CyberPowerPC Zeus Thunder 2500 SE Gaming PC Review
Introduction and Specifications
A few months ago, CyberPowerPC unveiled a new line of custom gaming PCs under the “Zeus” moniker that promised impressive specs and features at a relatively low price. As it turns out, there are plenty of Zeus models available (nine at present, by our count), which provides a plethora of starting price points. For $1,125, you can nab a basic Zeus Thunder 1000, but a top-of-the-heap Zeus Thunder Max starts at $3,735.
Right smack dab in the middle of the Zeus family price ladder is the Zeus Thunder 2500 SE, a $1,899 rig that CyberPowerPC sent us to play with. Granted, there are plenty of nice systems out there in the $1,000-$2,000 range, but there’s often a feature or two you have to live without. Perhaps the CPU or GPU is a generation old, or you forego liquid cooling in favor of traditional air-cooling. There are no such concessions with the Zeus Thunder 2500 SE, unless you consider rocking a GeForce GTX 680 instead of a 690 or an Intel Core i7-3770K instead of perhaps a 3960X compromising.
Indeed, this CPU and GPU pairing is a fine starting point for a high-performing system, and the overclocked CPU (4.7GHz) is cooled by an Asetek 570LX 240mm water cooler. CyberPowerPC opted for an ASUS P8Z77-V motherboard upon which to build the system and slotted in 16GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 (4x4GB).
On the storage side, there’s a speedy Corsair 120GB Force GT SSD paired with a 1TB Hitachi (7200RPM) bulk storage drive, and the optical drive is an LG 12x Blu-ray player/DVD-RW combo.
We were glad to see that the Zeus Thunder 2500 SE had no bloatware at all; when we first started it up, all we got was the default Windows desktop background. Most custom builders these days seem to be ditching pre-installed junk, and that's a most welcome trend. Nothing's more annoying that dropping big money on a custom PC only to spend your first hours with it uninstalling a bunch of unwanted junk-ware.
What we have here is a nice list of components, but let’s dig in to see what kind of system the CyberPowerPC folks built from it.
Right smack dab in the middle of the Zeus family price ladder is the Zeus Thunder 2500 SE, a $1,899 rig that CyberPowerPC sent us to play with. Granted, there are plenty of nice systems out there in the $1,000-$2,000 range, but there’s often a feature or two you have to live without. Perhaps the CPU or GPU is a generation old, or you forego liquid cooling in favor of traditional air-cooling. There are no such concessions with the Zeus Thunder 2500 SE, unless you consider rocking a GeForce GTX 680 instead of a 690 or an Intel Core i7-3770K instead of perhaps a 3960X compromising.
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| Model: CPU: Memory: Graphics: Motherboard: Storage: Optical: Cooling System: Operating System: Internet: Front Panel Ports: Rear Panel Ports: Sound: Power Supply: Weight: Keyboard / Mouse: Dimensions: Warranty: Price: |
ZEUS Thunder 2500 SE Intel Core i7-3770K (Ivy Bridge), 3.5GHz with liquid cooling 16GB DDR3-1600 (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (2GB) ASUS P8Z77-V Corsair 120GB Force GT SSD (SATA III) Hitachi 1TB HDS721010DLE630 (7200RPM) LG UH12LS28K 12X Blu-Ray Player/DVD-RW Combo Drive Asetek 570LX 240mm water cooler Windows 7 Home Premium x64 10/100/1000 Ethernet Built-in WiFi 2 x USB 2.0; 2 x USB 3.0; Memory card reader; headphone and mic 2 x USB 2.0; 4 x USB 3.0; GbE LAN; DisplayPort, HDMI, optical S/PDIF, DVI-D, D-sub, PS/2; 6 x audio Integrated 7.1 surround sound 850W Corsair CMPSU-850TX V2 42 lbs Not included 235 x 595 x 585 mm (WxHxD) 3 years labor, 1 year parts $1,899 MSRP (as configured) |
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On the storage side, there’s a speedy Corsair 120GB Force GT SSD paired with a 1TB Hitachi (7200RPM) bulk storage drive, and the optical drive is an LG 12x Blu-ray player/DVD-RW combo.
We were glad to see that the Zeus Thunder 2500 SE had no bloatware at all; when we first started it up, all we got was the default Windows desktop background. Most custom builders these days seem to be ditching pre-installed junk, and that's a most welcome trend. Nothing's more annoying that dropping big money on a custom PC only to spend your first hours with it uninstalling a bunch of unwanted junk-ware.
What we have here is a nice list of components, but let’s dig in to see what kind of system the CyberPowerPC folks built from it.
