Hailstorm DS Review (with pics!)

----------------------------------------------- Why I bought from Digital Storm -----------------------------------------------

I suppose one of the main reasons why I chose to buy a computer from Digital Storm was that the standard desktops offered at Best Buy and HP were adequate, but were really lacking in almost every department when it came to performance above and beyond simply using MS word and playing the occasional DVD.  What really threw me over the edge was that every time I got a new PC, half the games that I got never even managed to play and if they did play, I could not even push the capabilities of those games to a decent degree.  In so many words, I paid thousands of dollars every other year for a computer that sucked.   So if you may be considering buying a system from Digital Storm and you are apprehensive of the price (as I was at first of the Black-ops systems), consider that if you do buy a system from DS, you are actually spending your money in a vastly more efficient way.  For example, if you buy a few sub-standard computers over the course of a few years, you spend as much money on them as getting a single computer from DS that will last you even longer and be everything that you want it to be from the beginning.  Simple facts… pay more-play longer, play better.  

Anyway, I found Digital Storm.  Now I am one of those people that uses computers but really doesn’t care much for the technical aspects about them.  Honestly, I had no idea where to start.  One of the most beneficial things I did (which I would urge anyone else who finds themselves in the same situation) was utilize the forums to make sure your system configuration is good, efficient, and cost effective.  You also get advice on which parts of your configurations may be redundant, etc.  Check out my configuration thread;

Click Here for My Configuration Thread

So I was able to get my final configuration down after a few days of discussion with members here on the forum.

----------------------------------------------- My Final Configuration -----------------------------------------------

Digital Storm Desktop Chassis Model: Digital Storm HailStorm (Black OPS Edition)
Processor: Intel Core i7 930 2.8GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: !SALE: EVGA X58 3X SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports Triple SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 12GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 1000W Corsair (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: External USB Digital Media Card Reader (Black)
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (150GB Western Digital VelociRaptor (10K RPM) (16MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed)
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Seagate/Hitachi/Western Digital (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed)
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 22x / CD-Writer 48x) (LightScribe Edition)
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card(s): 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 6: Sub-Zero LCS Dual Loop: CPU & Dual SLI/CrossFire Video Cards
H20 Tube Color: Black Tubing with High-Performance Fluid (UV Lighting Reactive)
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Noise Reduction: Noise Suppression Package (Optimized Airflow & Fan Speeds with Noise Dampening Material)
CPU Boost: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Requires Air Cooling Upgrade)
Graphics Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Memory Boost: Memory Fan Kit Only (Does not include memory overclocking service)
OS Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Warranty: 4 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty

The grand-total came out to a little under $5000 including shipping and discounts.

 A note on the ordering process.  When I bought the system, it was suggested that I notify my card company of the impending charge to speed things along.  I would suggest anyone to do this as it will most likely expedite the ordering process.  The transaction as far as I had experienced it was a few days in the making, and it went through the next business day.

On changing your mind on various configurations half way through the build process.  About halfway through the the build process, around the time I got the stage 3 stress testing notification, I was considering changing my mind about the video card namely going from the 2x GTX 480's to 2x ATI Radeon 5970's.   I sent an email over to Sarah (DS sales rep) and she was very accommodating and told me if I wanted to, it was doable.  I ended up not changing the configuration, but it was nice to know that I still had the option.

----------------------------------------------- Timeline of Order -----------------------------------------------

Date of final purchase: April 7, 2010
Stage 1: Payment processed: April 8, 2010 (1 day between stage 0 and 1)
Stage 2: Inventory Assignment: April 12, 2010 (4 days between stage 1 and 2)
Stage 3: Phase 1 Stress Test: April 12, 2010 (4 days between stage 2 and 3)
Stage 4: Engineering Lab: April 19, 2010 (7 days between stage 3 and 4)
Stage 5: Phase 2 Stress Testing: April 19, 2010 (7 days between stage 4 and 5)
Stage 6: Quality Assurance: April 22, 2010 (3 days between stage 5 and 6)
Stage 7: Quality Assurance Passed: April 27, 2010 (5 days between stage 6 and 7)
Order Shipped from Digital Storm: April 28, 2010 (1 day between stage 7 and shipment)
Order arrived via FedEx: May 5, 2010 (7 days between initial shipment and reception)

----------------------------------------------- The Hailstorm -----------------------------------------------



In sum, it took exactly 28 days from the initial purchase to receive the system.   The delivery was actually quite interesting.  The box that the computer came in was comically large (in a good way, not a bad way).  Somewhat heavy as well, about 80 pounds. 



Very cool way they pack the accessories boxes. 



Here is how they packed the computer (sans the top foam layer).  Note the exterior rear radiator.  I had some apprehension about shipping and the radiator, but I was pleasantly surprised at how secure and padded the area was, as well as the rest of the padding around the box.  It is very durable stuff so anyone  apprehensive about the packaging or safety of the computer should consider how safe this standard packing is.



