HailStorm: My better late than never DS reviewPost Date: 2011-08-12 |
Post Reply
|
Author | |
McStrav
Groupie Joined: 25 Aug 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 137 |
Quote Reply
Topic: HailStorm: My better late than never DS review Posted: 12 Aug 2011 at 7:13pm |
I recieved my DigitalStorm PC back in mid December, however as life does it usually gets in the way of extreme gaming and computing, but because I'm an Engineering Student my work wasn't thrown easily on the back burner so here I am now giving my thoughts on what is ultimately
the best PC I have ever owned. The specs are as follows
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS HailStorm Edition Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz (Quad Core) Motherboard: EVGA X58 SLi 3 Edition (Intel X58 Chipset) System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 1200W Digital Storm Certified (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition Highly Recommended) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (40GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: X-25V Edition) (Extreme Performance) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Hitachi/Seagate (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache) Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: Wireless-PCI N 300Mbps (Supports 802.11n/g/b) Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB (Includes PhysX Technology) Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 6: Sub-Zero LCS Dual Loop: CPU & Dual SLI/CrossFire Video Cards H20 Tube Color:White Tubing with High-Performance Fluid (UV Lighting Reactive) Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans Internal Lighting: - Internal chassis lighting system Boost Processor: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Cooling Upgrade Recommended) Boost Video Card: FREE: Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 4 Year Limited Warranty Now onto the review, if you were to ask me what i thought about this computer 3 months ago I would tell you it's the best damn workstation I've ever owned, Google SketchUp, AutoCAD and a plethora of other programs that I use for school and work run extremely well no issues to be found here. However, I didn't get this computer just so I can be more efficient in my work life, I got this computer to do some serious gaming and HOLY CRAP does it ever exceed my expectations, every game I've run from Starcraft to Crysis 2 Ultra Upgrade and everything in between runs buttery smooth. Crysis 2 Ultra I run at 1920x1080 everything maxed and 16xQ AA and no framerate issues whatsoever. The computer is simply and in a word perfect, no issues, no problems just sweet perfection. Now onto DSO themeselves, the customer service that I was given was far and away the best experice I've ever had with a PC vendor, everyone I dealt with went out of thier way to ensure that each question and each request no matter how big, small or silly were answered in a thoughtful and professional way, I give Alex and everyone at DigitalStorm the highest marks in customer service and they have certainly made me a customer for life. Now what about the negative side, everything has to have a negative side right? Full disclosure I'm Canadian and this computer was delivered to me in the middle of December, odds are temperatures were around -20 or -30'C on the date of delievery and once I got my shiny new machine I noticed there was a great deal of condensation present, might I suggest thermally insulated shipping crates for your frozen neighbors to the north In all seriousness DSO has far exceeded my expectations as a Company and the PC that was built blew my mind in every way. Thank you so much this computer is exactly what I wanted. Pictures Edited by McStrav - 16 Aug 2011 at 6:20pm |
|
|
|
DST4ME
DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Aug 2011 at 7:22pm |
Nice clean beauty Congrats
|
|
RiceEatin2000GT
DS Veteran Joined: 02 Oct 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1699 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Aug 2011 at 8:41pm |
very nice
|
|
|
|
Alex
Admin Group Digital Storm Supervisor Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 16312 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Aug 2011 at 8:55pm |
Awesome review! Thank you for taking the time writing it up and posting the pics. |
|
McStrav
Groupie Joined: 25 Aug 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 137 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Aug 2011 at 8:57pm |
I'm the one who should be thanking you, you and your team did an amazing job
|
|
|
|
Tidgxor
DS ELITE The Kokopelli kid Joined: 17 Sep 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 13000 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Aug 2011 at 9:44pm |
Massive congrats,
I ordered my DS monstrosity back in early/mid December as well and its running strong, no hitches thus far. I had a very small issue with condensation as well, however, I wasn't near to the temperatures you were at, only around -4.5C, but I'm glad it worked out with no problems! (mine had no issues either) |
|
My Two Digital Storm Rigs: Mr. Bojangles (HAF-X, 2010) & Mrs. Bojingles (Bolt I, 2013).
