Hmm I see specs of configuration with components with max $3300 price, not for $5,869. processor dealer price ~$1000-1100 depending on the volume of transaction; graphic card ~$400-450, all other hardware and software components ~$1400-$1800 depending on the volume of transactions.
Ironically, you can get a 8core 32gb ram mac pro for 5899$. There is no mechanical storage, but it does come with a PCI-E SSD and a very convenient form factor.
DigitalStorm apparently expects profit margins comparable to those of apple without going through the effort to engineer an actual product.
Also, 1 year parts warranty? When there is hardly a part of this system that comes with at least 2 or more years of warranty? Those guys suck... so greedy and lazy...
Let me guess what is going to happen if god forbid a part fails after that year... they will ask the consumer pay for a new one, but get a replacement from the part manufacturer for free - and cash in everything...
Thanks but no thanks, considering there is nothing custom about this system, you are far better ordering the parts and building it yourself, you will save yourself half the money AND build a better system with more warranty... And even if you are clueless enough to not be able to build it yourself, there are plenty of people who can do it for substantially less than 3500$ LOL...
I did not put it because I advocate mac pro or apple, but as example of something shamelessly and ridiculously overpriced. And as much as I despise apple as a company, that video was lame. Who expect upgradeability from a system that is a:) small enough to hold in one hand and b:) powerful enough so you don't have to upgrade it? Only a complete idiot.
Interesting you comprehended his statement that way when he specifically states, "I did not put it because I advocate MP or Apple, but as an example of something (reviewed rig) shamelessly and 'ridiculously' overpriced....and as much as I despise Apple as a company..." How is that defending Apple? ANY TECH GEEK reading this board that isn't giving Apple credit .(love em, hate em, doesn't matter) for the nMP design is an ignorant, uninformed doorknob. Period. It's an amazing change in workstation performance and as an owner of both Windows 7 workstations, older Mac Pros...and current, extremely happy new MP owner, I can honestly say with the rMBP, rMini, Air and new Mac Pro...as well as Apple's INCREASE in quarterly 'computer' earnings 'went up' while the entire industry is in decline. Again...love em, hate em, doesn't matter, they're innovation and clear vision of future computing, GPU instructions and PCIe storage with thunderbolt is a mind blowing achievement. While AMD FirePro cards aren't nVidia Quadro, they're outstandingly FAST for out workstation tasks...coloring, finalizing ans rendering of 4/5k RED RAW files, rendering, transcoding, editing and finalizing ...even in Premier/AE, it's a mind blowing experience...if you're an FCPx user, it's a night and day difference. Editing 4k/1080p feels like editing ProRes 480 files. Simply. Outstanding. Expect Dell/HP to transition form factors late 14, mid '15. My humble opinion. I use both Win 7 and OSx. Have for almost 30 years (starting on Apple IIe/c pre MS OS. How times have changed). My HP workstation from last year's batch of Xeon, ECC RAM, SSD storage, excellent warranty, etc...just over $9,200 when purchased. My $6,800 nMP runs circles around it (Bootcamp Win 7 or same tasks in OSx). Non 'believers' need do nothing but swing through an Apple store. Look at the form factor. Pick it up...then 'use' it for a half hour. Prepare to be blown away. With the progression of TB, won't be long before we can tie these guys together, utilize powerful, external GPUs....the next progressing is 40Gb/s, bi directional and HDMI 2.0 compliant. Couple of 4k displays simultaneously, editing and transcoding simultaneously, batch processing a couple hundred Nikon D800 RAW files, pick your poison. It's a MONSTER, the size of a kitten;)
Umm, I could build a notably better system with that kind of money. Most of the Firepros actually outperform the Quadro cards (W9100 vs K6000, W7000 vs K5000). MP doesn't have a front io, you don't have any PCIe storage, thunderbolt 2 is available on consumer mobos, etc. Apple is pretending to innovate.
I doubt that the processor is available for $1100. Still, online retail prices are processor $2200, GPU $800, motherboard $320, memory $330, power supply $122, case $140, MS Windows $132, giving a total of $4055. Figure less than $200 for liquid cooling, optical drive, card reader, and cables, and you are talking over $1600 markup. This certainly isn't justified by the warranty, since the expensive parts aren't covered after the first year. AVA Direct will sell a similar system for about $5000, with a 3 year parts, lifetime labor warranty.
