Prator's Hailstorm Review

Future and Current Digital Storm Owner's allow me to steal a few minutes of your time. What follows is not your ordinary computer, but a computer that transcends it's brethren. It is not your normal computer, no, rather it is better. Ladies and Gentlemen boys and girls I present to you my review of my Digital Storm Customized System. Enjoy!

On October 20th @ 1800CST I completed my order with James here is what I got:

First thing I noticed was that my name was spelled wrong, but I promptly submitted an e-mail via the Digital Storm website and relayed my problem. Within no time at all (about 24 hours) I got an e-mail notifying me of an account update and my named was spelled right this time, Feliciano. I was very impressed by the prompt and hassle free service.

I immediately posted these specs on the boards to get the opinions of the resident experts and quickly found that this is what I should have done FIRST! The configuration you see above was my initial configuration, but not the end result as I had to correct a few things. My initial decision on my power supply was a bad one. When I called I had it set in my mind that I wanted the Corsair listed above, but James talked me out of it (opting for better cabling, higher wattage, and whisper quite design of the Enermax). After hearing what resident experts had to say and what one of the engineer's had to say my mind was pretty well set. All of a sudden I felt as if I made a terrible choice that was irreversible. I had read about the Enermax and had heard about it's incompatibility problems with the classified boards and promptly called and had the intent of changing the PSU. James assured me there wasn't any problem with this PSU, but after further discussion on the forums I called DS again and had James change the PSU back to my original choice, the Corsair 1000W.

All of this aside the wait began. Here is the time line I experienced:

October 20th 2009 @ 1903
·    Stage 1 Payment Processed. Build Sheet produced

October 23rd 2009 @1711
·    Stage 3 - Order placed in specialized test bench. OS, Drivers, and Software installed

November 2nd 2009 @1922
·    Stage 4 - Phase 1 Stress Testing Completed. Order begins to be assembled by a dedicated engineer

November 10th 2009 @1944
·    Stage 5 - Phase 2 Stress Testing Completed. Final batch of test to ensure stability commences

November 17th 2009 @1201
·    Stage 6 - System has moved into Quality Assurance ensuring a perfect system

Nov 17th 2009 @1652
·    QA passed.

Testing Details By: Chris
-------------------------------------------

Overclocked Processor Settings

Processor Speed GHz: 3.8
CPU Multiplier: 20
Voltage CPU VCore: 1.38125
VDroop Control: Yes
i7 - BCLK MHz: 181
i7 - Voltage QPI\DRAM: auto
i7 - Voltage QPI\PLL: auto
i7 - Voltage CPU VTT: 200
i7 - Voltage IOH Vcore: auto
i7 - Voltage ICH Vcore: auto
i7 - Voltage IOH/ICH I/O: auto
i7 - PWM Frequency: auto
780i/790i - Memory Clock Mode:
780i/790i - CPU FSB MHz:
780i/790i - Voltage FSB:
780i/790i - Voltage SPP:
780i/790i - Voltage MCP:

Motherboard BIOS: S61D
Video Card Driver: 191.07
Chipset Driver: CD
Sound Card Driver: CD

Nov 17th 2009 @1823

• Computer left the DS facility and is on route

Nov 21st 2009 @1121

• Computer delivered and signed for

Total Time Elapsed
     Build -  4 Weeks exactly
     Date of Order till Delivery - 4 Weeks 4 Days

FedEx didn't have it properly orientated in the truck or when he set it down despite what the side says



The unpacking begin.







Original Disc, Custom Image Disc, Memtest disc, and mobo disc




Just look at this packing job isn't this crazy awesome, A+ guys!







This case just blows my mind. Even as I type this I can't believe how awesome this case is.























Amazing wiring job










Out of the Box these were my numbers


Currently Running Like this


My Desktop just for fun


All in all I couldn't be more happy. Turned this puppy on and immediately started slamming it with everything I had and it didn't flinch one bit. There was one minor gripe, but it was a simple enough fix. I don't Fold so it took me a while to track down my heat, choppiness, and unexplained CPU cycles. Once I isolated the Folding as what was bringing my computer to a crippling halt I immediately disabled it.