|
|
coolmasta
Groupie Joined: 28 Jan 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 241 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Aug 2011 at 10:27pm |
Wow that build is beautiful! That beast will rock for a long while I'm sure!
|
|
I7 2600k @ 4.5 Ghz, Noctua D14
8 Gigs Corsair 1600 HAF 922 Evga Gtx 580 |
|
McStrav
Groupie Joined: 25 Aug 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 137 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Aug 2011 at 11:17pm |
A few more pictures
Below is a look through the window on the 800D case, I just love how clean it looks and so well organized And here's a look at the excellent cable managment job they did |
|
|
|
RiceEatin2000GT
DS Veteran Joined: 02 Oct 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1699 |
Quote Reply Posted: 12 Aug 2011 at 11:34pm |
love it!
|
|
|
|
McStrav
Groupie Joined: 25 Aug 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 137 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Aug 2011 at 12:59pm |
Thanks man
|
|
|
|
Unlicensedhitman
Groupie Joined: 25 Aug 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 292 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Aug 2011 at 10:44pm |
nice pc and nice table, where did u buy that computer table?
|
|
Digital Storm xm15 laptop
-15.6" (1366x768) -Windows 7 HP 64-bit -Intel Core i5 2.4 Ghz -Nvidia GeForce 330GT 1GB + Intel HD w/ Nividia Optimus -6GB DDR3 ram -Intel 80GB SSD -Intel Wireless N 6300 |
|
McStrav
Groupie Joined: 25 Aug 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 137 |
Quote Reply Posted: 13 Aug 2011 at 10:46pm |
Honestly, I got it at Wal-Mart, $99 lol
|
|
|
|
surf71zx
Groupie Joined: 07 Jan 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 485 |
Quote Reply Posted: 05 Sep 2011 at 2:56pm |
Thats the best routing of your water lines I have ever seen come out of Digital Storm!!!! Did you request them to run your water lines up over the top and across and down like that? I havent seen another build like that at all. Iam sending mine back to be up graded with the CRYO-TEC cooling.Iam going to have it water line routed just like yours. Looks awesome!!!!!!!!
|
|
DST4ME
DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
Quote Reply Posted: 05 Sep 2011 at 3:32pm |
Not sure what you mean, he has lc on both cpu and gpu, so the top line are for top rad and cpu and the bottom lines are for gpus.
the tec is only for the cpu, and keep in mind it will have its own psu on top of the system psu so make sure your circuit in the house can support it. |
|
surf71zx
Groupie Joined: 07 Jan 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 485 |
Quote Reply Posted: 05 Sep 2011 at 5:04pm |
What I meant was the way the cpu water lines run across the very top of the Corsair case.My water lines from my cpu run in front of my ram fan which makes it look cluttered . How big of a of a circuit breaker do I need for my breaker box ? Got any idea? Ive heard this mentioned , but no specifics.
|
|
DST4ME
DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758 |
Quote Reply Posted: 05 Sep 2011 at 5:18pm |
I see so you mean your lc setup is kinda like mine (in my sig) vs his.
but his setup is different then ours, his res and its placement, rad and its placement, are all different, well mine is at least. but if you have a light setup you can ask them to run it however you like. its not the circuit breaker, the circuit itself needs to handle it, what size psu do you have in the system itself? Edited by DST4ME - 05 Sep 2011 at 5:18pm |
|
surf71zx
Groupie Joined: 07 Jan 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 485 |
Quote Reply Posted: 05 Sep 2011 at 9:15pm |
1200 watt modular Corsair. I was told by Digital Storm there going to add a separate 500 watt psu to power the CRYO-TEC. FED-EX picks my computer up tomorrow to go back to Digital Storm for new modifications. Iam going to ask ALEX if it will qualify for pictures to be taken for system of the week.Be shown here on community forum.
|
|
Post Reply |
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |