DigitalStorm Slade Pro Workstation PC Review
by Dustin Sklavos on April 23, 2014 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- desktops
- Xeon
- Quadro
- DigitalStorm
- Workstation
- Octalcore
I've already aired my grievances earlier regarding DigitalStorm's choice of components for the Slade Pro. The mishmash of a consumer level motherboard and memory with a Xeon that accounts for nearly half the system's price tag rubs me the wrong way and feels like a bit of a waste; if you're going to spend that much on a CPU, it should be bolstered not by a high end consumer board or high end consumer memory, but by a full on workstation board and ECC memory.
Actual fit and finish of the build is very solid. DigitalStoorm gives you room to grow, and the rear-mounted push-pull closed loop liquid cooler ensures that heat gets properly exhausted out of the case. Meanwhile, the 80W NVIDIA Quadro K4000 doesn't spit out much in the way of heat. This is more or less an ideal use of a silent case; minimal fan noise that's brought well below 30dB by the case itself. At the very least, where noise is concerned, DigitalStorm is in the ballpark of the big boys and even faring a bit better.
Cabling is fairly neat and makes ample use of the channels in the enclosure.
Power consumption is also extremely low, with the bulk of it going to the CPU.
Idle and load power are both excellent. The DigitalStorm Slade Pro isn't just a quiet workstation, it's an efficient one as well. Keep these power characteristics in mind when you flip back to the last page; consistently low power consumption, consistently high performance.
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Antronman - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
Umm, I could build a notably better system with that kind of money.Most of the Firepros actually outperform the Quadro cards (W9100 vs K6000, W7000 vs K5000).
MP doesn't have a front io, you don't have any PCIe storage, thunderbolt 2 is available on consumer mobos, etc.
Apple is pretending to innovate.
Antronman - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
Actually it is not powerful enough to not need to upgrade it.The best model available via their website is a 6-core Xeon, with dual CF-Pro 2GB cards.
Looks to me like an upgrade is in order.
KAlmquist - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
I doubt that the processor is available for $1100. Still, online retail prices are processor $2200, GPU $800, motherboard $320, memory $330, power supply $122, case $140, MS Windows $132, giving a total of $4055. Figure less than $200 for liquid cooling, optical drive, card reader, and cables, and you are talking over $1600 markup. This certainly isn't justified by the warranty, since the expensive parts aren't covered after the first year. AVA Direct will sell a similar system for about $5000, with a 3 year parts, lifetime labor warranty.wwwcd - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
Yes this is a consumer prices for one piece in shops. DigitalStorm do not buy components on retail prices.blackmagnum - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
For this price... I expect real wood paneling and genuine leather seats! And does it come in white?etamin - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
A bottom of the barrel PSU for a $5K+ system, and it's a workstation no less. What a joke.piroroadkill - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
That was the first massive gaffe that caught my eye.CX series for anything you spent real money on is a totally incorrect choice.
etamin - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
not just CX series...CX series with M suffix :)Antronman - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Yeah.I'm RMDing over here.
80+ Bronze, not even modular, with no professional standards at all.
I mean, WTF.
zero2dash - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
PSU is arguably the most offensive oversight on this build, but the lack of ECC is nearly as bad.This looks like something someone who lives near a Microcenter would sell on Craigslist (for probably the same egregious amount of money).