iBuyPower Design and Build Quality

The iBuyPower machine came in a plain box too, but it had no company name or logo, so we didn’t know whose unit it was until we completely unboxed it. It all came in an NZXT Lexa Blackline case, which is fairly expensive. We hope that didn’t cause cutbacks on internal components.


The Lexa is a very stylish case as it is, and CyberPower decided to add on to it with a painted side panel and a company logo, which looks very nice. Cabling is done very well too; all cables are tied down, wrapped, and hidden extremely professionally. So far this unit is just about perfect.


iBuyPower’s Lexa case is designed to sit on a desk, as the USB, audio, and FireWire ports are at the bottom of the case. If your desk can accommodate the massive size and weight of the case, then you should be fine. The top of the case has an 80mm fan which is accompanied by 120mm side, rear, and power supply fans, providing excellent cooling all over. The back of the case has some ridiculous plastic frame, which seems very unnecessary. It’s not iBuyPower’s fault in any way, we just wanted to point out the obscurity.




This is probably the most important part of the machine: the internal features. The connections are very varied and plentiful. Along with the 6 USB ports, 8 channel audio, and Ethernet, the iBuyPower machine has many features not available on the CyberPower unit. FireWire is available on the back panel, as well as eSATA, optical and SPDIF outs. Wireless LAN is built into the ASUS motherboard. The Lexa case is water cooling ready with openings cut in the back to accept an external radiator.

As we look at the expansion cards installed, we don’t see much. At the bottom, there is a switch for a red cathode tube. More importantly iBuyPower uses a lone HD3870 card installed. If you recall, the CyberPower machine featured two 3870s. In theory this results in the iBuyPower unit being significantly weaker graphically. Only the numbers will tell. We will see those in a bit. But for now, it is up to you to decide whether an extra video card is worth trading for the cleaner setup with more expensive parts, a slightly faster CPU, and some extra ports. The included bundle is the best of all three units. It contains a copy of the Halo 2 game, a t-shirt, mouse, a messenger bag, as well as the usual CDs and manuals.