Beastly Hailstorm II review!

So it finally arrived yesterday! been waiting forever and I picked it up spent all night and today setting it up and reviewing. This beast of a system weighed in around 75-80lbs which was insane, get help carrying or moving this my back kills! Configuration of the build is below and the review continues.

Config ID: Configuration Name: Q:DSO-501964      
Digital Storm Desktop 501964      1      

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Hailstorm II Edition
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 4770K 3.50 GHz (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth Z87 (Intel Z87 Chipset) (Features Thermal Armor and Thermal Radar)
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX (High-Performance)
Power Supply: 1050W Corsair Pro Silver 1050HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (256GB Solid State (By: Samsung) (Model: 840 Pro Series)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card(s): 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 2GB (Includes PhysX)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty Professional 5.1
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 5: Digital Storm Exotic Custom Cooling System (CPU + 2x Dual Video Cards)
H20 Tube Color: Blue Tubing with High-Performance Fluid (UV Lighting Reactive)
Chassis Airflow: Upgrade All Fans to Corsair Airflow 140mm Performance Edition (Up to 6 Fans)
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (UV) (Creates Glowing Effect for H20 Tubes)
Enhancements: Touch V12XT Aerocool Temperature Display & Fan Controller (Requires Chassis Airflow Upgrade)
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
CPU Boost: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro/Deluxe/Sabertooth Motherboard)
Graphics Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Memory Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
OS Boost: FREE: Yes, Disable and tweak all of the non-crucial services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Medium)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited

So let's start by saying these systems take a long time to build and ship, however they're worth it! Here's my breakdown as far as Stages. Because I worked yesterday, I had to go to FedEx Ground to pick it up before the weekend.

Stage 1 - 6/12/13
Stage 2 - 6/20/13
Stage 3 - 6/20/13
Stage 4 - 6/24/13
Stage 5 - 6/24/13
Stage 6 - 6/26/13
Stage 7 - 6/26/13
Shipping - 6/27/13
Delivered - 7/5/13

If you DO NOT have help carrying or moving this box, start working out now, it's a beast especially carrying or "pushing" it up stairs, lol.


This box is HUGE!


The packaging was awesome, props to DS for hot foam(which got all over the place) and the system was in great shape when I took it out of the box.


Keep the box in case you need to send it back to DS.


Setting it up finally!


Not sure what this piece is to I looked all over, but it fell off when I placed the computer, anyone know?


I told DS that I wanted a blue/black theme which they did very well, HOWEVER I wish they had changed the Corsair fan rings to blue, inside the case took me forever to get them installed and broke a bunch of the red rings and some blue trying to fit them in without the fans having issues or getting stuck(I left the top fans red as you can barely see them)



If you want to get the top of the system off, there is a little tab inside the system farthest toward the glass window, took me forever to figure out how to remove the top(nice mesh feature and grille inside)



Full system side shot, I was a little upset that one of the tubes travels through the back of the system(down below and up around back to CPU), I will be moving it inside and around in a more "stylish" manner soon.



Dual rads below and above the system, amazing cooling!


Rear wiring shot, neatly tied however any little movement of wires and certain fans/lights/etc shut off, I carefully moved everything and retied the wires. DS did properly label all of them.


One con was the way DS set up the lighting in the system, There were 2 UV cold cathodes on the top of the system, however the top rad blocked almost all light, so I moved them and will be purchasing about 2-3 more to light the system better. Also I need to figure out how to connect additional cathodes since the UV need voltage inverters, and Im not sure how I will be able to install them all to the same switch? =( anyone have ideas?




In the process of moving UV cathodes, and added some Mayhem UV Green dye to my liquid cooling, simply unscrew the top port with the allen wrench provided and add as many drops as you need!


You can see I requested a special cylinder reservoir instead of the regular hidden or box reservoir, love this look and style.



New placement along with some other cathodes will make the system look much better, blue UV zipties also make the system look a little nicer ;)


Fan control looks nice, however the fans can only be controlled individually =\, looks like I'll just leave them on automatic. Installed my DVD drives, VERY EASY! Wires were all set just slide in and they lock!



Hot swap HDD bays are horrible, Corsair should've made these much better, they're flimsy and plastic really hard to get drives in with the case blocking certain areas, wires are tough to attach in the back as well. had my own 1&2TB backups so I installed them myself



Soundblaster Fatality sounds amazing with the new Logitech 5.1 surround system I purchased separately. Easy as plug and play and set up how you want the sound, this card is much better quality I feel than onboard.


SLI GTX 770 h2o cooled, Going to have to get myself some clear waterblocks to show off the liquid!


Finished system, setup and running! Mods to come soon already ordered parts ;)



Booklets, spare parts, game codes, CDs, tools, etc everything comes in two neatly organized boxes. ZIPTIES DS, I needed a ton of extras lol.




System is running cool cool! Love it, the Touchscreen display on the front of my system also alerts me when certain temps are reached CPU, VGA, HDD, SYS. Also props to DS bumping my i7 4770k up to 4.5GHz and running stable, this thing is lightning fast!!


