Priced at £1000, the Cyber Power Infinity X123 arrives to market equipped with an Intel Core i3-12100F, an MSI GeForce RTX 3050 and a Western Digital NVMe drive, jump in to find out how it fared in our tests.
Product on Review: CyberPowerPC Infinity X123
Manufacturer: CyberPowerPC
Street Price: £1018.80
CyberPower were originally a leading system integrator within the United States but following many successes in that market, they decided to extend their expertise to the UK. We’ve covered a few CyberPower systems now, often impressed by the cleanliness of cable tidying, a good balance of components and great value for money.
Today we’re looking at the CyberPowerPC Infinity X123, a PC that has hopes of providing high-end 1080p gaming without hurting your wallet too much.
Equipped with an Intel Core i3-12100F processor, rocking 4 Performance cores, with Hyper-Threading, to crunch through daily tasks and games with ease, the Infinity X123 is off to a good start. Bolstering the Intel CPU is 16GB of CORSAIR Vengeance LPX memory, clocked in at 3200MHz. Providing the graphics horsepower is NVIDIA’s latest release, the MSI RTX 3050 Ventus X; this card will boost up to 1780MHz across all 2560 CUDA cores, with the 8GB of GDDR6 memory tearing along at 14000MHz.
Piecing everything together, CyberPower have opted for an MSI B660M-A WiFi motherboard which provides features like USB 3.1, WiFi connectivity and M.2 NVMe storage support.
Rounding out the component specifications, we have a 1TB WD Blue SN750 NVMe storage drive, which will certainly power through loading screens with ease, an InWin A65 650W 80+ Bronze power supply and everything is wrapped up inside a CyberPower X616 chassis featuring tempered glass and RGB fans on the front and back.
Despite the current market, where components can be difficult to source and supply-chains stressed to their limits, CyberPower seems to offer a very decent system for £1000 here, but the proof will be in the pudding, so lets put it through its paces and see what it’s made of.
What CyberPower has to say:
With vision, commitmentand 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
Processor: Intel Core i3-12100F
• Intel 12th Gen ‘Alder Lake’ CPU
• Socket LGA1200
• 4 Cores, 8 Threads
• Turbo up to 4.3GHz
• 58W TDP
Graphics Card: MSI GeForce RTX 3050 Ventus 2X 8G
• NVIDIA Ampere Architecture
• 2560 CUDA Cores
• Core Clocks up to 1777MHz (Boost)
• 8GB GDDR6 VRAM @ 14Gbps
• PCI-E 4.0
• Double-fan cooling solution
Motherboard: MSI B660M-A WiFi
• LGA1200
• MATX Form Factor
• Supports PCI-E 4.0
Memory: 16GB CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 3200MHz (2x 8GB)
Storage: 1TB Western Digital SN570 NVMe SSD
• Read/Write speeds of 3500 / 3000Mbps respectively
Chassis: CyberPower X616
• External dimensions: 430mm x 215mm x 458mm
PSU: InWin A65 650W 80+ Bronze Gaming Power Supply
CPU Cooler: Intel Retail CPU Cooler
Packaging & Bundle
CyberPower delivered the system in an enormous external box, packed to the rafters with impact-absorbing foam. The exterior box measured in at 630mm x 600mm x 500mm.
Inside the big box is a smaller box, the box that the PC case would’ve originally been delivered in, which has been custom-designed to fit perfectly and does the job better than anything else would.
Inside the PC, behind the glass, is an expandable foam insert that will self-mould to the inside of the PC, firmly holding danger items like the graphics card and CPU cooler in place during transit.
The packaging used here, we feel, will pretty much guarantee a successful delivery every time – something would need to go seriously wrong for this to get damaged.
First Look
Cyberpower PC have opted to use a custom-designed chassis for the Infinity X123, giving them full scope on the size, specifications and design choices (within reason), so we expect the case to look great and perform well.The PC isn’t particularly heavy considering the large tempered glass panels, which is handy if you need to move the PC around from time to time, and due to its average dimensions, it doesn’t take up loads of room either. The case measures in at 458mm tall, 430mm wide and 215mm deep.
