefit of a normal stripe and the data security of a mirror.
RAID 5- Cyberpower do not offer RAID 5 or any other RAID types apart from 0 and 1.
Please make sure your mainboard supports RAID if you need this function by clicking next to the mainboard. As a guide the cheapest boards will not have this feature, and normally if there is only a single PCI-E slot they will not. So most boards with Sli or Crossfire in the title should support RAID.
LAN - All mainboards have onboard Network cards or LAN cards (Local Area Network) for connecting your PC to your home network or directly to your broadband modem. Cheaper boards only have a 10/100mbps (Mega bits per second) onboard LAN, more expensive boards have Gigabit Ethernet (1000mbps). 10 mbps is the minimum connection you will get and 100 mbps is the max or 1000 mbps for gigabit LAN. If your ISP is planning on introducing 100mbps or higher broadband during the life of your system ensure that you have a Gigabit Ethernet network port if you plan to use this service.
We sell LAN cards separate in PCI and PCI-E format such as extra 10/100/1000 and Killer NIC cards which are best for reducing gaming lag.
USB -All Cyberpower PC's come with a minimum of 4 x USB ports on the rear of the mainboard. Further headers can be used to connect card readers and front USB. Since most case's have a min of 2 front of top USB's it is typical that most Cyberpower PC's come with a minimum of 6 USB ports.
At present all USB ports are 2.0. The cheaper mainboards will tend to have up to 4 USB's on the back and more expensive ones can have up to 8 ports.
USB 3.0 is now available on some mainboards. Although still in it's infancy you could future proof your PC with a USB 3.0 mainboard.
Note : Current case USB ports are only USB 2.0 compatable. So even if you have a USB 3.0 mainboard the front or top USB will only run at 2.0 speed but the rear will be USB 3.0.
Audio - All mainboards supplied by Cyberpower have onboard audio. The more expensive the mainboard the better the onboard audio. Normally they are 7.1 but a few cheaper boards have 5.1 audio. Most onboard audio is by a 3rd party company like Realtek or Soundmax, some expensive boards even have Creative X-fi onboard audio.
Upgrade audio can be done with expansion cards in the PCI or PCI-E slots.
Serial Port -The serial port is a old I/O connection that can be used for older devices such as mouse or tracker balls. Since it is an old technology they only tend to come on cheaper mainboards. Please check the to see if the mainboard you have selected has a serial port.
Parallel Port -Like the serial port the parallel ports is a old technology and tends to come only on cheaper mainboards. This is to connect old style printers and scanners. Most printers and scanners now connect using USB 2.0. Please check the to see if the mainboard you have selected has a parallel port.
PS/2 Port - PS/2 ports are dedicated for mouse and keyboard input. Most mainboards have at least 1 PS/2 port. Traditionally mainboards used to have 2, green for mice and purple keyboards. Since most mice and keyboards now come with USB some mainboards have 1 and some have none. Most high end boards (P45, P55, X58, X38, X48, 790FX) have a single PS/2 port and Intel X58 boards have 1 port that can be used for a mouse or a keyboard.
Note: The Intel P55 (i5/i7) mainboard does not have a PS/2 port.
Wherever possible Cyberpower will always advise if a customer has ordered 2 PS/2 devices but only have 1 port. It is recommended however that you check before ordering them to see how many ports your board has.
IEEE 1394 Port-IEEE 1394 Port or "Firewire" is a port for high speed communications and real time data transfer. It has many uses but in a Personal Computer it is normally for the transfer of video from a camcorder. Higher end mainboards come with IEEE 1394 onboard but cheaper ones tend to miss them out. If this port is not onboard there may still be a header on the board if you have a case that supports 1394 ports. If you need a additional card or select a mainboard without 1394 then we sell them in PCI and PCI-E format. Most mainboards come with IEEE 1394a which runs at a transfer rate of 400 Mbit/s half-duplex but you can get PCI-E add in cards which run at 786.432 Mbit/s full-duplex nearly double the speed.
E-SATA Port - Some higher end mainboards and cases come with E-SATA. This is a port for connecting an external hard drive. It does the same as a serial ATA or (SATA) mentioned above but it is on the external part of the mainboard instead of the internal side. Even if the mainboard does not have a E-SATA port on the back of the mainboard it may have a header if you buy a case with a external E-SATA port. This would simply connect to one of your internal SATA ports. Please check the to see if the mainboard and case you have selected have E-SATA ports.
