For those who are following our Computex 2013 Overclocking thread at the forums it's not a big surprise when we title "Overclocking Madness" in this news post. So far, we have listed 47 overclockers attending the IT tradeshow in Taipei, Taiwan and that number is still going up. In terms of overclocking events and demonstration, we have eight listed events before, during and after Computex being hosted this year. Not all are open for participation and some require RSVP but most of them are available to any HWBOT user who wants to check it out.

Next month's overclocking madness kicks off with a 4th Generation Intel Core Processors (we all know by now) Haswell overclocking competition as a joint effort between Corsair and Intel. The competition features not only a cash prize purse of USD $20,000 - a vast amount compared to previous live overclocking events - but also direct competition between the various ODMs. Of course, all vendor employees will compete under a pseudonym team. Whom can we expect? Well, it is a list of big names: 8 Pack, Hicookie, Pt1t, Dinos22, Mad222, Der8auer and so on. In total, we expect ten teams to participate although the official invitational only lists fifteen overclockers so far. For example, Slamms and AndreYang who are allegedly going to form the ASUS team are not on the list yet. According to the full size invitation, (click on the image on top) attendants will not only get a lot of overclocking, but also food and drinks!

The competition starts on Monday June 3 1PM and finishes at 6PM, giving the competitors five hours to get the top score. Overclocking-TV will be present to cover the event as is yours truly, Massman, but merely assisting Corsair's Jake "Cpt.Planet" Crimmins as judge. As far as I know, there is still place at the venue. For more information, check out the Eventbrite page or follow up on behind-the-scenes information of the Corsair/Intel and all other overclocking stuff in our official Computex 2013 Overclocking forum topic.

Have fun all!

Moscow, Russia (15 May, 2013) — ASUS sums up the qualification results for ASUS Open Overclocking Cup 2013. Established in 2012, ASUS Open Overclocking Cup was a local event at first, contended for by the best overclockers of Russia and Ukraine. In 2013 the Cup’s scope has expanded to include enthusiasts from Europe and CIS countries. The best 13 teams will challenge each other in the finals to be held on October 5, 2013, in Moscow at the Krokus-Expo center as part of the Igromir 2013 expo.

The Greek duo Aristidis and Steleras have become the winners of the ASUS Open Overclocking Cup 2012 qualifications, proving their reputation of recognized masters of extreme overclocking. Relying on their vast experience and excellent hardware tweaking skills, they set a new world record in 3DMark Fire Strike. Using an ASUS Maximus V Extreme mainboard and an ASUS GTX Titan graphics card overclocked to 1730/1753 MHz, they scored a record 14744 marks!

Full press release: http://hwbot.org/news/9544_asus_open_overclocking_cup_2013_qualification_results

EK Water Blocks, Ljubljana based premium water cooling gear manufacturer, is proud to introduce EK-SF3D Triple Point EVO, company's first product from the line of liquid nitrogen (LN2) evaporation cooler for competitive overclockers. Used in conjunction with up to four Module Adapters this unit allows extreme overclocking of virtually any (DDR-)SDRAM memory module (of any generation).

EK-SF3D Triple Point EVO is a product of joint venture between Petri 'SF3D' Korhonen, legendary overclocker and extreme evaporation cooler designer from Finland, and EK design & engineering team. The product is made of electrolytic grade nickel plated copper in order to provide the necassery mass to even out the temperature fluctuation. Top extension is made from high quality POM Acetal - with it's poor thermal conductivity it is better at preventing unwanted condensation formation that many overclockers are not fond of.

Bundled with the evaporation cooler itself are the two (2) EK-SF3D Triple Point Module Adapter heatsinks. Each of these items are made of CNC machined high quality aluminium and feature black anodized finish. Heat transfer between the memory module and aluminium heatsink adapter and copper base of the EK-SF3D Triple Point EVO is ensured by the use of enclosed Gelid GC-Extreme TIM (grease).

Full Press Release: http://hwbot.org/news/9538_ek_releases_its_first_ln2_evaporation_cooler

As interesting Intel's processor launches may be, the (unofficial) launch procedures hardly ever change. As usual, we got the first real review from the United States performed by Tom's Hardware Guide - not Anandtech, surprisingly - and the first retail samples are leaking through in the east. Usually, we would see the first retails popping up in China but this time it seems Taiwan made the holeshot. Who else than Coolaler could managed to get his hands on a pair of brand-new Core i7 4770K CPUs. From the pictures posted at Facebook, we can clearly see the new design of the processor box as well as distinguish the batch code: Malay L306B332. For overclocking results we will probably still have to wait a bit, but I doubt we will have to wait for the launch at Computex.

... now where is that shop ...

