www.digitalstormonline.com
$3287
By: Devin Connors
While Tom’s Hardware is all about building, maintaining, and improving our own PCs, we can still appreciate the fact that PC building is not for everyone. That’s where companies like Digital Storm come in, offering fantastic hand-built machines with the latest hardware coupled with fantastic customer service and competitive pricing.
When we decided to include a Digital Storm rig, we knew we needed a kick-ass machine with all the bells and whistles, and that’s where the Black Ops Assassin line comes in. Starting at under $1800 (our configuration goes for under $3300), the Assassin series will slay whatever games you throw at it.

So let’s get to the hardware. The case is the same SilverStone Fortress FT02 we featured in our gift guide last week, complete with three 180 mm fans and the thermodynamics-friendly 90 degree motherboard mounting. The internals are nothing short of brilliant, including an Intel Core i7-950 overclocked to 4 GHz, an EVGA X58 FTW3 Edition motherboard, 6 GB of DDR3-1600 memory, 80 GB Intel X25-M SSD (boot drive), 1 TB Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive, dual optical drives (a Blu-ray reader and a DVD burner), and a 1000 W power supply.
What really tops this machine off are the dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 480s, which will keep you, or whoever is lucky enough to get this fantastic machine, gaming for the next couple of years at least. Frankly, Digital Storm shipped us this machine prior to the GeForce GTX 580 launched so that we could get it photographed. If you were to order it today, you'd want to stick with Nvidia's more recent flagship, the GTX 580, bringing thermals and acoustic down to more attractive levels.
With that said, the focus of this machine is on 3D Vision Surround support. Digital Storm shipped our system with three Acer GD235Hz 3D Vision-compatible screens, which add quite a bit to the cost, but enable a indisputably-unique gaming experience, allowing you to get your Bad Company 2 and FarCry 2 in glorious stereo. We opted to stick with air cooling on this machine, but the NH-D14 CPU cooler from Noctua is an absolute beast, so a hot CPU (even overclocked) will be the last of your worries.
A machine like the Black Ops Assassin is only as good as the hands that build it, which is why Digital Storm includes a three-year warranty (there’s a free upgrade to four-years right now), complete with 9:00-5:00 U.S.-based tech support and an in-house 72 hour stress test before shipping.
- Headphones: Bowers & Wilkins P5
- Flash Drive: Kingston HyperX 128 GB USB 3.0 Drive
- Keyboard: Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750
- Monitor: Dell UltraSharp U3011
- Custom PC: Digital Storm Black Ops Assassin
- Display: Samsung MD230X6 6 x 23" Display Array
- Networking: Netgear Universal Wi-Fi Range Extender WN2000RPT
- External Storage: Seagate GoFlex 1.5 TB USB 3.0
- Mini PC: VIA Artigo A1100 Pico-ITX Kit
- Mobile Phone: Dell Streak
- Mouse: Logitech Performance Mouse MX
- Network Storage: Thecus N4200 Pro NAS/iSCSI SAN
Agree. Those clothes weight too much.
are you kidding me?
Spoken like someone whose knowledge of female anatomy comes entirely from internet porn. That your chances of ever encountering the real thing are close to zero comes as a relief to women everywhere.
are you kidding me?
What? I'm not even sure you know what you're talking about..
Spoken like someone whose knowledge of female anatomy comes entirely from internet porn. That your chances of ever encountering the real thing are close to zero comes as a relief to women everywhere.
In a world where models have to live the most unnatural, unhealthy life just to be what the companies decide is pretty for the rest of us, this comment to these otherwise very thin women is the most out of place I've ever seen. Do you have any idea what words like these can do to some women? I'm shocked and really afraid to see an actual woman which answers your definition of "thin".
What? You don't want those girls? Perfect, I'll take them.
It's coming tomorrow!
Chris
Agree. Those clothes weight too much.
i have modeled on television. and these girls are solid.
ironically the digital storm pc is almost identical to the one i just built for myself.
if they ship girls that look like that with thier pc's ill never build my own again.
Overall great Article and loved all the selections even tho I didn't agree with the streak!
if anything they need to gain weight, i prefer my women healthy, not hefty mind you, but if i see bone it sets off red flags for me.
I think Toms realized that the blond in green isn't that good a looker so instead of putting a bag over her head they cropped the pic to not include it, lol. Funny stuff Toms.
Hope the models don't check the comments area cuz some of the comments on here are pretty blunt, 2 of them might get their feelings hurt.
Back to the article- why does the Assassin have 2 CPU coolers? Did they ship you a different model for photography?
Been a long time since I've actually commented on an article. I had to struggle to remember by username/password for this site...I'm glad I did. Now I can call you an idiot.... Idiot.