Systems

Cyberpower Infinity Hercules Pro Review

David Mitchelson
January 28, 2015 9 Min Read
3 0

A full system build from Cyberpower which features the new NVIDIA GTX 960 graphics card and based around the Intel Devil’s Canyon platform.


Product on Review: Infinity Hercules Pro
Manufacturer & Sponsor: Cyberpower
Price: £799 GBP

In the world of computing not everyone has the expertise to building their own custom PC. To many it can appear a daunting task to undertake and not least of all because there is a requirement to choose compatible hardware. Although many computer etailers allow for the purchase of individual components the bigger companies out there have put considerable time into designing and building their own systems for consumers to purchase. So if you don’t have the know-how, you can still get on the road to gaming stardom (or whatever else) without having to build the system yourself.

Straight off the back of the NVIDIA GTX 960 launch last week, Cyberpower has seized the opportunity and equipped their Infinity Hercules Pro system with this new exciting, mid-range GPU and today we’ll be exploring whether this build is worth your hard earned cash.


About Cyberpower
Originally founded in the United States, Cyberpower Inc is one of the leading brands in the competitive US computer market. With vast global backing from leading technology brands such as Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Asus and Microsoft etc, we aim to deliver the most up to date hardware for your needs at wholesale prices, and bring the well renowned name of Cyberpower Inc to the UK. With vision, commitment and determination we can manufacture a vast range of custom built PC systems to suit the needs of any individual or company. Our PC systems are built with up-most care and attention as we strive towards making this not just our profession, but our obsession.

Technical Specifications


Case
NZXT Source 340 White
Intel Core i5-4690K
Memory
Kingston HYPERX FURY WHITE DDR3 8GB PC16000 1866MHz
Graphics Card
MSI NVIDIA GTX 960 2GB
Motherboard
ASUS Z97-P DDR3 LGA1150
CPU Cooler
Corsair Hydro H55
WiFi
Storage
Kingston V300 Solid State Drive 2.5″ 120GB
Seagate SATA-III 64mb ST1000DM003 1TB
PSU
Corsair PSU 450W V Series VS450
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64 Bit /w Recovery Disc
Extras
20-30% Overclock
UK Power Cord
ASUS WIRELESS 802.11N 300MBPS

Packaging




The Hercules Pro arrives in an oversized, double-reinforced cardboard box. Inside this box Cyberpower package the system within the box from the supplied case – NZXT’s Source 340. Having both boxes brings extra-protection during transit which is always a good thing.



Further to this, Cyberpower also pack an assortment of air-bags within the chassis to ensure none of the components inside the case cause unnecessary damage while the system is on its way from Cyberpower to its destination.

This extra care is appreciated because the last thing you want are a series of system components which arrive DOA.

Closer Look (Externals)




As previously mentioned, Cyberpower has used the NZXT Source 340 for the enclosure. This case is utilises a two-tone scheme, is compact in its dimensions (200mm x 445mm x 432mm)and yet is still jam-packed with innovative features.

A large Perspex window resides on the prominent side panel for a generous view of the internal components.



At the top of the case there is an assortment of connectivity which include: two USB 3.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks, activity LED and a large power button.

The eagle-eyed among you will notice there is no presence of an optical drive. Such drives are regarded as legacy devices nowadays with USB taking precedence. Due to the Source 340 case having no optical drive allocation, this case is ideal because it makes better use of the available space.



Around the back of the case there are numerous ports to take advantage of which consist of:

1 x PS/2 keyboard (purple)
1 x PS/2 mouse (green)
1 x DVI-D
1 x D-Sub
1 x HDMI
1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s)
4 x USB 3.0 (blue)
2 x USB 2.0
3 x Audio jack(s)

Cyberpower include the ASUS WIRELESS 802.11N 300MBPS add-in card with this build which supplies WiFi functionality to those who require it – antennas are provided within the packaging.

Also at the back are the ports found on the MSI GTX 960 graphics card, which allow you to use 3x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI or 1x DVI port.

Closer Look (Internals)




Inside the case Cyberpower purposely continue the two-tone black/white theme by carefully selecting components. As you can see, the configuration has been very well presented and everything is cleanly tied away and neatly arranged.



Hercules Pro is based around Intel’s Devil’s Canyon and the Z97 chipset. Our system uses ASUS Z97-P motherboard which utilises a number of innovative characteristics as well as including Digi+ power delivery and advanced audio features.

At the heart of Hercules Pro is Intel Core i5-4690K which has been overclocked to a conservative 4.3GHz to reap extra performance. This quad-core processor is cooled by Corsair’s Hydro Series H55 which is a closed loop, liquid CPU cooler with a dual-fan configuration.

