HardwareLogic: Reviews - CyberPower Cobra Venom

CyberPower Cobra Venom

Author: Paul Lilly

Editor: Aron Schatz

Posted: June 2, 2009

Views: 3622

In a joint collaboration with Intel's Gaming Development team, CyberPower kicks off its new Fang series with the Cobra Venom, a factory overclocked PC with the fastest processor and videocard on the planet.

Tags Technology

Page 1:

For the past seven months, Intel's Core i7 965 Extreme Edition served rank as the fastestdesktop processor on the planet. Today it drops down a notch, as steamrolling out of Santa Clara is the launch of Intel's newest flagship CPU and long anticipated followup, the Core i7 975 Extreme Edition. Benchmarks are in full force now that the NDA has been lifted, but rather than focus on the chip alone, we've decided to do something a little different. We're going to look at one of the first OEM systems to incorporate the new flagship part in CyberPower's Cobra Venom.

What makes the Cobra Venom special is that it's the first of a new line of gaming PCs jointly developed by CyberPower and Intel's Gaming development team. CyberPower's calling the new product line the "Fang" series, which we're told will eventually encompass several gaming systems down the road. Those carrying the 'Venom' tag will receive special treatment and ship "factory overclocked to the maximum stable speed," which means CyberPower's geek cred is on the line. The boutique OEM sounds up to the challenge, assuring us that any Venom system configured with Intel's Core i7 975 chip will come overclocked to at least 3.8GHz, and higher if the system can handle it. Our test unit slithers into our labs at a blistering 4.0GHz, or almost 700MHz above the 975's stock 3.33GHz clockspeed, but does it have the endurance to withstand our benchmarking gauntlet?

Specifications

Model	Cobra Venom
Processor	Intel Core i7-975 (3.33GHz OC'd to 4.0GHz)
RAM	6GB (3x2GB) Kingston HyperX Tri-Channel DDR3-1600
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P
Hard Drive(s)	Seagate 1.5TB SATA II w/ 32MB Cache
Videocard(s)	EVGA GTX 295
Optical Drive(s)	LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray Reader & HD-DVD Player
Power Supply	Thermaltake ToughPower 600W
Case	Azza Solano 1000 Full Tower
OS and Peripherals	Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Black Logitech Deluxe 250 USB Keyboard 12-in-1 Media Card Reade

Inside the Cobra

While the early pre-production unit we received sports the standard Gigabyte BIOS, CyberPower says it's working with several board manufacturers (Gigabyte, EVGA, and so forth) to implement a customized BIOS revision that will only be found on the Cobra. We asked if this meant certain options would be neutered -- a fairly common (and unfortunate) trait of bulk OEMs -- but not only is that not going to be the case, we're told the specially tailored BIOS firmware will include "improved overclocking features." Details are still being hammered out, but at a minimum, you can expect to see support for real-time readings of current CPU clockspeeds and more options for fine tuning the QPI signal to improve overall overclockability.

No snakeskin boots or vials of authentic Cobra venom? Probably just as well, as we wouldn't wear the former, and we'd only get in trouble with the latter. What CyberPower did include was a Logitech keyboard, power cord, user manual, a trifecta of install discs (including a Windows Vista Home Premium install disc), an assortment of cords and adapters, a t-shirt, and a carrying case (not shown). Alert shoppers can also often walk away with a free game or three, but you'll need to pay attention while configuring your system - these freebies usually don't come selected by default. D'oh!

Typically we'd move on to 'Website & Ordering' next. However, our opinion remains the same as it did the last time we reviewed a CyberPower system, so rather than rehash what's already been written, you can recap our breakdown of the ordering experience right here.