Model Segmentation

Old DS customer: mid-2011. Gus is still running well (after new fan, new PS, and new non-melted GPU over the years.) But it's time.

I primarily game. I'm not a PC novice, but I haven't kept up. I REALLY don't like fluid running next to AC , so when I found out DS doesn't offer air-cooling anymore, I went and researched every one of their competitors. Most I would never hand money to; none are any better and most are much worse on the business side. So here I am, holding my nose on AIOs after much YouTubing. And I don't really understand the product line-up reasons-for-being.

On the Lynx, Lumos, and Velox lines, what is the one-line distinctive difference between them? I see the case footprints, but after I load guts they're really interchangeable, within a band, on price. The Lumos seems to be all about light shows (I'm not), but offers a Slade X case with solid sides. And so on.

So, what is the core idea of each product line?


Edited by Dino58 - 30 Sep 2020 at 3:23pm

With AMD CPUs, the air option is the very highly thought of Wraith cooler that comes stock with the AMD procs.

With the Lynx, customers can get that RGB you don't care for essentially free as it comes with the case.

I would prefer the Lumos. It's expensive to light it up, so don't. IMHO the 10700K is your choice for CPU. Should easily last 8 years as long as it doesn't die, and we both know the mostly don't. The other two 10 cores are barely any faster (1-2%) and they don't bring anything to gaming for the extra $$. The Intel is about 10% faster than a Ryzen.

Be sure to select an NVMe M.2 SSD for your primary drive. They run on the PCIe bus at 5 times the speed of a SATA drive. The DS Performance M.2s are SATA. Choose NVMe.

Originally posted by hoserator Welcome back. The main difference is that the Velox is an exclusive proprietary DS design and its window is on the right side when looking at the pc from the front. The mobo is upside down with the gpu(s) on the top. The other two models are standard with the window on the left. You can configure the Lynx but it is meant to be a pre-built. The AIO's are a very capable cooling solution and keep the systems running cooler than with air only. (exception would be a Noctua but those are no longer offered because of size and issues on shipping) Hope that helps.

Well, this helped a lot. Thanks. I had not noticed the Velox door is on the right side. My wife would comment on that, but I digress. Right side does not work in my environment. The tower must sit on the left side of my PC desk, so that door would be up against a solid desk. I was interested in the Velox because they advertise it as having better air flow, and I'm committed to air cooling on the CPU.

I wish DS had full, non-beauty shots of each desktop in rotate/zoom format as Amazon does on their site. If I'm going to spend north of two grand I would like some exact, well-lit pictures of what I'm buying. I was trying yesterday to see where they mount the AIO reservoirs after watching an excellent YouTube video about how incorrect positioning can lead to air-binding pumps, and could not find any such photos.

My Gus is nearing 10-years-old with heavy, 7-day use, and still running fine. DS sold me a Noctua back then, and it's a rock-solid beast even today. My temps have never varied. I don't replace PCs every five years, and no site I can find will commit to AIOs beyond six years. I know they fail rarely, but when they do . . .

Anyway. Am I correct that the Lumos has glass all around? I'm still struggling to understand the design trade-offs between the three lines I mentioned. I can't afford the top-end, and the Bolt looks, I don't know, very crowded inside.

The Lynx looks at least OK, but again, I worry it presumes liquid cooling and thus has restricted airflow horizontally.

Edited by Dino58 - 01 Oct 2020 at 7:06am

Originally posted by Cretae With AMD CPUs, the air option is the very highly thought of Wraith cooler that comes stock with the AMD procs. With the Lynx, customers can get that RGB you don't care for essentially free as it comes with the case. I would prefer the Lumos. It's expensive to light it up, so don't. IMHO the 10700K is your choice for CPU. Should easily last 8 years as long as it doesn't die, and we both know the mostly don't. The other two 10 cores are barely any faster (1-2%) and they don't bring anything to gaming for the extra $$. The Intel is about 10% faster than a Ryzen. Be sure to select an NVMe M.2 SSD for your primary drive. They run on the PCIe bus at 5 times the speed of a SATA drive. The DS Performance M.2s are SATA. Choose NVMe.

I hear you on the NVMe. This forum keyed me to to do some research, and there's a clear difference. I'm looking forward to an SSD. My current beast takes over five minutes to boot fully.

Can you describe the Lumos case in 360? I don't like glass in cases, and the photos on the site do a poor job of showing the thing from every angle. Also, internally, does the front panel allow through-and-through horizontal airflow? Or is the case designed mostly as a vertical flow?

Yes, the Lumos case is glass all around, all 4 sides and the top. I find it to be very attractive, lit or unlit. The glass appears to have a very subtle smokey tint to it, i.e., it is not perfectly clear - personally, I like this tinting effect.

The case also has a lot of interior space with great air flow through the 5/8" gaps between glass panels.

Here is a picture of mine with the air cooler installed.
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Originally posted by Bob100 Yes, the Lumos case is glass all around, all 4 sides and the top. I find it to be very attractive, lit or unlit. The glass appears to have a very subtle smokey tint to it, i.e., it is not perfectly clear - personally, I like this tinting effect. The case also has a lot of interior space with great air flow through the 5/8" gaps between glass panels.

A picture is worth 1000 words. Thanks a lot. I didn't know there was an air gap between the panels. This is helpful.

I'm glad you are making air cooling work. The back panel also looks very permeable.

Edited by Dino58 - 01 Oct 2020 at 4:43pm

Originally posted by Cretae The Lumos is a Corsair 570X.

Thanks. I looked at Corsair's site and there are the pictures I wish DS had. The full 360 is enough to show me this isn't the case for me.