Digital Storm vs Ibuypower vs CyberPower

I've been tinkering with builds at all 3 of these sites, plus newegg. The prices are so compettive it's crazy. I originally wanted to build my own, but after the price comparison...well, I'm very tempted to go with a shop.

Edited by Dalthius - 28 May 2010 at 11:57pm

comparing those places to DS is like comparing couple of rocks to a diamond.

I would never buy from Ibuypower or cbp, they are crap, what you are buying is a headache and crap customer svc.

for ssd intel is king then vertex and corsair.

5970 is in internal sli, so you really are dealing with 1GB of vram, it also runs hot and gets out performed by 2 x 5870.

for your res I would go either with 1 x 5870/480.

if you want to be able to go cf/sli then for 5870/480 you will want accordingly 1000w/1200w psu.

90% of your noise will come from the gpu's fan when under load.

we buy our pcs from places like DS because we can upgrade the parts instead it lasting 3 years, as the games need more gpu power, we can either add another gpu or just get a new gpu in 2 or 3 years and enjoy our games at high settings again.

your build needs to be like this:

Here you go Ticket# 410265 --- Price: $2297 (To see this build click here) Price after current promotion $2297

Copy of Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master HAF 932
Exterior Finish: - Not Available
Trim Accents: - Not Available
Processor: Intel Core i7 930 2.8GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 LE Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 1000W Corsair (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - Not Available
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (80GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Extreme Performance) (Model: SSDSA2MH080G2R5)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Seagate/Hitachi/Western Digital (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 22x / CD-Writer 48x) (LightScribe Edition)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Noctua Dual 120mm Fans High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i7 Processors)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Enhancements: - Not Available
Chassis Mods: - Not Available
Noise Reduction: - Not Available
Boost Processor: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Cooling Upgrade Recommended)
Boost Video Card: - Not Available
Boost Memory: - Not Available
Boost OS: FREE: Yes, Disable and tweak all of the non-crucial services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - Not Available
Office: - Not Available
Benchmarking: - Not Available
Install/Test Game: - Not Available
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: FREE PROMO: 4 Year Limited Warranty with Life-Time Customer Support

oh drop the os tweak, it makes no difference to games and apps.

Edited by DST4ME - 29 May 2010 at 3:18am

I can't say the 5970 is the fastest card on the planet when it gets beat by 480 in gta4 or any games that need more then 1GB of vram, and 5970 is overkill for that res unless he is playing crysis or metro, and even then he is not getting great fps. but other then that ya it is the fastest but if you don't need the extra power then you won't notice it, 5970 is more for 2560 x 1600 res.

I don't think its a good idea to pay for a 750w psu now and then pay for another psu again in a year or so and then pay for installing it or go thru the trouble of installing it yourself.

psu is something you get at the time of the build, why pay twice for a psu?

Edited by DST4ME - 29 May 2010 at 3:49am

I've more or less decided to go with DS. Leaning toward a build w/5870, potential to Crossfire in the future.

Good decisions on both counts, Dalthius! Buy before the Promo runs out. you won't regret it.

2Cigars, I like the build you put together. Drop it down to a 5870, add a beefier power supply, and I may just pull the trigger....hmmm....so tempting to wait, but the free 4 year warranty is a good deal. Grrrr.

Edited by Dalthius - 30 May 2010 at 7:31pm

Excellent post Cretae, thank you very much. I'm going to do a little bit more research myself (trust, but verify, I always say), but hey, if an 80GB Intel will get the job done, that saves me some $$$ that I can spend somewhere else.

I'm sold on the 80GB HD. I mean, really, ok, I can load a few games a little "zippier". Not that big of a deal, surely all my games on my 1TB drive will run fine. It's a psychological thing more than anything else.

the "assassin" has easy to remove filters, and it has a 90 mobo rotation so it can use less fans and still pump out and pretty decent air cooling. just gotta watch out for the quick releases, forget using them and just use regular screws, trust me on that.