WD "blacks" also come with 5 year warranty. As do raptors. RE is considered enterprise because enterprise is considered RAID. But if it is regular PC system pretending to be enterprise in a desperate attempt to justify a ridiculous profit margin that doesn't even have actual raid, there is really no point of a RE drive, except to perhaps indicate very little thought was put into putting the configuration together, and what little was there was how to make it appear to be more worthy of its price tag, to the brilliant decision that an unnecessarily expensive hard drive not even put to its actual purpose will contribute to that image. If it is to be a single drive, a black or raptor is a much better fit, considering the lack of ECC memory and a bunch of other factors, plus they can work in RAID and improve redundancy too. I would definitely go for RE if I begin with the intent of a RAID array.
I am curious if they turned TLER off. You do not want TLER on for a single drive since you want to let it take as much time as it wants to recover from errors. This drive has it on by default, because, well, RE=RaidEdition (originally); and for a RAID setup TLER is a feature you want.
If TLER is still on, it's just another item on the list that shows these guys don't really know what they're doing.
Putting a Xeon on a consumer board is a complete waste, the only reason you need to pay the premium for Xeons is their support of the higher-end workstation boards and ECC ram. EVERYTHING ELSE IS LITERALLY THE SAME AS A Core i7. Putting a Xeon on a consumer board is just like throwing out money and I feel they're only doing it to advertise this as a "workstation".
Intel's Xeon line has always been extremely overpriced with very little differentiation from the consumer lines. They just hold back on support for multiple processors, ECC and some instructions to make sure that those who can afford to spend more, have to.
This. I got to "not ECC" and just stopped reading, that's not a workstation that's a bad joke. Spending $4K+ on a system with a very expensive Xeon processor and they don't even bother with a workstation board and memory? Hahaha, no.
There are flaws with the component selection and especially the price, but I do not question the Case, CPU, HDD, SSD, or Video Card choices. In my experience the WD RE drives, whether used in RAID or not, are excellent workhorses that run forever. The same has been true of the Samsung SSDs that I have used.
The CX750M is not a bad PSU and it is semi-modular, but I understand the complaint when there is this much of a price premium for the system. I would have expected at least a Gold if not a Platinum PSU in this price range.
Perhaps the initial markup is one of those ploys where they offer a 15% discount on the MSRP, but set the MSRP so high that they still make a significant profit per unit? Plus, I would have to imagine that the demand for this level of system must be pretty low.
Depending on the source cited, Macs seem to represent anywhere between 5 and 10% of the PC market. As far as I know, this includes all of the Mac product line, of which Mac Pros are a fraction of sales. I would imagine that for any of the other OEMs, these high-end workstations represent a similarly small percentage of their total sales, even if you limited things to only include other high-end non-workstation units. DS's volume discount on components is probably not that great due to the limited numbers being sold.
"Depending on the source cited, Macs seem to represent anywhere between 5 and 10% of the PC market. As far as I know, this includes all of the Mac product line, of which Mac Pros are a fraction of sales." Well over 10% in the states, japan and Europe...closer to 20%. Sales of computers OSx style are UP! Opposite for PC (Window's sales for all OEMs). Try ordering a new MP. Just go to apple.com, configure your rig, get to check out and see the wait time for shipping. They can't make enough right now!
The way this machine is speced is utterly baffling. Xeon without ECC? Really? It's not like they're saving that much money going with the Sabertooth over a solid Supermicro board.
Yea, Dell's warranty is longer and more capable "on paper", but that doesn't necessarily translate into good real world support. I had a HORRENDOUS time dealing with Dell for months when they refused to service a system still under warranty (and the issue was covered under the warranty terms). Worst experience with any company I have ever dealt with. So, for me, even if the the competition is much more expensive, I'd rather take my chances with them over Dell any day.
Was it a workstation? Your support gets routed in different ways depending on exactly what product you're dealing with. Their consumer level support is horrible but I've had great luck dealing with their server support guys who are located in Canada.
I've actually had a pretty good experience with Dell with their mobile workstation line and support. I had a few issues, from a bum GPU to a display issue, and each time they sent a tech out with the parts the next day and fixed every single issue.
Yes, the pricing is kind of crazy, similar to Boxx, but for certain markets, a couple thousand extra dollars is a drop in the bucket - think big content creation market where budgets are often in the millions.
