Digital Storm Shows Off Custom Water Cooled Aventum PC
Subject: Systems | March 26, 2012 - 04:06 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: water cooling, nvidia, Ivy Bridge, gtx 680, Digital Storm
Digital Storm, a custom PC Manufacturer founded in 2002 today revealed their latest system lineup. The new Aventum computers employ the company’s Cryo-TEC sub-zero cooling solution and the latest in PC hardware in a custom full tower chassis. The custom Aventum systems come in several tiers, including three systems with Intel Sandy Bridge-E processors, NVIDIA GTX 680 graphics cards, solid state drives, and at least 16 GB of RAM. Digital Storm further does not skimp on the power supplies. The Aventum computers are powered by either Corsair or Silverstone PSUs.
The hardware inside the chassis is impressive from a performance standpoint, and Digital Storm is including high end hardware as part of several tiers. The lowest tier is an Intel Sandy Bridge Core i7 2700K and a single EVGA NVIDIA GTX 680 graphics card on an Asus P8Z68-V Pro motherboard. On the other hand, the top tier system moves up to a dual socket EVGA SR-X motherboard, two Intel Xeon E5-2630 processors and three EVGA NVIDIA GTX 680 GPUs in a triple SLI configuration. The other hardware differences are less pronounced - like the upgrade to faster or more RAM and a bit more SSD capacity and PSU wattage. At launch, there will be four system configuration levels which you can see in the chart below.
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7 2700K | Intel Core i7 3930K | Intel Core i7 3960X | 2x Dual Intel Xeon E5-2630 Six-Core |
| Memory | 16 GB DDR3 1600 MHz | 16 GB DDR3 1600 MHz | 16 GB DDR3 2133 MHz Corsair GT | 32 GB DDR3 ECC REG 1333 MHz |
| Graphics Card(s) | 1x EVGA GTX 680 | 2x Dual SLI GTX 680 | 3x Triple SLI GTX 680 | 3x Triple SLI GTX 680 |
| Storage | 120 GB SSD & 1 TB HDD | 120 GB SSD & 1 TB HDD | 120 GB SSD & 1 TB HDD | 180 GB SSD & 1 TB HDD |
| Motherboard | ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 |
ASUS Sabertooth X79 |
ASUS Rampage IV Extreme X79 |
EVGA Classified SR-X |
| Power Supply | Corsair 1050W Pro Silver | Corsair 1200W Pro Gold | Silverstone 1500W SST-ST1500 | Silverstone 1500W SST-ST1500 |
| Optical Drive | Slot Loading DVD Writer | Slot Loading DVD Writer | Slot Loading DVD Writer | Slot Loading DVD Writer |
| OS | Windows 7 HP x64 | Windows 7 HP x64 | Windows 7 HP x64 | Windows 7 Pro x64 |
| Price | $3,859 | $4,985 | $6,687 | $7,850 |
The hardware is nice, but it is not the only interesting aspect of the new Aventum PCs. Rather, it is the custom chassis that holds the Digital Storm hardware. The metal full tower ATX case is divided up into sections and supports three 420mm (3x140mm) radiators, and 13 case fans to keep the Cryo-TEC thermo-electric cooler from overheating. The cooler is placed directly on the CPU and then is itself cooled by a water cooling loop. There are two 420mm radiators in the bottom of the chassis along with the computer’s power supply.
The Digital Storm Cryo-TEC cooler installed in a system.
Digital Storm has designed it such that three 140mm fans draw cool air in from outside of the case, through the radiator, and then channels the heated air out of the back of the case via vent under the power supply. The 13 case fans provide cooling for five cooling “zones” and are monitored and controlled by temperature probes using Aventum software in Windows. System and temperature information is also displayed on a built in LCD on the right side of the case.
Another interesting aspect of the Aventum chassis is that the hardware is installed “backwards” in the case such that it can be viewed through a window on the right side of the case (instead of the left in the majority of cases). It also features a removable drive cage with four 3.5” drive bays. There is also support for two internal 2.5” drives and a slot loading DVD writer optical drive accessed on the top of the case. Power and reset buttons are located just under the DVD drive while four USB ports and two audio jacks (1 mic, 1 headphone) are located on the right side of the case near the DVD drive.
The case also features plenty of mesh patterned ventilation holes and cut out Digital Storm logos. Also, there is a Digital Storm logo on the front of the case that is back-lit by a customizable LED color. Digital Storm’s Director of Product Development Rajeev Kuruppu noted that their research department has worked for months with thermal imaging cameras to ensure that the high end components are cooled as efficiently as possible. ”Every integral component and every zone is constantly being monitored so our customers can ensure their dream machine is always delivering optimal performance.”
