WEBVTT

00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:07.919
nearly two years ago we asked if there was a place in the

00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:10.719
market for pre-built compact gaming pcs

00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:16.400
like the digital storm bolt 3 and i guess given the rise of machines like

00:00:13.120 --> 00:00:18.240
the Corsair 1 and MSI's trident well

00:00:16.400 --> 00:00:23.279
it's safe to say that yes yes there is so when digital storm

00:00:21.119 --> 00:00:28.080
called us up and offered to ship us their new bolt x for an exclusive early

00:00:27.119 --> 00:00:37.730
look how could we say no

00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:45.760
cooler masters 25th anniversary edition

00:00:42.879 --> 00:00:52.160
cosmos 2 features a unique dual curved tempered glass side panel

00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:54.879
check it out now at the link below

00:00:52.160 --> 00:01:01.039
from the outside the bolt x is pretty similar to the bolt 3 we reviewed back

00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:03.840
in 2015. it retains the clear edge to

00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:08.799
edge acrylic side panel the strange placement of ventilation holes on the

00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:13.760
other side panel and the separate upper panel where the 240 millimeter cooling

00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:19.200
radiator hides like the bolt 3 the bolt x is available

00:01:16.240 --> 00:01:27.439
in both the brushed aluminum fingerprint magnet finish of our older unit and the

00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:30.320
shiny exotic paint finish of our bolt x

00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:35.680
digital storm also lifted up the base of the case providing a little bit more

00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:37.520
clearance for air intake on the bottom

00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:41.280
one odd thing that you might have noticed by now is that there is no front

00:01:40.320 --> 00:01:47.920
i o not even a power switch to accompany the

00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:50.720
RGB front logo no digital storm instead

00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:54.720
opted to put it on the side aesthetically this clean look works

00:01:53.280 --> 00:02:00.240
really well for us but the option for our front optical

00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:02.320
drive is also gone and whether cables

00:02:00.240 --> 00:02:07.920
sticking out the front or out the side is best really depends on your desk

00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:13.760
layout but enough boring stuff let's get inside it's impossible to miss the

00:02:10.920 --> 00:02:20.160
immaculately run custom sleeved power cables and all hardline water cooling

00:02:17.440 --> 00:02:24.560
setup with red dyed liquid to match the exterior

00:02:21.440 --> 00:02:26.400
our unit has both the GPU and video card

00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:30.400
water cooled which ended up giving us a bit of a surprise when we fired up our

00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:35.200
benchmarks more on that later but it's also available in a less expensive CPU

00:02:33.760 --> 00:02:40.959
only config there is no question that hardline looks

00:02:38.959 --> 00:02:46.800
great mwah but as a tinkerer if i was buying a bolt

00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:49.360
x i might not configure it this way for

00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:55.360
a couple of reasons flexible tubing doesn't look as good i know but it gives

00:02:52.959 --> 00:03:01.040
you quick and easy access for troubleshooting or upgrades while

00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:06.720
hardline requires you to dismantle the whole loop in order to get at virtually

00:03:03.519 --> 00:03:09.200
anything other than the RAM and drives

00:03:06.720 --> 00:03:13.680
one saving grace with this particular machine though is that as long as you're

00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:19.680
careful about it you actually could probably pull the whole assembly out

00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:25.120
through the top panel so unlike the main gear omen x with hardline you could swap

00:03:22.959 --> 00:03:29.120
a failed component like a motherboard without a plumbing certificate from the

00:03:27.040 --> 00:03:34.959
local community college but we still think that the happy medium

00:03:31.920 --> 00:03:36.720
is hardline for the CPU only

00:03:34.959 --> 00:03:41.599
for easy graphics card upgrades in the future or soft tubing all around if you

00:03:39.760 --> 00:03:47.440
want the extra performance and on that subject there's plenty of

00:03:43.760 --> 00:03:51.120
that our ASUS rog strix z270i gaming is

00:03:47.440 --> 00:03:55.040
equipped with an Intel core i7 7700k

00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:58.319
and 32 gigs of ddr4 3000 RAM and as for

00:03:55.040 --> 00:04:01.840
the GPU well that my friends is what a

00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:04.879
water-cooled GeForce gtx 1080 ti looks

