My Digital Storm PC Review

In one word: WOW (but I'll get to that)

A little background...
I have been without an "up to date" gaming computer for about 4-5 years now, and since my desktop died about a year and a half ago, I've been getting by with a laptop. It's practical, but it won't play many games.

I had been pondering my next computer for a few years, putting pieces together in a "wish list" on my favorite electronics buying site. I've built my last few computers, and building my own PC is not an issue for me, but I just wasn't "feeling it" this time around, but I also realized that we go through this buying/building process to save money because custom built gaming machines are expensive, right?

On a whim, I was browsing the internet for companies that build gaming machines, and finding the usual OUTRAGEOUSLY priced selection from all of the "usual" sites.

Then one day I happened across Digital Storm's site. Having never heard of them, I was curious, so I configured a system that was basically identical to what I was planning on buying as parts and building myself. I was absolutely shocked to find that the Digital Storm's systems were only marginally more expensive than the "buy it and build it myself" system I already had configured (for my particular system, it was somewhere around 5% more expensive, and that includes the liquid cooling I got for my DS System). I could not believe that for an additional 5% over what I was already going to pay, Digital Storm would build the computer, overclock the processor, stress test it, AND offer a warranty on their work for several years (not to mention the other free stuff you get with it).

At this point I still had several questions, so I sent a message to their customer support, figuring I would be like typical customer support and I wouldn't receive a reply, or the reply wouldn't come for weeks. I was wrong on both counts. I received a reply to my first question in about 5 minutes. Every subsequent question I had was answered in 5-10 minutes, tops. I also have to compliment their customer support for being very informative and extremely nice, not to mention very good at what they do.

Basically, at that point I was completely sold on Digital Storm. For the new few weeks, I spent a lot of time thinking about exactly what I wanted in my new Digital Storm system.

On July 2nd I placed my very first order with Digital Storm. My configuration was as follows:

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 930 2.8GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 LE Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 1000W Digital Storm Certified (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition Highly Recommended)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 2x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks
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 480 1.5GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Asetek Liquid CPU Cooler (240mm Radiator) (High-Performance Edition)
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: - No Thanks
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
CPU Boost: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (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: FREE: Yes, Disable and tweak all of the non-crucial services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
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 (Large)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: FREE PROMO: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Hassle-free Hardware Service

After the order was placed, it was just a matter of patiently playing the waiting game until I received the system. Fortunately this was made easier by the email correspondence you receiving during your system build process to let you know when your computer has moved to the next "stage" (there are 7 stages in all during the build process). I won't go through all of the gory details, but here are the dates as my computer went through the build stages:

Stage 1: 7/6/2010
Stage 2: 7/7/2010
Stage 3: 7/7/2010
Stage 4: 7/7/2010
Stage 5: 7/7/2010
Stage 6: 7/9/2010
Stage 7: 7/12/2010
Shipped: 7/12/2010

For what it's worth, my overclock on the CPU was 3.9 GHz (186 MHz BCLK, 21x multiplier, Vcore: 1.375).

For the GPU, it was:
Core MHz: 711
Memory MHz: 934
Shader MHz: 1421

I chose Ground Shipping for my system, and it arrived on 7/16/2010. So a grand total of 14 days from the time I pressed the "ORDER" button until the time I was unpacking my new system. TOTALLY INCREDIBLE in my opinion.

I have to admit I was a bit leery of having a computer shipped via Ground Shipping in a cardboard box because I know how beat up boxes can get during shipping. However, all of my fears were set aside when I carried the box from my front door to the living room to unpack it. The box is HUGE and well padded on all sides with plastic "pockets" of air so that the case can't bang around too much. Every other computer manufacturer should really take notice, this is how a computer should be packaged and shipped.

I want to give a special mention to the neatness on the inside of the case. There is not a single cable hanging anywhere; everything is neatly connected and tucked out of the way (I have a couple of pictures of this, but I don't have them shared out on any website, so I can't link to them).

The unpacking process was very simple, and in a few minutes I had the computer set up in my office and ready to go. It's always a little unnerving during the "moment of truth" when you push the power button on a new PC for the first time. Fortunately there was absolutely nothing to worry about. The computer booted up fine the first time, and within a minute I was already using it.

It has been 1 week since I got my new Digital Storm computer and I can honestly say that it has been PERFECT. The system is 100% stable and runs very cool. I haven't had a single problem with it over the last week.

I don't have any games that adequately stress test it yet, but I have loaded up Crysis and played a bit over the past week, and here are some numbers I'm seeing:

1920x1080, 8X AA, all settings on HIGH: very smooth game play (70-80+ FPS consistently, maybe dipping into the 50-60 range when the game gets "busy"). I used this setting when I play and I never see a stutter in the game.

1920x1080, 16X AA, all settings on VERY HIGH: good game play, it averages about 40-50 FPS, dipping into the 30s when lots of stuff starts happening, or when you are in an area with a very long draw distance). Acceptable if you want the best look possible and don't mind the occasional stutter.

I honestly can't say enough good things about this system. You can browse all of the other reviews to see what I mean. Thanks to all the guys at Digital Storm for building such incredible computers.

Bottom line: if you are "on the fence" (so to speak) regarding whether or not to order a Digital Storm computer, go ahead and do it! You will not regret it! (If you are like me, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner)

Edited by tbsmith977 - 26 Jul 2010 at 8:46am

sweet

Yup... we are all waiting for pics! 

Very nice though!!!

I noticed an inaccuracy in my original post so I updated it. I said something like "12 days after I clicked the ORDER button I received my computer", and it should have been 14 days.

Math fail on my part...