The Aventum systems are available now and range in price from $3,859 to $7,856 depending on the particular configuration. More information will be posted on the Digital Storm website later today.
PC Perspective Live Review Recap: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
Subject: Graphics Cards | March 24, 2012 - 05:51 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: video, tom petersen, nvidia, live review, gtx 680, geforce
On the day of the GeForce GTX 680 launch, we hosted a "Live Review" to discuss the new product features and performance while also taking questions from a live chat room and via Twitter. NVIDIA's own Tom Petersen stopped by the offices to talk with us and to show off the hardware features with some live demos of GPU Boost, overclocking and quite a bit more.
If you haven't seen the video yet, you should definitely do so; Tom does a great job explaining the new technology involved with the Kepler GPU. One caveat: the recording process was a bit off and the recording actually starts just a few minutes AFTER we actually began the live stream. Sorry!
For more information on other upcoming events you can follow PC Perspective on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ or just check http://pcper.com/live for the latest schedule!
GTX 680 insanity! SLI, Triple SLI, and Quad SLI
Subject: Graphics Cards | March 23, 2012 - 01:45 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: sli, quad sli, gtx 680
With an Intel Core i7 3960X, 16GB of DDR3, an ASUS Rampage IV Formula motherboard and an Enermax Platimax 1500W PSU, Hardware.Info took four GTX 680s and started benchmarking. Of course, that means more than one monitor so these benchmarks are at 5760x1080 and due to the new architecture some games were not quite sure what to do with the extra graphics cards. Some games like Metro 2033 were not able to provide significant scaling at high resolutions but then again Crysis 2 had no idea what to do with three HD 7970s which makes it hard to determine a clear winner between three HD 7970s and four GTX 680s. The benchmark results offer results we've never seen, with over 80fps from the NVIDIA cards on Crysis 2 and 130fps on Skyrim. The end result is that apart from games which seem to need updating, the scaling of the GTX 680 is impressive and it pulls less power than the HD 7970s.
"We just published a comprehensive GeForce GTX 680 4-way SLI review on Hardware.Info. Since we are the first to extensively test a Quad-SLI configuration of nVidia's brand new GeForce GTX 680, we wanted to make these exciting results available to a wider audience and created an English version of the article."
Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
- Nvidia shows off first 'Kepler' GPUs @ The Register
- ASUS GeForce GTX 680 SLI @ techPowerUp
- Arctic Accelero S1 PLUS - GPU cooler @ Funky Kit
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Technology Report @ TechARP
- AMD Radeon HD 7750 Video Card Review @ Madshrimps
- GeForce GTX 680 SLI @ Guru 3D
- ZOTAC GeForce GTX 680 Graphics Card SLI Performance Review @ HardwareHeaven
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 Launch Review @ Neoseeker
Podcast #194 - GTX 680 Leaks, Ivy Bridge Rumors, a Water Cooled Laptop and more!!
Subject: General Tech | March 22, 2012 - 07:07 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: podcast, nvidia, Ivy Bridge, Intel, gtx 680
PC Perspective Podcast #194 - 03/22/2012
Join us this week as we talk about our GTX 680 Leaks, Ivy Bridge Rumors, a Water Cooled Laptop and more!!
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
- iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
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RSS reader - MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file
Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Jeremy Hellstrom, Josh Walrath, and Allyn Malvantano
This Podcast is brought to you by
Program Schedule:
- Introduction
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- UPDATE: NCAA 2012: PC Perspective Bracket Competition!!
- SXSW Trade Show 2012
- Cerwin-Vega! XD3 Powered Desktop Speaker Review
- More solid information on Ivy Bridge's launch dates
- Google Rumored To Release $199 Nexus Tablet
- Seagate Achieves 1 Terabit Per Square Inch Storage Density
- Asetek Demonstrates Liquid Cooling For Laptop And All-In-One PCs
- PC-exclusive Sim City engine demoed. The peasants approve.
- Psst ... Hey buddy. Ya wanna see the GTX 680 under my jacket?
- Anyone want a GTX580 for $360? (Counting MIR)
- Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
- Ryan: A GTX 680 before it launches!!
- Jeremy: If you have RAMBUS still, you have a problem! and Wing Commander Saga, out for free tomorrow!
- Josh: Oldy but goody
- Allyn: Samsung 830 - 128GB for $150 on Newegg
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- Closing
Want to stop the GTX 680 leaks? Release the card and they will go away!