Onboard VGA- Some of the cheaper mainboards will have onboard VGA cards. They are normally very basic in terms of graphics performance and may have VGA, HDMI or DVI display outputs. Any of the onboard VGA cards will not be suitable for gaming. They will however be OK for office use, internet browsing and Hi-Definition (Blu-Ray) playback (not MSI G31). Once an additional VGA card is inserted it may disable the onboard VGA. Some onboard VGA cards can be used as an additional card in hybrid mode on low end VGA cards. So for example onboard ATI cards can be used with a low end ATI card to create hybrid crossfire. For onboard Nvidia cards they can be used with low end Nvidia cards to produce Hybrid SLi. Please check the to see if the mainboard you have selected has onboard VGA and if it states if it can be run in hybrid mode.
Onboard VGA(H55)-The H55 mainboards will allow onboard VGA is used with an LGA 1156 Intel® Core™ i3 or LGA 1156 Intel® Core™ i5 (6x0) CPU. The onboard VGA is part of the CPU but needs a H55 mianboard as this as the VGA, DVI and HDMI headers.
Onboard DVI-This uses the same onboard VGA chip as stated above but can transmit a digital signal. Please check the to see if the mainboard you have selected has onboard DVI.
Onboard HDMI-This also uses the same onboard chip as VGA, the difference is this can transmit a digital picture and digital audio, where as DVI just transmit's images. Please check the to see if the mainboard you have selected has onboard HDMI.
Onboard Display Port This also uses the same onboard chip as VGA/DVI/HDMI but outputs through the new display port.
Internal Expansion back to top
If you have a case with 4 front USB ports and an internal card reader then to get all ports working you need an Internal USB expansion. This will add another 2 headers for USB and allow all ports to be working.
+ Bluetooth
If you are ordering a USB internal expansion you can also add a Bluetooth module. This fits internally connecting to the USB ports, and allows you to communicate with a mobile phone or other portable devices up to a maximum of 10m.
Hard Drives back to top
This is the component that stores all the information you have saved. And is the part of the pc where your operating system,games and programs are installed.Everything you load or save on a pc takes up space on the hard drive.If you plan to store music and video on your pc it is better to go for a larger hard drive as music and video files can be quite large in size so take up a lot of space.We would recommend a minimum 500gig hard drive for normal desktop computing or upto 1terrabyte(1000gig) for music and video storage. More than one harddrive can be added to a pc for extra storage space.A new technology is now available in the form of solid state hard drives these drives have no moving parts and offer quicker access time to information and programs stored on them. These type of drives are very popular with pc gamers.
Most HDD's Cyberpower supply is currently SATA2 (max 3 Gb/s) and come in various sizes and speeds.
250GB, 500GB, 750Gb, 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB(1GB = 1,000,000,000bytes 1 TB = 1000 GB)These drives are traditionally 3.5 inches long and tend to run at 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM (revolutions per minute) and have a Cache (temporary storage area) higher cache drives have higher performance than lower cache.
HDD coolers are available for all 3.5 inch HDD although not required will help keep noise and temperatures down.
150GB and 300GB VelociRaptor
These drives are 2.5 inches but are in a 3.5 inch HDD cooler. They run at 10,000 RPM (revolutions per minute) and have 16MB Cache (temporary storage area)
The higher the RPM and Cache the better for performance.
32GB, 64GB, 80GB, 128GB, 256GB Solid State Drives (SSD)
These drives are traditionally 2.5 inches long and are near instant data transfer. They have no moving parts(think like a USB pen drive). The 2 speeds for SSD drives are SLC (Single layer Cell) and MLC (Multi Layer Cell). The SLC has faster transfer speeds, lower power consumption and higher cell endurance as it store 1 bit in each cell. The MLC is slower since the flash memory stores three or more bits in each cell. This is why the SLC are more expensive that the MLC's.
SATA 3(max speed 6 Gb/s) are just entering the market at the moment. Although there are not many SATA 3 HDD on the market this will be the new standard in years to come. To future proof you can now buy SATA 3 mainboards which normally come with USB 3.0 onboard as well.
