ODE Digital Storm Level 3

ODE Level 3 is one of four pre-gaming desktop Digital Storm, and the second most powerful of the new assembly line in ODE, you can buy. Although consumers who want the game a lot, but do not want to buy and install individual components, only those with deep pockets can afford the $ 2,399 (direct) price tag. Yet, this machine should keep the game in the coming years, and Digital Storm to give any updates may require or desire.

Design and features

Built in white Corsair Graphite Series 600T 20-inch high case, the level of 3 ODE is an easy and neat. Plastic window on the right side you will see neatly arranged inside: The wires are routed under the motherboard tray, and a red interior lighting to display all the components, even in the dark. The frame is air-friendly, with a top drilled to release the hot air in a natural and liquid cooling system for the CPU (the Corsair) and many fans will also be present. PC ports has four USB 2.0 ports and one USB 3.0 port, microphone and audio connectors and one FireWire 400 The rear panel features even more ports, including four DVI-I, two HDMI and DisplayPort, two Eight USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400, eSATA, power, eSATA and audio connectors. There are also two USB 3.0 ports on the back, but one is on the plug connected to a port on the front of the pass-through cable.

ODE Digital Storm Level 3

Cracking open the system is easy and requires no tools, by just pushing the two side levers ODE panel. Six drive bays contain a sliding disc Caddies, two of which have been met. One contains a 120GB solid state disk (SSD) for use in the operating system and applications, and other 1TB 7200-rpm hard drive storage. One of the four optical drive bays are available on Blu-ray combo. Sabertooth Asus P67 motherboards are equipped with eight SATA ports, of which three are used (two one 6Gbps 3Gbps), 3Gbps SATA 6Gbps two three are free. Two PCI Express (PCIe) x16 uses the Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 graphics cards, which prevent the expansion slot, except an empty PCIe x1 slots on two of the four RAM slots are filled with a total of 8GB of memory. All these components are powered by power supply 800 watts of power, which is more than enough for the existing equipment, and supports a number of add-ons as well.

Digital Storm is a builder, so it is not surprising that the company offers a premium-support systems. This is a three-year limited warranty, which covers part of the trade of work, optimization and diagnostics. It is also possible to replace defective parts of the year, and lifetime access to work and free updates and customer support for Digital Storm.

ODE Digital Storm Level 3

Performance

Game performance is the name of the PC game, its core 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7-2600K GTX 570 cards and two videos to help clean his rival, although the storm Enix Digital Black Ops Edition ($ 3,627 , 4 stars). Crysis in our DirectX 10 (DX10) Test Level 3 ODE play scored a solid 71 frames per second (fps) at the highest point in 1920-by-one, resolution 080, just two shy executives score Enix 73fps. Similarly, in our test Lost Planet DX11 ODE 121.7fps both won the highest setting just behind the new 2fps Enix. The Maingear F131 Super Stock is even more in price level 3 ODE, which costs $ 99 less, and scores on high production values ​​were far below the level ODE 3: Crysis at 47fps and won Lost Planet 2, arrives at 72FPS.

In our tests multimedia, however, you can barely tell the difference between ODE and F131 Super Stock. Both times collected similar in both our test of Photoshop CS5 (2:21 ODE to level 3, at 2:18 F131 Super Stock) and our test of Cinebench R11.5 (9.14 ODE for Level 3, 9.35 for F131 Super Stock.)

Digital Storm is a Level 3 ODE ideal desktop for those who want to choose every detail of your gaming system. Digital Storm eliminates the difficulty of this process and provides a well-balanced pre-configured system will last. It comes with a warranty and a strong program focused on improving customer service, which still has for him. The components and results of our rivals reference publishers the choice of more expensive "for the platforms in the prices of high-end games, the Black Ops Enix, and beats our CE, Maingear F131 Super Stock, if we account for the performance. For these reasons, Level 3 Digital Storm ODE is our choice of new editors "for desktop gaming audience.

This is common, such cases are not routinely connect these ports to motherboard, but it's always an awkward and unattractive.

IBuyPower Gamer Power BTS11

Boutique Desktop PC vendors usually offer a wider opportunity to personalize the big manufacturers make, and that comfort is to be exploited. But the systems are ready for the sellers can be just as good as it shows iBuypower BTS11 Power Player ($ 999 direct). This is a special back-to-school model offers the Intel Core i5, Nvidia GeForce GTX 550 graphics card Tues, lots of memory and to help port to connect old and new devices. You can quickly find entry-level PC gaming, but even if you do not want to choose other, more powerful components, Power Gamer BTS11 is a good performer and a good relationship.

