New Digital Storm Customer (and Bolt X owner)

Hello to everyone out there in DS-land. Thought I'd pop in and give my impressions on my recent purchase. I've owned my Bolt X for about 3 weeks now, and I am quite fond of it. I've owned machines that could be described as powerful before, but none that you'd actually call sexy.

The Bolt X is sexy.



C'mon, those are some sexy internals. I always used to make fun of my friends when they named their computers. But I'm naming mine Natasha.

(I also used to make fun of LED and RGB lighting as useless and gimmicky, but clearly, I got passed that)

I went for a fairly high(ish) end machine but didn't go too crazy: 16GB of RAM, i5 w/ no overclocking, and a GTX 1070, SSD only. In the end, my machine priced out to around $2100.

Three weeks in, and I haven't run into any issues. Natasha runs very well, and not surprisingly, runs circles around my previous machine with its aging GTX 780. I'm also impressed with how silent this computer is. Very nice. It's also really nice to have a computer that won't beep angrily at me and refuse to boot up like my previous one would do sometimes.

The rational part of my brain tells me the first thing I should get installed is some anti-malware. The gamer part of my brain tells me that can wait until after Steam is installed.



You can see which part of my brain won out. A man has to have his priorities straight.

Anyway, to break down my impressions of my DigitalStorm experience:

The Good

Very stylish, aesthetically pleasing design. This is easily the nicest looking machine I've ever owned. Everything from the case to the interior components used, cable management, etc. is really pleasing to look at.

Everything works as it should. Build quality from what I can see is excellent and DS seems to have done a great job putting everything together. The computer runs well and laughs at every game I've thrown at it so far. Everything I've seen so far fills me with confidence that this machine will last me a good while.

Having a PC built for you is definitely tops when it comes to convenience. No fiddling around with settings or having to install windows yourself. And of course all the troubleshooting has already been done for you.

The Bad

The LED strip at the backend of the case came loose the day after I got Natasha setup and running. Not that big a deal, really. Just opened up the side panel and re-affixed the strip. But it's happened a total of three times since I've owned this rig. Mildly annoying to have to deal with on a $2000 plus dollar order, but ultimately it's pretty minor as issues go.

The remote that came with my Bolt X (for the RGB lighting) feels a bit cheap and I'm worried about its longevity.

OK there's just no getting around the fact that having a machine built for you is going to cost more than building it yourself (been there, done that, and currently I don't have the space to do it properly). That's just the way it is, and you have to decide for yourself if the extra price is one you're willing to pay. Speaking for myself, I'm willing to pay the extra $$$ required and I'm guessing the majority of the people posting here would agree. But it is a valid consideration for anyone that might be considering a purchase. All of that said, the quality of my Bolt X seems to be very solid.


The Funny

In the box there was a binder with some tech specs and other papers. Whoever did the 3-hole punching on all those pages didn't quite manage to center it and...well, I just find it amusing that you have these people who can do an excellent job building a high tech piece of gaming gear but have trouble with a 3 hole puncher. But I guess they're high tech wizards, and not office workers.

Final Thoughts

Would I buy another one in the future? Possibly. It would depend on my living situation at the time, and how much free time (and space to work) I had. But if I were in the market for another pre-built whenever that time comes, yes, I'd definitely consider another one from DS. Would I recommend a DS computer to a friend? Sure, especially given some of them really don't want to build their own computers.

(Actually I did recommend it to one friend but he ultimately decided to hold off until next year for any purchase decision)

So to sum up, I am enjoying my new Bolt X very much. Don't regret the purchase at all and I would say I am a very satisfied customer.

This post turned out to a bit longer than I planned, so I'll end it here. And here's one last shot of Natasha, this time in Agents of Mayhem mode:

Edited by HarryK - 17 Sep 2017 at 8:18pm

Really like your system

Could you post a photo with no angle
would love to see a straight on side picture.


   Sexy ! Indeed
   


You are one Lucky Gamer


Congrats !!

Very nice review and that is one sexy machine.

Natasha is a great name for it.

Congrats and enjoy.

Originally posted by Alex If the LED strip keeps coming off, contact our support team and we'll send you a new strip to fix this. Also, the remote is quite sturdy, if it fails down the road we will happily replace it for you.

OK I will keep both of those things in mind. Hopefully I will not need to take you guys up on either offer, but the extra peace of mind is nice to have, so thank you.

Originally posted by Alex Great feedback and comments, will share with the team.

Yes, please do. It really is a nice machine.

In a week or two, I'll probably remove the side panel for some cleaning (it's pretty, but does pick up dust it seems) and I'll try to remember to take a straight on picture from the side when I do that.

I like more room between parts, the x seems to be bigger

Beautiful case.
First thing I thought of was Boris and Natasha from Bullwinkle. Yup Im old.

Originally posted by HarryK OK, I can see that. I have seen pictures and videos of the Bolt 3 before and those things were...petite.

You should see the inside of a Bolt I.

Update: the RGB strip inside my case remains in place. I have now jinxed it and it will require attention again shortly. Probably tomorrow morning.

Two month update for those that are curious: Natasha is still running smoothly, and many games are being crushed underfoot. A lot of games default to maximum or near max settings, but I often knock things down a few pegs just so I can stay above 100fps and take advantage of my high refresh monitor. Otherwise, if I keep things at the highest settings, a lot of modern games will happily run at around 50-60 fps on my GTX 1070. Obviously there are exceptions like, say, Agents of Mayhem (poorly optimized) or GTA V (just really demanding).

I am also happy to report that after the last time I had to fiddle with it, the LED strip remains firmly in place.

Thanks. Keep on playing.

Very nice thanks for the update

Glad to hear all is working out boss, its always good to hear what happens after you guys get the pc and have had it for a while.

Originally posted by HarryK Originally posted by bprat22 Nice.    Are you running a 1080p or 1440p Monitor ?   I like to see what graphics card can run at what resolution.    My guess is 1080p. Thanks. I recently moved from 1200 to 1440. I'm currently gaming on an Asus PG279 and it is beautiful.

Nice

So turns out I became slightly less lazy this evening.




Side view. This is the normal orientation of the case with the GPU at the bottom and exhaust fans up top.

Even with both GPU fans going, the computer is quite silent. Whatever noise is being generated isn't loud enough to be heard over whatever noise my speakers are putting out at any rate.

 

Originally posted by bprat22 Nice shot. With the cpu Air cooler you won’t have to worry about leaks or a pump going bad. Good choice.

It's not the beefiest aircooler I've had, but it seems to be doing the job just fine. And I'm not overclocking so I'm really not worried.

Originally posted by HarryK Originally posted by bprat22 Nice shot. With the cpu Air cooler you won’t have to worry about leaks or a pump going bad. Good choice. It's not the beefiest aircooler I've had, but it seems to be doing the job just fine. And I'm not overclocking so I'm really not worried.

If I'm not mistaken you have the same air cooler as my Bolt I, and it's given me reliable temps and no issues for nearly 4 years. 

Looks great congratulations. I have original Bolt looks like but end year upgrading. Seem reviews on YouTube curious on your thoughts of the right side USB ports do the cables get in the way?
But I know the quality of the systems made by DS, only issue I’ve had with mine is fan issues, but work around it.