Pros:
--Quiet system, can't hear anything even at full load
--CPU OC is stable, cool, and FAST!
--SSD is lightning fast highly recommended
--Packaging was the best I've seen, fragile system and arrived in great condition, heat foam got all over the place though! lol
--Right out of the box the system needs a few tweaks however I'm picky, for an average user It boots right up and works great!
--Corsair 900d case is AMAZING! I love it, I thought it was going to be too big at first, but the amount of room and airflow it provides is insane, and it looks awesome! Easily modified also.
--Chipset, RAM, fans, etc were all installed properly with no issues, great functionality
--h2o system looks great, color choice depends on user and color dye can be added for a neat effect! FrozenCPU has everything!
--GPUS can be easily installed and cooled with little hassle
--Customer service was incredible, always helped me with issues and problems along the way, kept me up to date with changes and shipping, prices and reviews on products, GREAT company!
--Fans are quiet and cool the system

Cons:
--ZIPTIES! lol include extras
--If you upgrade to the Corsair fans(color rings) make sure to specify which color you want installed, PITA to install once in case, broke alot of the rings.
--Hot swap and HDD bays are crappy, not DS fault but Corsair =(
--Wiring, I spent alot of time redoing alot of the wires either due to being pinched, twisted or not long enough to reach certain sata or power points.
--Lighting! Include more cathodes and install them in better locations they're cheap! lol
--Tubing locations on some areas could've looked nicer
--My side window has alot of scratches and buff marks in it that won't come out(this was a big con as the lights reflect off the scratches due to either packing materials or placing it down wrong, etc.)


**Overall I am very happy with my system, The good outway the bad and the bad are just little things because I am so picky. This computer is amazing and I'm happy I waited and did research and chose DigitalStorm over other companies. I will be back for other systems and questions in the future to come. The parts, quality and build of this system are all showroom material, I am proud to say the system was built by DigitalStorm and recommend them to everyone. If there are any questions please let me know and feel free to provide info or feedback!

               Thank you!
                      Garrett aka Nerek387

Nerek387,

Thank you for posting such an epic review with so many pictures and details! I'm glad that you're happy with the system.

In regards to your cons:

1. Window: feel free to contact us, we'll try to get you a replacement window to take care of that for you.

2. Fan Color Rings: The fans normally come with red rings, but, I'm going to send our team a message to make sure we automatically are matching the ring colors to what the customer picks for tubing/lighting.

Thanks again for your awesome review!

That system looks awesome. I see many happy hours gaming on that.

Thanks everyone! It's been a great system so far! Couple of little changes and moving parts around and viola!

-Alex, thanks for all your help and input over the past few weeks, and your welcome I was happy to share my process and system, the rings were rough I'm sure future customers if request certain colors will be happy to have them pre installed lol. As far as the window that would be great, it's not a BIG deal however i tried cleaning and getting rid of the scratches and marks but they won't come out.

HyDRO, for now nothing too crazy as far as mods.

-I would like to move the tube from the rear of the system into the front however that would probably require a drain of the liquid system which I don't really feel like doing right now.
-I did purchase a few 12"&6" UV cathodes with inverters, blue UV reactive zipties and blue UV reactive ziptie mounts. Going to place the lights throughout the computer make sure I bring out the vibrant colors!
-as far as the waterblocks, hinges, etc I'll be holding off for quite some time, they are really all for show and this system looks great as is



Edited by Nerek387 - 06 Jul 2013 at 9:50pm

Awesome build!

Hope my system looks as good when I get mine. I do like the cylinder reservoir and may have to ask for one of those instead of the standard hidden style. After seeing this, I now know what to specify better when having mine built.

A sweet looking system.

Thanks folks! Always nice to hear compliments about the system, I just can't wait until my new accessories come in! Tinker time

Oh you have no idea benchmarks I'm crushing with this rig zero problems and runs so cool too! Barely hitting 50c at full load with any component!. Can't wait to see your rig make sure u put up pics

Honestly I'll just sit indian style on the floor sometimes looking at all the components pondering what to do next(tmr i have a new 5.1 speaker setup and more cathodes, etc arriving) going to take it apart and start messing! My replacement window is also shipping so no more scratches or buffed window!

Just got some parts in today wanted to show everyone a few little things i added. Of course there was NOT enough light that DS included with the rig i bought so i took things into my own hands, installed 4 12" UV cathodes w inverters connected to 1 main switch in the back. Used blue UV zipties and blue UV ziptie mounts. I have an additional 2 6" cathodes not sure where to install them, anyone have cool ideas?

 

What a great looking computer!

Enjoy your gaming on that system!

Like the lights that you added on the front... Might be something I'll do with mine after I get it...

Absolutely awesome build!  I did a bit of research before finally settling on a configuration for my hailstorm II build, which is now at stage 4 :)  I really like your coloring choices.  The glow from the liquid in the reservoir - that's the clear fluid, but it's UV reactive, right?  I didn't opt for adding dye to mine.  On my current machine, which I built myself three years ago, I used clear tubing with one color fluid for the CPU cooling loop, and another color for the video cards loop. 
Have you made any other changes / additions to the system?