Dreadnought: Digital Storm Review

First, let me say I am not good at writing reviews.  I rarely do them, especially if I am satisfied. 

That being said, I ordered my DSO computer on February 25 after doing quite a bit of research on these forums.  I received feedback from numerous people which helped influence my decision.  After placing my order I was informed that the motherboard I originally chose was out of stock so I picked another and was informed a day later that it too was not in stock.  Finally, I settled on the P67 Sabertooth, which was fine, just ended up costing a bit more than I had wanted to spend.

Now the hard part began.  The waiting.  In hindsight, things moved very quickly from here on out.  I was stuck at stage 5 for around three days, but since this is the QC and stress testing part I didn't mind it so much.

My PC shipped on Monday March 7 and arrived Friday March 11!!!  I was thrilled that I would be able to enjoy it over the weekend. 

The box was HUGE.  I was expecting big, but wow, this thing was gigantic!  I opened it up and the packing was perfect.  No damage, no loose parts, just perfect.  Compared to my last experience with a boutique vendor (cough Alienware circa 2000) this was night and day. 

I unpacked everything and the pc booted right up with no problems.  Not a speck of bloatware, all the drivers were current, accessories neatly packed in the separate box, etc. 

I can not stress how pleased I am with Digital Storm Online.  The computer is a work of art and everything from the wiring and cable management to the overclocking far exceeded my expectations.

Specs:

System Configuration:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master 942 HAF X
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth P67 (Intel P67 Chipset) (Features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s)
System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 750W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (80GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: X25-M MLC Edition) (Extreme Performance)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Hitachi/Seagate (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1.2GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Noctua NH-U12P SE Dual 120mm Fans High Performance Cooler
H20 Tube Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue)
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
CPU Boost: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 4.0GHz to 4.7GHz (Cooling Upgrade Recommended)
Graphics Boost: FREE: Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability
Memory Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
OS Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows 7 CD)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Pre-Install Game: FREE: Hot-selling game with a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 or above graphics card
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Xtra Large)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty


Here are a few sub par iphone pics:









Edited by Kriegaffe - 16 Mar 2011 at 2:24pm

very nice! Post up your system specs

1.445

That is what everyone keeps saying. Talked to DSO and they said it was quite normal for my CPU at 4.5G. I ran prime for 12 hours and the max temp was 70 to 71.

Really don't know if I should be concerned or not. When I was running prime the vcore was hovering in the 1.35 range at idle it's around 1.445. Maybe someone on here can explain what that means.

You're perfectly fine.

I have a SSD in my Haf 922 case. How does DS secure the SSD drive? The bracket adapter I got from the SSD firm does not work in my case.

The reason the voltage drops under load is voltage sag. nothing wrong with it. The more the load is increased the more voltage sag/droop there will be.  There is a thing called load line calibration, that boosts up the voltage to reduce sag/droop, but the way yours is set up is fine

Originally posted by Kriegaffe Originally posted by maxyme 1.445 is the max but it will only go up to it when it is fully maxed out so it is pretty practical. Odd thing is, it idles at 1.45/46 and then when under load it drops to 1.35/34.  Have had it for almost 3 weeks and apart from a few calls to tech support (which were answered promptly) it is running like a champ.One call was regarding the vcore as mentioned above and the second was about the side fan on my HAF X case having a possible short.  Turns out after scouring the forums I identified one of the pins in the molex wasn't making proper contact and all that was required was for me  to push the wire a bit further in.Another picture:

With a 4.5ghz OC realistically your v-core should be 1.325-1.35. Ive got my computer currently at 1.375 with a higher LLC so it only droops down to 1.36 under full load using linx and the new binaries. Basically with ur v-core and tweaking 1.54V is good for 5ghz+ easily. Take that how you want...

Edited by RiceEatin2000GT - 30 Mar 2011 at 1:41am

This is what I was told by DSO as well.  Every chip is different and requires different settings. 

Guess I was a bit unlucky in that mine requires a higher vcore.  I don't leave my pc on 24/7 365 anyway so I was told it is fine.

Thanks Alex!  That is all I care about.  Seems there are too many voltage snobs on the internet.  

what kind of card do you have, a stock or one with a non stock cooler? if you do, did you special order?

Update

Still going strong. Not so much as a hiccup in the 10 months I have owned it. I would order from DSO again in a heartbeat.

Congrats.