DigitalStorm Enix: Phenomenal Cosmic Power, Itty Bitty Living Space
by Dustin Sklavos on May 12, 2011 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Intel
- Sandy Bridge
- SilverStone
- DigitalStorm
Conclusion: Too Hot to Handle
If we take the contentious processor voltage issues off the table, what we're left with is a remarkably powerful machine in a tiny enclosure. That's a testament to all parties involved: SilverStone's engineers for producing a case this size that can support a pair of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580s, Intel's engineers for producing in Sandy Bridge a processor with a tremendously high overclock ceiling, and DigitalStorm's engineers for smartly assembling a system with these components that maximizes performance while being able to handle, however delicately, the incredible amount of power and heat generated by them.
That voltage is a bone of contention, though, that we really have to leave up to you, the reader. Common wisdom from browsing forums and looking at what other overclockers are doing suggests that 1.45-1.48V on the processor core is too high for long-term use, while DigitalStorm's engineers state that this is ideal for maintaining an overclock of this magnitude on a Sandy Bridge chip. Anand and I both felt that it was too high, but we don't have the data to really back that up (though DigitalStorm would have a hard time doing the same: Sandy Bridge has only been out for a few months, nowhere near long enough to produce long-term reliability data). But DigitalStorm is willing to warranty the unit for three years standard and stand behind their overclock for ten years, well beyond the useful life of an enthusiast processor. That's the best one can ask for.
Ultimately the Enix is in many ways an improvement over the last unit we reviewed from DigitalStorm, their BlackOps Assassin Edition. Using the SilverStone FT03, they're able to increase performance over that behemoth while cutting the form factor by nearly two-thirds. Noise levels and power consumption have gone up a bit, but performance is up with them. The Enix is the fastest machine we've tested yet and DigitalStorm's people seem genuinely interested in producing quality kit and backing it up with quality service. Given our point of contention, it would be difficult to recommend an award for the Enix, but if you're willing to take the risk—and DigitalStorm is—this tower could be a great choice for someone who wants a unique and powerful desktop machine.
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Abix - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
Noise results?crimson117 - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
Is a genius.demonbug - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
Heh, I just watched that with my son the other day... great article title.DigitalFreak - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
Still looks like a trash can... now with a red lid!zero2dash - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
And a bad spraypaint job to boot! o.OGranted I'm not a modder extraordinaire, but that paint job is really bad; you can see splotches all over the place on the black. They either rushed it or they didn't do even coats.
TIGGAH - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
I think those splotches are finger/hand prints. I have the silver version and my daughter pawed it over with her grubby hands and I had to scrub it to get the metal to look even again.DigitalStorm - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
@zero2dash.The black is actually just finger prints on the metal surface of the chassis. We only had the red trim pieces painted. I hope that clears it up. =]
Warm Regards,
Harjit
Digital Storm
Omid.M - Thursday, May 12, 2011 - link
Because of that awesome title.xxtypersxx - Friday, May 13, 2011 - link
Great Review.This system is very similar component wise to the 2600k/P8P67M-PRO system I built at launch except that I am running 2 gtx 470's. I can confirm the issues they describe with voltage stability, in order to ensure vcore never dropped below 1.39v while folding at 4.7ghz (it will blue screen if it does) I had to use a +.135v offset which would shoot the cpu-z voltage up to 1.48v if it was at full speed without a load. However, just a couple days ago I upgraded to a leaked 0708 bios dated early may (found it in a forum thread, google brings it right up) and the LLC is now rock solid. I only get a one increment warble now and it actually brings the board on part with the good full atx overclockers. While I don't expect you to upgrade to unofficially released bios versions for your review, I do recommend this for anyone running one of these boards.
Still, seeing a boutique comfortable warrantying those sort of voltages makes me feel better about pushing mine a bit more...
DigitalStorm - Friday, May 13, 2011 - link
That's awesome news. I'll share this with our team and hopefully Asus will publish an official BIOS update that will help achieve a stable overclock at lower offset settings.Cheers,
Harjit