My DSO Review

It is finally here.

Just got my order from FedEx yesterday. Spent the evening hooking it up,
installing programs, running benchmarks, and playing Starcraft 2 well into the
night.

Here are the specifics of my order:

System Configuration:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - HAF 922
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
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: 750W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (80GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Extreme
Performance) (Model: X25-M MLC Edition)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200
RPM) (SATA)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL /
Network Connections)
Video Card(s): - No Thanks, I will be installing my own video card(s)
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: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue)
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
CPU Boost: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Cooling
Upgrade Recommended)
Graphics Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Memory Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
OS Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Pre-Install Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: Logitech Internet 350 USB Desktop (Multimedia Keyboard + RX300
Optical Wheel Mouse)
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Large)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is
Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 1 Year Hassle-free Hardware
Service

Sub-Total: $1,641.00
Tax: $0.00
S&H: Ground $65.00
Grand Total: $1,706.00





Here is the timeframe of placing the order to receiving it:



Order Placed – 7/12

Stage 1 – 7/12

Stage 2 – 7/14

Stage 3 – 7/14

Stage 4 – 7/14

Stage 5 – 7/14

Stage 6 – 7/21

Stage 7 – 7/21

Shipped – 7/23

Delivered – 7/29



They called me during stage 5 to let me know that they ran
out of the noctua cooler I ordered and would be getting it in the next day. All
in all, ~10 days from order to shipped is still pretty impressive. It was
supposed to be delivered on the 28th, however apparently the FedEx
driver’s truck broke down. Needless to say, I was very unhappy for a day not
knowing what was going on with the shipping (I didn’t know about the breakdown
until the driver told me about it when he delivered it the next day), but all
is well that ends well I suppose.



The System:



First off, let me say that the packaging DS does is top
notch. I didn’t get any pictures of it as I had just gotten off work and was
too eager to get the thing running to worry about snapping photos, but you can
see some good pics in some of the other reviews. I am definitely saving
everything for my move down to school.



Since I had to pop in my own HD 5870, the first thing I
noticed was the wiring. The wire wrapping they use makes everything look
absolutely great, and I was very pleasantly surprised to see the two 6-pin PSU
connecters for my graphics card sitting there waiting for me to plug it in.
Here are a couple pics of the wiring:




Back of case:





The PC itself is beyond incredible. The SSD was a great
investment, thank you everyone on the forums for recommending it. The OS boots
up immediately, and having some space for apps and current games is exciting.
(Definitely recommend the 80gb version if you can fit it in your budget). I ran
3dmark vantage, and the scores were exactly where they should be. (I forgot to
take a screenshot, but the scores were nearly identical to the ones in the
review of the HD 5870 on Tom’s Hardware). I was very happy to see that when I started
up SC 2, it defaulted me to absolute maximum settings. I was also very happy to
note that the machine is eerily quiet. The noctua fans are essentially silent, and
the HD 5870 makes very little noise as well, even when stressed.



I know windows score is pretty meaningless, but I was still
excited to see mine was a 7.7. My 3.83Ghz overclock and RAM were at 7.7, with
my graphics and SSD at 7.8.



All in all, I can not be any happier with my purchase from
Digital Storm. The thing looks and runs like a beast. If you want a prebuilt
PC, do NOT look any further, these guys are the real deal. I, like many
browsing the site, was originally going to order the parts from newegg and
build it myself. But when I saw the difference was only ~$200, I knew it would
be more than worth it to get the thing professionally built and overclocked, along with receiving access to Digital Storm's excellent lifelong customer service and a good warranty.
 
I know now I made the right decision. Here are a couple pics:






Edited by Compulsion - 15 Aug 2010 at 12:54am

Congrats, Jack's son, Rob!

Edited by Dragoonseal - 30 Jul 2010 at 8:57pm

Thank you for the review! I edited your post to remove some weird funky characters.

If you could please re-size the photos we could then add you to the 'Customer Reviews' section.

Not sure how to resize pics and i am too busy playing starcraft atm...

Any chance you guys could do it for me?

Congrats on the great system, I think I might need to stopp coming tot he forums for a while, this waiting for their latest cooling technology is killing me...and these pictures just make me drool !