FTW 420, one of the brightest stars on our team, was nice enough to let me do an interview with him. This interview was a little more difficult then normal, as I'm really good friends with FTW and already know so much about him. It's always easier when I myself need to learn more about the person I'm interviewing. Anyhow, here is his interview so that maybe our community can get a more personal feel for our friend, teammate, HWbot team Captain, and full time supporter FTW 420!
FTW 420 is an astounding overclocking due to his dedication to the sport. He's always been very modest about his skills and works very hard. He's been #1 on our team for a really long time now and has held down the #1 Canadian spot for a while to.
Question: "FTW, what was your initial inspiration to start benchmarking?"
Answer: "I found OCN when I was looking to upgrade from my old pIII rig, after getting it built I ran some benchies to compare & then started overclocking. OCN had a 3dmark competition running around that time & I gave it a try. I did pretty well at it & that was encouraging, but I really wanted to try to catch up with some of the other guys & kept trying. I was pretty hooked from there, started voltmodding & trying to get things colder & clocked higher from that point on."
I usually try to avoid marketing talk (as much as possible), but this is pretty ballsy from Nvidia. Together with Ivy Bridge coming soon, I reckon the second half of 2012 will be pretty darn interesting!
Okay .. Awkward .. AMD had a pretty good launch with the Radeon HD 7970, NVIDIA however isn’t impressed with the performance of AMD’s new graphics cards and believes that Kepler will have no problems in becoming the fastest GPU around.
For making that claim happene .. they do have to actually launch it though.
"Honestly, we expected more from our competitor’s new architecture," said a high ranking Nvidia official during a meeting with Nordic Hardware. The official also revealed that before the launch of the Radeon HD 7970, its company came up with a series of performance estimates for the HD 7900 series that they were preparing to beat with Kepler.
The Radeon HD 7970 performance however came under these initial estimates, so Nvidia is now confident that its upcoming GPUs won’t have any problems in surpassing the HD 7900 series.
Although Nvidia seems quite confident in Kepler, the company still hasn’t established a launch schedule for its 28nm GPU, a company spokesperson revealing only that Kepler will arrive in the “first half of 2012.”
The same Nvidia representative hinted that the new architecture could launch by the end of March, although a Q2 release could also be a possibility.
Some people already knew the OCP modification, but didn't disclose the information in a way less gifted overclockers could understand. Phil, now #2 in 3DMark11 1x GPU, figured out the modification that helped him push the card over 1600MHz GPU and shared it with the rest of the world.
Top result, top modification, top overclocker!
We all know phil and the fact that he managed to achieve several great scores with his Radeon HD 7970. Today, we are proud to be the world's first who reveal the new OCP mod for the HD 7970. So far it looks like it was a well kept secret, but phil did not hesitate to reveal it to us and then, to everybody else to! Congratulations phil for figuring out the mod. We sincerely wish that everybody overclock their HD 7970 cores at 1700MHz or even more MHz - these cards do have amazing overclocking potential.
Does the mod work? Of course! Before the mod, phil's HD 7970 could only bench 3DMark 11 up to 1550MHz core. After the mod, without pushing it much, it's already up to 1620MHz for 3DMark 11, and still has more potential!
With the new push to have LN2 events every month, St. Louis is getting another shot at it. If you're at all interested in subzero overclocking or just want to meet a few members, drop by and join us! We'll have at least 230L of LN2 to go around, possibly more.
Please let me know in this thread if you plan to attend and I'll add you to the guest list. Let me know what subzero equipment and hardware you can bring so we can make sure we have everything we need!
We're currently looking for a venue. St. Louis University is one of the top prospects right now... I'm just waiting to hear back from Events Services. If you know of any good places, shoot myself or Tator a PM!
TechPowerUp today released the latest version of GPU-Z, our popular video subsystem information and diagnostic utility that provides you with accurate information about the graphics hardware installed, and lets you monitor their clock speeds, fan speeds, voltages, VRAM consumption, etc., in real-time. Version 0.5.8 introduces two new features. The first one is a render test that applies sufficient load (not stress) on the GPU to pull it out of PCI-Express link-state power-management, to ensure the Bus information is accurate. If you find the PCI-Express bus link speed or PCIe version displayed incorrectly, simply click on the "?" button next to the field to launch the load test.
