Whether you’re being pelted by a hailstorm of components flying at you from an online PC configurator, or just tired of putting boxes of parts together on your own, reaching the "confident and contented" stage of computer buying often isn't easy. That's especially true when you're buying a configurable performance PC. For some buyers, having too many choices can be almost as bad as none at all.
Digital Storm is no stranger to custom PCs that give buyers an almost infinite, and potentially paralyzing, choice of parts. The company has rolled out an alternative, however, to its own overabundance in the form of its new ODE lineup of desktop tower computers. The ODE line consists of four preconfigured systems, ranging from a Level 1 model (rated “Good”) at $1,199 to a Level 4 (“Ultimate”) model at $3,499. These PCs are prebuilt, pretested, and ready to go out the door within three to five business days, rather than the usual weeks of waiting that often tie up the arrival of a fully customized system.
Design-wise, Digital Storm has also decided that white is the new black (which, itself, was the new beige). Mac owners have known for years that white computers can look good, but the ODE line is one of the few Windows PCs we've seen to make the leap. The systems are housed in Corsair's white version of its very smart-looking Graphite Series 600T mid-tower case, with black trim accents and black ventilation grilles on the left side, front, and top. (Read our full review of the Corsair Graphite Series 600T.) The grilles are there for improved interior cooling, but visually, they work well, too. The black-on-white, understated aesthetic is a pleasing alternative to the typical over-the-top styling that's the norm among gaming PCs
Components & Caveats
We have to warn you of something before we go any further: The specific configuration of the “Level 2” ODE system we tested doesn’t exist anymore. It officially slipped out of the standard configuration while we were in the process of reviewing and editing. As a Digital Storm spokesperson told us, "Depending on current pricing of components, Digital Storm will switch some [parts] out so the ODE always has the fastest components at the best possible price." So Digital Storm may well change the parts even further by the time you actually read this.
While that complicates our review, it sounds like a good policy for potential buyers. Looking over the current ODE offerings (as of this writing, in the first week of December 2011), it appears that the Level 2 review system that we tested now most closely matches the current ODE Level 1, packing the same Intel Core i7-2600K processor and 8GB of RAM, and with a pretty-close price of $1,539 (versus the previous $1,599 price of our review unit).
So, what are the main differences between our test system and what's currently offered in the ODE Level 1? Our test machine sported a pair of Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti cards and an 80GB solid-state drive (SSD), paired with a 1TB hard drive. The current Level 1 configuration makes do with a single, more powerful GeForce GTX 570 graphics card, and it nixes the SSD. Our system also shipped with a Blu-ray optical drive, while the current Level 1 is saddled with a plain-old DVD burner. We wouldn't exactly call those changes a step up, but Digital Storm has now pegged this system the Level 1 (rather than the Level 2 we tested) and dropped the price by $60.
So bear all that in mind while you read through our review. PC parts change rapidly as new products get introduced, and price changes make different options more appealing to PC makers. By the time you read this, more of the ODE's internals might have changed. So be sure to reference Digital Storm's ODE page to be sure of what you're getting before buying.
0 comments:
Post a Comment