Subject: Graphics Cards | March 22, 2012 - 02:15 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: nvidia, kepler, gtx 680, 28nm
After a fun filled week of speculation, accidental launches and more leaks than a cruise ship, we can finally talk about the GTX 680 and how it performs. Start out at [H]ard|OCP who put four monitors on a GTX 680 and started benchmarking. The card is made with TSMC's 28nm process, sports 3.54 billion transistors and both its GPU and 1536 CUDA cores run at the same 1.006GHz and the 2GB of memory is running at 6GHz on a 256-bit bus. That is enough power to surpass the performance of AMD's HD 7970 and surprisingly it often draws less power than the Radeon making the card more efficient than AMD's offering and ruining NVIDIA's reputation for power hungry, hot running cards.
You can catch not only the print version of Ryan's GTX 680 review but if your timing is good you can catch a recording of the live stream he did earlier today!
The Inquirer is also worth checking out as they offer a dissenting opinon which places the performance of the GTX 680 as lower than an HD 7870, let alone the 7970!
"The silicon we have all been waiting for is here. NVIDIA is launching its next generation GeForce GTX 680 video card, poised with the new flagship GPU from NVIDIA. Can it compete with AMD's Radeon HD 7970? We were somewhat amazed at how this NVIDIA GPU does when it comes to gaming, pricing, efficiency, and features."
Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
- Nvidia's GeForce GTX 680 @ The Tech Report
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Graphics Performance @ Benchmark Reviews
- NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 @ Tweaktown
- Nvidia Strikes Back: GeForce GTX 680 2 GB on “Kepler” Graphics Architecture @ X-bit Labs
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 DirectX 11 Video Card Review @ Hi Tech Legion
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 Video Card Preview @ Ninjalane
- Palit GEFORCE GTX 680 2GB Kepler Graphics Card Review @ eTeknix
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Preview @ Techgage
- nVidia GTX680 @ OC3D
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 680: Kepler (GK104) @ Bjorn3D
- NVIDIA GTX 680 2GB Reviews @ Hardware Canucks
- GeForce GTX 680 @ Guru of 3D
- Nvidia GTX 680 - Kepler @ LanOC Reviews
- NVIDIA GTX 680 Review @ OCC
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (Kepler) Graphics Card Launch Review @ HardwareHeaven
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Kepler 2 GB @ techPowerUp
- ASUS GTX 680 2GB Overclocking Review: Win Some Lose Some @ VR-Zone
- NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 @ Tweaktown
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Review: Retaking The Performance Crown @ AnandTech
- NVIDIA's GeForce 600M Series: Mobile Kepler and Fermi Die Shrinks @ AnandTech
- Sapphire Radeon HD 7750 1GB Ultimate @ Tweaktown
- Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB @ Tweaktown
- Sapphire HD7850 Overclock Edition @ Kitguru
- Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 OC @ Legion Hardware
- XFX R7850 Black Edition OC @ LanOC Reviews
- Sapphire Radeon HD 7750 Ultimate Review @ Neoseeker
The Kepler Architecture
Join us today at 12pm EST / 9am CST as PC Perspective hosts a Live Review on the new GeForce GTX 680 graphics card. We will discuss the new GPU technology, important features like GPU Boost, talk about performance compared to AMD's lineup and we will also have NVIDIA's own Tom Petersen on hand to run some demos and answer questions from viewers. You can find it all at http://pcper.com/live!!
NVIDIA fans have been eagerly waiting for the new Kepler architecture ever since CEO Jen-Hsun Huang first mentioned it in September 2010. In the interim, we have seen the birth of a complete lineup of AMD graphics cards based on its Southern Islands architecture including the Radeon HD 7970, HD 7950, HD 7800s and HD 7700s. To the gamer looking for an upgrade it would appear that NVIDIA had fallen behind; but the company is hoping that today's release of the GeForce GTX 680 will put them back in the driver's seat.
This new $499 graphics card will directly compete against the Radeon HD 7970, and it brings quite a few "firsts" to NVIDIA's lineup. This NVIDIA card is the first desktop 28nm GPU, the first to offer a clock speed over 1 GHz, the first to support triple-panel gaming on a single card, and the first to offer "boost" clocks that vary from game to game. Interested yet? Let's get to the good stuff.
The Kepler Architecture
In many ways, the new 28nm Kepler architecture is just an update to the Fermi design that was first introduced in the GF100 chip. NVIDIA's Jonah Alben summed things up pretty nicely for us in a discussion stating that "there are lots of tiny things changing (in Kepler) rather than a few large things which makes it difficult to tell a story."
GTX 680 Block Diagram
Continue reading our review of the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Graphics Card!!