The front panel is well equipped with a pair of USB 3.0 ports, a microphone input and headphone output, the only thing we’d like to see here is a USB Type-C connection.
Around the back we get a decent selection of ports on the rear I/O. Starting from the top and working our way down we have:
2x USB 2.0, 1x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
2x USB 3.0
2x USB 3.0, 1x Gigabit ethernet
2x WiFi/Bluetooth antenna
3x 3.5mm audio jacks
The MSI GeForce RTX 3050 has a single HDMI port and three DisplayPort connections.
Closer Look
When we first pop the side off, you can immediately see how neat and tidy the system is, CyberPower have gone to lengths to make sure the components are dark and relatively well colour-matched.The power supply and a lot of the PSU cables are neatly hidden away under the shroud at the bottom, working very well to tidy up the system.
The entire system is held together by the MSI B660M-A WiFi, providing a good starting point for today’s system. The keen-eyed amongst you will also have spotted the 1TB Western Digital Blue SN570 NVMe drive, providing read and write speeds up to 3500MB/s and 3000MB/s.
With rising cost within the computer industry, shaving off a few quid here and there is vital to delivering a product under budget, CyberPower have opted to use the new Intel RM1 stock cooler, which is surprisingly capable compared to previous generations of Intel stock cooler. Lying underneath the cooler is Intel’s Core i3-12100F processor, with 4 cores and 8 threads at up to 4.3GHz.
Paired up alongside the Intel CPU is 16GB of CORSAIR Vengeance LPX memory at 3200MHz, a very popular memory kit which makes upgrading in the future very straight-forward, especially so with the two empty slots on the motherboard.
Fresh out of NVIDIA’s stable is the MSI GeForce RTX 3050, featuring a dual-fan aftermarket cooler and 8GB of GDDR6 memory, this card is strictly in 1080p territory so we’ll stick to this resolution for our testing.
If we swing the case around, we can reveal the back end, where CyberPower have also gone to lengths to ensure it’s as neat and tidy as possible, everything is routed exactly where it needs to go and secured into place. It’s a shame the rear panel isn’t tempered glass to really show this off.
Benchmarks: Temperatures & Boot Time
In our first test we observe the max. CPU/GPU temperatures of the system while allowing Unigine Heaven 4.0 to run on a 30-minute loop with default system fan profile. Idle temperatures were read 10 minutes later, indicating how well the system exhausted latent heat. To report back on the temperatures we used Core Temp readings and GPU-Z.As you can see, even despite the stock Intel cooler, CPU temperatures were kept well under control, while also staying relatively quiet. Never were we put off by the noise levels coming from the machine.
The dual-fan heatsink on the MSI GeForce RTX 3050 performed really well, with peak temperatures on the GPU coming in at 60°C, while working in tandem with the Intel CPU cooler to keep noise levels down.
Windows 11 Boot Time
Thanks to the immense throughput in the WD Blue SN570, we get a fantastically quick boot time, no complaints here.
Benchmarks: Cinebench R20, R23 & 7-Zip
Maxon’s Cinebench is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s hardware capabilities. Improvements to Cinebench Release 20 reflected the overall advancements to CPU and rendering technology in recent years, providing a more accurate measurement of Cinema 4D’s ability to take advantage of multiple CPU cores and modern processor features available to the average user.In October 2020 Maxon launched Cinebench R23. This release formulated an updated test that defined a notational runtime of 10 minutes for both single and multicore tests, minimising the impact of initial performance spikes caused by a high Turbo/Boost clock at the start. The scores generated are not directly comparable to the R20 results, but we’ve included them here for reference.
Despite this being one of Intel’s entry-level processors, the performance here is excellent, more than ample for 1080p gaming and some productivity tasks on the side.
Cinebench R23 tests the system in a very similar way, but is further optimised to handle more powerful, more modern processors. The 12100F handles this test very well.
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7-Zip is open-source software which unpacks compressed (zipped) files. It also features a benchmark which measures your systems ability to unpack files, typically stressing CPU and memory performance.
The 7-zip test benefits heavily from multiple threads and high clock speeds, which this processor doesn’t hugely excel in, therefore the results are mediocre here. Still more than enough for daily tasks.