Another quick news post to highlight the two new benchmarks we added to our database yesterday. The first benchmark is one that you all know: WinRAR. When you open the WinRAR application, go to the tools section and click on benchmark (short key is alt+b). For about 30 seconds, WinRAR will test the compression performance of your system. After the benchmark completes, you will find a resulting KB/s performance index highlighted in the WinRAR benchmark dialog box.

At the moment of writing, the database contains 58 benchmark results and has Daniz185 from Indonesia holding the #1 spot in the hall of fame with a Core i7 3930K clocked at 4960 MHz resulting in a score of 16962 KB/s.

Using "Benchmark" command you may compare performance of RAR compression algorithm on different computers.

This command generates random data, which contain specially introduced redundancy increasing load to processor and memory. Then data are passed through RAR compression and decompression algorithms and output of decompression algorithm is compared with source data. If any difference found, WinRAR reports "Errors found - Yes" in the command window. Such errors may indicate hardware problems like unreliable memory. Also WinRAR displays a size of processed data and compression speed, current and resulting, in kilobytes per second. You may use the resulting speed value to compare RAR performance in different conditions. For example, "Benchmark" command may be helpful, when you need to choose a new computer and wish to know which one will compress data faster. Only the general compression algorithm in "Best" mode with 4096K dictionary is called, all additional filters and algorithms are disabled, so it measures performance of core RAR compression on worst case like data.

Using "Multithreading" option you can compare performance of usual single threaded and multithreaded (optimized for multiprocessor architectures) versions of RAR compression algorithm. Depending on results, you can enable or disable multithreading in General settings dialog dialog.

It takes some time to fill the compression dictionary, which is empty in the beginning. Until it is done, the speed value is inconsistent, so the command window starts to display the current speed only a few seconds after activating. Resulting speed is displayed when at least 10MB of source data are processed, collected statistics is enough to get an accurate result and current speed changes are near zero. After the resulting speed has been set, it is not changed more. Though source data are random, their redundancy level and other parameters are always the same. So this command will report practically the same current speed regardless of execution time, provided that system load is not changing.

"Benchmark" command is never finished automatically, you need to cancel it manually. It does not use the hard disk, all operations are performed in memory.

The second benchmark we have added is probably a bit less known. It is an image rendering benchmark from 2011 and goes by the name of FryBench. The benchmark might be considered an alternative to Cinebench R11.5 as it scales in a similar way. The multi-socket processor platforms will rule the hall of fame without any doubt, but it should be interesting to see who and how grabs the lead in the consumer grade product categories. This benchmark does not seem to have a working homepage anymore, but you can freely download it from Guru3D.

At the moment of writing, the database contains 16 FryBench benchmark results and has Sea Sheperd from Switzerland holding the #1 spot in the hall of fame with a quad socket configuration of 4x Opteron 6276 clocked at 4000MHz resulting in a score of 1min 43sec.

The HWBOT staff hopes you enjoy the two additions to the benchmark suite. Who knows, perhaps the benchmarks will end up getting medals and points in the future!

Again spread via Facebook, we found another overclocking attempt of the upcoming Core i7 4770K Haswell. John Lam and Mad222 from HKEPC shared a video of one of their overclocking attempts. The CPU was briefly clocked at 6.4GHz using 1.445V vCore. This frequency is most likely not very stable since we just see the frequency quickly pop up on CPU-Z and the testing is part of "near voltage and temperature threshold" theory. This same theory was used to clock the Core i7 3770K to 6928MHz with only 1.488V.

In any case, it's an interesting video!

Just a heads-up for everyone who is following, as participant or spectator, the online qualifier for the ASUS Open Overclocking Cup 2013. At the moment of writing, participants have only sixty-two hours left to qualify for the live final. Currently, the competition leader is Aristidis from Greece. He was also present at last year's competition. Further down the leaderboard we find Ananerbe from Russia, T0lsty from Ukraine, Phil and Smoke.

The ASUS Open Overclocking Cup 2013 takes place on October 5th in the Crocus Expo in Moscow during the Igromir 2013 Exhibition. There are thirteen (13) seats (two per team) in the final. Perica_barii and Xtreme_addict are already qualified as the winners of last year's Cup. From the qualifier, the best nine teams will receive a ticket to go to the final as well as the best from Russia, Ukraine and Kazahstan.

By the way, the (so far) last entry of the competition comes from Austria and features a GTX Titan and a steamy frosty looking CPU pot. Good luck all!

More information on the contest: http://hwbot.org/competition/aooc_2013_qualifier/.

This news post is a little bit overdue as Monstru (from Lab510) already posted some pictures of the (retail?) new SF3D Inflection point package contents on his facebook page some time ago. We present you the news now because Lab501 just posted a news item about their Extreme Overclocking Party experience. Although we love seeing a good extreme overclocking gathering (beer, pizza and nitrogen), our attention mainly went to the pictures of that new CPU pot and the way it mounts on the motherboard.

