My First Custom PC Order Just Placed!

Hello folks,

Just placed my first custom PC order (and hopefully my last computer order for a long time). I've tried to set myself up with a build that has the infrastructure to power through lots of games now, but allow me to upgrade graphics, ram and storage over time (future proof). I like good sound also but didn't select sound card as I have high-end external DAC/sound system.

My core build philosophy was to invest in best CPU I could, 2nd best GPU and good motherboard, while allowing for upgrades in the future. I specifically chose Velox for the quality case and the pro liquid cooling so I can fully OC the GPU/CPU and easily connect better GPU down the road.

I rely on cellular internet as I'm out in the country but I get 5G service and have unlimited data. I plan to buy a blu ray optical to reduce need for large downloads/watch movies. I chose 2 SSDs with Raid 0 as I don't plan on storing sensitive data. I may plug in an external hard drive to backup my system if that changes.

Interested to hear your feedback on below build/my strategy and if you see any errors I made that I should ask to have changed before DS finishes building this for me.

Thanks and excited to be joining the DS family.

Kind Regards,
Rosh

Chassis Model: Digital Storm Velox
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i9-9900K (5.0 GHz Turbo) (16-Thread) (8-Core) 3.6 GHz
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z390M GAMING EDGE AC (Wi-Fi) (Intel Z390 Chipset) (microATX) (Up to 2x PCI-E Devices)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 3200MHz Digital Storm Performance Series
Power Supply: 850W Corsair RM850x (Fully Modular)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: - No Thanks
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD (500GB Digital Storm Performance Series)
Storage Set 2: 1x SSD (500GB Digital Storm Performance Series)
Storage Set 3: - No Thanks
RAID Config: RAID 0: Striping: Performance, But No Data Fault Tolerance (Requires 2 Identical HDDs)
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8GB (VR Ready)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: H20: HydroLux PRO: Exotic Custom Cooling System (1x Graphics Card + CPU)
HydroLux Tubing Style: Flexible Tubing (Requires HydroLux Liquid Cooling System)
HydroLux Fluid Color: Green Fluid + Clear Tubing (Requires HydroLux Liquid Cooling System)
Cable Management: Exotic Cable Management - Green - (Cable Combs with Custom Color Sleeved Extension Cables)
Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Remote Controlled Advanced LED Lighting System (Multiple RGB Color Modes)
Airflow Control: Digital Storm Thermal Management Control Board & Software
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
CPU Boost: Stage 2: Overclock CPU - Up to 5.1GHz on All CPU Cores
Graphics Boost: Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability
OS Boost: Yes, Disable and tweak all of the non-crucial services on the operating system
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: USB Drive - Windows 10 Installation (Format and Clean Install)
Virus Protection: Windows Defender Antivirus (Built-in to Windows 10)
Office: - No Thanks
Mouse Pad: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Branded Gear: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

Originally posted by Snaike Excellent! and Welcome to the DS family! .. there is one thing that you need to change immediately, though... you need to go back and verify that your ordering email and your forums email are an exact match (case sensitive like a password). If you do that you get to sport one of these neato "Verified Customer" badges that all the cool kids wear.

I verified and everything appears exactly mirrored. What do I do now?

Two NVMe drives in Raid 0 will give you a barely noticeable performance boost at the risk of losing all your data. Not a very good trade-off IMHO. Plenty fast enough as is.

As to the fans I really don't have interest in the RGB effect as I'll already have LED lightning inside. If I go with the RGB it's a big price jump and I have to upgrade to the commander as well, and I'm not sure it would interface with the liquid cooling system?

Figured with the liquid cooling the base fans should be fine and could always upgrade fans down the road with something quieter.

Just found the Velox case is out of stock for at least 4 to 5 weeks and being offered Lumos instead. I could take downgraded case and purchase the Maximus Hero card, Corsair Ram and Evo Plus M.2 storage. What is the actual performance gains I'll get with the Maximus motherboard? I don't ever plan in doing dual Graphics cards, etc.

Savings on case should make up for some of the cost. Too bad I really like that Velox.

Edited by Roshambo - 18 Jan 2020 at 5:40am

Originally posted by Roshambo As to the fans I really don't have interest in the RGB effect as I'll already have LED lightning inside. If I go with the RGB it's a big price jump and I have to upgrade to the commander as well, and I'm not sure it would interface with the liquid cooling system? Figured with the liquid cooling the base fans should be fine and could always upgrade fans down the road with something quieter. Just found the Velox case is out of stock for at least 4 to 5 weeks and being offered Lumos instead. I could take downgraded case and purchase the Maximus Hero card, Corsair Ram and Evo Plus M.2 storage. What is the actual performance gains I'll get with the Maximus motherboard? I don't ever plan in doing dual Graphics cards, etc. Savings on case should make up for some of the cost. Too bad I really like that Velox.

I was on the phone with them about 30 minutes ago and was told they expect tbe Velox cases next week. I can't vouch for it but that's what I was told
R

Made the changes you recommended and modified OC to save money since I can do that on my own later.

Thanks for the help. Went with Lumos since Velox waiting list is 5 weeks and I'll see the RGB better with Lumos.