00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:08.319
like and the whole thing is running off

00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:10.799
a lienly 750 watt 80 plus platinum

00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:15.200
modular power supply so then it should come as no surprise that even without

00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:20.479
the five gigahertz factory overclock option our both x killed our 1080p

00:04:18.880 --> 00:04:25.520
gaming test suite but what might be surprising is just how

00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:32.639
well it killed it we gathered all of these results

00:04:28.400 --> 00:04:34.479
at stock speeds for both the CPU and GPU

00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:38.800
meaning that the performance difference over our test bench here was purely

00:04:36.880 --> 00:04:44.400
driven by the efficiency of digital storms hydrolux water cooling loop

00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:49.840
no part of our system ever dropped from max turbo which was

00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:52.639
totally what i should have named my son

00:04:49.840 --> 00:04:56.240
max turbo anyway sorry

00:04:54.000 --> 00:05:02.479
even synthetic tests including a combined load of fermark and ida 64

00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:08.639
didn't manage to make it throttle which is great results in a doomsday scenario

00:05:06.080 --> 00:05:12.960
for any unified cooler and it doesn't really get terribly loud

00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:18.000
while gaming either with the fan spinning up to a light whoosh under

00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:21.840
normal loads and only really ramping up higher when under those synthetic loads

00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:26.720
i mentioned before we wanted to give you accurate numbers

00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:30.400
for the noise levels but unfortunately the studio is presently a construction

00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:34.560
zone so yeah that's that's not happening

00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:39.280
but bottom line is it worth the price tag well it's tough to say not because

00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:42.160
we don't have the results or because we're

00:05:40.080 --> 00:05:46.320
waffling on making a recommendation it's actually because we don't have a price

00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:50.160
tag yet digital storm won't be releasing the bolt x to the public for another

00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:54.960
couple of months and while the preliminary pricing that they've given

00:05:51.919 --> 00:05:55.919
us says it will be starting at 1 500 us

00:05:54.960 --> 00:06:04.639
dollars their starting configuration for the bolt 3 at that price suggests that a

00:06:01.039 --> 00:06:07.280
bolt x as shown here will cost a pretty

00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:11.120
penny more than that but maybe that's the point

00:06:09.280 --> 00:06:15.039
what you'll be getting with the bolt x is a machine that absolutely crushes it

00:06:13.039 --> 00:06:18.960
in terms of performance and with headroom for some overclocking thanks to

00:06:16.960 --> 00:06:24.319
its excellent cooling setup it is far from the smallest gaming rig

00:06:21.919 --> 00:06:28.720
we've ever seen it's even bigger than the last generation bolt but it's still

00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:32.479
not unreasonable so if you've got the cash and you want a water cooled gaming

00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:37.919
rig done right i think the bolt x has got you covered

00:06:35.280 --> 00:06:42.880
ting is a mobile carrier that cares about your satisfaction it truly is an

00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:48.800
unusual thing isn't it so when you call them you don't speak to a robot you get

00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:52.639
put through directly to a person and it

00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:54.720
doesn't cost extra in fact you pay only

00:06:52.639 --> 00:07:00.400
for what you use with the average ting bill coming in at just 23 bucks a month

00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:06.800
and if you're stuck in a contract they will also cover 25 of your cancellation

00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:08.800
fee up to 75

00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:14.800
so check them out today and take advantage of their lower mobile data

00:07:11.039 --> 00:07:17.520
rates beyond the first gig is just 10

00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:20.880
per gig and every single ting customer they're porting it backwards will be

00:07:19.280 --> 00:07:26.720
able to reap the benefits of this new change so head over to Linus.ting.com

00:07:24.479 --> 00:07:31.280
to try out their savings calculator and see if you'll save by using ting and

00:07:29.599 --> 00:07:36.240
when you sign up at our link you'll even get 25 bucks in service credit or

00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:39.919
towards a new device so thanks for watching guys if you dislike this video

00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:43.120
you can hit that dislike button but if you liked it hit the like button get

00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:48.319
subscribed and maybe consider checking out where to buy the stuff we featured at the link in the video description

00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:56.360
also down there is a link to our merch store which has cool shirts like this one as well as our community forum which

00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:56.360
you should totally join