We have included a couple of pictures below. For more pictures and detail, check out the article at Lab501 (click) or the ranslated version of that article (click).

I stumbled upon this article in the printed Australian PCPowerPlay magazine and was surprised about the quality content. Memory overclocking is not a simple activity for people who are not really into overclocking as it requires more technical knowledge than for instance overclocking the CPU core ratios. For example, it is important to know what role the IMC (integrated memory controller) plays in the memory overclocking story. But Matt Wilson pulled off a great article, covering everything from the basics of choosing the right memory kit (GSKill PerfectStorm - if anyone disgrees?) over the importance of the right CPU to the details of the memory timings.

Mind you, although the article titles the word Expert, it is definitely written for the novice overclocker. That being said, I believe this is an important article for any overclocker, whether seasoned or just arriving at the scene, to read through. If not to learn from, at least to acknowledge the quality. Well done!

Link to the article: http://www.pcpowerplay.com.au/2013/04/remember-me-the-experts-guide-to-ram-overclocking/.

Overclocking RAM is something that hasn’t really evolved too much over the years. Sure, it’s changed slightly with the removal of the Front Side Bus on the Intel platform, but the principal has always remained the same. Essentially, all that needs to be done in order to run your RAM at a higher frequency these days is enable XMP (if you’re using a compatible Intel kit and board), or change the bus:RAM ratio accordingly. This should be fairly self-evident from within your BIOS, and as you’re here in The Bunker we’re going to assume a sound understanding on your behalf.

...

The list of benchmarks we can run isn’t all that long when it comes to RAM overclocking. MaxxMem is officially supported by HWBot, though not many overclockers tend to use it, which leaves SuperPi and PiFast as some of our favorites, despite CPU speeds having a heavier influence on results.

Other recommended benchmarks are AIDA64 (Memory Suite) and Sandra 2012. However, given their slightly more complex software, they are more prone to crashes at high clocks when compared to Pi calculations.

Arguably, the most popular form of competing with memory overclocking would be for frequency records. This is fairly self-explanatory, and currently dominated by the AMD Fusion series. For these records the system does not actually have to be benchmark stable; only stable enough to POST, load Windows and capture a verified screenshot using CPU-Z. Cache timings are not important either, so generally expect to see numbers around CL15 or so for most frequency records.

Futuremark just released a new patch for the 3DMark. 3DMark now works correctly on systems with up to four GPUs.

That one short line in the release notes really doesn't do justice to the amount of work that went into this update. For the last few months our programmers have been poring over the engine code, trying to understand why 3DMark was not returning accurate results from systems with three or four GPUs. What we initially thought was a minor driver issue turned out to be far more complicated and we are truly sorry that it has taken so long to fix.

The good news is that the various problems have been found and fixed. With this update 3DMark is now able to test everything from low-end laptops to the most extreme gaming PCs imaginable.

This update also adds Ice Storm Extreme, a more intense version of the Ice Storm test designed for the latest mobile devices. You can compare Ice Storm and Ice Storm Extreme scores from Windows and Android devices, and soon you will be able to compare Windows RT and iOS devices too.

What's New in 3DMark v1.1.0 for Windows

This update adds the Ice Storm Extreme test and fixes issues when testing systems with multiple GPUs. 3DMark scores will increase slightly on systems with two GPUs and significantly on systems with three or four GPUs.

NEW

The Ice Storm Extreme benchmark test has been added to 3DMark Advanced and Professional Editions. Ice Storm Extreme is a Direct3D feature level 9 benchmark test for Windows tablets, ultrabooks and notebooks. Ice Storm Extreme raises the rendering resolution from 720p to 1080p and uses higher quality textures and post-processing effects in the graphics tests to create a more demanding load for the latest mobile devices. You can compare Ice Storm and Ice Storm Extreme scores from Windows and Android devices.

FIXED

• 3DMark now works correctly on systems with up to four GPUs.
• Fixed the issue caused by Windows update KB2670838, which added partial DX11.1 support to Windows 7.
• Fixed a problem with the bloom post-processing effect when using very high rendering resolutions in custom settings.

DOWNLOAD

3DMark v1.1.0 is now available to download from many of our mirror partners. People with the Steam edition of 3DMark will get the update automatically.

Download: http://www.futuremark.com/support/downloads

Without any doubt it is due to the recent disclosed security exploits as well as the leaking of several Haswell overclocking results, that CPUID has decided to drop validation support for CPU-Z versions V1.62 and V1.63. The latest CPU-Z version, V1.64, is now the only supported version. V1.64 should offer better security and an even more improved version should be available soon.

