I
t’s not unusual to see a PC with an
AMD processor, but a high-end rig
all-AMD with Radeon graphics is
rarer. CyberPower’s Ultra 9 XT is the first
system we’ve seen with the Radeon RX
6800 XT, and it sits alongside AMD’s
tremendous Ryzen 9 5900X Zen 3 CPU.
This chip has 12 SMT-enabled cores,
alongside base and boost speeds of 3.7GHz
and 4.8GHz. It’s a muscular part for multi-
threaded workloads, and the rest of the
CyberPower’s specification takes aim at
creative tasks – there’s
32GB of 3600MHz
DDR4 memory, a PCI-E
4 SSD and a 4TB hard
disk. The Corsair RM850x
PSU is also a welcome addition, with
its 80 Plus Gold certification and
modular design.
Meanwhile, the Radeon 6800
XT is AMD’s answer to the Nvidia
GeForce RTX 3080, and it includes
4,608 stream processors. This MSI-
made card has overclocked game
and boost clocks of 2045MHz and
2285MHz respectively, and it includes
16GB of GDDR6 memory. That’s 6GB
more than the RTX 3080, but AMD’s
memory uses a narrower 256-bit
interface. AMD’s card supports
ray tracing too, with 72 AMD Ray
Accelerators – one for each Compute
Unit, but the company doesn’t have a
hardware equivalent of DLSS.
It’s all plugged into a basic Asus TUF
Gaming B550-Plus motherboard,
which concentrates on helpful
features rather than hefty heatsinks
and lighting. Its primary 16x PCI-E
and M.2 connectors support PCI-E 4,
and the board has 2.5Gbps Ethernet
and loads of connectors, including a
Thunderbolt header.REVIEWS / PC SYSTEMS
SPEC
CPU
3.7GHz AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Motherboard
Asus TUF Gaming B550-Plus
Memory
32GB Corsair Vengeance
LPX 3600MHz DDR4
Graphics
MSI Radeon RX 6800 XT 16GB
Storage
500GB Seagate FireCuda 520 M.2 SSD,
4TB Seagate Barracuda hard drive
Networking
2.5Gbps Ethernet, dual-
band 802.11ax Wi-Fi
Case
Corsair 4000D
Cooling
CPU: Cooler Master MasterLiquid
Lite 360 with 3 x 120mm fans; GPU:
3 x 90mm fans; rear: 1 x 120mm
fan; roof: 2 x 120mm fans
PSU
Corsair RM850x 850W
Ports
Front: 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1
Type-C, 1 x audio; rear: 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2,
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C, 4 x USB 3.2 Gen
1, 2 x USB 2, 1 x optical S/PDIF, 5 x audio
Operating system
Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Warranty
Two years parts and labour, plus one
year labour only. Six months collect
and return, then return to baseAMD B550 GAMING PC
CYBERPOWER
ULTRA 9 XT /£2,599 inc VAT
SUPPLIER cyberpowersystem.co.ukAt the rear it has USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A and Type-C
connectors, alongside six more USB slots of varying speeds.
CyberPower has added dual-band 802.11ax Wi-Fi, and
the board has an M.2 Key E connector if you’d like to add a
Bluetooth module. It’s a good board, but it does have some
minor limitations. None of the other M.2 connectors or PCI-E
slots supports PCI-E 4, for example, and there’s no USB
3.2 Gen 2x2.
The sturdy Corsair 4000D that houses the hardware
looks subdued thanks to dark tempered glass. At the top
it has single USB 3 Type-A and Type-C ports, and on the
inside, there’s the usual PSU shroud. Corsair has included
extra cable-tidying features, including loads of Velcro anchor
points and channels, and CyberPower has done a great job
keeping the interior tidy, including the tubes emerging from
the 360mm Cooler Master cooler. Around the rear, there’s
one 3.5in drive bay and two 2.5in mounts, but the rear is a
little untidy and there’s no fan hub. More USB ports would be
welcome on top of the case too.
CyberPower’s rig is protected by a three year labour
warranty with an impressive two years of parts coverage. In
the wider market, though, its value can be questioned – at the
time of writing, it’s relatively easy to find equivalent machines
for a little less money than the CyberPower, and you can also
find PCs with this CPU and an RTX 3080 GPU for between
£2,250 and £2,500.