Here is a closeup of the packing and the rear radiator.  Very solid and safe.  I would recommend though that when you unpack your computer (if it is packed in a way such as this), be careful how you pull it out of the box.  The rear radiator is pretty solidly placed on the PC, but when you lean the box to pry it out of the foam, there may be a danger of putting stress on the radiator fan extensions.  I just laid it flat on the ground and pulled vertically.  Keep an eye out for parts of the foam that may have overlapped over parts of the PC (like the three legs at the bottom of this case), as it may bring out the bottom layer of foam with it. 



Behold the myriad of extra parts here and there for the 800D, the GPU's, etc.  This all comes in one of the accessories boxes in the second picture in this thread.



Front of the case.  One of the few additional modifications I made was to move the DVD drive a few slots down so that it would be easier to access under my desk.  Very easy to do. 



Here is a shot of the rear radiator.   Note the packaging material on the inside of the case.  It definitely kept everything very secure on the inside.  Also note the two pieces of foam on the bottom back of the rear radiator.   Be careful how you remove these pieces of foam because if you are rough with it, you could possibly damage the bottom fan.



Here is a picture of the inside of the Hailstorm.  Very nice, very tidy.  During shipping, the memory fan slipped out of place but not in a noticeable way.  I would not have caught it if I had not been taking these pictures and noticed it was off its placement.  But anyway,  x58 motherboard, 2x GTX 480's, 12 GB memory, 930 processor overclocked to 3.9 GHz, stage 6 water cooling, etc.



Closer look at the innards of the Hailstorm.



Closer look at the 2x Nvidia GTX 480 1.5 GB and the water cooling configuration.



Closeup of the the Kingston HyperX memory fan.



Here is a picture of the two water blocks located in the front of the case right above the hot-swap bay area but below the DVD tray.   You can see inside the reservoirs through the front panel.



Here is another closeup of the motherboard/GPU/etc. and at an angle where you can see it in relation to the water reservoirs and the CD drive. 

Click Here for 1600 x 1200 High Res Version of the Previous Picture



My Digital Storm PC's new home.  The area in back has a surprising amount of air flow.   Definitely got to do something about all those wires though. (or maybe its a new art form, my "wire tree")



Closeup of the PC turned on.  Note that I did not opt for any type of led lighting on the inside of the case.  The blue light that you see is from a small LED light behind the reservoir.  But I have just this small light and the light from the memory fan.  I actually like this a lot more than big LED lights since I really wanted just a little bit of ambient light but not a circus of technicolor strobe lights.  But that is all preference I suppose.



Peak at the Kingston memory fan from behind the desk   Very cool to look down at it from the desk and see it when you want to.



Night shot while operating.

----------------------------------------------- Initial Thoughts about my Hailstorm -----------------------------------------------

During operation, the Hailstorm runs like a champ.   There were absolutely no problems at start-up.  The machine is a dream as far as Adobe Photoshop / after effects/ etc. are concerned.  Autodesk software like Maya, 3ds Max, and Mudbox to name a few work perfectly and the rendering times are hilariously faster than my busted-out old HP.  Surprisingly, the machine is exceptionally quiet (at least during normal operation), which was a major concern of mine.   I also opted for the noise suppression package.  Was it worth it?  I have to say yes.   The material that Digital Storm uses on the two sides of the case is comprised of a thin yet dense noise suppressant substrate with a heat reflective veneer facing inwards.  Very good quality stuff and I seriously believe that this helps out with the sound as well as the fan tuning in conjunction with the stage 6 water cooling system.   I read a lot of reviews about how loud the GTX 480 is under load due to the GPU cooling fan, so the stage 6 cooling was a must as well as anything that could be done to minimize the noise level.  Under load, I have never heard this computer get louder than it does during normal operation (and I am talking about Autodesk Maya rendering here... major stuff).  

Here are some specs via CPU-Z;



----------------------------------------------- Final Grade and Issues -----------------------------------------------

So overall, I give DS and the Hailstorm a very high grade.  A few problems that I need to address though are this.  First, none of the hot-swappable drives work.  I don't know if this is the HDD (which I have just ordered and received a few days ago) or the case itself.  Maybe someone from DS could help me out there.  The second is the amount of space behind the rear radiator.   It is next to impossible to install two monitors on one card because the VGA extension is not small enough to fit there.  Luckily I opted for two video cards, so I just installed the second monitor on the bottom and I am still using the a splitter for the 47 inch TV I have hooked up to the second monitor.   Lastly,I opted for the "External USB Digital Media Card Reader (Black)"  I would like to emphasize the "black" part.  This is what I got;



What happened to the black media card reader? 

But other than that, a great computer for fun and for work.



