Looking to buy a Digital Storm, Help Appreciated!

Here are two configurations: Both I assume you can move your HDDs (and any ODD) over to the new computer.  Both have SLI GTX 970 graphics card and are DS Apollo...feel free to change to chassis to suit your taste.

First is a LGA 2011-3 computer with more memory and PCI-e bandwidth which should help with the video and image editing:

Configuration URL:     https://www.digitalstormonline.com/configurator.asp?id=1122381
Specifications:

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Digital Storm Apollo
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 5820K 3.3GHz (Six-Core) (Unlocked CPU)
Motherboard: ASUS X99-DELUXE (Intel X99 Chipset)
System Memory: 32GB DDR4 2666MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX (High-Performance)
Power Supply: 850W EVGA SuperNOVA
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: - No Thanks
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD (256GB Samsung 850 PRO)
Storage Set 2: - No Thanks
Storage Set 3: - No Thanks
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB (Includes PhysX)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 Extreme Performance
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Airflow Control: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires High-End Motherboard Selection)
Boost Graphics Card(s): Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD)
Virus Protection: FREE: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 Value)
Office: - No Thanks
Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Portable Gaming: - No Thanks
Branded Gear: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

Next is a cheaper LGA1150 system...same amount of RAM and SLI graphics configuration, just less communications bandwidth to the processor (can affect performance in you image and video editing):

Configuration URL:     https://www.digitalstormonline.com/configurator.asp?id=1122383
Specifications:

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Digital Storm Apollo
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 4790K 4.0 GHz (Codename Devils Canyon) (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z97X-SLI (Intel Z97 Chipset)
System Memory: 32GB DDR3 1866MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 850W EVGA SuperNOVA
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: - No Thanks
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD (256GB Samsung 850 PRO)
Storage Set 2: - No Thanks
Storage Set 3: - No Thanks
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB (Includes PhysX)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 Extreme Performance
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Airflow Control: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires High-End Motherboard Selection)
Boost Graphics Card(s): Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD)
Virus Protection: FREE: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 Value)
Office: - No Thanks
Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Portable Gaming: - No Thanks
Branded Gear: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

BTW, I'm curious how you have 20GB of RAM in your current system...do you have an 8GB stick with 3 x 4GB sticks?  Edit: just remembered of the 2GB sticks way back when...I'm guessing 2 x 8GB and 2 x 2GB.  It's been a while since I've looked at 2GB DIMMs...I had 3 of them in my old system I replaced a little bit ago with my Bolt.


Edited by  - 27 Dec 2014 at 11:16am

I do like my Bolt a lot.  You can see my review in the link in my signature.

I haven't messed around too much with SLI and others on here would be better for advice on the topic.  I do know that Adobe products can take advantage of hardware acceleration from GPUs, including Tesla co-processor compute cards, and wouldn't be surprised if they can also take advantage of SLI graphics cards, too.

As for using the Bolt for your application, you will need to make a couple trade-offs in memory and storage.

In memory, there is only space for two DIMMs on the Mini-ITX boards the case is limited to.  So, you'll be restricted to at most 16GB of RAM.

With storage, the new design of the Bolt no longer has an internal ODD, so it can handle up to 4 x 2.5" drives, 1 x 3.5" and 2 x 2.5" drives, or 2 x 3.5" drives.  What you may want to do is get an SSD and then either some large capacity 2.5" laptop HDDs or just move all of your mass storage to a Network Attached Storage device connected through the gigabit ethernet connection (you'll want to make sure you have plenty of space to keep working files local to the computer).

What resolution monitor will you be using? If its a single 1920x1080 for gaming and another for lighter duty, then a single gtx 980 might do it. If you want higher res monitor and game across multiple monitors, then sli would be the way to go.

Bolt can't sli.   The mobo doesn't have the slots.

Here's a link comparing the 760 to the 980....
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1038?vs=1351

Double the frames in gaming.   You can also use the tool to plug in the gtx 970 for a price to performance comparison.

Yeah, not double the price, but the 970 is about 15-20% performance behind the 980 for hundreds less. But, for single card, sometimes it's worth it for longevity, sometimes not.

Edited by bprat22 - 27 Dec 2014 at 2:10pm

Hi Eoj Charlie,

The Bolt II is a very specialized computer. It has a very small case.

The Apollo and Velox are good cases with room and performance. If you like the Aventum II and the Hailstorm II cases you should also like the Velox. The Velox is a very modern case with excellent cooling.

Here is a system to think about with the Velox case suitable for two GPUs. You may not need the fan upgrade. Talk to DS about that.

