Cyberpower Liquid High 5GHz review

The Azza Hurrican case, meanwhile, makes quite the first impression. It’s an imposing beast thanks to its huge side panels, finned roof and slatted front – not to mention its sheer size. The thick side panel houses a pair of 230mm fans, and the cooling doesn’t end there: two more 230mm fans sit beneath the top fins, a pair of 120mm fans adorn the front wall, there’s a 120mm exhaust and even another 120mm fan behind the motherboard, used to cool the rear of the processor.

Plenty of thought has gone into the interior. First to catch our eye were the six hard disk bays -they’re accessed by removing a spring-loaded clip at the front of the chassis, and drives are slotted into sturdy, tool-free caddies. Four of them are fitted with daughterboards that make them hot swappable, with each small piece of PCB offering SATA data and power ports alongside small LEDs to indicate occupation.

The size of the Azza Hurrican allows for a spacious motherboard tray, and despite the lack of a modular power supply, Cyberpower has kept the interior tidy. The water-cooling tubes are routed sensibly, there’s little excess cabling, and it’s possible to access most parts of the PC. All four DIMM sockets are in use, but there are two PCI Express x16 slots and single PCI Express x1 and PCI slots free. And only once you fill all the hot-swappable hard disk bays will you discover that the graphics card blocks the motherboard’s two remaining SATA 6Gbits/sec ports.

The biggest problem, though, is noise. Unlike the impressively quiet Chillblast, the proliferation of cooling kit inside the Cyberpower – 11 fans, and that’s before you add the graphics card or PSU – means it pumps out plenty of noise, even when idle. The peak system power draw of 620W will horrify those with an eye on the electricity bill, too.

It’s also a shame that the extreme performance isn’t given more space to show off than a 24in, 1,920 x 1,080 panel, even if the BenQ G2420HDBL is a decent enough TFT. Its average Delta E of 3.4 and measured brightness of 227.9cd/m[sup]2[/sup] serve up colours that are accurate and vivid without being overpowering, although a measured contrast ratio of 670:1 isn’t particularly high. Despite slight grain across lighter areas, overall quality is easily on par with the 3D-capable Asus screen included with the Chillblast.

The Logitech Wireless MK320 keyboard and mouse set is fine but, again, can’t match the Chillblast’s Razer keyboard and mouse and 5.1 set of speakers. All this makes the Chillblast Fusion Dimension a far better all-round PC for most people, but there’s no denying the Cyberpower’s brutish charm. It’s big, brash and stunningly powerful, without the sky-high price this usually brings. If you can put up with the noise, it’s an impressive piece of engineering.