Not specific to DigitalStorm (or its pricing), but on the opposite end...
Anandtech is really behind the curve on "workstation" hardware thinking... Quadros and ECC memory are often completely useless and a waste of money. I use high-end CAD software (a lot of which uses DX) and often works better/faster on a top end i7 and a GTX then a Xeon and Quadro, while saving a lot of money. The tech industry has a motive and agenda to keep an artificial separation between the professional market and the consumer market, and for the most part it doesn't exist in reality. There's a very limited application space where something like a Quadro makes a difference (mostly high-end OpenGL performance), and even less for Xeons and even less for ECC memory (which in practice is only necessary for uninterrupted 24x7 applications). And yes, I know all about "certified" drivers, etc., which again, in practice generally means squat.
There are obviously usage scenarios where such hardware is needed, but tech sites (and their followers) need to stop feeding into the "professional workstation = Xeon/Quadro/ECC" conventional wisdom. I've seen countless dollars wasted on such hardware where inexpensive "consumer" hardware will run circles around it.
Speed, while obviously very important, isn't the sole factor when looking at workstations.
The "Xeon/Quadro/ECC wisdom" that you scoff at is tied to stability and 24x7 stability is the bread and butter for the workstation market. What good is a faster workstation if it's not reliable?
Downtime translates into lost revenue, and in arenas where workstations are used, it's rare that a company or contractor are given a 2nd chance if they miss a deadline.
More speed on a workstation can often result in more stability under higher loads. ECC is useful, but not when you're getting buttloads of data. It's good for debugging, and also testing programs. But as far as the actual development portion goes, speed is the first factor you look at. But ECC is still incredibly handy, and for the sake of redundancy, a standard feature.
On one hand you say pricing nearly doesn't matter here, on the other you lament the pricing of professional class hardware. Derp. Quadros are very specialized and not needed for every professional, yes. But ECC is a must have with anything that is running for more than a day, because if you let something calculate the whole night, come back the next day and see a calculation error because of your RAM you just spent half a day of your time and the companies money for nothing. That time wasted probably would have paid for the ECC RAM. If you don't need the stability of these components, then you don't need a workstation. You need to understand that doing work on a PC does not transform that PC into a workstation. Otherwise my mothers Netbook is a workstation.
another thing to consider against the mentality that "pro's don't really need..." these systems are usually bought for an operation by a reseller, the less time spent by said reseller supporting said installation the more moeny in the reseller's pocket.
and again if you are rendering out something on a workstation even if you don't need a quadro ecc is a life saver. not to mention good luck getting more ram in a system than 64 GB without ecc or a workstation class motherboard.
But how much money did I just spend doing the research and then buying from 6 different places? This argument swings a little more weight if you source it from 2 places at the most. At least where I work, I'd be pissing money down my leg even sourcing from vendors I don't already use. I'll take the time to do it if the difference is big, but if I need this sort of machine, I'll buy it from Dell and move on to my actual work. And I say this as a hardware geek that dreams on being able to spend days sourcing hardware and building it out.
KAlmquist - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link I doubt that the processor is available for $1100. Still, online retail prices are processor $2200, GPU $800, motherboard $320, memory $330, power supply $122, case $140, MS Windows $132, giving a total of $4055. Figure less than $200 for liquid cooling, optical drive, card reader, and cables, and you are talking over $1600 markup. This certainly isn't justified by the warranty, since the expensive parts aren't covered after the first year. AVA Direct will sell a similar system for about $5000, with a 3 year parts, lifetime labor warranty. Reply wwwcd - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link Yes this is a consumer prices for one piece in shops. DigitalStorm do not buy components on retail prices.
As others have said. If you are going to spend this much on a xeon/quadro system there is no reason to not go with ECC ram and workstation class mobo. The markup is high enough on this system to go with those components and still make a huge chunk of money. Such a shame
And at max load the system is only pulling 260 watts. So these genius's go with a super low end 760 watt 80+ bronze PSU. I mean really if the system is going to only pull 260 watts you really only need a 400-500 watt psu. The 80+ platinum 400 watt fanless seasonic is enough if you are 100% sure you will never add a second gpu. The 80+ platinum 520 watt fanless seasonic is the right choice if you may add a second gpu down the line. Both give you enough headroom to add as many hard drives and whatever else in the case as you want while the latter supplies an extra pci-e power connector for a second gpu and the wattage to go with it.