IBuyPower Gamer Power BTS11

The design and development

The Phantom Power Gamer NZXT case is a white BTS11. Quite edgy and impressive chassis-perfect for players who have a lot more boisterous room to room a lot of internal components and in collaboration with its vents and fans, promoting ventilation Cables and son inside are intelligently set rout, giving the interior a clean look. Top of case has an eSATA port and two USB 2.0 ports, plus headphone and microphone jacks. On the back of the cabinet is a large number of ports: one PS / 2 (for older mice and keyboards), four USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.0 ports, analog audio and S / PDIF digital audio, VGA, DVI and HDMI (the latter for connection to HDTV and widescreen), Ethernet and legacy serial and parallel. USB 3.0 and eSATA ports for faster data transfer speeds between your computer and compatible external hard drives, but it is not integrated into the Wi-Fi, so you'll need to connect to Internet via Ethernet, unless you want to install an expansion card.

IBuyPower Gamer Power BTS11

Cracking open the system requires only loosening a few screws. Inside Gamer Power BTS11 offers plenty of room to grow: There are two open PCI Express (PCIe) x1, two PCI standard PCIe x16 slot and a x4 cabled. (The first video card slot.) Two of the four memory slots are free, as are the internal SATA ports, power to 700 watts should be sufficient to launch the smallest collections of components. Gigabyte GA-B3-D3-P67A motherboard supports CrossFireX technology, rather than SLI, so if you want to install multiple video cards, you will have to take on Nvidia and AMD use of the material in place. In addition, other PCIe x16 cause second PCIe slot to run x1 x4 instead, further reducing performance. A DVD burner is located behind a hidden door in the front part of the system (sorry, no Blu-ray player or a card reader) and a 750 GB hard drive, you get off to a good start to the storage-wise.

Performance

BTS11 Player power 3.3GHz Intel Core i5-2500K processor and 8 GB of RAM helped raise the impressive number in our tests. R11.5 CineBench noted in 6.68, on par with similarly configured speed Micro Edge Z40 ($ 1.199 Direct, four stars), our Editors Choice for PC games basic level, who scored a 6.41. In our test of Photoshop CS5, the BTS11 12 image filters applied in 2 minutes and 38 seconds, seven seconds faster than the Z40 edge. (2 GB of RAM for your additional accounts iBuyPower likely perform better, despite a slight overclock the Z40).

We have also seen good results in our tests, the player scoring a power BTS11 excellent frame rates 109 frames per second (fps), medium quality settings at 1280-by-720 resolution play DirectX 10 (DX10) Crysis, play hard, and 63.5fps on the DX11 Lost Planet 2 Since the video is intended to be used at lower resolutions, you want to change the settings if you intend to play a larger monitor: BTS11 Player power has proved much slower than and the results of 17fps 22fps is Crysis and Lost Planet 2, respectively, both of which use maxed-out the details of the 1920 by-1, 080 resolution. Z40 top GeForce GTX 560 graphics card Tues gave the edge here, leaving earning a respectable frame rate is 33fps and 49fps is Crysis, Lost Planet 2, even at maximum resolution.

IBuyPower Power Player BTS11 offers great gaming performance for its price at lower resolutions and the election, even more efficient some of our editors, the Velocity Micro Edge Z40, other basic computing tasks. However, for high end games on the Z40 power video card makes the road ahead, and the system is more widely appreciated features (such as Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n Blu-ray) iBuyPower Trump eSATA , USB 3.0 and the existing ports. But if your needs are modest and are looking to save $ 200 on a PC game players, entry-level energy is an attractive buy BTS11, though not beyond the capabilities of the Z40 Velocity Micro.

Basic keyboard and mouse are included, even if fans can find the Logitech and Razer are available to customize the process.

Cyber ​​Power Gamer Xtreme 9000

Cyber ​​Power Gamer Xtreme 9000 will have two desktops, Maingear F131 Super Stock (2300 $ directly, to 4 stars), and choosing the current Editors' Digital Storm ODE for level 3 ($ 2,399 direct, 4.5 stars) is which is better than the previous one, but can 't quite match the second game of power. But for those of us do, that most of us, who do not have $ 2,399 to save a typical high-end desktop gaming, Cyber ​​Power of $ 1799 (direct) price is a good substitute for those who want some games seriously without going broke.

Design and features

The Gamer Xtreme 9000 uses a solid metal case with black brushed aluminum front panel, then compared with the elegant white frames at level 3 ODE is not much to write home about. At first glance, the facade seems to have only one vent, Blu-ray / DVD-R / W optical drive, and the power button. The two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, audio and microphone and FireWire 400 are hidden behind a discreet door clicked open and close by pressing one of its corners. The upper deck has an internal hard disk location that converts a 2.5-inch drive in an external storage unit, according to recycling nice for those with extra hard drives around.

