New GIGABYTE OC Challenge Coming May 1st on HWBOT.org

That’s right, we have a new competition coming up for the overclocker nation! Starting May 1st, the community will have a chance to test their skills on the GIGABYTE X99 platform by tweaking both the CPU and graphics side of things. By participating, overclockers have the chance to win $2,800 USD in cash prizes and some exciting hardware, including the leader of them all, the X99-SOC Champion!

You have until May 1^st 2015 to get your platform ready and jump in to become the X99 Champion! To make your way up to the grand prize of $1,500 USD, you’ll have to collect the most points by submitting your best scores in 6 different stages designed to test both your CPU and Graphics card overclocking skills. Do you feel up to the challenge? Good luck to all!!

Here is how you can win

Points will be given to the top ranking scores in each stage. The top 3 participants with the most points at the end of the challenge will win cash prizes. You also have the chance to win some great hardware via 3 lucky draws. Lucky Draw #1 will be rewarding participants that submitted scores with temperatures set above 25 Celsius, Lucky Draw #2 will be rewarding participants that submitted scores with temperatures set below 25 Celsius, and Lucky Draw #3 will be rewarding participants that submitted the lowest score. Please see the contest page for all the rules and more details.

http://oc-esports.io/#!/round/gbt_x99_champion_challenge

Here is a list of the contest stages, their restrictions and submissions deadlines . Can you get the best score?

Stage 1: XTU - May 1st until May 8th, 2015 CPU frequency 4GHz max RAM at 3300MHz max. GIGABYTE X99 Motherboards only	Stage 2: XTU - May 8th until May 15th, 2015. CPU frequency 4.5GHz max Uncore at 4.5GHz max. GIGABYTE X99 Motherboards only
Stage 3: XTU - May 15th until May 31st, 2015. CPU frequency 5GHz max GIGABYTE X99 Motherboards only	Stage 4: Fire-Strike - May 1st until May 27th, 2015. Single NVIDIA GT 730 graphics card GIGABYTE X99 Motherboards only
Stage 5: Catzilla 720p - May 1st until May 28th, 2015. Single NVIDIA GT 730 graphics card GIGABYTE X99 Motherboards only	Stage 6: 3DMark 2001 SE - May 1st until May 28th, 2015. Single NVIDIA GT 730 graphics card GIGABYTE X99 Motherboards only

What can I get?

For the top 3 of the combine points between stage 1 to 6

• $1,500 USD for 1^st place
• $800 USD for 2^nd place
• $500 USD for 3^rd place

But don’t stop submitting if you don’t have the best score because we will have 3 lucky draw. 

#1- We will be giving away an X99-UD4P motherboard for one randomly selected overclocker with submissions temperature above 25 Celsius.

#2- We will be giving away an X99-Gaming 5P motherboard for one randomly selected overclocker with submissions temps below 25 Celsius.

#3- We will be giving away an X99-SOC Champion motherboard for one randomly selected within all stages bottom 3 lowest submissions.

Interesting things on the net today

I came across a shot from ThermalTake’s new fans range, doesn’t it look awesome?! Love the orange LEDs paired with GIGABYTE Z97X SOC Force!!!

Another interesting story that got my attention was the new aluminium ion battery scientists from Stanford University are working on. This will be pretty sweet for any mobile user  who needs batteries to charge in one minute, wow. Hopefully they can also have the right capacity soon so we can have decent lasting battery life.

More at ABC News.

TweakTown gives GIGABYTE BRIX BXi7H-5500 an EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARD

Tweaktown put up a review of the GIGABYTE Brix PC sporting the new Core i7 5500U.

Steven goes through the full unboxing and tweardown, including individual chip identification and functions for those that like to know the full detail. It was also great to see NFC being tested and used. Interesting way to launch Netflix heh.

The new Brix PCs based on Intel Broadwell are pretty good performers in all tests including 3D:

The Intel NUC and this GIGABYTE BRIX both use Intel's 5th generation Core I series processors. The BRIX uses the i7 5500u, and the NUC uses the i5 5250u; they are almost identical except that the BRIX's 5500u has much higher stock and turbo frequencies than the NUC's 5250u, and it also has 4MB of L3 cache as opposed to 3MB on the NUC. Both have the same TDP, but it does seem the 5500U is the clear winner in the CPU and even some GPU benchmarks.