The best way to choose the most appropriate psu is to find out the mean wattage you use for the most time on your pc. Say this one averaged at 200 watts majority of the time. Since PSU's are most efficient at 50% of their maximum the 400 watt psu would be the best choice then. If you are going to be running long calculations at maximum load all the time and ur constantly pushing the full 260 watts then the 520 watt psu is better since 260 is half of 520
I'd say the exception is in cases where you run computations, say on a NVIDIA Tesla card (which are commonly used on workstations), where power usage fluctuates widely several times per second. I've seen 850 W power supplies consistently shut down power for the whole system in situations like this, even when the Tesla card's maximum power usage never exceeds, say, 250 W (so max total system power usage closer to 400 W than to 500 W). An overspecced power supply tends to avoid this kind of problem.
Specviewperf 11 is very outdated. You should switch to 12, which has far newer suites and openGL viewport engines that reshuffle things - especially with gaming vs workstation card performance in Maya 2013, Solidworks 2013 etc.
Just got the Nexus wireless charger from Amazon and they are going absolutely crazy with the discounts with these brands. If you don't have a promo code, you can use this one: http://amzn.to/1iyFZfq - before they take it down.
I bought a 'custom workstation' from Digital Storm, and had problems w/it from day-1. Due to my heavy work-load, I could not afford the down-time, which is why I contracted w/DS to build my machine. But after 2 years of headaches and problems, the computer finally quit working while troubleshooting w/their 'techs'. Turns-out, they selected uncertified RAM and never set the values properly in the BIOS. Plus, they stuffed an eATX m/b into an ATX case, and jacked-up the ESATA connectors/cables @ the edge of the m/b against the recess in the case. Also, it took an EVGA (the m/b mfgr) tech to figure out what was wrong w/the build. So, besides the wrong RAM, and a too small case, their builders and tech were incompetent. As for 'Warranty Support': They gave me the run-around time after time until I took matters into my own hands and figured out how to fix the problem. After $1000 out-of-pocket, and over 100 hours of tech 'troubleshooting' between the 2 companies, plus 6 months of broken work computer, I'm all the worse for the wear. Would I recommend DS? Nope. Would I buy from DS again? You're kidding me, right? I learned that if you want the job done right, DO IT YOURSELF. As far as Digital Storm is concerned: BUYER BEWARE! Cheers ... Chris
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wwwcd - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Hmm I see specs of configuration with components with max $3300 price, not for $5,869.processor dealer price ~$1000-1100 depending on the volume of transaction; graphic card ~$400-450, all other hardware and software components ~$1400-$1800 depending on the volume of transactions.
ddriver - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Ironically, you can get a 8core 32gb ram mac pro for 5899$. There is no mechanical storage, but it does come with a PCI-E SSD and a very convenient form factor.DigitalStorm apparently expects profit margins comparable to those of apple without going through the effort to engineer an actual product.
ddriver - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Also, 1 year parts warranty? When there is hardly a part of this system that comes with at least 2 or more years of warranty? Those guys suck... so greedy and lazy...ddriver - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Let me guess what is going to happen if god forbid a part fails after that year... they will ask the consumer pay for a new one, but get a replacement from the part manufacturer for free - and cash in everything...Thanks but no thanks, considering there is nothing custom about this system, you are far better ordering the parts and building it yourself, you will save yourself half the money AND build a better system with more warranty... And even if you are clueless enough to not be able to build it yourself, there are plenty of people who can do it for substantially less than 3500$ LOL...
