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Assassin Review

Post Date: 2010-08-21
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krappei View Drop Down
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Posts: 18 		  Quote krappei Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Assassin Review
    Posted: 21 Aug 2010 at 11:57pm
I finally received my new PC yesterday. My review is coming shortly. In the mean time. . .

System Configuration:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS Assassin Edition
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 930 2.8GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 LE Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 750W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (40GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: X-25V Edition) (Extreme Performance)
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (64MB Cache) (Model: Black Edition WD1002FAEX)
Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB (Includes PhysX Technology) (EVGA Brand)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D14 Extreme


Timeline-
Stage 1 August 3
Stage 2-3 August 7 (Saturday)
Stage 4-5 August 9
Stage 6 August 13
Stage 7 August 16
Shipped to IL: August 16
Received: August 22

Overclocked Processor Settings-
Processor Speed GHz: 3.9
CPU Multiplier: 21
Voltage CPU VCore: 1.375
VDroop Control: Yes
i7 - BCLK MHz: 186
i7 - Voltage QPI\DRAM:
i7 - Voltage QPI\PLL:
i7 - Voltage CPU VTT: 150
i7 - Voltage IOH Vcore:
i7 - Voltage ICH Vcore:
i7 - Voltage IOH/ICH I/O:
i7 - PWM Frequency:
780i/790i - Memory Clock Mode:
780i/790i - CPU FSB MHz:
780i/790i - Voltage FSB:
780i/790i - Voltage SPP:
780i/790i - Voltage MCP:

Motherboard BIOS: S774
Video Card Driver: 258.96
Chipset Driver: CD
Sound Card Driver: CD

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krappei View Drop Down
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Posts: 18 		  Quote krappei Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 22 Aug 2010 at 12:47am
Customer Service:
In my first buying experience from DS, the customer service was not as great as has been acclaimed by many posts hype it up to be. I'm guessing that it was because of the "Back to School Sale", but there is definitely room for improvement.
Email response times could have been faster. I sent several emails most of which were answered within 48 hours. For one of the emails, I asked for the brand name of the GTX480 and return rates versus the 5870 to gauge reliability. I was hoping to get a response in 2 days in order to make the purchase over the weekend, but I didn't get a response by the end of the third day (Monday) so I just went ahead and ordered. I never received a response to that inquiry.
On three separate days, I tried calling for customer service multiple times and each time the line was busy. Cassandra was the only call that I received and it had nothing to do with my calls and emails earlier that day. DS had run out of the WD 1 TB HD 32MB Cashe so I was forced to pick another. I reluctantly ended up paying $15 for the similar WD with 64MB cache.
Although customer service has not been great, I still have faith that should I need further assistance in the near future, DS will be there to help.
DS gets a point for working on the weekend to get orders out on time.


Packaging:
Excellent packing as acclaimed by everyone. I don't think it was a result of packaging but there are some scuffs on the plastic panel of the case. Not a big deal though.

The PC:
Now, the most important part of the review. I received a lot of good advice from DS forums so I'd like to thank those of you who provided answers and insights to my inquiries. Although many suggested the HAF 932, I do NOT regret paying a premium for the Assassin (aka Silverstone FT02) case. It's sleek and beautiful in my opinion so I want to proudly display it. I found the HAF 932 to be very ugly. Anyways, the performance of my rig have far exceeded my expectations. It starts up faster than my laptop thanks to the SS HD. The Noctua and case fans are extremely quiet. I have been playing a lot of Starcraft 2 with all settings set to Ultra, and GPU temps have not exceeded 61 deg C. I haven't pushed the GTX 480 with a game like Metro 2033 or Crysis, but I can barely hear it. Like many, I had trouble deciding between the GTX 480 and HD 5870. What clinched my decision to go with Nvidia? Besides it being a bit faster, their drivers. I have often had issues with ATI drivers in the past. If you're pondering which GPU to get, I vote for the GTX 480.
The processor stays cool between 39-42. I have not had any stability issues thus far and am ecstatic about the 3.9 overclock. Did I mention it's a beautiful case?

Conclusion:
Overall, I am very satisfied with my buying experience with Digital Storm. I could not be happier with my new PC and will definitely recommend them to my friends and buy DS again in the future. However, prepare to be tortured as your build gets to Stage 7. Mine shipped 2 days faster than estimated, and I lost sleep in anticipation of getting my hands on it.

I will post pics in a few days.
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Mr. View Drop Down
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Posts: 510 		  Quote Mr. Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 22 Aug 2010 at 2:46am
ASSASSIN FTW!! AwesomeAwesome
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krappei View Drop Down
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Posts: 18 		  Quote krappei Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 22 Aug 2010 at 11:44am
Enjoy!









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ablahblah View Drop Down
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Posts: 2312 		  Quote ablahblah Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 22 Aug 2010 at 11:58am
congraatz Awesome


Edited by ablahblah - 22 Aug 2010 at 12:00pm
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krappei View Drop Down
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Posts: 18 		  Quote krappei Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 22 Aug 2010 at 12:00pm
Resized...









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Alex View Drop Down
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 22 Aug 2010 at 1:48pm
@krappei,

Thank you for the review and feedback. It allows us to constantly improve Digital Storm for our customers.

I agree that the 'Back to School' sale did constrain our resources, however, I am surprised you did not receive a response at least within 24-hours from your requests. Our staff's goal is to always take care of all requests by the end of the day. Sometimes emails we send to customers tend to get flagged as SPAM/Junk Mail and leaves a customer feeling like we never replied. If you get a chance, please send me an email: [email protected] so I may look into this further to ensure we aren't letting anything slip through the cracks.

