Aventum II: Review

Hey Everyone, here is my review. Borrowing some structure from Evil's review.

Specs
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS Aventum
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Not Available
Processor: Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 3970X 3.5GHz (Six-Core) (Extreme Performance)
Motherboard: ASUS Rampage IV Extreme X79 (Intel X79 Chipset) (Features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s)
System Memory: 32GB DDR3 2133MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 1500W Silverstone (Quad SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 2x (256GB Solid State (By: Samsung) (Model: 840 Pro Series)
Set 1 Raid Options: Configure HDD Set 1 to a Raid 0 Config - Stripe Performance (Requires Two HDDs)
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 2x (256GB Solid State (By: Samsung) (Model: 840 Pro Series)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks <b></b>
Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 8x / CD-Writer 8x) (Slim Slot Loading Edition)
Optical Drive 2: - Not Available
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card(s): 3x SLI Triple (NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN 6GB (Includes PhysX)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: Digital Storm Aventum Liquid Cooling System: CPU + Video Cards + Chipset
H20 Tube Color: Copper Custom
Chassis Airflow: Digital Storm Aventum Automatic Response to Excess-Heat System (ARES)
Internal Lighting: Digital Storm Aventum RGB LED Lighting System

Let me just start by saying, this is probably the most satisfied I have ever been with a purchase.

Design and Engineering
The Aventum II chassis is absolutely gorgeous and massive. I underestimated this at least three fold. 

1.The design is well engineered. This thing is heavy. I was unable to lift by myself and I am a big guy. Just feels solid. Really like the built in thumb screws.

2. The hard drive bays are once again pure steel construction and pull out for simple installation If in the future you add more hard drives.

3. Love where the disc drive is along with the extra usb ports.

4. There are 22 fans keeping it cool and so far on full load I have just got to 60 degrees Celsius. It isnt loud by any means.

5. Love the window on the side. It is like being able to look into the belly of the beast.

All in all the build quality is top notch.

Components and Ingenuity
Now I am talking about the components that are in my PC.

Okay first thing first Every parts that I have inspected is of high quality and the leading parts of all the well known respectful companies.

1. As another reviewer said nothing but the best Bitspower fittings from the top to the bottom on the Aventum II.

2 XSPC's Latest Flagship Radiators "Raystorm"

3. I have a triple loop (please correct me if I am wrong) and you can see how beautiful that is in the pics. The copper piping is a great option and competitively priced at $500

4. Swifttech Water blocks and full cover EK GPU water blocks.

Most companies in the industry will try to cut cost where they can to make that extra dollar. Seems to me as if DS went the extra mile to have quality components as their standard components.

My personal Experience
Last but not least the customer experience was the finest Ive had, and I also reiterate that as a returning DS customer. Big shout out to Alex who was literally there with me at every stage. I think we finished with 108 emails. He answered every question within hours and most times, minutes. Big shout out to the build team, who also called me twice. 

Performance so far
Well I am a big total war guy. Thousands of little troops doing my biding. I also mod the game to have well over 60 thousand little people on screen. My old rig, though able to handle most things was beginning to struggle.

As I said earlier this is where I threw everything at the Aventum II. It peaked at 60celsius as if to say; "Good sir, that is all the crumpets you brought with you?...for I have a much larger appetite"

I really thought if I threw everything, Id find a way to slow it down. I was wrong, and thats fine with me.

Concerns
1.During the build DS thought that they might not be able to do the chipset cooling. Alex basically saved the day there and snapped his fingers and it was done. To me at this stage Alex is the guy who just gets things done.

2. I think everyone worries about shipping. I had it shipped freight and that was one of the best decisions. That crate is solid. It is on a pallet and strapped down. That piece of mind was big to me.

3. I had mentioned in another forum that I was worried about about an inch drop in my coolant levels. (not shown in recent pics but working on it). I think, as another member said this is the system settling. Looked at Evil's rig and in later pics I see same drop. I will keep an eye on this.

4. Just having time to be with it. I told my wife "we had a good run, but Ive updraded". That didnt go well.

Any questions, and Id be happy to answer em.

with out further ado the Pics.

















Edited by bally7 - 24 Aug 2013 at 6:41am

Awesome review, that rig sure is a beauty.

That is one awesome piece of machinery, right there!

Thanks for the pics and review! The shipping box it enormous! Even though I've mocked up the size on mine, I think I'll be just as surprised when it arrives!

Have fun and enjoy your new toy!

That is an awesome review. Thank you for taking photos and all of the kind words!

Congrats man, enjoy it 

Originally posted by bally7 3. I had mentioned in another forum that I was worried about about an inch drop in my coolant levels. (not shown in recent pics but working on it). I think, as another member said this is the system settling. Looked at Evil's rig and in later pics I see same drop. I will keep an eye on this.

My understanding is that it takes time for all the air to come out of the system, so this is normal.

Beautiful rig! I hope you kill lots of bad guys on it! ;-)

No you're right, Danjw1. Especially when you have systems shipped, air bubbles get caught in the radiators. It's not uncommon to see drops in your res.

To help this process speed along, it's actually a very good idea to "lean" your case, back and forth to help get those micro bubbles escape from the radiators.

Gently give it a Good lean to it's right, then to it's left. Then lean it forward, and then lean it back. You won't be doing any harm to your system. Won't be putting any extra stress on the pump(s) or anything. Just a good 45 degree lean or less.

Micro bubbles, won't really hurt though. We're talking maybe a few degree's max, but air bubbles aren't meant to be there.  Any time I refill my system, I spend the day getting bubbles out.  It can take anywhere from a few hours to 2-3 days.. a week max if you tend to your system to get rid of them.

I hear ya. My 900D is loaded up. I just redid my cooling system. Two 480mm rad's, 240mm, and a 120mm. Dual Res/pump as I run two loops with three cards.  You don't have to do a full 45 degree's, but leaning more than just a little will help so much with bleeding your system.

Don't want air bubbles getting into your pump or water blocks ;)

Yeah it runs fine just would like videos of how to take apart this copper tubing but it seems there still are no videos months after i first asked.
Yours running alright?

Originally posted by Evil_intentions Yeah it runs fine just would like videos of how to take apart this copper tubing but it seems there still are no videos months after i first asked. Yours running alright?

Oh, its running like a dream!

Originally posted by Evil_intentions Yeah it runs fine just would like videos of how to take apart this copper tubing but it seems there still are no videos months after i first asked. Yours running alright?

Creating such videos will take some time, it's going to be a process we want to do just right. Until then, if you need any help with your system in terms of maintenance, feel free to contact our team. We can help you with anything.