homer_pickett - Thursday, October 9, 2014 - link
I agree... and either way it stand no chance to other desktops such as CybertronPC Borg-Q GM4213C. /Homer from http://www.consumertop.com/best-desktop-guide/WinterCharm - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Funny enough, the mac pro is a better deal than this pc. Hahahaha you know your pc prices are out of proportion when.... ;)RhinosRule - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
Mac Pro advocates should check this out:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KK2NAwULUA
ddriver - Friday, April 25, 2014 - link
I did not put it because I advocate mac pro or apple, but as example of something shamelessly and ridiculously overpriced. And as much as I despise apple as a company, that video was lame. Who expect upgradeability from a system that is a:) small enough to hold in one hand and b:) powerful enough so you don't have to upgrade it? Only a complete idiot.theduckofdeath - Friday, April 25, 2014 - link
For someone not advocating it, you sure are surprisingly defensive about it... :)akdj - Friday, April 25, 2014 - link
Interesting you comprehended his statement that way when he specifically states, "I did not put it because I advocate MP or Apple, but as an example of something (reviewed rig) shamelessly and 'ridiculously' overpriced....and as much as I despise Apple as a company..."How is that defending Apple? ANY TECH GEEK reading this board that isn't giving Apple credit .(love em, hate em, doesn't matter) for the nMP design is an ignorant, uninformed doorknob. Period. It's an amazing change in workstation performance and as an owner of both Windows 7 workstations, older Mac Pros...and current, extremely happy new MP owner, I can honestly say with the rMBP, rMini, Air and new Mac Pro...as well as Apple's INCREASE in quarterly 'computer' earnings 'went up' while the entire industry is in decline. Again...love em, hate em, doesn't matter, they're innovation and clear vision of future computing, GPU instructions and PCIe storage with thunderbolt is a mind blowing achievement. While AMD FirePro cards aren't nVidia Quadro, they're outstandingly FAST for out workstation tasks...coloring, finalizing ans rendering of 4/5k RED RAW files, rendering, transcoding, editing and finalizing ...even in Premier/AE, it's a mind blowing experience...if you're an FCPx user, it's a night and day difference. Editing 4k/1080p feels like editing ProRes 480 files. Simply. Outstanding. Expect Dell/HP to transition form factors late 14, mid '15. My humble opinion. I use both Win 7 and OSx. Have for almost 30 years (starting on Apple IIe/c pre MS OS. How times have changed). My HP workstation from last year's batch of Xeon, ECC RAM, SSD storage, excellent warranty, etc...just over $9,200 when purchased. My $6,800 nMP runs circles around it (Bootcamp Win 7 or same tasks in OSx). Non 'believers' need do nothing but swing through an Apple store. Look at the form factor. Pick it up...then 'use' it for a half hour. Prepare to be blown away. With the progression of TB, won't be long before we can tie these guys together, utilize powerful, external GPUs....the next progressing is 40Gb/s, bi directional and HDMI 2.0 compliant. Couple of 4k displays simultaneously, editing and transcoding simultaneously, batch processing a couple hundred Nikon D800 RAW files, pick your poison. It's a MONSTER, the size of a kitten;)
Antronman - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
Umm, I could build a notably better system with that kind of money.Most of the Firepros actually outperform the Quadro cards (W9100 vs K6000, W7000 vs K5000).
MP doesn't have a front io, you don't have any PCIe storage, thunderbolt 2 is available on consumer mobos, etc.
Apple is pretending to innovate.
Antronman - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
Actually it is not powerful enough to not need to upgrade it.The best model available via their website is a 6-core Xeon, with dual CF-Pro 2GB cards.
Looks to me like an upgrade is in order.
KAlmquist - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
I doubt that the processor is available for $1100. Still, online retail prices are processor $2200, GPU $800, motherboard $320, memory $330, power supply $122, case $140, MS Windows $132, giving a total of $4055. Figure less than $200 for liquid cooling, optical drive, card reader, and cables, and you are talking over $1600 markup. This certainly isn't justified by the warranty, since the expensive parts aren't covered after the first year. AVA Direct will sell a similar system for about $5000, with a 3 year parts, lifetime labor warranty.wwwcd - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
Yes this is a consumer prices for one piece in shops. DigitalStorm do not buy components on retail prices.blackmagnum - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
For this price... I expect real wood paneling and genuine leather seats! And does it come in white?etamin - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
A bottom of the barrel PSU for a $5K+ system, and it's a workstation no less. What a joke.piroroadkill - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
That was the first massive gaffe that caught my eye.CX series for anything you spent real money on is a totally incorrect choice.
etamin - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
not just CX series...CX series with M suffix :)Antronman - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Yeah.I'm RMDing over here.
80+ Bronze, not even modular, with no professional standards at all.
