DigitalStorm BlackOps: Almost Too Fast
by Dustin Sklavos on December 29, 2010 12:45 AM ESTGaming Performance
We were expecting gaming performance of the DigitalStorm BlackOps to be pretty impressive. After all, a pair of the fastest single-GPU card on the market should post some amazing framerates, right? So let's start with our "High" benchmark preset and see just how crazy the two 580s really are.
That seems like a little much. The only game that doesn't break 140 frames per second is StarCraft II, which seems to be largely CPU-limited given the tie between the CyberPower unit and the iBuyPower with the much faster graphics subsystem. Other than that, the BlackOps steamrolls the competition—as it should, considering it costs a lot more than any of these other systems do. Given the surplus of performance we have at these settings, maybe bringing antialiasing into the equation with our "Ultra" preset will knock the BlackOps down a peg?
Nope. At this point you could actually argue fairly convincingly that the 580s are CPU-limited by the 3.8GHz Intel Core i7-950. That would sound crazy, but the results seem to bear that out: adding antialiasing barely affects performance in any of these games. Mass Effect 2 and STALKER both take decent dives in performance, but they're both still far beyond playable. Two GeForce GTX 580s are just plain overkill for the 1080p resolution we test at [Ed: Sorry, no 30" LCD for Dustin!], but if you were planning on going 3D Vision or gaming in surround with a pair it's reasonable to assume they'd be more than up for the task.
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demonbug - Wednesday, December 29, 2010 - link
Why would you want Win 7 Ultimate on a gaming rig? Yeah, I know, it has "Ultimate" right there in the name, but other than that... what does it offer that Home Premium doesn't? Unless you are planning on installing >16GB of RAM or putting together a multi-processor system (so going to Xeons, and significantly increasing the overall price), it really doesn't offer anything extra... all for an $80 premium over Home Premium.Kaboose - Wednesday, December 29, 2010 - link
I am not saying it is needed however, it is somewhat expected on a build costing more then 3,000, at least having windows 7 professional for Windows Xp mode would be nice. After all it isn't that big of a price difference.azides - Thursday, December 30, 2010 - link
If you built this yourself, you would buy the revodrive for sure!YoshiMon - Thursday, December 30, 2010 - link
As to the Win7 version issue:Win7 Home Premium does not offer network backups. Which, for such a rig as this, might not be a big issue, it is something that is rather lacking. The Win7 backup system is a huge plus given that it, being the OS itself, never suffer from trying to read a locked file or whatever.
So to only put Win7HP on a nearly $4k box? Yeah, they should have put Win7U on that thing. Not that people as clueless that would drop that kinda money for a box like that will know better but I am sure that at some point they will wonder why they did not get the top of the line Win7 version.
mlambert890 - Wednesday, January 5, 2011 - link
I can't get past your first sentence. Great that you feel so able to make such absolute statements! I wonder do you apply the same logic to yourself?"someone who can't do their own damn tuneup or change their oil shouldnt own a car"
"if you can't fix your own plumbing, why buy a house???"
"anyone who needs a TOUR GUIDE shouldn't be traveling!"
See how stupid that sounds? I'm sure you don't actually. Go ahead and explain how this is different and no one has a right to want to be able to play super high end PC games, or do high end content authoring, without being able to (or have the time to) assemble a PC. And no one should want support either right?
Ive been building my own PCs since before there was a "PC" (think kit computers - Kate 70s). It's absolutely nothing to be arrogant or judgemental about.
Kaboose - Wednesday, January 5, 2011 - link
Would you buy a Ferrari without knowing how to drive? Hell would you buy a Ferrari without first knowing what to do with it?FragKrag - Wednesday, December 29, 2010 - link
A new patch for StarCraft 2 WoL recently added an 'Extreme' setting. Will you be using that in the future tests or will you stick with Ultra?Soldier1969 - Wednesday, December 29, 2010 - link
WTF. This build is way overpowered for only 1080p res. come on if your going to spend almost 4 grand on a tower and you guys test it with a measly 1080 panel. Wheres the 30" 2560 x 1600 love at? Thats all I game on, anything less is for the poor folk!Gilbert Osmond - Wednesday, December 29, 2010 - link
>99% of finished computer hardware products have ports on a vertical side or bottom panel for a very good reason: to minimize dust accumulation.In all but the cleanest environments, after a year or two the dust accumulation in vertically-oriented and top-exposed ports can start to cause connection problems, i/o errors, excessive contact erosion, etc.
Deleted - Thursday, December 30, 2010 - link
Silverstone has three cases with the ports on the top, the first of which was launched just short of three years ago. I have never once heard anyone complain about dust clogging their ports, and I haven't had that issue, either, although I've only had my FT02 for a couple of weeks. Between the grille over the top and the positive pressure from the three massive fans in the bottom, dust isn't an issue.