Optical Drives (CD/DVD/Blu-ray) back to top
Most of the systems on the market today contain a drive which is commonly known as a dvd burner. These drives are used to load software on to the pc and can also be used as a way of backing up/saving information and onto a blank dvd disk. These drives are an excellent way of backing up movies and music files. They can also be used for playing dvd movies and music cd's through your pc. Quite a new entry into the field of optical drives are BLU-RAY drives these drives allow you to play high defination movies on your pc at much higher detail and are proving very popular with movie lovers.
Currently Cyberpower offer:
22 (or 24)x DVDRW - These drives can read/write a DVD at 22 (or 24) x speed, read/write a CD at 52x. They will read and write to DVDR +/- and also DVDRW +/-.
SATA drives will be used unless your system does not have enough SATA ports
Since these drives are the cheapest we will do there is no saying what brand they will be.
Blu Ray drives- Theses drives come in 3 types. Blu-Ray Writer (writes both BDR and DVDR discs), Combo (reads BD and writes DVDR discs) and Reader (cannot burn BD or DVD.
Please check the to see if the Blu Ray you have selected can, read (and burn DVD's, write or simply read Blu Ray's. Our current readers are 4x and writers 6x. The most expensive readers will burn DVD's and the cheaper one will only read DVD's. Blu-Ray playback capability is determined by the CPU or GPU used in your system, all of our discrete graphics cards are capable of decoding Blu-Ray. Most of our onboard GPUs are also Blu-Ray capable apart from the G31. If the CPU is used for Blu-Ray decoding a 3GHz with 2GB RAM is required.
Again there is no saying what brand they will be.
Lightscribe -Some DVDRW and Blu Ray writers may appear more expensive but will have the word lightscribe in the description. They are the same Writers but they have a special technology that allows you to burn the label onto the disk using the laser. To use this technology you will need a lightscribe drive and some Lightscribe disks where you can buy from normal retailers.
Video Cards back to top
Video card technology changes every three to six months. If you aren't really doing any 3D graphics at all, then an entry level graphics card or onboard graphics may be just fine. Beyond this, there is a wide selection of cards. Things to consider include performance, the amount of memory on the card, output connectors and the version of Direct X supported. Those looking to do any gaming should really consider a Direct X 10 card with at least 512MB of memory onboard. All new systems will use the PCI-Express graphics standard. Quite simply put the better the graphics card the faster the games will run and the more detailed the graphics will look. Some of the games on the market today have high levels of detail and look stunning and more and more people are linking their pc's with high definition large screen TV's. For Full HD resolution (1920x1080) gaming ATi HD5870 1GB or 2 HD5770 1GB in Crossfire or Nvidia GTX 480 or 2 GTX 470 in SLi is required.
It's really a simple choice between ATI and Nvidia. Online reviews will see them try and match each other for performance. All ATI cards support DirectX 11, all ATi cards support 7.1 audio via HDMI. Nvidia cards support DirectX 10 , the GTX 470 and 480 support DX11. Nvidia also supports PhysX, CUDA and nVidia 3D Vision Display technology.
You can spend anything on VGA cards from £40 to £400 obviously the more expensive a VGA card the better the performance. Sometimes you can find a cheaper card to outperform a more expensive one but this is very rare.
SLi-This is Nvidia's form factor to use 2 VGA (or more) cards as one better all in one display. Some cards come with Sli as standard, as they are 2 cards put into one (GTX 295), but normally you would need to buy at least2 cards. Sli is controlled in the drivers.
If you are using 2 or 3 cards you will need to check the mainboard you have selected has 2 or 3 PCI-E (16x or 8x). The description of the mainboard should state SLi. The maximum GPU's (VGA cards) that can be supported for Sli is 4 which is 2 x Double cards (i.e. 2x GTX 295) which is called Quad Sli.
Note: for Sli to work both cards must be identical and ideally have the same BIOS on them.
Crossfire - This is ATI's form factor to use 2 (or more) VGA cards as one better all in one display. Some cards come with Crossfire as standard, as they are 2 cards put into one (HD5970 2GB), but normally you would need to buy at least 2 cards.
If you are using 2 or 3 cards you will need to check the mainboard you have selected has 2 or 3 PCI-E (16x or 8x). The description of the mainboard should state Crossfire. The maximum GPU's (VGA cards) that can be supported for Crossfire is 4 which is 2 x Double cards (i.e. HD 5970 2GB) which is called Quad Crossfire.
Note: for Crossfire you can mix and match cards but it is best to get 2 cards at a similar level.