I mean, WTF.
zero2dash - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
PSU is arguably the most offensive oversight on this build, but the lack of ECC is nearly as bad.This looks like something someone who lives near a Microcenter would sell on Craigslist (for probably the same egregious amount of money).
ddriver - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
LOL, genius config - spend the extra money on a premium price RE (raid edition) drive and put it sole in the system... Why RE drive sans actual raid?ddriver - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
I guess to try and justify that ridiculous, dare I say criminal profit margin on the system, by using unnecessarily expensive components...You can use that money to build an identical if not better system twice over...
Strunf - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
hmm RE is the entreprise class of WD, it comes with a 5 years warranty and that tells a lot about how confident they are in it.I don't think you should cut corners on something like an hard drive.
ddriver - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
WD "blacks" also come with 5 year warranty. As do raptors. RE is considered enterprise because enterprise is considered RAID. But if it is regular PC system pretending to be enterprise in a desperate attempt to justify a ridiculous profit margin that doesn't even have actual raid, there is really no point of a RE drive, except to perhaps indicate very little thought was put into putting the configuration together, and what little was there was how to make it appear to be more worthy of its price tag, to the brilliant decision that an unnecessarily expensive hard drive not even put to its actual purpose will contribute to that image. If it is to be a single drive, a black or raptor is a much better fit, considering the lack of ECC memory and a bunch of other factors, plus they can work in RAID and improve redundancy too. I would definitely go for RE if I begin with the intent of a RAID array.otherwise - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
I am curious if they turned TLER off. You do not want TLER on for a single drive since you want to let it take as much time as it wants to recover from errors. This drive has it on by default, because, well, RE=RaidEdition (originally); and for a RAID setup TLER is a feature you want.If TLER is still on, it's just another item on the list that shows these guys don't really know what they're doing.
Flunk - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Putting a Xeon on a consumer board is a complete waste, the only reason you need to pay the premium for Xeons is their support of the higher-end workstation boards and ECC ram. EVERYTHING ELSE IS LITERALLY THE SAME AS A Core i7. Putting a Xeon on a consumer board is just like throwing out money and I feel they're only doing it to advertise this as a "workstation".Intel's Xeon line has always been extremely overpriced with very little differentiation from the consumer lines. They just hold back on support for multiple processors, ECC and some instructions to make sure that those who can afford to spend more, have to.
zanon - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
This. I got to "not ECC" and just stopped reading, that's not a workstation that's a bad joke. Spending $4K+ on a system with a very expensive Xeon processor and they don't even bother with a workstation board and memory? Hahaha, no.puppies - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Can you get me some of these magical 8 core i7s pls.mrcaffeinex - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
LOL I was wondering the same thing.There are flaws with the component selection and especially the price, but I do not question the Case, CPU, HDD, SSD, or Video Card choices. In my experience the WD RE drives, whether used in RAID or not, are excellent workhorses that run forever. The same has been true of the Samsung SSDs that I have used.
The CX750M is not a bad PSU and it is semi-modular, but I understand the complaint when there is this much of a price premium for the system. I would have expected at least a Gold if not a Platinum PSU in this price range.
Perhaps the initial markup is one of those ploys where they offer a 15% discount on the MSRP, but set the MSRP so high that they still make a significant profit per unit? Plus, I would have to imagine that the demand for this level of system must be pretty low.
Depending on the source cited, Macs seem to represent anywhere between 5 and 10% of the PC market. As far as I know, this includes all of the Mac product line, of which Mac Pros are a fraction of sales. I would imagine that for any of the other OEMs, these high-end workstations represent a similarly small percentage of their total sales, even if you limited things to only include other high-end non-workstation units. DS's volume discount on components is probably not that great due to the limited numbers being sold.
akdj - Friday, April 25, 2014 - link
"Depending on the source cited, Macs seem to represent anywhere between 5 and 10% of the PC market. As far as I know, this includes all of the Mac product line, of which Mac Pros are a fraction of sales." Well over 10% in the states, japan and Europe...closer to 20%. Sales of computers OSx style are UP! Opposite for PC (Window's sales for all OEMs). Try ordering a new MP. Just go to apple.com, configure your rig, get to check out and see the wait time for shipping. They can't make enough right now!Antronman - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
No PCIe storage?What kind of WS is this?