There is also another difference: the NUC's 5250u has three graphics cores (Intel's HD6000), and the 5500u has only two graphics cores (Intel's HD5500). What is interesting is that the 5500u does better in the gaming benchmarks because of its greater cache and higher CPU speed, even though its specs define it as having lower performance graphics.

Read more at: http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/7051/gigabyte-brix-bxi7h-5500-ultra-compact-mini-pc-review/index5.html

GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion overclocking guide for uncore and memory overclocking

Our technical marketing guru, Sofos, has put together an advanced overclocking guide based around uncore and memory overclocking using the GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion motherboard and chipset so make sure you check this out if you are on X99 platform and need a few pointers.

1. Adjust the OC switch the position 2, otherwise you won’t have the voltages you need for Uncore and memories.

2. Voltages for Uncore
In the CPU Advanced Voltages, when you have the OC switch in the 2 position, you will see some extra voltages. VL1 to VL6.
You only have to change VL4, VL5 and VL6 as below.

The voltage you have to change to get higher uncore is mostly the VL6. Almost all the CPUs can do 1.45V, most of the CPUs can do 1.5V but some CPUs can do even higher Voltage. There are few CPUs that boot with lower than 1.45V though. If the CPU can do high VL6 then probably it can do and high Uncore but not all the times. It depends on the CPU. In the OS through GTL all you have to do is to raise the VRING to 1.45V-1.5V in able to get high Uncore.
Temperature also helps with VL6 and uncore. If you are using subzero cooling try to find ideal temperature for max VL6 value and then see how high the uncore will clock. VRING is another voltage option that helps some CPUs. Try 1.35v and if going subzero, test up to 1.55 to see if there is any scaling.

3. RTLs
You can change the RTLs but not manually only changing the IOLs manually. IOLs to 1 will bring the RTLs all the way down to what the board is capable of until now. You need to change the IOLs at every channel. Set the option at manual mode and change the primary and secondary timings only for channel A and then change the IOLs to each channel manually.

4. Use both 8pin and 4pin cables for CPU Power otherwise with heavy load the system maybe will be shutting down.

5. You don’t need extremely high VSA and VDIMM. VSA between +0.25-0.35V should be enough to drive the mems high. +0.25-+0.3V should max your mems on most cases. VDIMM 1.55-1.65V is ok. I was able to do even C11 with 1.6V.

6. Few times you will see codes like 72, 74, 50, 51, 60, 8A. Try to press the reset button few times. There’re times that doing it it passes the training. Especially when you change the RTLs and you get 8A try it for sure. It doesn’t happen on latest bios so often.https://www.dropbox.com/s/g46ggra2mtkvv4z/F4f.rar?dl=0

7. X99 MemTweak, GTLhttps://www.dropbox.com/s/546fstudskrtpb8/GTL%202.1%20B15.0129.1.rar?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/op86rsq2ikubgcl/MemoryTweak-X99%20B14.1218.1.rar?dl=0
Highest bootable VL6 cannot be overridden through software. Same value that your CPU won’t boot from bios if you set it through software it will shut down.

8. Please be careful! The VLs can affect your CPU cold bug so make sure that when you change you don’t hit the cold bug earlier than before. If you have this problem try higher or lower VL3 (usually higher helps). If VL3 doesn’t fix your problem then try the same for VL6.
Also, different bclk affects the cold bug too, so try this as well. Almost all the CPUs are ok with 127.5 bclk and PCI3.

9. Make sure that you’re using proper insulation around the memories area and also put some paper towel around the PCH cooler. The way that worked best for us was a layer of plastidip, then a layer of Vaseline and paper towel.

10. Always save a profile before you save and exit cause most of the times the only way to go back is the CMOS button.

11. For memory voltage we used up to 1.9V on single sided dimms on LN2 without a problem. But it doesn’t mean that all the dimms can handle it so be careful in case you don’t want to degrade or kill your memories. Dino was benching with 1.8V without any issue.

Enjoy!

Chips, Buses and Compatibility!

John Cleese has been the funny guy for quite a bit, but did you know about his Compaq computer commercials?

Here is a bit of laugh for you on this Friday.

Source: http://io9.com/hilarious-tv-ads-from-the-dawn-of-the-home-computer-era-1693791663

Fastest dual core in the world at 7862.83MHz

Aussie overclocker Newlife has hit a pretty sweet frequency with a low end, dual core, CPU at 7862.83MHz. He used the GIGABYTE F2A88XN-WIFI board and froze the AMD A6-6420K with liquid nitrogen to hit the big numbers. Awesome stuff, congrats!

