When it comes to looks, Digital Storm nailed it with the Lynx Ultimate gaming PC. The design is aesthetically pleasing with a clean exterior that receives a bit of extra bling via the RGB LED illuminated logo at the front. Backing that up is an entire chassis of RGB-illuminated components controlled by a single remote. RGB is a love-it or hate-it feature which shows no signs of slowing down, and Digital Storm has embraced it here with a well thought out design that has no real dark spots or forgotten areas, due partly to the use of LED strips to illuminate the system from the top, bottom, and front. The only RGB oddity is the uncontrollable RGB lighting on the ASUS GeForce RTX 2070 Turbo that doesn't quite match up, which is unfortunate.

In terms of performance, the system does quite well overall with the Lynx delivering solid 1440p gaming and in some cases even enough performance for 4K gaming. The Intel i7-9700K performs well enough with its eight cores proving more than satisfactory as the lack of Hyper-Threading is of no real concern in the majority of tasks. Compared to the price jump required to move up to the i9-9900K, the i7-9700K remains the far better value option. The fact that Digital Storm stuck to that value proposition rather than going for maximum profit is nice to see as many of the big-box stores would have gone the opposite direction, choosing to toss the most expensive CPU in alongside a cheaper graphics card.

Speaking of part choice, while customization options are somewhat limited, the result is still a system that mostly uses off the shelf parts. The motherboard and graphics cards come from ASUS, while the SSD is from Samsung. Meanwhile, the power supply hails from Corsair. With high-quality parts such as these, worries over longevity can be put to rest, especially considering Digital Storm offers a three-year warranty in regards to labor and diagnostics and a one year warranty on parts. A more straightforward warranty would be better, but they are offering better than minimum coverage and have gotten quite a bit of recent exposure for their excellent customer service, which is something potential buyers of a pre-built system will likely appreciate as the lowest price is sometimes not the best value.

If you are into having a completely silent system, the Lynx is not it. While noise levels are unobtrusive, the system still hits 45 dBA when pushed to the limit. Meaning, it is audible but not in any way I would consider annoying. Under light loads, such as browsing the web, photo editing, and playing casual games, the system hovers at around the 40 dBA mark as configured. However, it should be noted that users are not limited to this noise profile as the fan speed curves can be customized for lower noise output or better cooling. That said, the component most responsible for the system's overall noise output is the graphics card due to its blower-style cooler.

System build quality is also quite high with nice neat cable runs for a clean interior and no shortcuts taken to hide excess wires. That said, any enterprising DIY enthusiast can easily build this system for less. While it may not look as pretty or match as well, a system with the same level of performance is possible for roughly $1500 when sticking with similar parts quality. In that regard, enthusiasts building their own systems will likely not be swayed by Digital Storm. However, for those looking to enter the PC gaming realm with a genuinely well-built system and no means to build it themselves, the Digital Storm Lynx Ultimate is a damn good option.

In conjunction with Digital Storm, we are also running a giveaway where one lucky reader will win a Lynx Ultimate gaming PC. The giveaway will run from April 19–29 and is open to all residents of the continental US and Canada. To enter to win, visit the giveaway page here.