Just ordered - Aventum 3

Been a longtime reader of the forums and follower of Digital Storm. Built my own PCs in the past but now, just don't have the time, energy, or patience!

Usage of this computer is for composing music, and for games. It's a dual purpose PC, because... I write music for videogames. I also, more often them not am recording in-game footage for trailers that I work on, and given the general industry move to 4K, it was time for an upgrade.

The large RAM count - when working with very large orchestral music is easily eaten up. Likewise, the insane amount of storage, is actually not insane when, for example, one of the 'virtual' pianos I own is 150 GB. Stretch that across an orchestra and it adds up quick. The SSDs are therefore to help reduce loading times.

I'm aware that the Aventum isn't the quietest PC I could have bought, but I run air conditioning in my room all day, and don't mind a gentle fan noise. I'm not recording in here, just composing and/or gaming. With the number of fans and good room/case ventilation, I think it will be fine. Of course I could be wrong and it might be a jet engine, and then I'll have to figure something out! Digital Storm engineers said that for my system and number of components, the Aventum due to its size - would be a better solution than the Slade. (Additionally, with these components, the cost difference between the two systems is negligble). I've air-cooled my systems in the past, but I've heard the i9's run hot, and especially as this monster has 18 cores, which my music software will lovingly make use of! Hence, the switch to a liquid-cooling solution.

The computer needs to last - probably 3 years. I've made the mistake of switching computers mid-project in the past, and with the scale of the new one I'm working on, I don't want to go through all that again!

Without further ado:

System Configuration:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Aventum 3
Exterior Finish: Black Metallic Matte Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i9-7980XE Extreme Edition (18-Core) (Up to 4.20 GHz)
Motherboard: ASUS PRIME X299-DELUXE (Intel X299 Chipset) (Up to 4x PCI-E Devices)
System Memory: 128GB DDR4 3200MHz Corsair Dominator Platinum DHX (Extreme-Performance)
Power Supply: 1500W Corsair AX1500i (Digitally Controlled Power)
Expansion Bay: Option Not Available
Optical Drive: - No Thanks
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (2TB Samsung 960 PRO) (NVM Express) (Extreme Performance)
Storage Set 2: 1x SSD M.2 (2TB Samsung 960 PRO) (NVM Express) (Extreme Performance)
Storage Set 3: 1x SSD PCI-E Card (800GB Intel 750 Series) (NVM Express) (Extreme Performance)
Customer Addition - - Install customer''s 5x 2.5" SSD (5 x 850 EVO 4 TB)
(I had 5 drive in my studio, but want to have DS set them up and... do the necessary cabling!)
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 2x SLI Dual (GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB (Performance Edition) (VR Ready)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: H20: HydroLux PRO: Exotic Custom Cooling System (2x Graphics Cards + CPU)
HydroLux Tubing Style: HardLine Tubing (Requires HydroLux PRO Custom Liquid Cooling System)
HydroLux Fluid Color: Blue Fluid + Clear Tubing (Requires HydroLux Liquid Cooling System)
Cable Management: Exotic Cable Management - Blue - (Cable Combs with Custom Color Sleeved Extension Cables)
Chassis Fans: Corsair LED Airflow Performance Edition (Blue) Fans
Internal Lighting: Digital Storm LED Lighting System (Requires Thermal Management Control Board & Software)
Airflow Control: Digital Storm Thermal Management Control Board & Software
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: Noise Suppression Package Stage 1 (Optimized Airflow & Fan Speeds Only)
LaserMark: - No Thanks
CPU Boost: Stock Factory Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking
Graphics Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
OS Boost: Yes, Disable and tweak all of the non-crucial services on the operating system
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Factory Reset Feature (Restore Windows + Drivers) (Partition up to 50GB of Storage)
Virus Protection: FREE: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 Value)
Office: - No Thanks
Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Branded Gear: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 15-20 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 4 Year Limited Warranty (4 Year Labor & 2 Year Part Replacement)

My main screen is a 43" LG IPS 4K panel. (LG 43UD79-B). I also have an ASUS Zenscreen for which I use to monitor video playback when I'm writing music, or.... watch sports while working :p . Soundcard is an Apollo Twin mk2.

I'll be picking it up myself when it's all done, but it probably won't be getting setup until mid-November as I'm currently in the middle of several projects. Nevertheless I'll be sure to update this thread once it's all done and setup and tested. My current computer - which is a moderate beast - won't be retired, but will basically be a 'mirror' rig.






Edited by gdc1984 - 02 Oct 2017 at 4:09pm

Yes. I was previously working on a 2x32" Acer Predator XB321 monitors, which are G-Sync. And I have to be honest, after having this 43" monitor for a few weeks, I don't really miss G-Sync enough for it to be a game-changer. According to NeoGAF - G-Sync is the 'God-level gaming upgrade' - but I'm not so sure. Maybe I didn't set it up correctly!

32" @ 4K means when I'm working I have to use scaling (at around 130%), which frankly defeats the purpose of having a 4K monitor. 43" @ 4K @ 100% scaling is heavenly for work, and obviously excellent for games.

Edited by gdc1984 - 02 Oct 2017 at 4:15pm

Those Corsair fans - in terms of noise - perform pretty well up to 900 RPM, and as you said, not much noise from the LC system anyway, and this room does not get overly warm ever. But yeah, fan control is super important to me so I can tweak the sonics and have good performance. You're right, I probably could set it up myself, but I'll give DS the benefit of the doubt and see what the engineer(s) can do first!

Happy to work on the system, I'm reasonably tech-savvy, I just didn't want to go through building the thing from scratch myself due to the time investment. Maintenance and upgrades on the other hand, I should be able to manage.

That's not a Beast, that's a Monster   

Wouldn't even know how to advice you on that   

Congrats !!

Your going to be amazed at the final result
              


You lucky man
       


please post review and photos

              

Congratulations, that is one very nice system . Aventums are pretty quiet with the lc. You will love it. When you pick it up make sure you have a BIG truck.

BTW we like pics

For gaming lan is always best connection, also he needs to have a router that also supports wigig and then there is the possible isp bottleneck.

Having said all of that, if wifi is important to him then he should check that out to be sure.

I'm not sure if R6 does share that limitation nothing about it on documents.

Ture but as I mentioned R6 limitations are not quiet clear on wigig, it is at 4.6 instead of 8 tho not sure why, like I said its not clear on wigig limitations, details are very little not clear. I really hate the way asus does details.

I Agree tho, if wigig is important then one should look at it, for me its a non issue also.



Edited by DST4ME - 03 Oct 2017 at 12:26am

Originally posted by FR3SHM3AT Remember the more complicated you make it the more you will have to deal with.

For gdc, he knows how to build so its not a big deal for him but for our readers that don't build themselves that is quote ftw

This one is now ready, a few minor issues during the build process which I'll document in my review.

Picking it up on Friday.