Since the Intel Z97 chipset requires a dual-channel DDR3 kit, our system has been given Kingston HyperX FURY 1866MHz DDR memory kit.

Due to Hercules Pro using a mid-range configuration, this type of system will be suitable for photo editing tasks, gaming and general day-to-day usage.



Driving Hercules Pro’s 3D capabilities is the all-new NVIDIA GTX 960 which was released just last week. More specifically, our build uses the MSI GTX 960 graphics card and comes with 2GB GDDR5.

For storage there is a two-drive combo. A Kingston V300 Solid State Drive 2.5″ with 120GB of capacity acts as the primary drive, hosting the Windows 8.1 operating system – this will supply super-fast bootup times and fast access to the core applications, while a Seagate SATA-III 64MB ST1000DM003 1TB drive is used for the bulk of storage.



Behind the motherboard tray there is clear evidence that considerable time has been spent on ensuring the cable management is clutter free.

Benchmarks: Temperatures

For our first benchmark tests we observe the max. CPU temperature by loading the system with LinX and monitoring temperatures with RealTemp. For the GPU temperatures we use 3DMark and GPU-Z to read the maximum temp.




Benchmarks: Power Consumption & Boot Time

Next, we observe the power consumption by using 3DMark to load the system and then monitor DC readings with an energy tool. Using a digital stopwatch we also monitor the Windows 8.1 bootup time.




Benchmarks: Cinebench R15

CINEBENCH can measure systems with up to 64 processor threads. This test scene contains approximately 2,000 objects which in turn contain more than 300,000 polygons in total, and uses sharp and blurred reflections, area lights, shadows, procedural shaders, antialiasing, and much more. The result is displayed in points (pts). The higher the number, the faster your processor is.


Benchmarks: X264 HD

Simply put, this test measures how fast your machine can encode a short, DVD quality MPEG-2 video clip into a high-quality x264 video clip. What’s x264, you ask? It’s more or less the next-generation Xvid/DivX codec. We think it’s ideal for a benchmark because the application (x264.exe) reports fairly accurate compression results (in frames per second) for each pass of the video encoding process and it uses multi-core processors very efficiently.


Benchmarks: PCMARK 8

Since launch, SiSoftware has always been at the forefront of the technology arena, being among the first providers of benchmarks that show the power of emerging new technologies such as multi-core, GPGPU, OpenCL, DirectCompute, x64, ARM, MIPS, NUMA, SMT (Hyper-Threading), SMP (multi-threading), AVX3, AVX2, AVX, FMA4, FMA, NEON, SSE4.2, SSE4.1, SSSE3, SSE3, SSE2, SSE, Java and .NET.

Benchmarks: 3DMark & Heaven 4.0

The new 3DMark includes everything you need to benchmark your hardware. With three all new tests you can bench everything from smartphones and tablets, to notebooks and home PCs, to the latest high-end, multi-GPU gaming desktops. And it’s not just for Windows. With 3DMark you can compare your scores with Android and iOS devices too. It’s the most powerful and flexible 3DMark we’ve ever created.


Benchmarks: Far Cry 4, Assassin’s Creed Unity, BF4, Crysis 3

Our system uses the mid-range GTX 960 graphics card. To test how effective the 3D capabilities are, we’ll be benchmarking some of the biggest gaming titles out there.

Conclusion


We’ve been impressed by what Cyberpower has done with the new Infinity Hercules Pro.

To those who really care about how their computer system looks Cyberpower has this covered with the Infinity Hercules Pro. From the super-sleek NZXT Source 340 to the internal components themselves, this system is extremely pleasing to the eye. A handful of reputable brands have been used for the component selection and our benchmark test suite has proven Hercules Pro to be a rather capable mid-range configuration.



For the gamers out there, the latest titles can be enjoyed at decent levels of details and performance and this extends into tasks which demand more from the system. Thanks to the significant overclock on the Intel Core i5-4690K, tasks which require more processing grunt can be completed much more efficiently.

Using this very configuration consumers can expect to pay £799 GBP for Infinity Hercules Pro, which represents great value for money when you consider the quality of the components included and the calibre of performance on offer.

Infinity Hercules Pro is an impressive, affordable mid-range build which will satisfy enthusiasts who want dexterity and gamers that need reliable performance.

Pros
+ Well-packaged
+ Good performance
+ Low-noise
+ Aesthetically pleasing
+ High-quality components throughout
+ Good value for money

Cons
– There are none!


Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.

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David Mitchelson