Edited by VideCorSpoon - 25 May 2010 at 9:34pm

First, none of the hot-swappable drives work

not sure what you mean by that, are you saying you can't move the drive while the os is running?

you can ask them for more of those hollowed fans and add a couple more to create more room between the rad's fan and dvi ports.

do you see the drives in the bios?

if yes then you need to format and partion them from OS's "disk management" window.

Originally posted by DST4ME do you see the drives in the bios? if yes then you need to format and partion them from OS's "disk management" window.

I opened the case back up and I found that the power cable for the hot-swappable area was dislodged during shipping.  I plugged it in again, turned on the computer and the drive popped up. Huzzah!  Many thanks DST4ME!  

LoL well you can thank yourself, you figured it out, I did nothing but I'm glad you got it going

My pleasure boss

for future references, when it comes to HDDs, first make sure bios sees it, if it does then check and make sure its partitioned.

if bios does not see it, check connections to the HDD and mobo. if the connections are right then it most likely the drive.

Edited by DST4ME - 06 May 2010 at 5:02pm

LOL just realized I never told you that I think your system looks great, congrats, its a beast, and a nice looking one at that

Edited by DST4ME - 06 May 2010 at 5:30pm

Wow my machine is shipped today and is almost the same config. I went with one GTX 480. Looks great !

Great looking rig!!...I also really love the high quality pictures, First time i've seen a personal review with such crisp images

LOL..The Fellowship of the Rig.  You're not sending it back from whence it came?

Edited by rholyrag - 18 May 2010 at 6:55am

Originally posted by SemperFuzz Very nice Rig, one question for Alex though is there a reason why the Koolance GPU blocks are upside down is that the only way they can go?  The blocks have a really cool looking top plate with the GTX logo and a view of the water color shining through?  Maybe just the way it is but sure would be nice to see the topside looking in.  Thanks

I agree, but, that's the only way we can mount them.

Alex or any Hailstorm owners,

How does the Kingston memory cooler mount on the motherboard and where does the power lead connect?

Originally posted by Sarah VideCorSpoon, Those are some SWEET pictures man. Can we use your pictures on our FaceBook page?

Of course you can!  Also, if you need any more pictures (i.e. at different angles, of specific hardware, etc.) just let me know and I can take some more for you guys if you need them. 

Originally posted by tanamerra Alex or any Hailstorm owners, How does the Kingston memory cooler mount on the motherboard and where does the power lead connect?

The memory fan mounts on the retaining clips on both sides of the ram sockets.

Vid what are your temps ? Our systems are very close, I only went with one GTX 480. Stage 6 duel loop.

Here are my temps right now.  



Ambient temperature is around 78* so it is a little hot.  And I am running autodesk 3ds max, adobe photoshop cs4, and adobe after effects in the back ground, so I guess this may be under a moderate load.

As to the pics, I use www.tinypic.com .  I have been using it for many years on a philosophy forum and I have not had a single problem with it.  All you have to do is upload the photo and copy and paste the "forums and links" code to your post. 

As to the case badges, I would imagine it would depend on the guy building the system.  To tell the truth, I really did not notice the badge on the radiator until I opened up the case and saw it.  Otherwise, it would be almost unnoticeable.  I think on mine there is also a smaller Digital Storm icon on the USB/mic/earphone jack area at the front, top of the case.  Maybe it is because of the case.  Did you get the 800D case as well?



Edited by VideCorSpoon - 23 May 2010 at 8:43pm

Originally posted by roadkingbill I also have the 800D case. I did notice that the ambient temp makes a big diff on temps with the CPU. I did not have my air on untill yesterday. Upstairs bedroom gets very hot in the summer and with the air on my system temps have dropped a good 5c   Ty for the info :)

Its funny because, at least intuitively, when you look at the temps and you see just how hot it is (whether that be the CPU, GPU, etc.), you tend to wonder about just how hot "hot" is.  When I was configuring the computer and doing some research on the video cards, I found that of the very few drawbacks of the GTX 480 was the heat the card produced.  A review by Hardware Canucks for example stated that the load operating temperature for the 480 was around 95-105*C.  And apparently, the card can handle up to 125*C before shutting down.  Seems like a small margin to me, but I have not had a problem with it (and incidentally is one of the main reasons why I opted for the stage 6 liquid cooling systems). 

But even under load, the case is actually very cool.  Seriously, the top of the case where the air comes out blows out cool like a refrigerator.   I'm definitely curious to see what the ambient temps do in regards to overall temperature though as you have noticed.


Edited by VideCorSpoon - 24 May 2010 at 1:33pm

VCS, can I just say that I really admire your rig!!! It's exactly what I have invisioned!!! The only difference is that I am using the HAF-X and only using the Stage 2: Noctua D14 (while I save up for the Stage 6 Dual loop) and for the Mobo I am using the X58 classi... Very very very sexy!!! Good job!