My review of my custom Dreadnaught

So, nearly a month ago I started my quest for a new PC through DS.

Now that it's been about two weeks and I've been able to thoroughly "Break it in" I figured it was time I gave my review of sorts on it.

First the specs:

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master 942 HAF X
Processor: Intel Core i7 4770K 3.50 GHz (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS Gryphon Z87 (Intel Z87 Chipset) (Features Thermal Radar) (MATX)
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 2400MHz Corsair Vengeance Pro (High-Performance)
Power Supply: 1050W Corsair Pro Silver 1050HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: Internal Digital Media Card Reader (Black)
Optical Drive: ASUS Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs) (Model: BC-12B1ST)
Storage Set 1: 1x (256GB Solid State (By: Samsung) (Model: 840 Pro Series)
Storage Set 2: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition)
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN 6GB (Includes PhysX)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Corsair H100i 240mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler (Extreme-Performance Edition)
Chassis Fans: Standard factory chassis fans
Internal Lighting: Digital Storm HydroLux RGB LED Lighting System (Requires HydroLux Control Board & Software)
Airflow Control: Digital Storm HydroLux Thermal Management Control Board & Software
Boost Processor: 4.3 Ghz
Boost Graphics Card(s): Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (64-Bit Edition)
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 4 Year Limited Warranty (4 Year Labor & 2 Year Part Replacement


Upon receiving my new rig I only had a minor gripe here and there, one of the back corners was bent to a point which I had to rearrange back to it's normal position, and the cloth covering on the case built up so much static that when I removed it I shocked myself on the case.

Which being a paranoid person that I am freaked me out for fear I fried something.

Also 2 of the three cable management grommets on the back of the case were missing, which left the holes wide open for dust, etc. So I closed them up with electrical tape since I won't be routing cables through the outside of the case.

Outside of that I was satisfied with the overall condition it arrived in.
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So far I've only had a few hardware issues or oddities since the initial startup:

-The GPU has pretty severe coil whine (It's an obnoxiously high pitched buzzing for those who aren't familiar) when I play high spec games like Titanfall (Which is what I bought this computer FOR).

I've been able to eliminate this issue (Albeit temporarily) by stressing the card out on games like witcher 2 maxed out and just letting it run without V-sync will the noise goes away.

-The SSD oddly makes a chirping squeeky sound sometimes when loading games and programs that are installed on it, which was strange to me since everything I have thus far read told me that SSDs are whisper silent.

I've never owned one before but upon searching online I saw people comparing the same sounds on youtube, seems to be fairly more common than I would've thought, but if it's not hurting anything then no big deal.

-The onboard sound card kept making a staticy crackle when using my turtle beach headset that used a USB amplifier, sometimes unplugging it and plugging it back in fixed it but I opted to just buy a new headset.

Got a Razer Kraken Pro, so far the noise hasn't returned, but I may eventually get an external sound card, not DS' fault though, turns out it's a common complaint for this MOBO and I just didn't know.

Other than that, there haven't been any major problems.
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Now for the fun stuff!

So far every game I have thrown at this beast has performed greater than my expectations and fully 100% maxed out on all settings, which have been:

-WoW
-Diablo 3
-Titanfall (Yes, even on insane)
-Witcher 2
-Borderlands 2
-Starcraft 2

That's all I've really messed with so far, but in order to keep temps below 75 degrees I still tone down some of the settings that I don't find worth the added hardware stress like high values of AA or multisampling.

That said even Titanfall maxed out has only pushed 75 degrees or higher, which isn't bad given the settings. I can easily drop it to 65 with a windowed size which I use when I broadcast on twitch anyway so I can see a chat window.

Though I have also encountered a couple of issues when playing blizzard games where I get a hard freeze for 1-2 seconds and then it goes back to normal, not sure if it's a driver issue or not but I wouldn't be surprised.

Otherwise everything I play is solid, smooth, and awesome looking!
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Airflow:

Now this was something I was concerned about the most, I live in a desert, it was in the 80s here in january, which is why I chose this case.

Idle I run temps between 25-34 degrees depending if the AC is on or not, during average gameplay I get around 45-50 with WoW/D3 and at most 75-80 with high profile games.

The fans on this and the watercooler are whisper silent, even after fiddling with the DS software for the fans and using "Extreme mode" I couldn't hear an audible difference whatsoever.

I mean while sitting on my desk 2 feet away it sounds like a hot rod on idle in my drive way lol, but I'm used to that, plus my headphones cover it up, but cranking the fans higher makes no sound level difference.

So if you want better airflow I HIGHLY recommend this case!
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EndGame:

I'm satisfied with this computer overall and would recommend DS again, I may even pick up a smaller PC for my wife in the next year.

Though I'll be expecting possible delays in the stress testing/shipping process this time

And now for the pics!

Congrats on your new rig and thanks for sharing with excellent pics and a great review!!

WOW what a nice setup! Great review and pics.


I noticed the Pepsi in one of your pics. I learned the VERY hard way to keep liquids away from the computer and everything else related to the rig. In 2012 I had my "Cube" under my desk. I have 3 fans on the top of my Cube. I spilled ice tea on my desk which then spilled into my fans, which destroyed my GTX 590 video card. But I did upgrade when I sent my rig back to DS to repair.

Moral of story from an old lady: BE CAREFUL. Thank you

Originally posted by bprat22 RPGer... I vividly remember that dark moment in the Cube's illustrious history.

Originally posted by ZyloWolfBane Originally posted by oldlady RPGer WOW what a nice setup! Great review and pics. I noticed the Pepsi in one of your pics. I learned the VERY hard way to keep liquids away from the computer and everything else related to the rig. In 2012 I had my "Cube" under my desk. I have 3 fans on the top of my Cube. I spilled ice tea on my desk which then spilled into my fans, which destroyed my GTX 590 video card. But I did upgrade when I sent my rig back to DS to repair. Moral of story from an old lady: BE CAREFUL. Thank you Oh god, that would SUCK! Only thing I worry about sometimes is that desk is like 2 feet away from the window with an AC in it and sometimes it likes to shoot out ice *Knock on wood* I've done a lot of drunk broadcasting and never had a spill so far, I'd be more concerned with this heavy monster tower caving in my table and taking everything else with it lol.

Drunk broadcasting eh, you wouldn't by any chance be Giantwaffle from twitch? LOL