Windows 10 Personal and Secure Solution

How do you feel about having your biometrics used as a security system? The idea to use iris, finger prints or face recognition to log into accounts instead of passwords is not a new one, but the tech behind it is getting better and better, which is very promising. One of the concern some people may have is that hackers are extremely innovative, and replicating this very personal information is certainly scary! What could a malevolent person do with that kind of information…

But what if it could be more secure than ever before? According to the presentation video bellow from Windows, such technology could be ready with Windows 10. With Passport and Hello, Microsoft claims to be able to provide a more secure and personal experience to the user, and to make it “very very very” difficult for hackers to hack they way through.

 

The Overclocker magazine issue 33 is out, GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion makes a mark!

Hot off the press, GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion makes a significant mark in the latest issue of The Overclocker magazine. Also an important thing to note is that stocks are shipping out worldwide this week so make sure you keep an eye out on your local retailer, or even better send them a reminder you’re waiting impatiently for one of these beauties!

[HWBOT] GIGABYTE X99-SOC Champion Dominates X99 2D Multi-threaded Benchmarks with 1 World Record and 5 Global First Place

HWBOT spotted we’ve been busy with the X99 SOC Champion and taking all the scores down!

“When it comes pushing Intel’s Haswell-E platform to its absolute limit, there’s little doubt that GIGABYTE have done their homework. At this point in time the company’s flagship X99 motherboard, the X99-SOC Champion, is totally cleaning up in the area of 2D, multi-threaded benchmarking with the efforts from Sofos1990 and Dinos22

Utilizing the full capability the Intel Core i7 5960X and its 8 Haswell-E cores, the X99-SOC Champion currently holds top spot in no less than all six 2D benchmarks which receive global points: wPrime 32M, wPrime 1024M, Cinebench R15, Cinebench R11.5, XTU and HWBOT Prime. Hats off to Sofos1990 and Dinos22!

Here are the benchmarks and scores in full:

• wPrime 32M - Sofos1990 - 1sec, 937ms
• wPrime 1024M - Sofos1990 - 58sec 327ms
• Cinebench R15 - Sofos1990 - 2363 cb
• Cinebench R11.5 - Sofos1990 25.74 cb
• XTU - Dinos22 - 3039 marks
• HWBOT Prime - Sofos1990 - 9753.29 pps”

Source: HWBOT

Author: SDougal

TOMS donation warms the feet of Gaza children

Following a generous donation from TOMS of approximately 100,000 pairs of shoes, UNRWA was able to distribute them to the needy children in its schools. 

During March UNRWA continues to distribute shoes to eligible children in its schools all across the Gaza Strip. Today, hundreds of boys at UNRWA New Gaza Elementary Boys School in Gaza City were queuing to receive their own pair. Many families in Gaza live on less than US$ 1.53 per person per day and lack the means to meet their basic food needs and living requirements. 

Receiving shoes for their children allows families to free some resources to meet other essential needs.

GIGABYTE BRIX i7 5500U unboxing, RAM/SSD & Windows 10 installation guide

I got these new GIGABYTE BRIX i7 5500U PCs in and wanted to share a simple unboxing as well as a “How to do” guide on memory & hard drive installation as well as installing the latest operating system from Microsoft (Windows 10). This is really simple, even your grandmother can do this!

It’s Time to Overclock with GIGABYTE’s BIG XTU Challenge

Hi Overclockers from all around the world!

GIGABYTE designed a new overclocking competition for you guys, and the winnings are big…real big!

Get your GIGABYTE Z97 and GIGABYTE X99 platforms ready and fire up XTU for a chance to win one of the $1,000 USD in cash prize, one of the GIGABYTE X99-SOC Champion motherboard giveaway, or even better, a trip to COMPUTEX 2015!!!!

You can find all the rules about the competition on HWBOT’s website here: http://oc-esports.io/#!/round/gbt_z97x99_xtuchallenge

Here is our official press release: http://www.gigabyte.com/press-center/news-page.aspx?nid=1349

The comp runs from March  1st until April 29th.

Wish you all good luck!!!

VRWORLD: INTEL PUSHES PAST 10NM TO A POST-SILICON ERA!

