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  • just4U - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    Stand up systems like these could really benifit from a slot loading DVD. Don't know why you don't see them around any more. I really liked my pioneer ones from back in the day.
  • Dustin Sklavos - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    I personally love slot-loading drives. The uh...the Alienware X51 has one.
  • CaptainDoug - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    So does the falcon northwest tiki.
  • ImSpartacus - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    Speaking of the X51, when will we see a review of the new IvB/660 version?

    I love the Bolt review, but I agree that the X51 might be a better value for those of us that only want a midrange system. I can't wait to see it in your lab.
  • Menty - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    Probably just the price difference between tray and slot-load. For some reason, everytime I try to find a slot-load, it winds up being twice as expensive as a tray-load :(.
  • MadMan007 - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    Do you have actual noise measurements and forgot to put the chart in the article?
  • Dustin Sklavos - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    I tend to just measure systems individually and only point out noise when it's a serious issue.
  • ursulache - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    Hi,
    under what load was the power consumption measured?
    Thank you.
  • landerf - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    Not sure how I feel about a sleeve bearing fan on something as critical as the cpu... especially a scythe. Every slip stream me an my friend ever had leaked oil and seized up.
  • nevertell - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    I believe that if they had gone with a closed watercooling loop for both the gpu and cpu, it would make it even better. It's the small form factors that would actually benefit from wc at the time when cpu's sip power and kepler is the most efficient gaming architecture ever built by nvidia. Of course, then it wouldn't be as narrow, but the temperatures would be low even if they used just a 240mm long radiator. This would save space, since both of the major coolers are pretty big. If they wanted to make it even quieter, they could opt for a watercooled PSU.
  • ImSpartacus - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    Are there off-the-shelf watercooled PSUs that could fit in this machine? I wonder if DigitalStorm would've been forced to make a custom PSU if they wanted to watercool it. That would've increased the price considerably.
  • FEAST - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    I would never, ever, ever buy this system because the standard versions dont have an SSD and you have to spend 2,000$ to get just a 120GB SSD. SSD's are by far the MOST IMPORTANT part.
  • Icehawk - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    First, any new PC not aimed at pure budget users should have a 120gb+ SSD as the primary HD - and for a SFF machine like this I would definitely skip mechanical. Heck, I'm mATX and have case room but I have zero mech drives, don't want the heat or sound. If I need mass storage I've got that external. Going SSD would relieve some additional thermals, give some space back potentially, and be silent.

    My new rig uses a fanless PSU... surely they could do better than what they are using? Heck at least go custom cabled or modular so there is the minimum clutter used.

    Watercooling could open some space but then you need to find room for the radiator so I don't know if that is realistic without seeing the chassis in person.

    I guess it all depends on just how much you value a tiny desktop box but I think a few tweaks to this rig would definitely make it more attractive by at changing to SSD and a better setup on the PSU.
  • sulu1977 - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    Wouldn't it be better to use the 60GB SATA just for the C-drive, and the 1TB for data?
  • trimspababy - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    How does this ($1500 build) stack up against the Origin Chronos, another small form-factor gaming system that was reviewed back in July? Seems like the Origin Chronos was better in terms of price for what you get, or am I comparing apples to oranges?
  • trimspababy - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link

    How does this ($1500 build) stack up against the Origin Chronos, another small form-factor gaming system that was reviewed back in July? Seems like the Origin Chronos was better in terms of price for what you get, or am I comparing apples to oranges?
  • creed3020 - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link

    Just wanted to say thank you Dustin for keeping so many reviews quality reviews coming out. I was very curious to see if AT would have a review of this unit after reading about it elsewhere.

    I totally agree that the 1U PSU needs to go. Having worked with many HP ProLiant 1U servers from their G5 generation I can comfortably say these PSU's are loud, hot, and certain models are prone to failure. I can see how Digital Storm was trying to achieve thinness, but if you aren't blowing away the competition in this minor increments battle of thinness then give up already and make the product better in other ways.

    Silverstone's ST45SF-G (SFX) is only 63.5mm wide so it would have worked well in this chassis in a front mounted configuration like many of the Silverstone cases.
  • theNiZer - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link

    Hi Dustin,

    great review (meaning a good and critical assessment) of the 'Bolt' system - will we see a review of the Tiki unit from Falcon which should run much quieter and allow greater hardware?

    /Casper
  • seylonclinton - Tuesday, December 25, 2012 - link

    An amazing review of DigitalStrom Bolt gaming system! I think to complete with other major gaming devices in the market (Xbox-360, PS3 and Wii U) this gaming system is vastly capable. All the included hardware of this gaming device is perfect to play modern time games. I'm looking forward to purchase one for top quality gaming experience. Thanks.

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