DigitalStorm BlackOps: Almost Too Fast

Conclusion: Defining Excess

When dealing with a desktop like the DigitalStorm BlackOps, it's tough to figure out what kinds of conclusions to draw. Do you judge it based on the price? Well, the price is steep and probably past the point of reason for most users. So you judge it based on performance, right? Except the performance is generally commensurate with the price, with the real issue being whether or not anyone needs that much performance.

Given that I've been surviving fine with a single AMD Radeon HD 5870 gaming at 1920x1200, and this solution is capable of being more than twice as fast, you start dealing with benchmark results that border on being academic. With the BlackOps you can max everything out and then some. You really need much more than a WUXGA display before GTX 580 SLI becomes necessary; a 30" LCD or two would be just about right.

The complaints I'm left with are mostly the same as they've been with the other boutique desktops we've seen: lazy overclocking and corners cut. At least with the BlackOps the corners cut are mild ones, as the system is still perfectly stable and it's hard to cheap out too much when it comes to a 1.2 kilowatt power supply. DigitalStorm is willing to back the whole thing up with a three year standard warranty and lifetime tech support, too, so at least there's some peace of mind to be had there.

But the lazy overclocking remains an issue, and the fact that this tower doesn't idle the processor means it's always going to be drawing more power and generating more heat than it really needs to. That heat is bound to be a liability for some users, too, because while the case does a great job of keeping the components cool, all of that hot air is getting expelled into the surrounding environment. Bay area winters don't exactly redefine "cold," but the fact that I didn't have to run the heater while I was testing the BlackOps really should tell you something.

Of course, the flipside is that the tower is blisteringly fast. In many ways you really are getting what you pay for with the BlackOps, even if it may be far more than you thought you needed, and I can't stress enough how much I appreciate seeing a boutique build in such a nice case. Really this tower is going to be for users that are running either multiple monitors, 3D Vision, or both. If you think you can make use of all that power, DigitalStorm's tower becomes pretty easy to recommend.

The final catch is a familiar refrain by now: Sandy Bridge is right around the corner. The full scoop is coming up next week, so there's no point in jumping on a Bloomfield build today. Sandy Bridge may be more of a replacement for socket 1156 as opposed to the X58 and socket 1366, but outside of the hex-core Gulftown processors socket 1366 is nearing the end of the road as well. If you like the idea of the BlackOps Assassin, we recommend waiting for the inevitable Sandy Bridge variant that should show up in early 2011. Hopefully DigitalStorm will put a bit more finesse into overclocking that setup, and the unlocked K-series CPUs should be just the ticket.