Cyberpower Infinity 970 Crossfire review

With a dual-core processor, 2GB of memory, two hard disks and two graphics cards, CyberPower's Infinity 970 Crossfire PC seems to have two of everything.

Its looks are a matter of taste, though, with a brash red and black case that is illuminated with blue lights. The computer we reviewed came with a tacky transfer on the side of the case, but this won't be on the final system design.

The Infinity is fitted with two ATI Radeon X1950 Pro graphics cards, which can be used in tandem to improve 3D performance. Unlike earlier CrossFire cards, the X1950s are linked together by two small connectors inside the case instead of a chunky external cable.

This PC made short work of our Call of Duty 2 test, scoring a blistering 66.5fps. However, its results in our Prey benchmark were identical whether CrossFire was enabled or not. After finishing our other benchmarks, we replaced Windows Vista with Windows XP and re-ran the test. Even then, we had to disable Catalyst AI in ATI's Catalyst Control Center software before we saw a performance improvement over a single X1950 card. Only then did the Infinity score an impressive 83.6fps in our Prey test.

This computer should have no trouble playing the most demanding and detailed games, but our experience suggests you'll have to wait for updated graphics card drivers if you want the best performance in all games with Vista. At some point you may also have to upgrade your graphics cards if you want to play upcoming games that rely on DirectX 10, which the Radeon X1950 Pro doesn't support.

The Infinity may be a gaming PC, but its high specification makes it adept at other tasks, too. With a powerful Core 2 Duo E6600 processor and 2GB of RAM, it raced through our video-encoding, image-editing and multitasking tests. The Infinity 970 Crossfire will easily handle demanding applications, including high-resolution photo editing and HD video editing.

We were surprised to discover that the regular-aspect, 19in ViewSonic monitor has only a D-sub input, as both of the graphics cards have only DVI ports, but CyberPower does include a suitable adaptor. Though the monitor's white reproduction looked greyish, we were impressed by its bright colours and smooth transitions in our greyscale and colour gradient tests.

The Infinity contains two 160GB hard disks, which are configured to form a single 320GB RAID 0 array. This speeds up disk access, but if either disk fails you'll lose the data stored on both. This makes it especially important to keep a regular backup. You can use the computer's DVD drive to copy data to multiple discs, or invest in another large hard disk or backup device.

The Infinity has plenty of internal space that makes it easy to add more disks or other devices. There are no fewer than six free 31/2in drive bays and three additional 51/4in drive bays. There are two PCI slots, although one of them is pressed up against a graphics card, making installation a tight fit. The computer's 800W power supply will cope with any conceivable upgrade.

The Infinity 970 Crossfire is a powerful, generously specified PC. However, Mesh's cheaper Elite E6600 GTS is a better-value gaming PC, if not quite as powerful. As the Elite E6600 also has a directX graphics card it will be able to play compatible games when they're released.