I believe a solution to this problem would be an internal message system that a customer could access by logging in to 'My Account.' I'm going to work with the team on this.

Thank you for the great pictures and I'm glad you love your new PC! If you could re-size them to a width of about 800px or 700px I'll get the team to put your review in the 'Customer Reviews' section.
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Sneakerz View Drop Down
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Posts: 386 		  Quote Sneakerz Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 2:50am
Truly amazing. Looking at these pictures has sold me on the Assassin case. I was on the fence about it before, but now I have definitely made up my mind. I just hope that DS is still carrying this case by Christmas when I do order my new DS computer.
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Posts: 216 		  Quote teaiewold Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 4:50am
if they're not carrying the case by then just buy a FT02 and send it to them. i'm not buying my pc till march and want the assassin case. if i see it drop of their configurator by then i'l buy one asap so i can send it to them when i'm ready to build.

Edited by teaiewold - 23 Aug 2010 at 4:52am
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Sneakerz View Drop Down
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Posts: 386 		  Quote Sneakerz Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 6:25am
Yeah that's true. Who know's though, by that time they may have something better instead of the Assassin. Only time will tell.
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Dragoonseal View Drop Down
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Posts: 2247 		  Quote Dragoonseal Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 6:38am
Originally posted by Sneakerz

Yeah that's true. Who know's though, by that time they may have something better instead of the Assassin. Only time will tell.

They already do, depending on who you ask. Chilling
Lilim
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teaiewold View Drop Down
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Posts: 216 		  Quote teaiewold Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 6:42am
please elaborate Dragoon. pretty please with sugar on top :)
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Sneakerz View Drop Down
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Posts: 386 		  Quote Sneakerz Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 7:10am
ooooooo see now you've got the wheels turning, what are they cooking up with new cases?
 
Here's a question, what on earth is the difference between the Assassin and Raven 2? Besides the cosmetic exterior, they are Identical!
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Dragoonseal View Drop Down
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Posts: 2247 		  Quote Dragoonseal Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 7:16am
Oh, heh, I was perhaps misunderstood. I was insinuating that another case that they already carry is better.
Lilim
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Posts: 216 		  Quote teaiewold Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 7:22am
ahhh Dragoon...ya they have some that are better price/performance ratio. i know for me i have to like the look of the case as well since i'll be looking at it for quite a long time :)
 
i believe the raven 2 and the assassin do have subtle differences on the interior as well.
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Posts: 841 		  Quote rholyrag Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 12:12pm
Great looking rig!  Thanks for sharing!
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Posts: 244 		  Quote Invader Mig Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 1:40pm
How's the performance of that case. It looks like it would do a pretty good job of cooling everything.

Edited by Invader Mig - 23 Aug 2010 at 1:40pm
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Mr. View Drop Down
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Posts: 510 		  Quote Mr. Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 2:20pm
The case's cooling looks promising but by like March 2011 the raven 3, FT03, and the new TJ will be out also maybe. the new FT03 looks like a trashcan what what they showed as a prototype so i hope they change it back to a mid tower. The raven 3 looks like its geared toward the teen's because of the many fins on top i hate the stupid blue lines they gave it though and then the new TJ looks nice 
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Invader Mig View Drop Down
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Posts: 244 		  Quote Invader Mig Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 2:56pm
I just got a look at all the cases you mentioned. I don't like the look of the Raven 3, but I do like the layout inside the case. Two 180mm bottom intake fans and 2 optional 120mm front intake. Airflow in that case should be... interesting. The FT03 is indeed a trash can. That thing is hilarious. The TJ11 looks like the Frankenstein of cases. Internal quad rad, is sick. Really interesting looking case. I still think the FT02 is the sexiest of them all though.

Edited by Invader Mig - 23 Aug 2010 at 2:57pm
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Posts: 18 		  Quote krappei Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 10:59pm
Cooling has been exceptional.
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Posts: 2312 		  Quote ablahblah Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Aug 2010 at 11:30pm
Originally posted by Sneakerz

ooooooo see now you've got the wheels turning, what are they cooking up with new cases?
 
Here's a question, what on earth is the difference between the Assassin and Raven 2? Besides the cosmetic exterior, they are Identical!


They are identical interiorally, with the exception that that Assassin/FT02 has a revised and more practical hard drive mounting system, similar to the great, original one featured in the RV01.

Honestly, I would wait for the RV03 though. BIG BIG improvements. SS finally went back to the RV01 on this one, sorta merged what the good innovations were in the RV02/FT02 with what I believe were some much more practical systems in the RV01. Best of both worlds basically. Besides from bringing back the aggressive exterior style of the RV01, it brings in a lot cooler things. For one, it mounts the hard drives not in the hot-swap rack, not in the hard drive rack, no, it slaps them right BEHIND the motherboard panel. What does that mean? FINALLY...7 full, usable 5.25" slots, hoo-ee. Next, it sticks the PSU in the FRONT bottom of the case. No more hanging PSU, that little support bracket on the FT02/RV02 always gave me doubts. Back to the floor, like the RV01, except this time, it's not in the way of ANYTHING anymore! Not in the way of the expansion cards, mobo, and it doesn't add any extra height. Yippee! Additionally, it packs SS's air penetrator line of fans, which I deem more efficient than any other fan right now, but the concept has still yet to be tested. Shows a lot of promise right now. IMO, I'm really jealous of it right now. Maybe I should swap cases, it's pretty much every upgrade and thing that I'd like with my Raven RV01 right now. LOL


Edited by ablahblah - 23 Aug 2010 at 11:30pm
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Mr. View Drop Down
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Posts: 510 		  Quote Mr. Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 24 Aug 2010 at 1:20am
lol except we have no idea when it's going to come out 
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