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Obstacles to Buying from DS

Post Date: 2009-09-01
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NuWatts View Drop Down
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Posts: 15 		  Quote NuWatts Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Obstacles to Buying from DS
    Posted: 01 Sep 2009 at 9:23pm
I really wish my first post on the Digital Storm forums could have been a glowing review of my awesome new system, but I am - unfortunately - encountering many obstacles that prevent me from placing my order.

Since my current computers are quite old, I haven't been keeping up-to-date with all the newest advances in computer technology and gaming.  After spending about a week reading tips and reviews on tech-savvy sites, and after hearing about Digital Storm for the first time, I decided I was finally educated enough to decide on a system to purchase.

I checked out DS's pre-configured systems (which best fit into my ~$2,000 budget), and finally thought I found one that would work for me (after I extensively compared it to similar computers from other companies and decided I would save more and get better quality with DS).  Still, I'm a very cautious person, and I'm trying to get a system that will easily last me 5+ years, so I wanted a little help to make sure I was making the right decision.

The "Live Help" feature was unavailble at the time because it was late at night, so I decided to just send the following message:

Hi there, I'm finally looking into purchasing a new computer after my previous HP desktop has lasted me for 5 years.  Unfortunately, I've been out of the gaming loop for a few years simply since my system couldn't handle the newest stuff any more, so I'm not entirely sure what I need.  My primary concerns are lots of hard drive storage, fast start-up, and upgradeability.

Basically, I want another computer than can easily last 5+ years.  I just need some help to make sure I'm not buying more than I need, and that I'll be able to do what I want with this computer.

I can be contacted pretty easily through e-mail, but I'm also available to answer calls on my cell phone [I provided my cell #] after 8:00pm CT.  This is the first time I've considered Digital Storm, so I'm looking forward to the possibility of buying here!  Thanks ahead of time for your help.
I got an e-mail response in less than 12 hours, which was impressive, but the content of the message didn't meet my expectations, which had perhaps been unreasonably raised by reading through this forum.

Here's the response I got:
Hey,
I would have to say to take a look at our pre-built system they would be perfect for you, If you have any questions please give me a call.
Best Regards,
James
Digital Storm Online
1-866-817-8676 x1 for sales
Well, of course I was looking at the pre-built systems.  That's what I needed help with!

Anyway, I figured I might as well take "James" up on his offer an call up DS's sales department.  Unfortunately, they were closed - it was past their business hours.  This was a little shocking to me.  With so many positive reviews emphasizing customer service, how could DS not have a 24-hour phone service?

Well, I decided to give them another chance.  I attempted to call them the next morning, but then I realized that their opening time (9:00am PT) is already after I am at work.  In fact, my work schedule will completely prevent me from being able to contact DS through phone since I work Mon-Fri, 8:30am - 5:00pm (PT).

My last resort was to try contacting them during my short lunch break.  Again, no luck - I just got a message saying that they were experiencing a "heavy number of phone calls," followed by a prompt to leave a message.  I hung up because I knew there was no time I was available that they would be able to contact me.


Slightly disappointed, I decided I might as well go ahead and purchase the pre-built system I had selected since I was pretty confident it would match my needs.  But alas!  The pre-built system I wanted ("Back To School" - "Enthusiast 2" - $1,720) had disappeared from the list, only to be replaced by a virtually identical system (only difference is that it's overclocked to 3.8GHz instead of 3.75GHz) for $102 more.


Simply put, I need some help here!  I feel like I'm being punished for trying to make an educated decision, and I'm frustrated at my inability to contact anyone with Digital Storm.  This forum is the only other way I could think of to contact DS and get a helpful response.
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dantehermara View Drop Down
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Posts: 33 		  Quote dantehermara Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Sep 2009 at 9:33pm
I'm sure alex will pop in here any moment to help you there was a post earlyer about how busy the phone lines and employees are I havn't even bought from ds yet but I already trust them come october thats when I will buy my system I know my money is in good hands
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Alex View Drop Down
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Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Sep 2009 at 9:45pm
@NuWatts,
 
Thank you for taking the time to write a post.
 
We've been very busy lately, and there are solutions coming to some issues of getting a hold of us. It's not that easy to quickly add more quality phone staff reps to help our valued customers. But, a fix is on the way.
 
From analzying your post, I am assuming you need help on why the configuration went up $102 more, and all you noticed as an overclock increase. This isn't actually true, there were more updates done:
 
1. Power supply brand upgraded.
2. Motherboard model upgraded.
3. Overclocking package upgraded.
 
The unit now is configured to be more robust and future proof for our customers. You're already making an investment of almost $2,000, and with the extra $102, it will be a great idea. [Well that's what we and the feedback from the community has been].
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dantehermara View Drop Down
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Posts: 33 		  Quote dantehermara Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Sep 2009 at 9:46pm
Anytime alex happy to help.
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satsunada View Drop Down
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Posts: 682 		  Quote satsunada Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Sep 2009 at 10:46pm
The biggest upgrade was the MB model. By far a better board is in there now. Leaps and bounds better. Give em a week or two  on the phone thing. Also, they seem to respond better to forum posts oddly enough than they do phone calls. Which is utterly backward from what I'm used to. :P
If knowledge is power and power corrupts, then total knowledge corrupts totally.
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NuWatts View Drop Down
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Posts: 15 		  Quote NuWatts Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Sep 2009 at 12:23am
Originally posted by Alex

I am assuming you need help on why the configuration went up $102 more, and all you noticed as an overclock increase. This isn't actually true, there were more updates done:
 
1. Power supply brand upgraded.
2. Motherboard model upgraded.
3. Overclocking package upgraded.
Well, it's a relief to finally get some more information from an employee of DS!  And your post was very helpful.  You're absolutely correct about those other changes; sorry I missed them at first.

