Buck's TMA-1 DS Black Ops HailStorm

"Buck's TMA-1"   DS Black Ops HailStorm    1 month review

i7 3930K (Level 2 OC @ 4.589 mhz) - ASUS Sabertooth   X79 Motherboard     -   Win 7 Pro (64-Bit )
16 GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX
Corsair AX 1200i Platinum PSU w/ Corsair Link   * upgrade to Corsair White Sleeved Cable set
Drive 1: Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB SSD   -   drive 2:   WD VelociRaptor 600GB 10K rpm
Back-Up drive 3: WD Caviar Black 1TB 7200rpm   -   Optical: ASUS Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer
GPU:   2 x SLI   EVGA GTX 680 CLASSIFIED   - OC -   4GB
DS Mod: Side Window 120 mm Zalman intake fan over GPU set
H20: Stage 4: Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System - CPU Only
XSPC dual slot LCS reservoir / pump - White Tubing - High-Performance Fluid XP
* upgrade to 360 mm Radiator (with 3 x 120 mm Zalman fans – top intake – push config)
NZXT HUE RGB LED Controller set
(3) Dell UltraSharp U2412M e-IPS 24” LED displays - native res 1920 x 1200 (5760 X 1200)
RAZER BlackWidow Ultimate 2013 mechanical green backlit keyboard (MX Cherry Blue keys)
Logitech G9X Laser mouse

After buying a DS Ode level 3 SLI 570 rig in Dec 2011 for my son, I schemed & researched all year on a new Digital Storm rig of my own, and I made good use of the DS Forum vets in addition to all the tech review & gaming sites. Had assistance from DS Customer Experience manager Alex in arranging for some upgrade items that had to be found & ordered in.   Alex answered all my questions & kept me well updated via e-mail on my DS rig’s build progress.   Thanks a bunch Alex!   Those of us lucky SF Bay Area customers located close to DS HQ can avoid shipping & arrange to pick up an order for just a small boxing fee.    As I had with the Ode last year, I picked up my new rig at the DS lobby. Chen at DS does final overclocking & stress testing, and he rolled out my beautiful new HailStorm rig on a cart.   Chen showed me around the new system, answered questions, then boxed up the rig and helped me load it into my suv .   Thanks for the excellent customer service and solid OC’s two years in a row Chen!   

HailStorm’s massive Corsair Obsidian 800D brushed black aluminum case is truly a thing of beauty, and my first impressions were of a certain massive black monolith…lol.    I ordered white tubing & upgraded to a 360 mm radiator with 3x Zalman 120mm intake fans on top for the LCS.   I also upgraded to a full set of Corsair white sleeved PSU cables for a classic black & white interior.   I installed the inexpensive NZXT HUE RGB LED light set ($32 from NZXT or newegg) to add extra lighting & color options, and the LED controller unit also adds small mesh air vents to that front 5.25” optical bay slot. When illuminated by colored case lights, all the white in the case reflects whatever LED color I choose to use, but green is this rigs intended flavor.   I just can’t stop looking at it!      

I have the HailStorm sitting above the desktop on a heavy duty black Safco Value Mate Desk Riser      (30” x 12” x 8”) with a 100 lb rated capacity ($105 on newegg & amazon).   The fan intakes will suck up less dust, and I can see the case window over the triple 24” monitor set.    I can’t stop looking at it!   Case temps have been excellent.   The i7 3930k CPU is overclocked @ a stable 4.489 mhz … runs 32-33C at idle, and 42-58C at load. The warmer top slot 680 Classified temps idle at a cool 28-31C, and at load I haven’t seen them exceed 48C yet.   A single Zalman 120mm window intake fan upgrade supply’s the two big Classified cards with all the fresh air they need to run very cool on air alone.   Gaming on this platform is absolutely amazing, and even @ 5760 x 1200 triple display setup maxing the cards out, I can still turn up most of the eye candy in BF3 and get 50 fps, or Sniper V2 and get 70-80 fps.   This rig barely breaks a sweat and handles all the Win 7 multi-tasking and Adobe Photoshop programs I can throw at it.   Having lot’s of fun with my cool new HailStorm… You can’t go wrong with Digital Storm!

Sweet Jesus that is an awesome rig man  I also plan on multi monitor setup nice pics

Thanks for the nice comments from the forum gang!

Last night I had my son Ben play Elder Scrolls Skyrim on my HailStorm rig. FYI...For you RPG'ers out there and those trying to figure out what certain cards can do in SLI, EVGA PrecisionX noted v-ram use on both 680 Classified 4gb cards in Skyrim was at 2.9 gb, playing Ultra settings with FXAA @ 5760 x 1200 at a smooth frame rate of 60 fps!   I don't play the RPG's myself, but the intricate & detailed artwork and colors in Skyrim are so well done that I really enjoyed watching the artwork go by on triple 24" IPS displays!

Nice rig!!! 

I have that same Koncept Lamp! sweet system

Ah very cool I was thinking of getting another lamp I'll have to go check that one out I live near a Lamp's Plus. Do Like that its Half the price of the Koncepts.