Benchmarks: PCMark 10, Unigine Heaven & 3D Mark
PCMark 10 by UL combines performance benchmarking with battery life measurement where applicable and includes tests based on popular Adobe and Microsoft applications. Whether you are looking for long battery life, or maximum power, PCMark 10 will help you find the devices that offer the perfect combination of efficiency and performance for your needs. It’s the complete PC performance benchmark for home and business.A PC Mark score is a very good way of determining overall system performance, when comparing one system to another. The Infinity X123 isn’t exactly a powerhouse, so to find a middle-of-the-road result is no surprise. Still, the performance is decent.
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3DMark Time Spy by UL is a DirectX 12 benchmark test for gaming PCs running Windows 10. With its pure DirectX 12 engine, built from the ground up to support new API features like asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading, Time Spy is the ideal benchmark for testing the DirectX 12 performance of the latest graphics cards.
The Infinity X123, with the i3-12100F and RTX 3050 posted a respectable score of 7235, not bad at all for the £1000 price-tag.
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Unigine’s Heaven 4.0 utility is a performance and stability test for PC hardware: video card, power supply, cooling system. Check your rig in stock and overclocking modes with real-life load! Also includes interactive experience in a beautiful, detailed environment.
While relying on a DirectX 11 API renderer rather than more modern DX12 framework, Heaven 4.0 and DX11 performance is still a relevant metric today.
Unigine Heaven has been around for ages now, but it’s a good benchmark that allows readers to compare stats to current hardware, since it can be ran on just about any hardware. The score here is respectable and shows that 1080p gaming will be no problem at all. The average framerate was over 200, so no issues at all.
Benchmarks: Gaming (1080p)
The NVIDIA RTX 3050 is firmly in the 1080p60 to 1080p144Hz category, with the former of the two being the more likely target if you tend to crank the display settings up a bit. We tested our games at 1080p with high detail settings to see what can be expected.Mordor: Shadow of War
The oldest of our titles, Mordor: Shadow of War is still an exceptionally attractive game that utilises the DirectX 11 API. The Infinity X115 GT should easily be able to handle the title at 1080p Ultra settings.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
The second sequel to the rebooted Tomb Raider franchise, Shadow of the Tomb Raider was also one of the first titles to incorporate NVIDIA RTX ray traced shadows and DLSS. We’ll be testing with RTX on today without the benefit of DLSS’s 720p upscaling mode.
Horizon Zero Dawn
This game was new to PC in August 2020 and already has a reputation for taxing GPU hardware. It doesn’t feature ray tracing, but nonetheless has some of the most stunning scenes ever rendered in games. We’ve used the Ultimate preset at 1080p here, but Favoured also offers a visual feast with markedly higher performance.
Control
Critically acclaimed on release, Control is the title which made most comprehensive use of NVIDIA RTX prior to Cyberpunk 2077’s release in Holiday 2020. Shadows, lighting and reflections all make use of this advanced rendering standard, helping the transition from mundane world to its nightmarish reflection. We opted for the 1080p Highest settings preset with RTX features enabled including the default recommended level of DLSS: a rendering resolution of 1280×720.
Tests were performed with NVIDIA’s GeForce Game Ready 471.68 WHQL Driver.
The oldest of our titles, Mordor: Shadow of War is still an exceptionally attractive game that utilises the DirectX 11 API. The Infinity X115 GT should easily be able to handle the title at 1080p Ultra settings.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
The second sequel to the rebooted Tomb Raider franchise, Shadow of the Tomb Raider was also one of the first titles to incorporate NVIDIA RTX ray traced shadows and DLSS. We’ll be testing with RTX on today without the benefit of DLSS’s 720p upscaling mode.
Horizon Zero Dawn
This game was new to PC in August 2020 and already has a reputation for taxing GPU hardware. It doesn’t feature ray tracing, but nonetheless has some of the most stunning scenes ever rendered in games. We’ve used the Ultimate preset at 1080p here, but Favoured also offers a visual feast with markedly higher performance.