Dedicated Physx Card back to top
NVIDIA® PhysX® technology adds an element of realism never before seen in gaming. With an NVIDIA® GeForce® GPU in your PC, experience dynamic PhysX® effects like blazing explosions, reactive debris, realistic water, and life like characters. Although Nvidia VGA cards now have built in Physx cards, you can order a second card to solely run Physx so that your main card only does graphics processing for higher frame rates.
The requirements for a dedicated Physx card are:
1). Select NVIDIA video card(s) as your primary video card.
2). Select a motherboard with an appropriate number of PCI-E slots to accommodate your video card and Dedicated Physx Card.
Note: If you add a dedicated Physx card please use the next PSU up from your 1st VGA card on the PSU guide.
PSU back to top
Power Supplies and VGA cards are very important to get the right combination. Although CPU's can take up a lot of ampage on a PSU, our standard case PSU will easily support all types of CPU we supply. So the most important combination is when updating the PSU you check our PSU recommended chart. This will tell you which PSU will go with your selected VGA card. If you choose a combination that is out of the guidelines recommended then one of our sales advisors will call to let you know what options you have.
If you would like a Quite PSU then please select something from the BE Quiet range which are near quite operation PSU's.
| VGA Card | Recommended Power Supply Unit(PSU) |
For DEDICATED PHYSX CARD please use the next requirement up. |
For DEDICATED PHYSX CARD please use the next requirement up. |
NVIDIA |
450W and above |
GT 210, GT 220, GT 240 - Single Card |
|
ATI |
|
HD5450, HD5570, HD5670 - Single Card |
|
ATI |
600W and above |
HD5750, HD5770-Single Card |
|
NVIDIA |
700W and above |
GTS 250, GTX260, GTX 275, GTX285, GTX295 - Single card |
|
ATI |
|
HD5830-Single card |
|
HD5750 - CrossFire™ (2x) |
|
NVIDIA |
850W and above |
GTX 470 - Single card |
|
GTX 480 - Single card |
|
GTS 250 - Sli mode (2x) |
|
ATI |
|
HD5970-Single card |
|
HD5830 - CrossFire™ (2x) |
|
HD5750 - TriFire™ (3x) |
|
NVIDIA |
1000W and above |
GTX 260 - Sli mode (2x) |
|
NVIDIA |
1300W and above |
GTX 260 - Triple Sli (3x) |
|
ATI |
|
HD5970-Quad CrossFire™ (2x) |
Monitors back to top
Every pc needs a monitor that's a simple fact. Cyberpower only stock TFT LCD display (flat screen) and hand select a few models with gaming in mind. Our range is currently 19" to 28" as any higher is geared towards TV usage and not game play. The most important thing for gaming monitors is the response time which is gauged in MS (Milliseconds). Milliseconds is the time it takes a pixel to switch from Grey to grey. A very good gaming monitor will have 3ms , 5ms and 8ms are also very common.
The most important thing to remember when ordering a monitor is the output. Some monitors are still analogue and there are many that do Digital.
Analogue monitors (19" to 22")
VGA - Video Graphics Array (VGA) is an analogue port which connects to your VGA card. This allows a image to be displayed. Most VGA cards now come with a DVI connection so a VGA to DVI dongle maybe required is you select a analogue monitor.
Digital Monitors (19" to 28")
DVI - Digital Visual Interface or (DVI) is a digital port that transfers digital images. It is much better than VGA and you will see a much clearer picture in gaming. For DVI monitors the description of the monitor will say DVI in the description.
HDMI - High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is the same as DVI it transmits a digital picture to the screen. The difference with HDMI is that it also transits a digital audio signal also. Some VGA cards come with HDMI as standard (more expensive ones) but if not then you can use a DVI to HDMI dongle without losing any of the features. For HDMI monitors the description of the monitor will say HDMI in the description.
Display Port - Is a digital display interface standard, it is very new so not many monitors carry this port but a lot of VGA cards (ATI) do. It is a new technology that carries audio as well similar to HDMI. With the size of the port however allows ATI to do Eyefinity VGA cards which have 6 display ports meaning you can run up to 6 monitors at one time.
Note: Not all monitors are guaranteed to come with DVI or HDMI cables so you may need to purchase as extra in the cables section.