otherwise - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
The way this machine is speced is utterly baffling. Xeon without ECC? Really? It's not like they're saving that much money going with the Sabertooth over a solid Supermicro board.FlyBri - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Yea, Dell's warranty is longer and more capable "on paper", but that doesn't necessarily translate into good real world support. I had a HORRENDOUS time dealing with Dell for months when they refused to service a system still under warranty (and the issue was covered under the warranty terms). Worst experience with any company I have ever dealt with. So, for me, even if the the competition is much more expensive, I'd rather take my chances with them over Dell any day.otherwise - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Was it a workstation? Your support gets routed in different ways depending on exactly what product you're dealing with. Their consumer level support is horrible but I've had great luck dealing with their server support guys who are located in Canada.SodaAnt - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
I've actually had a pretty good experience with Dell with their mobile workstation line and support. I had a few issues, from a bum GPU to a display issue, and each time they sent a tech out with the parts the next day and fixed every single issue.irusun - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
A couple points...Yes, the pricing is kind of crazy, similar to Boxx, but for certain markets, a couple thousand extra dollars is a drop in the bucket - think big content creation market where budgets are often in the millions.
Not specific to DigitalStorm (or its pricing), but on the opposite end...
Anandtech is really behind the curve on "workstation" hardware thinking... Quadros and ECC memory are often completely useless and a waste of money. I use high-end CAD software (a lot of which uses DX) and often works better/faster on a top end i7 and a GTX then a Xeon and Quadro, while saving a lot of money. The tech industry has a motive and agenda to keep an artificial separation between the professional market and the consumer market, and for the most part it doesn't exist in reality. There's a very limited application space where something like a Quadro makes a difference (mostly high-end OpenGL performance), and even less for Xeons and even less for ECC memory (which in practice is only necessary for uninterrupted 24x7 applications). And yes, I know all about "certified" drivers, etc., which again, in practice generally means squat.
There are obviously usage scenarios where such hardware is needed, but tech sites (and their followers) need to stop feeding into the "professional workstation = Xeon/Quadro/ECC" conventional wisdom. I've seen countless dollars wasted on such hardware where inexpensive "consumer" hardware will run circles around it.
ggathagan - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
Speed, while obviously very important, isn't the sole factor when looking at workstations.The "Xeon/Quadro/ECC wisdom" that you scoff at is tied to stability and 24x7 stability is the bread and butter for the workstation market.
What good is a faster workstation if it's not reliable?
Downtime translates into lost revenue, and in arenas where workstations are used, it's rare that a company or contractor are given a 2nd chance if they miss a deadline.
Antronman - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
More speed on a workstation can often result in more stability under higher loads.ECC is useful, but not when you're getting buttloads of data. It's good for debugging, and also testing programs. But as far as the actual development portion goes, speed is the first factor you look at. But ECC is still incredibly handy, and for the sake of redundancy, a standard feature.
Death666Angel - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
On one hand you say pricing nearly doesn't matter here, on the other you lament the pricing of professional class hardware. Derp.Quadros are very specialized and not needed for every professional, yes. But ECC is a must have with anything that is running for more than a day, because if you let something calculate the whole night, come back the next day and see a calculation error because of your RAM you just spent half a day of your time and the companies money for nothing. That time wasted probably would have paid for the ECC RAM. If you don't need the stability of these components, then you don't need a workstation. You need to understand that doing work on a PC does not transform that PC into a workstation. Otherwise my mothers Netbook is a workstation.
wetwareinterface - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
another thing to consider against the mentality that "pro's don't really need..."these systems are usually bought for an operation by a reseller, the less time spent by said reseller supporting said installation the more moeny in the reseller's pocket.
and again if you are rendering out something on a workstation even if you don't need a quadro ecc is a life saver. not to mention good luck getting more ram in a system than 64 GB without ecc or a workstation class motherboard.
Antronman - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2687W V2 3.4GHz 8-Core Processor ($2039.98 @ SuperBiiz)CPU Cooler: Corsair H75 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($79.32 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($310.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($349.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital RE 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($319.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PNY Quadro 4000 2GB Video Card ($680.48 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 550D ATX Mid Tower Case ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($77.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($60.51 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($142.27 @ TigerDirect)
Total: $4375.50
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-23 18:54 EDT-0400)
RIPOFF!!!
