Good to go?

Budget:<$2500

Expectations: To play on highest settings at 1080p for a while.

Usage: Gaming only

Here are my questions. 1 and 2 have been answered.

1. Is the dual fan liquid cpu cooler overkill?    Edit. Going for the liquid cooler.

2. Are the DS performance rgb chassis fans listed the ones that would go in the top of the case? The Lynx is listed as coming with 3 rgb front and one rear.

3. Since I’m under budget, should I go for the 980 Pro 1TB? I’ve had my current DS system for over 10 years and have yet to fill a 1TB drive halfway. I’m capable of adding another ssd if I run out of room.    Edit. Going for the 980Pro.


I’ve read quite a bit and I feel the I5-12600k and the 3060ti should be a pretty solid combo for a while.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Saved Ticket #: 4276656

Total Price with Instant Savings: $2,186.00

Chassis Model: Digital Storm Lynx
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i5-12600K (4.9 GHz Turbo) (16-Thread) (10-Core) 3.7 GHz (Alder Lake) <br><strong></strong>
Motherboard: ASUS Prime Z690-P D4 (Wi-Fi) (Intel Z690 Chipset) (Up to 3x PCI-E Devices) (No SLI) (DDR4)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 3200MHz Digital Storm Performance Series
Power Supply: 850W Digital Storm Performance Series (Modular) (80 Plus Gold) <br><strong></strong>
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: - No Thanks
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (1TB Digital Storm M.2 Performance Series) (NVM Express)
Storage Set 2: - No Thanks
Storage Set 3: - No Thanks
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB (VR Ready) <br><strong></strong>
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex Liquid CPU Cooler (Dual Fan) (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: Premium Cable Management (Strategically Routed & Organized for Airflow)
Chassis Fans: Digital Storm Performance Series (RGB Fans)
Internal Lighting: Remote Control Advanced LED Lighting System (Multiple RGB Color Modes)
Airflow Control: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: Option Not Available
Boost Processor: Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking
Boost Graphics Card(s): - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Home (64-Bit)
Recovery Tools: USB Drive - Windows Installation (Format and Clean Install)
Virus Protection: Windows Defender Antivirus (Built-in to Windows)

Edited by andy38340 - 27 Jan 2022 at 11:36am

Y’all are great.

The 980 is going to be in there! Question though. if I add a second drive, can you run games off it or will it just be for storage?

Lastly, do the e-cores count as cores a game could use if needed?

Since I’m still going to be under budget, will I benefit from upgrading to the i7-12700? Best I can tell no games out now will use more than 6 cores, but who’s to say what might come out next year.

Originally posted by andy38340 Y’all are great. The 980 is going to be in there! Question though. if I add a second drive, can you run games off it or will it just be for storage?

You can run games off of any storage you have.

I have three drives in my DS Velox. NVMe as primary (C drive)for OS, apps AND 1 or two games. I have a second NVMe (D drive) with games on it.
Third drive (E drive)is an SSD and I use that drive as storage for music, pictures, videos, odds and ends AND games.

Feel free to install your games on any drive you have, but as Cretae and others have mentioned, I too like to keep my C drive (OS drive) as clean as possible, but the room is there if needed. Best of luck and welcome.

Edited by fwfdfireman - 28 Jan 2022 at 7:30am

My friends have answered your added storage question quite nicely.     

As for your question about the 12700K,if it won't cause you any pain in the wallet, I would get it, just so you know you have another of the best parts you can get right now. Strictly speaking, it's probably not going to be very noticeable, but knowing you have all you can afford to get can ease your mind about such a momentous purchase.