... and here's Newegg with a GTX 680 leak
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | March 21, 2012 - 09:51 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: pelly wants revenge, nvidia, leak, gtx 680, fermi, 28nm
Not to be outdone by NCIX, NewEgg also managed to jump the gun on the GTX 680 earlier today. The screengrab that was sent tp Bright Side of News shows their pricing of the soon to be released GTX 680 with models ranging from $500 to $535. The specs are there for all to see, a GPU running at 1.006GHz, Shader clock of 2.012GHz, effective memory of 6.008GHz and 1536 Stream Processors. Contrast that with the last GTX 580 that Josh reviewed which had a 782 MHz core, 1.564GHz shader, memory at 4.008GHz and 512 SPs and you can see it is a big step up!
If you visit NewEgg now you will be greeted with a different result, a page describing the GTX 680's various features and a Buy Now button which unfortunately doesn't work at this moment. That is a situtation which obviously cannot last as NewEgg would not have put it up. Of course the realization that you can pick up a pair of GTX 570's for the same price might just mean some recalculations will be in order once we see the performance of the actual card.
Psst ... Hey buddy. Ya wanna see the GTX 680 under my jacket?
Subject: General Tech | March 20, 2012 - 11:26 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: pelly, nvidia, leak, gtx 680, fermi, 28nm
The gang over at Tweaktown managed to get pictures of a retail Gigabyte GTX 680, which is not only better than candid snaps from Las Vegas making it to the web, it also solidifies a few facts. For instance, as you can see below there are two 6-pin PCIe power connectors which pegs the maximum supplimental power that this card can draw at 150W. That is a big difference from the two 8-pin PCIe connectors that could deliver up to 275 to a GTX 580; NVIDIA has obviously made a huge step forward in power savings with the move to 28nm regardless of any design or manufacturing problems they may have had to overcome to deliver this card to retailers.
Tweaktown didn't stop there either GPU fans; it seems that the online\brick and mortar computer chain NCIX made a little mistake and let the GTX 680 appear on their wishlist app. Both an EVGA and an MSI model of the GTX 680 could be added to your wishlist ... for the price of $578.20 USD plus delivery. That same retailer currently sells HD 7970's for between $564.99 USD to $619.99. If only there had been some leaked benchmarks which might indicate which way AMD might have to adjust their pricing.
Lucas is so going to sue you!
A possible GTX 680 specs leak?
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | March 14, 2012 - 05:29 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: rumour, nvidia, leak, gtx 680
Below you can see a screen grab from PConline which purports to show the specifications of the GTX 680. While the specs are well within reason, without any way to verify this leak, or to translate the Chinese characters it is hard to have these specs confirmed or denied as they stand. Whether you should take the below with a good dose of NaCl is as of yet unknown but for now we can enjoy the speculation until NVIDIA finally releases the cards for review.
Please feel free to add any speculations, doubts or other leaks in the comments below ... or even a decent translation would be great! You can catch the Google Translation here, if you wish to torture your brain with exclusive exposure.
GTX 680, Turbo Cores, and Cuda Cores!
Subject: Graphics Cards | March 8, 2012 - 06:59 PM | Josh Walrath
Tagged: nvidia, kepler, gtx 680, GDC
It seems that there have been a few leaks on NVIDIA's first Kepler based product. Techpowerup and Extreme Tech are both reporting on leaks that apparently came from Cebit and some of NVIDIA's partners. We now have a much better idea what the GTX 680 is all about.
Epic's Mark Rein is showing off his own GTX 680 which successfully ran their Samaritan Demo. It is wrapped for his protection. (Image courtesy of Extreme Tech)
The chip that powers the GTX 680 is the GK104, and it is oddly enough the more "midrange/enthusiast" offering. It has a total of 1536 CUDA cores, runs at 703 MHz core and 1406 MHz hot clock, has a 256 bit memory bus pumping out 196 GB/sec, and has a new and interesting feature that is quite a bit like the Turbo core functionality we see from both AMD and Intel in their CPUs. Apparently when a scene gets very complex, the chip is able to overclock itself up to 900 MHz core/1800 MHz hot clock. It will stay there for either as long as the scene needs it, or the chip approaches its upper TDP limit.
These reports paint the GTX 680 as being about 10% faster than the HD 7970 in certain applications, but in others it is slower. I figure that when reviews are finally released the two cards will have traded blows with each other over who has the fastest graphics card. Let's call it a draw.
The GTX 680 should be unveiled in the next week or so, but initial reviews will not surface until later in the month. Retail availability will be relegated until then, but with the issues that TSMC has had with their 28 nm process (it has been stopped since the middle of February) we have no idea how much product NVIDIA and its partners has. Things could be scarce after the introduction for some time.
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