Operating Systems back to top
This is a piece of software which makes all the part of the computer work together without and operating system a pc is just a box of parts. Cyberpower only offer Microsoft OS, we sell 32 bit and 64 bit OS. 32 bit is an old architecture (Intel x86 processor core to run 32-bit x86 applications) but 64 bit architectures indisputably make working with large data sets in applications such as digital video, scientific computing, and large databases easier.
Cyberpower highly recommends all customers to use 64 bit OS, this will future proof any upgrades and extend the life of your PC.
Currently the OS we offer are:
| 32 bit: | 64 bit: |
| Windows XP Home 32 bit | Windows Vista™ Home Basic 64 bit |
| Windows XP Pro 32 bit | Windows Vista™ Home Premium 64 bit |
| Windows Vista™ Home Basic 32 bit | Windows Vista™ Business 64 bit |
| Windows Vista™ Home Premium 32 bit | Windows Vista™ Ultimate 64 bit |
| Windows Vista™ Business 32 bit | Windows 7™ Home Premium 64 bit |
| Windows Vista™ Ultimate 32 bit | Windows 7™ Home Professional 64 bit |
| Windows 7™ Home Premium 32 bit | Windows 7™ Home Ultimate 64 bit |
| Windows 7™ Home Professional 32 bit | |
| Windows 7™ Home Ultimate 32 bit |
The more expensive the OS the more features it will have, cheaper versions will have features disabled. To see what features are on each OS please check the next to each OS. As a rough estimate, if you used XP Home in the past you will be best with Vista (or 7) Home Premium if you used XP Pro in the past then Vista Business (Windows 7 Pro) is the most similar.
Note: for all systems above 3GB we strongly recommend 64 bit OS. 32 bit architecture means that it cannot see or use above 3.4GB RAM. So if you have a i7 system with 12GB RAM and XP then you will only see 3GB of the RAM.
NO OS:
You may have an OS at home that you wish to put on the PC. This is fine although we cannot offer the Overclocking service with no OS systems. If you order a PC with no OS then we will install as OS to test with and then delete once the testing is finished.
Case back to top
Cases are a very personal thing, either you like the look or you don't. They do however have a practical use also, to keep all your components cool. We split our cases into 4 sections:
Mini Tower (around 40cm tall)
Mid Tower (Around 50cm tall)
Large Tower (around 60cm tall)
Silent Tower (all sizes 40,50,60cm tall)
Mini towers are generally for people with space issues. Although they are small they still have ample enough cooling for a gaming PC.
Mid tower can be use for extreme PC's and overclocking is fine in these cases. For overclocking please select Max case fans..
Large towers looks amazing and are full of all the bells and whistles. They are very much a looks thing and anyone with space concerns should probably stay clear. These are the best cases for overclocking and come with good cooling and plenty of room for air flow on all components.
Notes: The large tower is the only one that can take the Cyberpower Liquid cooling kits, the best cooling for extreme overclocks.
Silent towers are for users who noise is an issue. They are all fitted with minimum fans which don't affect the performance. We supply these towers in all sizes so space is no longer an issue.
Maximum Case Fans
If you select Max Fans cyberpower will make sure a fan is placed in every fan hole on a case. Some cases come with several fan holes but only 2 fans (an intake and an outtake). Max fans is recommended for anyone with a high end system or an overclocked system. Max fans is not recommended for silent cases as they will just create more noise.
Maximum Coloured Case Fans
This is the same as max case fans, but the fans we add will match the colours of the fans already in the case. Example Cosmos S has a RED 120MM front fan so we will add all RED case fans. If the case fans are black then we will add black etc. For the colour of your fns please check the pictures on our website to see what your case comes with.
Silent Case Cooling Fans
We will fit 3 x 120mm cooling fans to the key areas in your case. Wherever possible we will only fit these 3 fans. The fans are high CFM (High air flow) which makes them better than the fans originally in the case. Sometimes (mainly with overclocks) we may need to keep some original case fans in also to make sure the airflow is even.
The 3 silent fans will normally be fitted , one in the front (intake) , one in the back (exhaust) and one on the side for the VGA cards (blowing in). With all cases being different some may need to be added on the top or the bottom.
We have options for coloured or plain case fans for your preference. If you order coloured fans we will replace the color of the fans originally in the case unless told otherwise. i.e. red for red , blue for blue.
Cyberpower Noise Reduction Technology
This section is all about how quite you would like your PC. This section will do nothing for performance and will not make you PC 100% quite, it will simply make it more quite than it would be.