Cyber ​​Power Gamer Xtreme 9000

On the back there is a plethora of video inputs including two HDMI ports, mini-, four DVI-I, DVI-D, HDMI and a VGA port. Audio connections include standard audio and microphone jack and SPDIF output for speakers. There are seven USB 2.0 ports, eSATA and two USB 3.0 ports, but they are obsessed with the son who meander through the chassis to provide you with the USB 3.0 connection at the front. This solution pass-through is common, such cases are not usually associate these ports to the motherboard headers, but it is still awkward and unattractive. A wired Ethernet connection is also there, but there is no Wi-Fi you need to install a card if you want to connect wirelessly to the Internet. An additional feature is the Bluetooth 2.1 wireless technology that allows you to pair with a wide range of Bluetooth devices.

The side of the Gamer Xtreme 9000 has a transparent window for your friends, or maybe a potential date, you can admire in the dual SLI Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 graphics cards and attractive Ti enormous amount of energy a 850W! The internal wiring is well organized, allowing adequate ventilation vent drilled in the front, back and top of the chassis, with some fans, of course. Cracking open the system is easy and requires no tools: Simply click on two levers on the sides of the Xtreme Gamer 9000. There are two DIMM slots, four, which currently holds the second of 4 GB each for a total of 8 GB of DDR3 RAM.

Cyber ​​Power Gamer Xtreme 9000

PCI and PCIe x16 slot is difficult to reach because they are in two Nvidia graphics cards, so anything extra is a bit 'tight. Extras PCIe x1 is plenty of space for the card, so there is no need to pinch your fingers with a PCI card to install something.

6Gbps two motherboard SATA ports and two SATA 3Gbps connect an optical drive or additional hard drive as needed. There are many bays to three optical drives and four hard drives. Two slots for 1 TB hard drives are available in the spin cycle at 7200 rpm to drive and a 28GB solid state disk (SSD). Now is the SSD disk cache, which stores frequently used programs, such as start, Microsoft Word, Outlook, the World of Warcraft, etc. This technique has allowed Intel intelligent response programs, and contribute to a better time to launch applications and plenty of time to boot the PC to minimize the time it takes to download Starcraft II to the next level, or launch of Portal 2 Just to be clear, if you were to go to the computer to run Windows, it seems, but the Intelligent caching technology / SSD can be controlled. This can be a lot to take into mainstream user, but is not involved in the setup for you.

However, the complexity in the kidnapping and the choice of these components in the configuration page may deter some users, especially if they are not as well read what he refers to the PC. That's why systems such as the level of 3 ODE, which I recommend to consumers of the public, gives the system without the hassle of combing through each specialty.

Performance

Player Xtreme 9000 is designed for high-end gaming enthusiasts, which means it can play Crysis (DirectX 10) and Lost Planet 2 (DirectX 11) with settings of high quality anti-aliasing, textures, it works. It reached 60 frames per second (fps), is Crysis and 96fps in Lost Planet is a 2 These results are only the two most expensive our Editors' Choice for the game: Maingear F131 (47fps Crysis, 72fps Lost Planet) and Digital Storm ODE (71fps Crysis, Lost Planet 121.7fps). So it's better than Maingear, but still lower than that Digital Storm ODE 3D performance. Of course, the digital storm ODE has the advantage of dual-SLI Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 graphics cards, while the player Xtreme 9000 is equipped with two Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 graphics cards.

The 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7-2600K processor combined with 8 GB of RAM makes quick work of multimedia programs. The Gamer Xtreme 9000 is moved through our video encoding handbrake in 59 seconds and a cycle through 12 image filters CS5s more intensive Photoshop in 2 minutes and 26 seconds. So in addition to the game, you can edit photos and videos, perhaps posted on YouTube or this section in the forums Let's play something bad.

The system comes with a limited warranty that includes three years free labor to replace any defect or any part of upgrade. CyberPower also provides free technical support for life via phone and email.

CyberPower Gamer Xtreme The PC 9000 is a solid game that will be able to play virtually any game on high quality 3D in the set of the highest quality, and price of $ 1799 certainly softens the case. However, the level of digital three most powerful storms ODE, and the SSD storage solution, and all around the purchase of the system is a little more understandable to general users who can not understand the complexities of choosing and managing parts a cache storage. If you're more the DIY enthusiast or a hardcore user, and do not mind combing through several pages to pick and choose the specifications of your desktop, the CyberPower Gamer Xtreme 9000 is an excellent alternative to ODE Digital Storm level 3 if are willing to pay more than $ 600 for the second. But if you want to buy a PC and do not want to go through the process of creating a piece by piece (the building of a bear) and do not want to pay $ 600 more, then check the Acer Aspire Predator AG7750-U2222 (4 stars , $ 1.999)