Frank



Configuration Code: 1122716   Cost: $3062

Specifications:

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Digital Storm Velox
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 4790K 4.0 GHz (Codename Devils Canyon) (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS Z97-PRO (Intel Z97 Chipset) (Features 802.11ac Wi-Fi Connectivity)
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 1866MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 850W EVGA SuperNOVA
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD (256GB Samsung 850 PRO)
Storage Set 2: 1x Storage (1TB Western Digital - Black Edition)
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB (Includes PhysX)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Corsair H110 280mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler (Extreme-Performance Edition)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Fans: Upgrade All Fans to Corsair Airflow Performance Edition (Up to 6 Fans)
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Airflow Control: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz
Boost Graphics Card(s): - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD)
Virus Protection: FREE: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 Value)
Office: - No Thanks
Game: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)


Edited by FrankW - 28 Dec 2014 at 2:35am

Oh I definitely like the Velox case, and that setup seems nice. I'm trying to figure out what to add/remove to try to keep it under $3000.

Just curious, how exactly is SLI going to change the ports/outputs for my monitors?

Originally posted by  http://www.nvidia.in/object/sli-technology-multimonitor-in.htmlIf you plan on working in 4K or UHD, I would definitely recommend as much memory as possible.  I was having my friend create a UHD video and Premier was still crashing on his iMac with an i7-4770 with 32 GB of RAM (we could not get it past a certain point with fading of overlays, the program would just stop working).The only thing I would point out is the ODD on the Velox is a slim drive (laptop style) rather than a full 5.25" drive.  Other than that it looks like a great case that can house pretty much anything you want to have in it.

Oh thank you for informing me, I missed that. Honestly, I may try to spring for the Aventum or Hailstorm.

Ultimately, just trying to figure out how much/kind RAM I should get, whether I should get SLI 970s or a single 970 and then any cooling needs which I'm out of my league into.

Hi Eoj Charlie,

You don't need to get a Aventum or Hailstorm to get the performance you need. I think you should look at something like no-names build above with the X99 mother board/5820 CPU in a Velox case. If it was me I would get a single 980 GPU. There is a good chance that the single 980 will give you what you need. If that doesn't do it you can add a second 980. Keep in mind that if you get the Hydrolux type cooling you may have to send you machine back to DS to add a second or third GPU. Also keep in mind that the Aventum and the Velox have the mother board inverted so that the GPUs are on top and the CPU is on the bottom. This places the window on the right side of the case. I like that arrangement. The Hailstorm has the normal configuration that has the CPU on top and the GPUs on the bottom with the window on the left side.

Frank

If you go for the Aventum II or Hailstorm II, both of those chassis are really oriented toward water-cooled set-ups.  You can definitely water cool your stuff, it will add a bit to the system cost though, so if you are trying to get the most performance, for your dollar, that will not be it.  But if you want maximum performance out of a system, the only way to get any more is with liquified gas or refrigeration.  If you wanted to do something like an Aventum II or Hailstorm II, I would do something with the Aventum II (unique case to Digital Storm), equip an i7-5930K processor with 32GB high performance memory, a GTX 980 with a full water-cooling setup.  It would be expandable up to a 4-way SLI setup in the future (flexible hoses are have a double meaning here) and has 8 HDD bays in it for all of your storage needs.  A system like this will come in at just under $6K with this special offer discount applied.

Configuration URL:     https://www.digitalstormonline.com/configurator.asp?id=1123644
Specifications:

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS Aventum II
Exterior Finish: Onyx Black Matte Finish with Red Stand
Trim Accents: - Not Available
Processor: Intel Core i7 5930K 3.5GHz (Six-Core) (Unlocked CPU)
Motherboard: ASUS X99-DELUXE (Intel X99 Chipset)
System Memory: 32GB DDR4 2800MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX (High-Performance)
Power Supply: 1200W Corsair AX1200i (Digitally Controlled Power)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs) (Slim Slot Loading Edition)
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD (512GB Samsung 850 PRO)
Storage Set 2: - No Thanks
Storage Set 3: - No Thanks
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 4GB (Includes PhysX)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: H20: HydroLux Level 2: Digital Storm Exotic Custom Cooling System (1x Video Card + CPU + Chipset)
H20 Tube Color:Red Tubing with High-Performance Fluid (UV Lighting Reactive)
Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Digital Storm RGB LED Lighting System (Requires Thermal Management Control Board & Software)
Airflow Control: Digital Storm Thermal Management Control Board & Software
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires High-End Motherboard Selection)
Boost Graphics Card(s): - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD)
Virus Protection: FREE: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 Value)
Office: - No Thanks
Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Portable Gaming: - No Thanks
Branded Gear: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 15-20 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

You may be better off playing around with the configurator and seeing what fits your needs at this point...you can start off with any one of the configurations and modify it...for instance, you can take one of the configuration I put together above and change the case from the Apollo to the Velox, which adds $187 to the cost of the build; you can also go from an SLI GTX 970 configuration to a single GTX 980 for less money, but less performance, too.

Edited by  - 30 Dec 2014 at 9:40am