Sometimes in the world of competitive overclocking we use the word legend to describe a member that has truly made an influence to the scene. Some of us would argue that it’s not always a term that is wholly merited. However when we talk about Russian No.1 Smoke being a legend, I’m pretty sure nobody would argue to the contrary. Certainly, the guys at GeekTimes.ru have a healthy respect for an Overclocker that since 2009 has managed to remain at the very pinnacle of the game.

The interview with Smoke is in Russian, but thanks to the power of Google translation, we can all enjoy a pretty insightful read. The story covers how Smoke first started overclocking - not too surprisingly it arose from a need to raise frame rates in the video games he was playing. Using nothing more than a standard boxed cooler, Smoke managed to turn his Intel Core Quad Q9550 from a 3.6GHz chip to a 4,1GHz chip. By the time the Intel Nehalem architecture arrived, he was hooked.

Smoke also talks about his career as an overclocker, about his role with Team Russia, his relationship with fellow Russians Slamms and _12_ and how he managed to climb the rankings to eventually take first place. Interesting stuff.

Check out the interview with Smoke here on GeekTime.ru. You can also find a Google translated version in English here.