This Thursday we take back to a day in September 2013 when UK overclocker and HWBOT No.1 8Pack joined up with UK retailers OverclockersUK to create a series of custom built PCs branded as the ‘the World’s Fastest Systems’. Anandtech’s chief motherboard reviewer Ian Cutress managed to catch up with 8Pack to get the full story:

Q: Where did the idea for a line of ‘World’s Fastest Systems’ come from?

A: When my overclocking prowess caught the attention of OCUK, it formed an integral part of my interview when I came to work for them. They were interested in creating a range of super-fast systems, some of the best in the world. That combined with my intense work ethic to be the best spawned the systems we released today, as well as a series of 8Pack inspired systems to be released at a later date.

Q: What is your role in developing/creating these systems?

A: Everything. From the ground up, I decided the components, I dictated what speed we should aim for and in the end I am the one that actually builds the systems in our warehouse. Certain features like the powder coating on the Polaris we called upon the expertise of our team to suggest better ways of doing things, but in terms of getting the right hardware and putting it all together, I am the man for the job.

Q: How long does that take?

A: We started formalizing our builds in January regarding design and what they were aimed for. After that it was a case of getting in the cases, coating them, getting the 8Pack designer grills, etched windows, the right water blocks and so on.

Q: Can you explain a bit about the binning process for these systems?

A: For every batch of OEM CPUs we get in house, we do a quick test to see if any of that batch are good – 5 GHz on air at 1.3 volts for example, and see if it boots into the operating system. If it does not, it gets put into the pile for other systems, but if it passes, it gets put into a pile for further testing. That was the ‘speed binning’ part of the process, but when we get a good batch of CPUs, we will go to Intel and buy a lot more of the same batch with the hope that they will be perform as well as the 20 or so we test internally.

Catch the original article from us here, plus the full interview from Anandtech here.