Now that I know the extra $102 is actually paying for more than a +0.05GHz overclock increase, I think I can finally give everything one more look-over and then come to a decision.  It's good to know that this "Enthusiast 2" system is an improvement of the previous version based on consumer feedback, and not just what you guys had in the line up of pre-built systems!



While I do some number crunching, would you mind if I asked a few more questions I had?  Probably anyone in the forum community here, not just a DS employee, will be able to answer my questions.

1) As I've stated before, one of the main things I want my new computer to do is start-up really fast.  I've read that one of the best ways to improve OS boot-up time and how long it takes to launch some programs is to have a Hard Drive with 10,000rmp or more for your OS.
So, this is an upgrade I might make in the future, but I'm concerned about how I would move my OS from one Hard Drive (the 1TB HDD that comes with the current computer specs) to a new Hard Drive that I would purchase in the future.  Any tips?

2) Another concern: This Chassis for the computer I'm looking at is the HAF 922.  Now, I've never seen a High Air Frequency case in person before, so I don't know quite what to expect.  Do the increased number of fans create more noise than the "typical" cooling fans of a normal computer?

3) On a similar note, the computer I'm interested in has the H20: Stage 1: Asetek Liquid CPU Cooler.  Now, I understand the need for a liquid cooler on an overclocked CPU, but I just have no experience with a water cooler.  What kind of noise do they make?  Is there any special maintenance that I will need to perform with a liquid cooler?

4) Lastly, all of DS's computers are obviously built for gaming.  However, I'm not quite sure how much gaming I'll do - I haven't been playing much video games for a couple of years now because my current computers couldn't handle them.  While it'll be nice to know that I can enter the gaming world no problem with this new computer, I predict that I'll likely continue to use my computer for many other tasks.  So, how well can I expect a computer optimized for gaming to perform at tasks like video editing, multitasking, compressing large files, etc.?


Hey, thanks again for the help, guys.  It's nice to know there's lots of friendly people available who can help "get me back in the loop."
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Jingping View Drop Down
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Posts: 193 		  Quote Jingping Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Sep 2009 at 1:25am
Originally posted by NuWatts




1) As I've stated before, one of the main things I want my new computer to do is start-up really fast.  I've read that one of the best ways to improve OS boot-up time and how long it takes to launch some programs is to have a Hard Drive with 10,000rmp or more for your OS.
So, this is an upgrade I might make in the future, but I'm concerned about how I would move my OS from one Hard Drive (the 1TB HDD that comes with the current computer specs) to a new Hard Drive that I would purchase in the future.  Any tips?


You don't really 'move' an OS from one hard drive to another; what you do is just reinstall the OS on the new hard drive and select that as your boot device.  It's not complicated at all, and yes, the Velociraptors are pretty sick, although it's starting to look like as though in a year or two, SSD's in Windows 7 will be the way to go.

2) Another concern: This Chassis for the computer I'm looking at is the HAF 922.  Now, I've never seen a High Air Frequency case in person before, so I don't know quite what to expect.  Do the increased number of fans create more noise than the "typical" cooling fans of a normal computer?


This depends entirely on what you consider to be a 'typical' fan on a 'normal' computer.  What is a 'normal' computer?  A Dell?  In any event, the case fans on the HAF 922 shouldn't be too bad, as they are rated under 19dBA iirc.  But yes, in general, gaming computers are louder than 'normal' computers.

3) On a similar note, the computer I'm interested in has the H20: Stage 1: Asetek Liquid CPU Cooler.  Now, I understand the need for a liquid cooler on an overclocked CPU, but I just have no experience with a water cooler.  What kind of noise do they make?  Is there any special maintenance that I will need to perform with a liquid cooler?


The Asetek Liquid CPU cooler do not require any maintenance, but on the other hand, it also isn't as good a cooling solution as the liquid cooling solutions that do.

4) Lastly, all of DS's computers are obviously built for gaming.  However, I'm not quite sure how much gaming I'll do - I haven't been playing much video games for a couple of years now because my current computers couldn't handle them.  While it'll be nice to know that I can enter the gaming world no problem with this new computer, I predict that I'll likely continue to use my computer for many other tasks.  So, how well can I expect a computer optimized for gaming to perform at tasks like video editing, multitasking, compressing large files, etc.?


Very good.  The core i7 920, overclocked to 3.8mhz, is a monster of a processor.  As it is a quad core processor, it is very good for video editing and multitasking, as most modern video editing/processing software is designed to take advantage of multiple cores.  The package you're looking at also comes with plenty of RAM and a damn fine video card.  In short, it will handle anything you throw at it like a champ.
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<8) slunK parade View Drop Down
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Posts: 798 		  Quote <8) slunK parade Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Sep 2009 at 3:32am
jump the hurdle
pole-vault the bar, now PURCHASE YOU WIMP
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NuWatts View Drop Down
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Posts: 15 		  Quote NuWatts Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Sep 2009 at 10:38am
Originally posted by <8) slunK parade

jump the hurdle
pole-vault the bar, now PURCHASE YOU WIMP
lol.  I purchased the "Labor Day - Enthusiast 2" pre-built system 1 hour before you made this post.
Ouch
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wrex View Drop Down
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Posts: 54 		  Quote wrex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Sep 2009 at 11:52am
dont forget to post a review when you get that beast! cant wait to see it :)
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kt View Drop Down
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Posts: 40 		  Quote kt Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Sep 2009 at 12:44pm
I actually went through the exact problem.  I was expecting a lot more in customer service for what I've heard in the reviews section and other places.  I was disappointed but it wasn't stopping me from buying a new computer from DS.  I had to sign up on the forums and finally get help from DST after doing a lot of my own research.

Purchase was worth it though.  I'm happy with my machine.
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