Dreadnought Review! (update in last post)

Hello everyone! :)

I am brand new to DS, only found it a few days ago; in fact wasn't super set on buying anything, but when I saw that Dreadnought... well, I had to have it. :P

4/9/12 Edit: Without further ado, here is my detailed (but incomplete) review of my experience with DS:

March 22 - Submitted purchase at 1:14AM*, received email almost immediately. Second email came in reminding me to contact my bank to avoid delays as well. A nice touch.
     10:06AM - John emailed me to let me know that the fans I chose were actually a downgrade from the stock fans and that it would cost more than the normal price to change to larger ones. I emailed him back a bit confused. A few hours later he personally called me to explain. I quite appreciated that.
     11:05AM - Updated order confirmation email & Stage 1 reached
Quote from original post: "I just put in the order last night and I'm already impressed! I've been emailed 5 times and called once already to confirm my order, make sure I call my bank to prevent delays, clear up some confusion about their LED fans... literally I was emailed as soon as they opened!"

March 26 - A member of the forum reaches Stage 5 even though he placed his order after mine. Upsetting since his computer is a more complex build. Left a comment in the thread and sent out an email. Received a reply to both, but was never told specifically why mine was taking longer than this other computer.

March 27 - Stage 2 and then Stage 3 reached. Hoping things will pick up.

March 28 - Frustrated that it's been 5 business days since my purchase and I'm in Stage 3 when the previously mentioned guy jumped to Stage 5 in three. I think I wouldn't have been so agitated if I had known what was going on. I'd have been perfectly fine with someone telling me: "We are out of stock of this item." or "We placed a part in your computer and it snapped in half." or even "We have lots of priority builds that have to go out first before we can get to yours." It was the lack of knowing WHY it was taking longer rather than the actual time frame itself that bothered me.

March 29 - Resolved to not think about my computer anymore because being upset wasn't making it finish any faster. On the bright side, later that day Stage 5 was reached. Starting to feel excited that my computer will come soon.

March 30 - No progress. Really bummed that I'd have to wait till Monday for updates.

March 31 - Was surprised with an email for Stage 6. Turns out DS stayed open on Saturday to work on computers. Now I'm pumped. Really hoping my computer will ship out on Monday.

April 2 - Stage 7 is reached. Didn't know this stage existed so I was a bit sad my computer had not been shipped. Know it will ship soon though..

April 3 - Tracking number received. Frustrated though because 1 - previously mentioned guy has already received his computer and 2 - my computer does not arrive till April 9 (my fault for picking ground..)

April 7 - Computer finally arrives in Texas, but will not be out for delivery till the 9th.

Not much else to say until I get further along, but here's my specs for your curious eyes:

Chassis Model: Cooler Master 942 HAF X
Processor: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 (Intel Z68 Chipset) (Features Intel Quick Sync Technology)
System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 600W Corsair CX600 V2
Expansion Bay: Hard Drive Hot Swap Bay (EZ-Rack)
Expansion Bay: Internal Digital Media Card Reader
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Seagate Barracuda (7200 RPM) (16MB Cache)
Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Internet Access: Wireless PCI-E 802.11n Up to 300Mbps (Supports 802.11n/g/b) (Model: ASUS PCE-N15)
Video Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 1GB (Includes PhysX Technology) (EVGA 01G-P3-1460-BR)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Corsair A50 120mm Fan High Performance Cooler
Chassis Airflow: Upgrade Chassis With 1 Backside LED Performance Fan (Red)
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Red)
CPU Boost: Standard Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Automatic Overclocking



*Times converted to California time zone

Edited by Minka - 22 Apr 2012 at 11:18pm

Depending on your budget and needs, the 2500K is a great CPU for gaming. In strictly gaming only sessions, there is virtually no performance benefit from the 2500K and 2600K with the GTX 560 graphics card.

Congrats on your purchase! Be sure to show us pictures when it arrives 

I saw in a couple places in the forum that people recommended not to get the Turbo Boost for the CPU, but instead to buy the overclock. Should I take off the Turbo Boost even though it is free?
Also since I didn't mention it before, I'm going to be using this computer for RPGs (like Skyrim) and some light photo editing in photoshop, that's all. Not planning on overclocking or dual-monitoring or anything.

Edit: oh, also going to be recording gameplay with Fraps for YouTube

Edited by Minka - 27 Mar 2012 at 2:58pm

Hi Minka.......your question on turbo boost versus overclocking......turbo boost is built into the Cpu, overclocking is an added enhancement that gives the chip a higher gaming performance, just to clarify.     Oc stage 1 would've ve been nice but not necessary.      You have a nice rig being built by Digital Storm.        The waiting is tough.     Keep us updated and good luck

I'm looking forward to the photos!

Here's an update to my review which I will move to the main post at a later time. Pics are suspended indefinitely because I'm too busy trying to get my computer to work right to bother with them yet..


4/9/12 Computer arrived. Box is HUGE. Like huger than huge. Uber excited.
Spend about an hour slowing unpacking it. Get it set up and turn it on. "Windows did not shut down correctly, would you like to system restore?" Not a great start but.. okay. Download Portal. Am not able to run it on high settings, but don't worry about it too much. Go about my merry business, run Morrowind, run Fraps, everything is hunky-dory. Until I open Windows Movie Maker. Get the PSOD. Freak out. Open the computer to try to reseat the graphics card. Notice the window is scratched up... Over the next few days I fiddle with it but am unable to stop the PSOD. Find out its a driver error with the graphics card. Why wasn't this caught in testing??
Buy a 3TB hard drive. It refuses to work in any of my slots. Dig through the BIOS, recruit boyfriend to fix it, Nothing. Refuses to work.

I am not a happy camper.

@ Minka,

Indeed DS is fantastic on after sales support.  Simply give them a call with as much information as you have available.