Edited by ablahblah - 30 May 2010 at 11:11pm

This is the final build I'm contemplating. Only possible change would be the case, between the HAF 922 and the Fortress 2, a difference of around $150.

Edited by Dalthius - 30 May 2010 at 11:57pm

if you are not gonna go cf in the future and don't need no more then 2 free pci slots with the 5870 installed then go with the micro mobo.

if you do plan on going cf in the future then that build will not do it for you.

if you want to be able to go cf in teh future then use my config as a base.

and no matter what you do never go with DS certified psu, always go with corsair or enermax here when it comes to psu.

some games are large so if you have any of these games and the 80GB is not enough for you, then go with the 160GB intel, if you can't fit that in the budget then go with a vertex or corsair ssd you will be ok, I have vertex LE myself, for your use you are not gonna notice too much of difference and not having had an ssd you will be shocked by the speed anyways, Or you can just wait and add a ssd later, its real easy and takes 2 minutes, in the future you can get a faster ssd for a better price. Intel is gonna have new ones out end of the year I think. If you want the king of ssds then you want intel.

You don't have add the ssd now, ssds/hdds are the easiest thing in teh world to add at anytime.

Edited by DST4ME - 31 May 2010 at 4:11pm

Originally posted by DST4ME if you are not gonna go cf in the future and don't need no more then 2 free pci slots with the 5870 installed then go with the micro mobo. if you do plan on going cf in the future then that build will not do it for you. if you want to be able to go cf in teh future then use my config as a base. and no matter what you do never go with DS certified psu, always go with corsair or enermax here when it comes to psu. some games are large so if you have any of these games and the 80GB is not enough for you, then go with the 160GB intel, if you can't fit that in the budget then go with a vertex or corsair ssd you will be ok, I have vertex LE myself, for your use you are not gonna notice too much of difference and not having had an ssd you will be shocked by the speed anyways, Or you can just wait and add a ssd later, its real easy and takes 2 minutes, in the future you can get a faster ssd for a better price. Intel is gonna have new ones out end of the year I think. If you want the king of ssds then you want intel. You don't have add the ssd now, ssds/hdds are the easiest thing in teh world to add at anytime.

Wait, what is wrong with the DS certified PSU?  I already ordered my system, and when I talked to sales, the representative told me that DS thoroughly researched everything and always use the best quality parts possible.  And they say the DS certified PSU is a high performance quality part, and I should not worry about them using cheapo no-name stuff.  And now you are saying, to quote you: "no matter what you do, never go with DS certified psu."  Whats going on here?

I already ordered my system with the DS certified psu.  Should I be worried? 


Edited by god - 29 Jul 2010 at 9:47pm

They aren't bad at all, if your on a budget, they are a good choice since you'll be able to put that saved cash into other upgrades in your system.

If they were bad, we would not offer them. The last thing we want to do is sell customers unreliable units because in the end, our goal is to ensure our customers are happy with their systems and come back for their next PC again.

 avoid ATI like the plague unless you want to deal with worse IQ and driver issues every month.I got burned on my first ATI card a few weeks ago, and I'm NEVER buying ATI again.

Honestly, each company has had bad times with drivers, and you're gonna experience them with either.  I've heard dudes say they're never gonna buy nvidia again because of driver problems and I've heard some say the same about ati just like you liq.  But, to not buy from either of the companies just because of that is a really bad reason, and could possibly harm you in the future by missing out on quality products.  The ATI cards are great and even at almost a year old now can still compete with the gtx 480, and to know that around the corner they have a new card that will feature part of the newer architecture, but since TSMC screwed up with the 32nm process it will still have to be at 40nm.  Yet, with these cards around the corner you would say you'd never buy ATI again isn't smart.  These cards might wallop the 480's.  The same goes for nividia.  They will continue to expand on fermi and unlock the true potential of the architecture, so never say you won't buy from either company just because of driver issues.  They both have them, and they probably always will.