Digital Storm Desktop - Config ID 2834495 Quantity: 1 $4,368.00
- -- PROMOTIONAL LIMITED TIME BONUS DISCOUNT: $400 Quantity: 1 ($400.00)

System Configuration:
Chassis Model: Digital Storm Lumos
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i9-9900K (5.0 GHz Turbo) (16-Thread) (8-Core) 3.6 GHz
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero (Wi-Fi) (Intel Z390 Chipset) (Up to 3x PCI-E Devices)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 3000MHz Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro (RGB Light Bar)
Power Supply: 850W Corsair RM850x (Fully Modular)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: - No Thanks
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (1TB Samsung 970 EVO PLUS) (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 2080 SUPER 8GB (VR Ready)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: H20: HydroLux PRO: Exotic Custom Cooling System (1x Graphics Card + CPU)
HydroLux Tubing Style: Flexible Tubing (Requires HydroLux Liquid Cooling System)
HydroLux Fluid Color: Green Fluid + Clear Tubing (Requires HydroLux Liquid Cooling System)
Cable Management: Exotic Cable Management - Green - (Cable Combs with Custom Color Sleeved Extension Cables)
Chassis Fans: Corsair LL Series (RGB Fans) (Software Controlled Effects)
Internal Lighting: Remote Controlled Advanced LED Lighting System (Multiple RGB Color Modes)
Airflow Control: Corsair Commander PRO Management Control Board & Software (1x Board)
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
CPU Boost: Stage 1: Overclock CPU - Up to 4.7GHz on All CPU Cores
Graphics Boost: Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability
OS Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: USB Drive - Windows 10 Installation (Format and Clean Install)
Virus Protection: Windows Defender Antivirus (Built-in to Windows 10)
Office: - No Thanks
Mouse Pad: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Branded Gear: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

Congrats Roshambo,

Having recently received my system I thought I would share some info that might prove helpful especially if you also live in a colder climate.
DS shipped my system because of Winter temperatures with the coolant drained. You will want to refill to about a half inch to inch from the top of the container(s),I have an Aventium and it was only one tank to refill. The no coolant was a surprise as well as how to refill it. Grab the container(s) and apply lots of pressure to prevent the bottom of the container from turning as you unscrew the top. Or you will get alarmed with the water leaking as I did.
If you decide to overclock your processor some more I can send you a link to a nice video that makes it painless. I am running my 9900 KS at 5.1 with reasonable temperatures.

I will get that video link to you, but it appears with yesterday's upgrade to Microsoft Edge chromium all my saved tabs were trashed. So, I will search for it and hopefully post it tomorrow.

Originally posted by HockeyBuck Originally posted by Roshambo As to the fans I really don't have interest in the RGB effect as I'll already have LED lightning inside. If I go with the RGB it's a big price jump and I have to upgrade to the commander as well, and I'm not sure it would interface with the liquid cooling system? Figured with the liquid cooling the base fans should be fine and could always upgrade fans down the road with something quieter. Just found the Velox case is out of stock for at least 4 to 5 weeks and being offered Lumos instead. I could take downgraded case and purchase the Maximus Hero card, Corsair Ram and Evo Plus M.2 storage. What is the actual performance gains I'll get with the Maximus motherboard? I don't ever plan in doing dual Graphics cards, etc. Savings on case should make up for some of the cost. Too bad I really like that Velox. This is the 2nd big delay of the Velox case shipments we have heard about ...the first was in December.    Fortunately, the Lumos (Corsair Crystal Series 570X ATX case) is also a fantastic ATX case.   I purchased a 2019 Lumos my son uses, and it’s a very effective airflow case design.    Amazing tempered glass surround. Neither the DS Thermal Control board nor the Corsair Commander module are required gear for your build...   HydroLux Pro cooling works independently and doesn’t need them to keep your CPU and GPU frosty.     The Corsair Case fans are better designed for max air pressure to push air through your coolers reservoir, and are of higher quality in addition to the longer warranties and lights on board.    The ML are the best quality fans you can buy and should last the longest and be the quietest due to the no friction Mag Lev bearings.    They both come with a Fan Expert Pro module that allows Corsair software to control & syncs all Corsair RGB lights.    iCUE software allows you to design a personalized color scheme, also allows you to turn the lights down or off.   The Corsair fans are also extremely quiet if quiet matters at all.    As to motherboards, they host and facilitate your build, and power handling flows through and is controlled by them.    The top end mobos like the ASUS Maximus have stronger power handling capacitor sections made for Overclocking that tends to make them wise choices for long term durability.    That can mean higher frequency more stabile Overclocking performance for your CPU.   The ASUS Maximus also includes a small Q-Code lcd reader screen right on the board to provide coded explanations if problems occur....which can be a huge timesaver in determining what may be wrong..   Q-Code readers are only found on higher end motherboards.    If you don’t care about any of that, then at least go with a better quality full featured midrange ATX gamers board like the ASUS ROG Z390 Strix (no WiFi) or MSI Z390 Pro Carbon (WiFi).

A question. I see the commander pro for sale at 60 bucks but DS charging 134... would you go with the commander or invest those dollars elsewhere? Still not sure what advantage I get with commander vs included node.

Thank you. Will stick with Commander then.

Thank you!

Thank you very much for the help. Look forward to watching all of this and learning more about the PC.

What type of game interests you? First person action shooter? Adventure. Role Playing? Strategy? Sport? Do you want to play multiplayer games online?

Stage 5. Wait has been long but I think worth it.