If you are effected by noise then we recommend you take all options in this section AND we would recommend our BE Quiet PSU's and Silent Case Fans.
Cyberpower Sound Absorbing Foam - This is foam dampening that we will fit on all available flat surfaces on your PC. The Foam absorbs the noise from within the case allowing a minimal amount of noise to escape.
Notes: NZXT Hush and the Coolermaster 1000 Silver already have factory fitted sound dampening foam. Cases with large side windows and mesh vents do not allow much foam to be added. So there is no need to purchase extra foam with these cases.
Cyberpower Anti-Vibration Fan Mounts -When case fans spin the generate noise form rotations. Fans are normally held in place by metal screws which amplify sound. Anti vibration fan mounts are rubber so they absorb the sound before it leaves the case instead of transmitting it to the case as metal fan screws would.
Notes: We will not use anti vibration fan mounts on side fans. Since the side panel will need to be removed when unpacking the PC the fans will drop off. So we will use normal metal screws for all side fans.
Cyberpower Power Supply Gasket - Power Supplies have a internal fan which again generates noise from rotations. PSU's are one of the loudest components in a PC case. A PSU gasket fits around the mount of the PSU and the case. So it absorbs the noise of the PSU because it is rubber, allowing a minimal amount of noise coming from the PSU to escape.
Overclocking & CPU cooling back to top
Overclocking is a way to push a PC to perform faster than default clockspeed. Overclocking mainly focuses on the CPU speed but your RAM and VGA cards may also be overclocked.
Cyberpower offer a Safe and Stable overclock (S&S) or an Extreme overclock (XXX).
Why overclock my PC? The difference in CPU and RAM prices means it is cheaper to get a Cyberpower overclocking specialist to overclock your PC than pay a higher price to get the next speed up. Some CPU's have vast price differences:
Example Q9550 (2.83GHZ) can run a maximum of (3.68GHZ) and is £800 cheaper than a QX9770 (3.2GHZ). This would save you £711 if you were going to buy a QX9770
S&S pushes the PC from stock speeds to between 10% or 20% faster than stock speeds. This is done very comfortably keeping voltages and temperatures as low as possible.
XXX pushes the PC from stock speeds to 20% or 30% faster than stock speeds. This would still be a stable overclock but the customer is to expect higher temperature as more voltage will be required to achieve higher clock speeds.
Note: Cyberpower will not overclock any system over the 30% margin for stability reasons.
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To order a Overclock the conditions in the PC must be correct. That means all the components must be suitable to take the levels of overclocks you order.
CPU, CPU Cooling, mainboards and RAM must always state that overclocking is available or we cannot complete your order. If you just want S&S then these 4 components must have "***Overclockable S&S***" or ***Overclockable XXX*** next to them.
For a XXX overclock all those components must have ***Overclockable XXX*** next to them.
We would also recommend MAX CASE FANS for any overclocks and a case larger than a Mini Tower.
Note: Attempting to Overclock your CyberPower PC may void your warranty as damaged caused by over-volting will not be covered within you warranty. So leave it to us and the warranty will be intact.
Warranties back to top
Since Cyberpower are a distance seller all warranties are return to base. If a problem occurs and service back to us is required within the first 30 days then Cyberpower will cover the cost of the return of the PC to us.
After 30 days the warranty is return to base. This means if you opt for a standard 3 years warranty you will need to pay for the PC to come back to us. Within the first year of the warranty we will arrange a collection on your behalf but we will need to charge a shipping charge for this as we need to pay our courier. After 1 year it is the customer's responsibility to arrange the shipping back to Cyberpower
Note: We ask all customers to retain the packaging of the PC through-out the warranty period in case the PC needs to come back for service.
Extended Warranties:
If you buy an extended warranty this does not extend the length of the warranty it converts the warranty from a return to base warranty (RTB) to a collect and return warranty. The warranty terms remain the same as the ones set out here: http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/company/warranty.aspx
Silver Warranty - 3 years limited warranty (1st year collect and return)
Gold Warranty- 3 years limited warranty (1st & 2nd year collect and return)
Platinum Warranty - 3 years limited warranty (3 years collect and return)
Note: A cyberpower warranty does not affect your statutory rights.
For further support and advice when selecting components for your CyberPower PC see our Forums.
