It’s not every day you see almost an inch of ice caked to a heat sink inside a fully-functional, high-end gaming PC. Much less in a comfortably room temperature suite beneath the snowline.
Digital Storm specializes in such computing marvels. Their suite at the Venetian for CES required only a single example of their craft: one of their Hailstorm gaming PCs with its case open to reveal its Sub-Zero Liquid Chilled System, a conspicuous temperature readout displaying a temperature of -5.19 degrees Celsius.
The Sub-Zero Liquid Chilled System does exactly what its name implies. It is a liquid cooling system containing fluid kept at subzero temperatures, allowing components such as the processor to be overclocked to staggering speeds of over 4.5 GHz. The system’s core includes a series of TEC peltier coolers without any moving parts, increasing its reliability.
The Hailstorm PC is available for purchase at www.DigitalStormOnline.com; its base configuration starts at $3,939. Other gaming and high-performance rigs are also available.
Digital Storm offers an array of constructed PCs intended for dedicated gamers seeking high-end performance. The company has received numerous awards from industry publications and has consistently grown every year since its founding in 2002.
Trauben’s Impressions
This is another holy hell moment. I’ve heard of Digital Storm before, and lusted helplessly after their electronic delights as a consumer whose pocketbook has always been leaner than his ambitions. I’ve even heard of such cooling systems, although a fan’s always been functional for me.
Seeing a heat sink literally caked with ice was another thing entirely.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to afford the Hailstorm, but that doesn’t mean I’m unable to appreciate it on a technical and aesthetic level. The thing is a work of art- an elegant chassis, a fine cooling system, and from what I understand, pretty potent specs. All I can say is: if Digital Storm keeps this up, maybe high-end gamers might not sneer so much at pre-built systems after all.
Huneycutt’s Impressions
Digital Storm is a beautiful compromise; the personal attention and specifically-delivered specifications of CyperpowerPC balanced against the sheer, vicious performance of the Alienware trademark. Its not totally fair to the organization to use those groups in comparison, but its hard to convey DigitalStorm’s aesthetic and perfomance values without seeing it firsthand, and given the strength of their line, I wouldn’t be surprised if they themselves weren’t a benchmark company in the very near future. They’re a solid, strong, sexy line with robust stats and a very fair price-point given the performance delivered.
I. Want. One. That is all. Look out for our hands-on review in the very near future.