Cyberpower Gamer Infinity Yang

Cyberpower is a name normally associated with high-end gaming computers, but the Gamer Infinity Yang is a cheaper model pitched at power users on a budget and cash-strapped games enthusiasts.

Its case is neither particularly big nor very small, standing 42cm tall, but it's built to a high standard – inside everything is neat and tidy, allowing for good air-flow and reducing the need for cooling (and thus reducing fan noise).

It's powered by an Intel quad-core Q8200 processor with 4GB of memory, which along with the Nvidia Geforce 9600GT graphics card are capable of dealing with home and office tasks easily. It was equally at home with video editing and other similarly intensive tasks, and games performance was likewise good. It's not near the top as far as gaming computers go, but it's impressive for £549. The Yang's performance in our lab tests bore this out, with it achieving good results in the games testing.

There's a 500GB hard disk for storage, which is on the small side by today's standards, but it's backed up with a DVD drive capable of reading and writing all formats (including CDs but not Blu-ray). Impressively, the computer also comes with a 19in flat-panel screen. We were a little disappointed to find that the operating system is Vista Home Basic rather than the slightly more expensive Home Premium, but in truth few users will notice the difference.

It is a 64-bit version of the operating system, which is sensible on one level as it allows the computer to make full use of the 4GB of memory, but it does mean that a lot of existing software and hardware simply won't work. If you're upgrading, check your existing devices and programs (see the manufacturers' websites) to see if they'll work on 64-bit Vista or if upgrades are available.

This would be a good computer for an enthusiast on a budget as there's plenty of room inside the case for expansion – three of the large front-panel drive bays are free, as are several internal hard disk drive bays. The PCI Express expansion slots are also well located to facilitate easy expansion – another example of the amount of care that's been put into the building of the Yang. Memory can be expanded, in the unlikely event that 4GB isn't enough: there are two free memory slots.

The back panel of the computer is more bare than we'd expected: there are four USB ports (two more are on the front panel), a network socket, serial and parallel ports, keyboard and mouse connections and sound outputs. Anyone with a Firewire-connected camcorder will have to add an expansion card, as will those who want to connect to high-end amplifiers, as there's no digital sound output. Still, some compromises have to be made to get the price down and on balance Cyberpower has got it right, putting the emphasis where it counts.