Digital Storm ODE Level 3

The ODE Level 3 is one of four preconfigured gaming desktops by Digital Storm, and the second most powerful configuration in the new ODE line you can buy. Though well suited for consumers who want to game but don't want to buy and install individual components, only those with deep pockets will be able to afford its $2,399 (direct) price tag. Still, this machine should keep you gaming for years to come, and Digital Storm will provide any upgrading you may require or desire.

Design and Features
Built into a white Corsair Graphite Series 600T case, the 20-inch-high ODE Level 3 has a simple and clean look. The plastic window on the right side lets you see the neatly arranged interior: Wires are routed beneath the motherboard tray, and red internal lighting shows off all your components, even in the dark. The chassis is airflow friendly, with a perforated top grate to let the hot air escape naturally, and a liquid-cooling system for the CPU (also by Corsair) and several fans also present. Ports on the top of the PC include four USB 2.0 ports and one USB 3.0 port, audio and mic jacks, and FireWire 400. On the rear panel you'll find even more ports, including four DVI-I, two HDMI, and two DisplayPort; eight USB 2.0; FireWire 400; eSATA; power eSATA; and audio jacks. There are also two USB 3.0 ports in the back, but one is occupied by a plug connected to the front-panel port with a pass-through cable. This is common, as cases don't commonly connect those ports to motherboard headers, but it's still an awkward and unattractive solution.

Cracking open the system is easy and needs no tools: Just push down on two levers on the ODE's side panel. The six hard drive bays contain sliding drive caddies, two of which are filled. One contains a 120GB solid-state drive (SSD) for use with the OS and programs and the other a 7,200rpm 1TB hard drive for storage. One of the four optical drive bays is occupied by a Blu-ray combo drive. The Asus Sabertooth P67 motherboard is equipped with eight SATA ports, of which three (two 6Gbps and one 3Gbps) are in use; two 6Gbps and three 3Gbps SATA ports are free. The two PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slots are occupied by Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 video cards, which block the other expansion slots except for one empty PCIe x1 slot; two of the four available RAM slots are filled with a total of 8GB of memory. All of these components are powered by the 800-watt power supply, which is more than sufficient for the existing hardware and will support some additional components as well.

Digital Storm is a custom builder, so it's no surprise that the company offers premium support services with their systems. There's a three-year limited warranty, which covers labor costs for part replacements, tune ups, and diagnostics. You're also allowed a year to replace defective parts, and lifetime access to both labor-free upgrades and Digital Storm customer support.

Performance
Gaming performance is the name of the game with this PC, and its 3.4GHz Intel Core i7-2600K and two GTX 570 video cards help it rival even Digital Storm's own Black Ops Enix Edition ($3,627, 4 stars). On our Crysis DirectX 10 (DX10) test the ODE Level 3 scored a solidly playable 71 frames per second (fps) on the highest settings at 1,920-by-1,080 resolution, just two frames shy of the Enix's 73fps score. Likewise, in our Lost Planet 2 DX11 test the ODE earned 121.7fps at the highest settings?again only 2fps behind the Enix. The Maingear F131 Super Stock is even closer in price to the ODE Level 3, costing $99 less, and its scores on the highest quality settings were well behind the ODE Level 3: On Crysis it earned 47fps and on Lost Planet 2 it reached 72fps.

In our multimedia tests, however, you could hardly tell the difference between the ODE and F131 Super Stock. Both garnered similar times on both our Photoshop CS5 test (2:21 for the ODE Level 3, 2:18 for the F131 Super Stock) and our CineBench R11.5 test (9.14 for the ODE Level 3, 9.35 for the F131 Super Stock).

The Digital Storm ODE Level 3 is a terrific desktop for those that may not want to pick and choose every detail of their gaming system. Digital Storm takes the pain out of this process and delivers a well-rounded preconfigured system that will last. Bundled with a lengthy warranty and a strong, upgrade-focused customer service program, it has even more going for it. Its components and benchmark scores rival our most expensive Editors' Choice for high-end gaming rigs, the Black Ops Enix, and beats out our other EC, the Maingear F131 Super Stock, when you consider price for performance. For these reasons, the Digital Storm ODE Level 3 is our new Editors' Choice for mainstream gaming desktops.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
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