Vrworld reported recently that Intel recently gave an update on their 10nm process and the push to 7nm. According to Vrworld, Intel is expecting to move to 7nm architecture by 2018. What this effectively means is that Intel will move to a new material as Intel’s current silicon etching techniques will be sufficient to bring it to 10nm method. All I can think of is bring on the MHz and more cores .

Case Mod: Terminator Velox Project

When a person applies himself, the result shows. This can certainly be said for Larry Anderson with his latest case mod featuring a GIGABYTE Z97X-Gaming G1 Wifi Black Edition which gave him the honors of wining the Best of Show Case Mod Contest at LANFest Sacramento Fall 2014.

With the added special touch from Larry, the finished system is simply spectacular! Impressive work!

You can learn all about the build log here : http://forums.evga.com/Terminator-Velox-Project-m2265355.aspx

Here are a few pictures for your pleasure!

GIGABYTE Z97X Gaming G1 Black selected as “Motherboard of the Year” by PC PowerPlay Magazine

GIGABYTE Z97X Gaming G1 Black has been selected as the “Motherboard of the Year” by PC PowerPlay Magazine in Australia. PC PowerPlay Magazine is the biggest gaming magazine in Australia and clearly rates our top spec Z97 Gaming board as the best of the best. Make sure you get one on your next upgrade! The magazine doesn’t have a definite pick on the CPU side so we’ll take the liberty of suggesting for a good match. We’d recommend the Intel 4690K or 4790K for high end or as a pure gamer even the Intel Pentium G3258 Anniversary Edition is a killer performer in 3D!

GIGABYTE Brix BXBT-2807 Compact PC Unboxing and Linux Installation

I came across a pretty hands on review of the Brix 2807 compact PC and thought it would be a an interesting one for you to check out. THe reviewer goes into a lot of detail, pulls the Brix PC apart to talk about what’s inside and installs Linux and does some video tests. Very informative!

Steponz from USA strikes again, takes out all major single GPU scores!

We recently wrote about Steponz, an overclocker from USA, passing 10K points in single card 3DMARK Fire Strike Extreme. He did not rest there and decided to attack all major single card 3D scores and took everything out in an emphatic fashion. The rig was powered with the GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion running a 5960X at 5.8GHz and a single GTX980 running 2260MHz, incredible stuff!

Congrats Joe!

Steponz first overclocker to reach 10,000+ points with 1x GPU in Fire Strike Extreme!

Last week has been very interesting at HWBOT, particularly from some of the amazing overclocks Steponz from USA put up. One that impressed me the most was the magic 10K barrier being broken in 3DMARK Fire Strike Extreme with a single graphics card.

The hardware used was GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion with 5960X clocked at 5.8GHz and 1x GTX980 graphics card running at 2250MHz core.

Congratulations and keep up the good work!

How to insulate a motherboard for subzero cooling, guide inside!

Zeropluszero from Australia put up a guide on how to insulate a motherboard for subzero overclocking. Subzero overclocking refers to using copper pots or containers attached to CPU or memory or graphics cards and pouring liquid nitrogen or dry ice inside the container to cool the CPU/memory/GPU. Once you cool down the copper container, moisture in the air condensates and creates ice or water puddles depending on how humid your place of benching is. This means that the hardware requires some protection to ensure it does not short circuit and die.

Here are a couple of shots from the guide but for the real McCoy, jump over to HWBOT forum!

OCAU overclocking competition with a twist, how low can you score in 3DMARK!

OCAU forum runs some interesting overclocking competitions from time to time and this one is no different. GIGABYTE sponsored the X99 SOC Champion for top spot which was fought over in a friendly OC showdown which ended up a 3 way tie for first place. This has not occurred in the past so moderators found a crafty little competition for the 3 contestants.

To make things more interesting the comp is now run as a crazy underclocking competition for the 3way tie places to be decided and competitors now have to score the lowest possible score in 3DMARK03 to win. This is after running a comp with a highly competitive month long comp which required purchasing a low end GPU and applying crazy modifications.

Current leader in the 3way tie showdown is Chilli-Man with a hilariously low score of 89 points in 3DMARK03 (btw world record held by TeamAU on GIGABYTE Z97 platform is over 300,000 points!).

You have to check out this OCAU competition at: http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=1151880

Here are some interesting rig pics and crafty modifications LOL!