fluxtatic - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
But how much money did I just spend doing the research and then buying from 6 different places? This argument swings a little more weight if you source it from 2 places at the most. At least where I work, I'd be pissing money down my leg even sourcing from vendors I don't already use. I'll take the time to do it if the difference is big, but if I need this sort of machine, I'll buy it from Dell and move on to my actual work. And I say this as a hardware geek that dreams on being able to spend days sourcing hardware and building it out.Antronman - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
You didn't spend any money, because pcpartpicker is free.Configure a system in a couple of minutes, and order it.
wwwcd - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
KAlmquist - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
I doubt that the processor is available for $1100. Still, online retail prices are processor $2200, GPU $800, motherboard $320, memory $330, power supply $122, case $140, MS Windows $132, giving a total of $4055. Figure less than $200 for liquid cooling, optical drive, card reader, and cables, and you are talking over $1600 markup. This certainly isn't justified by the warranty, since the expensive parts aren't covered after the first year. AVA Direct will sell a similar system for about $5000, with a 3 year parts, lifetime labor warranty. Reply
wwwcd - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
Yes this is a consumer prices for one piece in shops. DigitalStorm do not buy components on retail prices.
Laststop311 - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
As others have said. If you are going to spend this much on a xeon/quadro system there is no reason to not go with ECC ram and workstation class mobo. The markup is high enough on this system to go with those components and still make a huge chunk of money. Such a shameLaststop311 - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
And at max load the system is only pulling 260 watts. So these genius's go with a super low end 760 watt 80+ bronze PSU. I mean really if the system is going to only pull 260 watts you really only need a 400-500 watt psu. The 80+ platinum 400 watt fanless seasonic is enough if you are 100% sure you will never add a second gpu. The 80+ platinum 520 watt fanless seasonic is the right choice if you may add a second gpu down the line. Both give you enough headroom to add as many hard drives and whatever else in the case as you want while the latter supplies an extra pci-e power connector for a second gpu and the wattage to go with it.Laststop311 - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
The best way to choose the most appropriate psu is to find out the mean wattage you use for the most time on your pc. Say this one averaged at 200 watts majority of the time. Since PSU's are most efficient at 50% of their maximum the 400 watt psu would be the best choice then. If you are going to be running long calculations at maximum load all the time and ur constantly pushing the full 260 watts then the 520 watt psu is better since 260 is half of 520Ktracho - Thursday, April 24, 2014 - link
I'd say the exception is in cases where you run computations, say on a NVIDIA Tesla card (which are commonly used on workstations), where power usage fluctuates widely several times per second. I've seen 850 W power supplies consistently shut down power for the whole system in situations like this, even when the Tesla card's maximum power usage never exceeds, say, 250 W (so max total system power usage closer to 400 W than to 500 W). An overspecced power supply tends to avoid this kind of problem.wwwcd - Friday, April 25, 2014 - link
Cutt off this advertising!dtolios - Monday, April 28, 2014 - link
Specviewperf 11 is very outdated.You should switch to 12, which has far newer suites and openGL viewport engines that reshuffle things - especially with gaming vs workstation card performance in Maya 2013, Solidworks 2013 etc.
Katline - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - link
Just got the Nexus wireless charger from Amazon and they are going absolutely crazy with the discounts with these brands. If you don't have a promo code, you can use this one: http://amzn.to/1iyFZfq - before they take it down.cadman777 - Thursday, March 26, 2015 - link
I bought a 'custom workstation' from Digital Storm, and had problems w/it from day-1. Due to my heavy work-load, I could not afford the down-time, which is why I contracted w/DS to build my machine. But after 2 years of headaches and problems, the computer finally quit working while troubleshooting w/their 'techs'. Turns-out, they selected uncertified RAM and never set the values properly in the BIOS. Plus, they stuffed an eATX m/b into an ATX case, and jacked-up the ESATA connectors/cables @ the edge of the m/b against the recess in the case. Also, it took an EVGA (the m/b mfgr) tech to figure out what was wrong w/the build. So, besides the wrong RAM, and a too small case, their builders and tech were incompetent. As for 'Warranty Support': They gave me the run-around time after time until I took matters into my own hands and figured out how to fix the problem. After $1000 out-of-pocket, and over 100 hours of tech 'troubleshooting' between the 2 companies, plus 6 months of broken work computer, I'm all the worse for the wear. Would I recommend DS? Nope. Would I buy from DS again? You're kidding me, right? I learned that if you want the job done right, DO IT YOURSELF. As far as Digital Storm is concerned: BUYER BEWARE! Cheers ... Chris