Digital Storm Reveals its Velox Customizable Gaming PCs
This is Digital Storm's new Velox mid-tower enthusiast gaming machine.
Digital Storm announced the Velox custom gaming PC, a system built with two main design criteria in mind -- airflow and showing off the high-end components inside -- and on those counts, it looks like the company nailed it.
The Velox PCs will be available in four starting configurations, ranging in price from $2018 to $3750. The "Good" Level One system comes with an Intel Core i5-4690K processor, 8 GB of DDR3-1600 MHz memory, an Nvidia GTX 770, a 120 GB Samsung 840 Evo SSD, a 1 TB hard drive, an Asus Z97 motherboard, and a 750 W Corsair CX series power supply. Added up, that's a very adequate mid-range gaming system.
If you have the means, you will be able to configure the systems to carry up to an Intel Core i7-4960X Extreme Edition processor, 128 GB of DDR3 memory, more storage than you might ever need (how does two 6TB Seagate drives strike you?), and up to four GTX Titan Blacks or two GTX Titan Z graphics cards.
Of course, the highlight of the Velox lineup is the custom-designed case. The motherboard is mounted on the left side panel instead of the usual right. We're not sure why Digital Storm opted for this, but a simple possibility is aesthetics -- it does have a certain appeal, and you'll be able to place the system on the left side of your desk and still look into the window and see all your precious components.
Another possibility is for cooling purposes, as the hottest components are mounted at the top of the enclosure. We’re not sure how big a difference it makes, but it might just help a little bit. If you choose to liquid cool your graphics cards, this will result in a gorgeous system as you’ll see the pretty side of the water blocks from above.
If you choose to leave your cards air-cooled, though, the “GEFORCE GTX” lettering on reference cards will be upside-down, and you’ll be more likely to run into problems with dust. Given this knowledge, it's apparent that Digital Storm wants you to liquid cool your components with a custom loop. The custom loops are made with EKWB and XSPC components, so you can rest assured that you’re getting quality hardware.
For airflow in the case, by default the systems come with “Standard Factory Chassis Fans”. No specifications are available, which is probably for a good reason -- you can upgrade these to Corsair AF-series fans, although that will cost you $99 for all six fans. You can also opt for LED-lit Cooler Master R4 series fans, which will cost you $59 as an upgrade. All things considered though, you can be certain that this system will be adequately cooled, so that doesn’t need to be one of your concerns.
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You can build a system similar to one of these Velox rigs yourself, but to make one as beautiful will cost you some time and not an insignificant bit of skill. But could you do it for less money?
The systems are available to configure and order from Digital Storm today.
UPDATE: Digital Storm has confirmed that the upside-down system layout is for cooling purposes, as it brings the graphics cards to an area with greater airflow.
Follow Niels Broekhuijsen @NBroekhuijsen. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.
Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.
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TheBricktator Woah. Definitely a beauty of a build. Now I just have to find out if they have it in purple and white.Reply -
TechyInAZ *drooling over the rigs*Reply
Beautiful! Defiantly something to consider if you don't want the hassle of building the liquid cooling yourself. -
DarkSable ....since when is an overclockable i5 with a lower-flagship graphics card just "Good" or "Midrange." Seriously Tom's, don't try to do their advertising for them, it just makes you look silly.Reply
That being said, this is an awful pretty rig; hard tubing is always gorgeous.
However, I know a whole bunch of the computer builders I know won't touch water cooling because they don't want to do the maintenance... so what's going to happen when somebody who can't or doesn't want to learn how to build a computer buys this thing only to discover that it requires a fairly high level of attention and maintenance? -
airborne11b ....since when is an overclockable i5 with a lower-flagship graphics card just "Good" or "Midrange." Seriously Tom's, don't try to do their advertising for them, it just makes you look silly.
That being said, this is an awful pretty rig; hard tubing is always gorgeous.
However, I know a whole bunch of the computer builders I know won't touch water cooling because they don't want to do the maintenance... so what's going to happen when somebody who can't or doesn't want to learn how to build a computer buys this thing only to discover that it requires a fairly high level of attention and maintenance?
High level of maintenance? I've had my current watercooling loop installed for about 2 years now, and I haven't even changed the water once. Watercooling headaches are almost entirely in the installation and setup. The maintenance part is near non-existent.
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scolaner ....since when is an overclockable i5 with a lower-flagship graphics card just "Good" or "Midrange." Seriously Tom's, don't try to do their advertising for them, it just makes you look silly.
You're confused: Digital Storm always classifies its base configs as "Good" (Level 1), "Better" (Level 2), "Best" (Level 3), and "Ultimate" (Level 4).
And I think I'm confused: How is this not a midrange system, with the i5, 770, etc.? I mean sure, it's all relative--compared to a basic 'ol desktop this is a fighter jet--but you can add plenty of oomph yet to this rig by upgrading the components from the Level 1 base configuration.
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DarkSable 13950518 said:High level of maintenance? I've had my current watercooling loop installed for about 2 years now, and I haven't even changed the water once. Watercooling headaches are almost entirely in the installation and setup. The maintenance part is near non-existent.
High level of maintenance for somebody who doesn't even know they should dust out their computer.
Seriously, I have a friend who is constantly asking me how to make is computer run quieter, but then refuses to look at watercooling because "refilling the water is too much work." Lazy? Yes. But most users are.
(Also, you generally should be taking your loop apart and cleaning it even year or two. Just saying. There can be a lot of buildup with no signs of it.)
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airborne11b 13953431 said:13950518 said:High level of maintenance? I've had my current watercooling loop installed for about 2 years now, and I haven't even changed the water once. Watercooling headaches are almost entirely in the installation and setup. The maintenance part is near non-existent.
High level of maintenance for somebody who doesn't even know they should dust out their computer.
Seriously, I have a friend who is constantly asking me how to make is computer run quieter, but then refuses to look at watercooling because "refilling the water is too much work." Lazy? Yes. But most users are.
(Also, you generally should be taking your loop apart and cleaning it even year or two. Just saying. There can be a lot of buildup with no signs of it.)
I've been doing water cooling for about 15 years now, I know how often you "should" clean it out. I'm doing this current run as a sort of test. I'll probably take it apart in about 6 months to see what 2.5 years with no cleaning looks like.
As for "laziness". I think anyone who bothers buying a $3000 water cooled PC is probably competent enough to clean the water and clean the blocks once every 2 years lol. We're not talking some $599 special at best buy here, the target audience for this kind of system is a gamer who is probably pretty serious about his gear.
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DarkSable 13951651 said:You're confused: Digital Storm always classifies its base configs as "Good" (Level 1), "Better" (Level 2), "Best" (Level 3), and "Ultimate" (Level 4).
And I think I'm confused: How is this not a midrange system, with the i5, 770, etc.? I mean sure, it's all relative--compared to a basic 'ol desktop this is a fighter jet--but you can add plenty of oomph yet to this rig by upgrading the components from the Level 1 base configuration.
It's a $1500 computer BEFORE the watercooling. This is absolutely a high end rig, especially since a standard i7 is a waste of money for gaming.
Of course you can add oomph. You could use an extreme chip and three Titan Z's... why should that mean that this isn't a high end rig? It's way more expensive than most people would even consider and is powerful enough to max games at 1080p on a 120hz monitor.
"High end" doesn't mean the most expensive thing you can get, it means quality and the ability to do whatever you ask of it. A ridiculous computer that maxes games over three monitors is ridiculous, not what the standard for a good gaming computer is.