The next new feature is ASIC quality, designed for NVIDIA Fermi (GF10x and GF11x GPUs) and AMD Southern Islands (HD 7800 series and above), aimed at advanced users, hardware manufacturers, and the likes. We've found the ways in which AMD and NVIDIA segregate their freshly-made GPU ASICs based on the electrical leakages the chips produce (to increase yield by allotting them in different SKUs and performance bins), and we've found ways in which ASIC quality can be quantified and displayed. Find this feature in the context menu of GPU-Z. We're working on implementing this feature on older AMD Radeon GPUs.
Basically, for a small premium price, you can RMA your CPU hassle-free.
The Performance Tuning Protection Plan being offered by Intel is a chance for you to experiment with the overclocking features of your processor without the worries of what will happen if you push the procesor too far. The Plan allows you a single processor replacement, hassle-free, from our customer support. This is in addtion to your standard 3 year warranty. In other words, if it fails under normal usage, we will replace it under the standard warranty; if it fails while running outside of Intel's specifications, we will replace it under the Performance Tuning Protection Plan.
So what we are saying is this: Go ahead and push it, we've got your back.
Intel Core i5-2500K ($20.00)
Intel Core i7-2600K ($25.00)
Intel Core i7-2700K ($25.00)
Intel Core i7-3930K ($35.00)
Intel Core i7-3960X ($35.00)
From the FAQ:
A2.) Intel has received feedback from customers who desire to implement overclocking on eligible processors, that because of the lack of any replacement coverage for the eligible processors, the risk of overclocking is too great. We understand this position, and while we cannot endorse overclocking, we want to provide a limited remedy if issues arise as a result of their decision to enable overclocking. The limited remedy consists of a replacement processor (i.e., replacing the processor damaged solely as a result of the overclocking).
Delivering faster and efficient RMA replacement service for European region
Taipei, Taiwan-17th Jan, 2012 - G.Skill International Enterprise Co Ltd., a worldwide leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and solid-state storage, today announces the establishment of Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) service center for end-users in Netherlands, Europe.
Align with G.Skill’s business strategy for growing customer segments, G.Skill’s RMA service center established aims to provide more efficient and effective RMA support throughout European region starting January 2012. End users in Europe will receive quick replacement within five working days for any G.Skill product identified faulty.
G.Skill guarantees that all RMA replacement products are new kits and fully-tested under G.Skill’s rigorous qualification procedure to ensure the maximum quality product. G.Skill customers can count on our quality as well as our timely after-sale services across the European region.
All G.Skill memory products come with a lifetime warranty and the G.Skill technical team is always ready to provide consumers with complete technical support via online forums, telephone and email.
I don't really expect too much difference overclocking-wise. It's just a minor stepping upgrade to fix one specific issue.
Intel is going to launch new revsion of their Sandybridge-E. Revison will go from C1 to C2. Description of Change to the Customer: Due to limited supply, Intel is initiating a rapid C-1 to C-2 stepping conversion for the Intel® Core™ i7-3960X Processor Extreme Edition and the i7-3930K Processors. As part of this transition the following changes apply:
New S-spec and MM numbers for the converting products
VT-d erratum removed for C-2 step.
Refer to Processor Sighting# 3876388 in Sandy Bridge-EN/EP/EX Processor Sightings Report – NDA (#452856). Customer Impact of Change and Recommended Action: Intel anticipates no change to customer platforms designed to Intel guidelines.
Customer’s boards can enable or disable processor Intel VT-d through their BIOS if they desire. If customer chooses to enable Intel VT-d,
regression testing is recommended to ensure their board is properly enabled.
Hamburg, 10th of January 2012. The successful Enermax Modu87+ has found a worthy successor: Revolution87+ continues the outstanding power supply series. It carries over the main advantages of its predecessor such as the forward-looking, highly efficient Dynamic Hybrid Transformer Topology or the leading fan speed control that ensures a silent operation. On the other hand, Revolution87+ profits by the technological progress of Enermax engineering. Partially, the new power supplies already follow the path-breaking technology of the Enermax flagship series Platimax ensuring an extremely high efficiency and rock stable voltages.
