Considering 3rd DS purchase

Hi guys,

2-time DS customer (2012 Oden, 2015 Bolt 3) considering my 3rd purchase. To any who are familiar w/the Bolt X or maybe for a DS employee: What's different with the Bolt X compared to the older Bolt 3? Also I'm considering the storm blue exterior paint finish + custom blue cables: does this combo go well together or do the blues not really match?

In general, any ways to improve this config or is this good enough to last me till 2025ish? My current Bolt 3 is still going strong (changed my 980Ti out for a 1660 Super a few months ago) and I plan to donate it to my dad who also games.

Budget:
$4K (trying to stay a few hundred below and maybe squeeze a new monitor in as well)

Expectations:
Gaming PC for the next 5+ years

Usage:
Mostly gaming

Special Needs:
None

Specifications:

Chassis
Chassis Model: Digital Storm BOLT X
Exterior Finish: Exotic Paint Finish - Storm Blue
Trim Accents: Edge to Edge Premium Acrylic

Core Components
Processor: Intel Core i9-10900K (5.3 GHz Turbo) (20-Thread) (10-Core) 3.7 Ghz
Motherboard: ASU STRIX Z490-I Gaming / MSI MEG Z490-I UNIFY (Wi-Fi) (Z490 Chipset) (Mini-ITX) (Up to 1x PCI-E)
System Memory: 32GB DDR4 3200MHz Digital Storm Performance Series
Power Supply: 800W Digital Storm Performance Series (Modular) (80 Plus Platinum) (Supports up to RTX 3080)

Storage / Connectivity
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (512GB Samsung 970 PRO) (NVM Express)
Storage Set 2: 1x Storage (2TB Seagate / Toshiba / Hitachi)
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)

Graphics / Multimedia
Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce RTX 3080 10GB (VR Ready)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio

Digital Storm Engineering
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex 240mm Liquid CPU Cooler (Fully Sealed + No Maintenance)
HydroLux Tubing Style: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
HydroLux Fluid Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
Cable Management: Exotic Cable Management - Blue - (Cable Combs with Custom Color Sleeved Extension Cables)
Chassis Fans: Standard Black Fans
Internal Lighting: Remote Controlled Advanced RGB Internal + Front Panel LED Lighting

Digital Storm TwisterBoost Technology
Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU - Up to 4.7GHz on All CPU Cores

Software
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: USB Drive - Windows 10 Installation (Format and Clean Install)
Virus Protection: Windows Defender Antivirus (Built-in to Windows 10)
Office: Microsoft Office 2019 Home & Student (PC Attach Key PKC Only, No Pre-install)

Originally posted by Cretae I don't know much about your Bolt questions. I do know they run hot due to form factor, and I wouldn't add to that heat with the unnecessary overclock. It is useful for productivity sessions that routinely use multiple cores, but doesn't help gaming much as the TURBO feature helps there when needed. If you wanted to save some money, you should get the 10700K CPU. The extra 2 cores on the 10900K don't do anything for gaming either, and the 10700K is neck and neck with both 10 cores as far as raw gaming speed. The higher end procs won't contribute a thing you would ever notice. That proc is good to go for about 8 years out without bottlenecking anything IMHO. Everything else is fine.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll make those changes