Another thing you'll notice is I did add in my own Soundblaster X-Fi Titatnium Fatl1ty Pro Series. I would have ordered it from DS, but I already owned it. I highly recommend this card to anyone looking for a dedicated sound solution.

One other thing for others to consider is that practically no USB wireless network adapters work with Windows 7 64 Bit, most claim that they assumed 32 bit would be popular in the fine print so they don't currently support 64 bit even if it says windows 7 compatible. I went through every brand before finding my solution on a Linksys forums about an unrelated topic. The solution a wireless Ethernet bridge which bypasses the OS 64 Bit driver problem.

In the end my DS experience was awesome and I  highly recommend this system to any and all prospective buyers, don't even mess around with the other boutiques DS is all you'll need forever!




Edited by Prator - 08 Dec 2009 at 11:27pm

nice ;)
you should move the cathodes to either side of the window

nice rig!!! Enjoy!!!

The Space Needle from EMP? I like that Background....

As for fluid, 3/4 of an inch from top is fine. Thats how I run my system too.

And yes... when I move (the 19th of this month) I will FINALLY post pics of my beast.

Sweet rig...! Love the stealthy look of your Corsair and that big topside rad.

*Salivating*

sweet rig, gotta love the hailstorm case..it's my personal favourite, hope you have a lot of fun with that machine

"One other thing for others to consider is that practically no USB wireless network adapters work with Windows 7 64 Bit, most claim that they assumed 32 bit would be popular in the fine print so they don't currently support 64 bit even if it says windows 7 compatible. I went through every brand before finding my solution on a Linksys forums about an unrelated topic. The solution a wireless Ethernet bridge which bypasses the OS 64 Bit driver problem."

Prator,
How do you like your rig so far? Has the performance met all your expectations?

To answer the questions I love my system. I love it so much I've been using it every day and I still can't believe how fast it is. The beast can handle anything I throw at it and not even pause for a second. I enjoyed it of course up until it practically died on me on Dec 23rd @ 2:45CST

When I tried to resume the system from hibernation mode it hung for about 35 minutes before I called it and did a hard boot. Upon restarting the system will hang at the windows 7 logo for about 10 minutes which is definitely not typical. After getting into windows the Intel array software tells me that one of the WD 150GB velociraptor drives is failing in my OS Raid 0 (really wierd as those drives have crazy MTBF and unprecedented reliability). I have since booted 3 or 4 times into windows with no problems, but I am disinclined to boot anymore as every boot could be my last. I contacted DS on Dec 23rd and tried to get Tech Support. I left my name and number with a brief description of the problem and I have yet to hear anything back. Given the long weekend most businesses observe I can understand the delay.

I'm unsure how DS handles the returns, but since the drive isn't completely dead I'm hoping to clone it before I have to ship it back. Thus preventing any unnecessary data loss. Granted all my games and applications are on my data drives I still have picture and music that I haven't had time to back up since I've only had the system under a month. I'm thinking about buying another 150Gb drive to clone it with and have DS send me another one. Then I'll have another drive that I can make a hot swap drive in case of future failures(hopefully not anytime soon). I'm still unsure as I haven't talked to Tech support, but I'll decide after I talk to them.

I will let everyone know how things are going once I am back to operational status. My review of the system is still positive I just don't think it could of happened at a more inconvenient time. I guess all i can do now is wait.

Not an issue at all. We'll take care of it.

Edited by Alex - 28 Dec 2009 at 12:03pm

Awesome, sounds like a plan!

First let me say I called DS about 2 weeks ago at about 4PM and I got a phone call back about 7 PM same day. A DS rep logged into my comp and verified that the bad reading that the intel matrix array was giving was a false positive. More than likely the drive had bad data on it from a previous hibernate state. All my test came back fine and he unflagged the error. Took about 30 minutes total, but I did ask a few questions I had been meaning to ask for a while and he was happy to oblige. So A+ on all fronts DS as everyone keeps saying you guys rock!

@Statman11
I love Windows 7. I found my intitial problems with the USB wireless internet drives frustrating and a test of my patience, but that has since been resolved. I use Windows 7 (64 Bit) and I don't even think twice about it being a new OS. Not one single complaint from me.

Interesting feedback!