Concerning the series of leaked Haswell overclocking results, including the 7GHz Core i7 4770K validation, rumors state that the validations made with V1.62 cannot be trusted and should be considered a bug. In addition, the 8GHz Core i7 4770K that featured on a YouTube video is simply fake. In conclusion, apart from the 6.2GHz validation screenshot, it seems that we are still waiting for the real overclocking results of the upcoming Haswell micro-architecture. Many samples are floating around, so we can probably expect more leaks in the near future.

Stay tuned!

HWBOT forum thread: http://forum.hwbot.org/showthread.php?t=74940.

Download V1.64: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z/versions-history.html.

One day after the ASUS Z87 (accidental) leak, we now also get pretty much a full line-up of ASRock. The list of motherboard names holds very little surprises, except for maybe the confirmation of a micro-ATX OC Formula and the weird /ac-suffix for motherboards with an onboard 802.11 ac WLAN controller. In general, there are three lines: mainstream, gaming and overclocking. Each of the lines have their own specific top-of-the-line board.

For gaming we have the Z87 Professional, a board that follows the Fatal1ty black and red color scheme and a bunch of features for, well, gamers. The mainstream line-up will feature another Extreme11 motherboard, which will probably be a board featuring everything ASRock can fit on a single PCB. There are no pictures yet, but I imagine it to be beastly. Last but not least (and in fact most importantly!), the Z87 OC Formula series feature two boards: the plain full ATX version and a mini "GeneZ"-ish Z87M OC Formula. Interesting to see ASRock go for the -M suffix rather than opt for a totally different marketing name like ASUS did with the Gene and GeneZ.

Looking forward to see how they stack up against the other Z87 motherboards!

About a year ago The Stilt, a well-known overclocker and power user from Finland, announced he was working on a software based overclocking application for the unlocked AMD Trinity APUs. The software goes by the name Trinity Control Interface - TCI K2 in short - and features an incredible amount of knobs and dials to tweak the Trinity K CPUs. It is without any doubt the most advanced tweaking utility for AMD's APU series. About a month ago, we covered the news of The Stilt's new application. He is/was working updated version on a unified software tool for all Trinity and Richland based processors featuring a solid GUI.

Yesterday, The Stilt announced in the HWBOT forums that he is throwing in the towel and has pulled the plug on this new application. According to The Stilt, the lack of support from AMD as well as the motherboard manufacturers makes it incredibly difficult for him to get anything done. Without the use of unconventional methods to get his hands on the information, it is almost impossible to get the software to run flawlessly. In addition, the support from the mainboard ODMs is, according to The Stilt, sub-par (with the exception of ASUS, it seems).

Here's his forum post on the matter:

I have had enough. I am ready to "pull the plug" on this project. I feel like a god damn Don Quijote.

The complete lack of communication makes this task impossible. At no point I have received any support from AMD or any of the motherboard vendors (Asus being a slight exception). It is like squeezing water out of a stone. Even for the smallest drops of information, I had to either bribe, blackmail or steal. The rest (99.5%) I had to figure out by myself, which I did well. On the top of that my work gets "erased" regular basis. Either by AMD or by the motherboard vendors.

AMD makes changes by changing the behaviour of the display driver (which controls everything on APUs). The motherboard vendors seem to have hard time following the design guidelines, which is the biggest spike in my flesh. The motherboard vendors put all of their resources on Intel platforms and none on AMD (cannot blame them really). Even after seven months after the launch of Trinity APUs the BIOSes are still in the "twilight zone".

The BIOSes are riddled with bugs and some of the "tweaks" the vendors use do more harm than good. They also rarely follow the official design guidelines so I cannot make a unified solution that would work on all motherboard. BIOSes are nothing like wine, they do not get better when they get older. They are more like an opened beer bottle. For every single fixed issue at least two more will emerge.

I have sent too many emails and used way too much time in trying to help the vendors to fix the issues. I have even sent them the fixed version of the actual code to make it easier for them to fix their BIOSes. Still they are not able / willing to do anything about it. I never asked any money or anything else from anyone (a one big f__king mistake really). If I would have been paid, let us say even 20 euros per each hour I have spent on ACI/TCI (or on the APUs in general), I would be around 15k euros richer.

Better go filling McDonald's™ job applications. Sorry guys

Honestly speaking, this is sad news. For those who don't know, we have been working together with Intel on a unified overclocking utility called XTU (more info: click) and I can fully relate to the problems The Stilt is dealing with. Unification is a very difficult process.

I would have expected more and better support from AMD. The company disappoints and is letting down many hardcore power users. The power user group, and the enthusiast marketing in general, is widely recognised as an important demography for any technology company. Not supporting this project (or any other similar project) seems like a bad move on their behalf. I sincerely hope that AMD will change its mind and support The Stilt on his mission