Digital Storm Velox Z270 Gaming Desktop Review
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Price Analysis And Conclusion
When Digital Storm sent us its Vanquish 5 for review, we were surprised how conservative the boutique custom shop could be with its moderate aesthetic and performance enhancements, in addition to the reasonable price tag. When the Velox arrived at our lab, it literally brought a storm of pure power as devastating as its MSRP, showcasing nearly every special treatment and upgrade that the company has to offer (less of custom open loop water coolers).
The Digital Storm Velox is simply the most powerful gaming PC we've had the pleasure of testing in recent memory, and it's no surprise considering its specs. An Intel Core i7-7700K is overclocked to an impressive 5.0GHz on an Asus Maximus IX Hero motherboard with 32GB (4 x 8GB) of DDR4-3000 and a pair of manually-overclocked EVGA GTX 1080 ACX 3.0 graphics cards in SLI. It also doesn't hurt that it's also one of the most aesthetically pleasing systems we've recently reviewed, with its custom Apollo White paint job and two-tone theme, RGB LED case fans and lighting strip, and a sweet RGB LED SLI bridge and motherboard. However, when you reach into your wallet for that $4,737, you may start to have shooting chest pains, or at least feel lightheaded.
It would be difficult to deny that the price makes this particular configuration of the Velox a pipe dream for most people, and we'll likely hear again our community express its displeasure at anything that isn't a link to a cart full of parts. However, Digital Storm has presented us with our first review sample that exceeds what novice-to-average DIY enthusiasts can do with its custom paint job, individually-braided ATX, CPU, and GPU power cables, and right-sided custom chassis. In addition, Digital Storm's beefy CPU and GPU overclock is remarkably stable, and we're not sure if even a seasoned PC builder could offer a better aesthetic value or performance threshold for much less. Sure, its possible, but we'd also offer that there's a certain value to a custom shop that can and will throw multiple aesthetic and performance-enhancing services into a unique gaming PC, especially for those who can't build or tweak it themselves.
Furthermore, just because the price is decidedly high doesn't mean we can't appreciate everything that went into the Digital Storm Velox. The chassis is both original and stylish, and the choice of hardware is strikingly similar to a system I would configure for myself (my personal gaming rig is just the previous-generation CPU, chipset, and GPUs, down to the brand). Being a DIY PC enthusiast, I can honestly say I couldn't pull off a better execution of cable management (I would say after over 100 PCs, I've become pretty good at it, too), and i certainly don't know how to/have time to paint a case myself, certainly not to to the quality Digital Storm provides. The company overclocked the CPU and GPU to levels I would personally feel comfortable with if I had built it myself, and the whole implementation of the Velox speaks to the company's expertise in the system building segment.
If you shave off the gratuitous extras, which consists of a $99 CPU and $45 GPU overclocking service, the custom paint job ($149), the RGB LED fans ($119), and the individually-braided white cables ($69), you still get a custom-designed chassis housing a new Kaby Lake i7-7700K, 32GB of RAM, a 512GB Samsung 960 Pro SSD, a 3TB HDD, and dual GTX 1080s in SLI for $4,256.
But then you're stripping away much of what's awe-inspiring about this particular sample. Besides, there's absolutely nothing about the way Digital Storm configured this gaming PC that was intended to save money. The company is staking its craftsmanship against other custom shop rigs that offer insanely customized and fine-tuned gaming systems that may interest a novice computer enthusiast, a hardcore PC gamer, or even a seasoned DIY veteran looking for a custom paint job and cabling in a dominant, overclocked, and SLI-equipped powerhouse. Until we see what others vendors have to offer at this price point, it would be difficult to justify the Velox over more affordable alternatives if you can't easily part with that much scratch.
The Digital Storm Velox certainly isn't a value buy; it's a selfish, luxury impulse (possibly mid-life crisis) purchase that could appeal to those with the cash and/or the crazy idea that no one can have a PC better than theirs. And if you buy a Digital Storm Velox, it's a good possibility that you could achieve that goal.
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Derek Forrest was a contributing freelance writer for Tom's Hardware. He covered hardware news and reviews, focusing on gaming desktops and laptops.
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JakeWearingKhakis Well this is something my dad would buy, since he doesn't care about money he just wants the best. But for me, I would never spend that much on something I could build for nearly half that.Reply
Also, Kaby Lake being the ripoff that it is, just no. -
ubercake Right-sided window cases are quite novel, but make everything inside them appear a bit "off".Reply
If you're going to make a window case, make it a left-sided window case. This way your component labels aren't all showing upside down. Upside-down text definitely takes away from the cool-factor the Windowed case can provide. -
Janissaire It's overpriced,hell,you could say it's a scam,there's no defending a scam,this is peoples like you that kill every industry ever by saying; they have the right to scam peoples and sell overpriced mess.Reply -
DookieDraws I just bought this exact system a couple weeks ago just to be able to play this game https://duckhuntjs.com and I gotta tell you, it handles the game extremely well. I can even have several other browser tabs open while playing, and I don't even take a hit in performance. That's just nuts! This system is awesome, guys!Reply -
ledhead11 Not going to make fun of it or knock it for its price. Bottom line if your not going to build it, its going to cost you pure 'n' simple.Reply
I think going so over the top with everything else, they should've paired a single 240-256gb SSD for the OS, and then another SSD in the 1-2TB range. It's nice to show off the 4k/1440p/FPS speed, but also how fast everything loads. A setup like this shouldn't have any platters. -
kittle Very nice system.Reply
But I think most of you (Derek included) are missing the point.
If your just looking at performance per dollar, your measuring it by the wrong metric. Its like evaluating a Lamborghini on the basis of gas mileage alone.
This system comes pre-assemled, pre-overlcocked with everything loaded and ready to go. Just install your 1st game and start playing.
It also comes with a warranty and nice support. For DIY systems, you provide your own support, and warranty for each part has to be handled separately. Some of us like that, some of us dont.
The extra cost is for the warranty, support and the nice looking setup. -
WINTERLORD oh please tell me I gaver the correct mailing address lol on a side note very nice machineReply -
anbello262 I really like this (although I am not one of the potential customers) but I think that the hiccups cause by DirectX12 (that were in no way Digital's fault) can hinder this system quite a bit. After all, if you have to manually change some settings in order to play some games, it loses a lot of its "plug&play" console-like feel.Reply
I'm not faulting the company or the product, but if I were to spend this kind of money, I would feel outraged to have almost ANY kind of issue (that other PCs with less power don't), even those caused by a game API.