This isn't the first time we've featured an Alder Lake gaming PC this year; the Velocity Micro Raptor X55, Corsair One i300, and Origin 5000T Millenium are all machines that can cost as little as $5,000. Frankly, not many people would.

Time to look for something completely different: a budget Alder Lake PC. While previous machines have focused on 4K gaming and showcasing the top of Intel's 12th generation stack, Cyberpower is focused on 1080p gaming and a much more reasonable price point. [To that end, it's powered by an Intel Core i5 12400F and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050. It's a much more modest price. It's also far more affordable, priced at £1,055 ($999 in the US with similar core specs). There was once a time when you could expect to pay this much for a reasonable gaming machine, so it's nice to see things finally returning to some semblance of normality here. [It comes down to a choice between the Radeon RX 6500 XT and the GeForce RTX 3050. CyberPower uses the latter on this machine, and while it is not powerful, it is an amped-up chip with RTX cores, so you get perks like ray tracing support and DLSS to boost frame rates. [Intel's Alder Lake chips support both memory types. Prices for the new memory standards are starting to come down, but DDR4 is definitely in a better position for gaming. Also, the healthy capacity and speed offered by this memory is much better for the money than the latest funky stuff.

This also affects the choice of motherboard, as DDR5 motherboards tend to cost more than DDR4 motherboards. Here, Cyberpower used MSI's budget MicroATX B660 motherboard, the PRO B660M-A WIFI. As the name suggests, it supports Wi-Fi 6. Don't worry, it also has an Ethernet port for wired connections. This motherboard also has a 1TB SSD, which sits under a heat sink between the CPU and graphics card.

All of this is housed in a surprisingly good looking case for a budget chassis. It has four RGB fans to tickle the gamer's aesthetic senses, but it is also nice to know that the light show can be easily turned off with the included remote control. This case has a glass front, but rest assured that there is ample airflow thanks to the grille on the right side and a healthy gap between the fans and the front panel. It's a good solution that runs quietly and keeps system components cool.

The only downside to this case is that there are no USB Type-C ports on the front panel, only USB 3.0 Type-A. The motherboard itself has 4 USB ports, but these are not connected to anything, and the lack of Type-C ports on the rear I/O makes it even worse.

As for performance, the Infinity X125 performs just as expected at 1080p. You'll need to adjust some settings to maintain a smooth frame rate, especially when it comes to more exacting games, which is not something you want to hear after spending $1,000 on a new gaming PC.

For example, Metro Exodus averaged 50 fps at the highest settings, but dropped to 41 fps with RTX Pretty on. You could tweak the settings to achieve 60 fps, but then you would not get the best visual experience. At least with GeForce Experience on hand, it's as easy as can be. [All of these frame rates were recorded at 1080p, and increasing the resolution to 1440p proves that the RTX 3050 is simply not predisposed to handle higher resolutions.

The same is almost true for ray tracing, with the 3DMark Port Royal score being one of the lowest we have seen. If you are looking for serious ray tracing performance, you should at least set your sights on the RTX 3060.

In fact, you can upgrade to the RTX 3060 for just £42 extra if you change your settings at the time of purchase. That's a far better gaming performance for the price of a single game.

It is also worth noting that this machine runs quiet and cool even when pushed hard. Despite CyberPower's use of a stock Intel cooler, temperatures only reach 79°C. The RTX 3050's maximum temperature is also only 66°C. These case fans aren't just for the pretty RGB lights, though.

Overall, there is much to like here. The component choices mostly make sense, and given its budget nature, it's a surprisingly good-looking system. We recommend upgrading the graphics card to an RTX 3060. It uses well-known components and has plenty of room for further upgrades.