Control
Critically acclaimed on release, Control is the title which made most comprehensive use of NVIDIA RTX prior to Cyberpunk 2077’s release in Holiday 2020. Shadows, lighting and reflections all make use of this advanced rendering standard, helping the transition from mundane world to its nightmarish reflection. We opted for the 1080p Highest settings preset with RTX features enabled including the default recommended level of DLSS: a rendering resolution of 1280×720.
Tests were performed with NVIDIA’s GeForce Game Ready 471.68 WHQL Driver.
Conclusion
In the current market, with supply issues all around the globe, bringing a capable gaming machine to the market, while staying under the £1000 price tag, is no small task, but we’re overall very happy with CyberPower’s efforts here.The machine is well-balanced in terms of its component layout, with an Intel Core i3-12100F that sports 4 cores, 8 threads and clocks up to 4.3GHz, that can rip through everyday tasks without problem, and can even taken on more difficult applications from time to time, but obviously this isn’t going to be a video editing monster or something you’ll be using for your CAD uni work. One tactic often employed by system integrators is to use the stock CPU cooler, but with this usually comes a sacrifice of high temperatures or high system noise; thankfully, due to Intel’s new RM-1 cooler, neither of these problems reared their ugly head. Temperatures and noise levels were kept in check, while also saving the £20-£30 that an aftermarket cooler would cost.
16GB of RAM has been the go-to capacity for some time now, and it remains to be plenty for games and office use, allowing multi-tasking without issue. CyberPower decided to go for the CORSAIR Vengeance LPX memory, clocked in at 3200MT/s, an incredibly popular DDR4 kit, which is handy because the motherboard has two spare RAM slots, should you ever find that the 16GB capacity is limiting your workflow or gaming in any way. A very good choice here, with scope for upgrades in the future, a big thumbs up from us for this.
Graphics cards, largely due to the ongoing global pandemic and people trying to cash in on the mining craze, have become very difficult to get your hands on, and if/when you do, you’re often paying way over the odds. This makes gaming PCs particularly difficult to price keenly. CyberPower have opted to use NVIDIA’s latest release, the GeForce RTX 3050, and not just any run-of-the-mill model, a twin-fan option from MSI that keeps temperatures and noise down, very important considering the great job that Intel’s cooler does. The RTX 3050 uses 2560 CUDA cores at 1777MHz paired to 8GB of GDDR6 memory to offer a very decent 1080p gaming system, though it’s best not to get too carried away with the RTX part of the card, ray-tracing performance was fairly poor, even in the early games offering ray tracing. Having said that, DLSS works well, and those Tensor Cores can also be put to work on things like NVIDIA Broadcast, which uses AI algorithms to remove background noise from your microphone and can clean up your webcam’s image, or even add fancy effects, without using any CPU cycles.
A 1TB NVMe is a little over-spec for a machine like this, but it certainly isn’t something we’re going to complain about, having ample storage is always nice, but when it offers speeds around 3500MB/s and 3000MB/s in read and write, respectively, you can have several large games installed and enjoy fast loading times; you can literally eat your cake and have it too.
The case isn’t anything to write home about, it looks nice but not amazing, and it’s quiet but not silent, though at £1000 you can’t expect the world. We’d be perfectly happy to have it on the desk, or underneath if desk space doesn’t allow.
Overall, we feel like CyberPower PC have done a cracking job here, the PC performs well in all areas, there are no obvious issues or shortcomings. The prices for individual components comes in higher than the system price, you get a three-year warranty and Windows 11 pre-installed (with no bloatware!).
Pros
+ Component selection is well balances
+ Great 1080p gaming performance
+ Brilliantly suited for everyday tasks
+ Snappy and responsive thanks to the NVMe SSD
+ Decently quiet machine
+ RAM can be easily upgraded to 32GB
Cons
– Will struggle with anything over 1080p
– No real ability to overclock
+ Component selection is well balances
+ Great 1080p gaming performance
+ Brilliantly suited for everyday tasks
+ Snappy and responsive thanks to the NVMe SSD
+ Decently quiet machine
+ RAM can be easily upgraded to 32GB
Cons
– Will struggle with anything over 1080p
– No real ability to overclock
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