Blogs Do Overclocking Tournaments Work?

http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2009/05/21/do-overclocking-tournaments-work/

 

I'd agree with the post. I too admire the overclockers, but i'm just amazed at how just a lucky draw [of the cpu] can determent the outcome of the competition. So really, is there anything more than a lucky cpu draw?
I don't mean to say that overclocking (especially the extreme ones) don't require skill, i just don't understand the competition, when a good pick can determine the outcome [most of the time].

 

I can definitely say the results of any overclocking tournaments would not influence my purchasing decisions.

 

maybe they could all use the same CPU lol one after another.

 

It's a silly little thing that helps brand recognition. Probably too much money being poured into it, but it does certainly keep those companies involved in the enthusiast community, and I think that's what matters to them.

 

they should have 24/7 overclock tournament instead of the extreme overclocking that makes sure the CPU is dead afterwards.

each team gets 10 hours to tweak their setup, then the machine is put to test for 7 days, if a machine fails, you are out. the ending team with highest clock speed wins

 

Precisely.

But then, what is the point with high-end motorsports then, be it Moto-GP, Formula 1's or WRC? Most probably you're not gonna buy a car that dishes out crazy performance for couple of hours maximum and dies afterwards, yet those sports got fans numbering hundreds of thousands.

And yeah, I'll definitely read the articles when they come out, even though they won't affect my next mobo purchase in any way.

 

formula 1 goes on for a whole year. such an event lasts only a day or two. these events would be more interesting if the overclockers were given motherboards from different vendors. or if each team was backed by a mobo vendor. that way it will be even more competitive as every company would want its mobo to excel. one could have price categories as well, for example, the teams could have an e8400 and a 100 pound limit on their choice of motherboards. these little things could make the competition more interesting from a consumer point of view.

 

I find it strangely ironic that the 'big hardware companies' promote, run or sponsor these events considering the fact they quite often warn you not to do so because it will void your warranty.

 

Consider it this way - you're a novice looking to build your first PC. You do some reasearch online and stumble across 2 sites.
One has the headline "xxx makers of the motherboard powering the worlds fastest PC" and the other says "xxx, makers of motherboards with green stickers". Kinda an extreme (and unrealistic example) but hopefully proves my point. UNLESS you have a love of green stickers, chances are 9/10 people will go for products from the first company?
Flashy banners and claims of 6ghz overclocks may have been achived using methods unsuitable for prolonged running are enough to sway some people.
Some people would much rather pay a few quid more for "racing pedigree" than pay for a reliant robin ripoff.

Does it sway me? Personally no. Does it generate them more custom - more than likely yes. There's NO way in hell they'd pay to organise an event if there was no deemed commercial gain.

 

it's nice to know where the ceiling is on certain hardware.. even if it's on ln2- you can get a look at the top without spending a fortune

I like em.. but then again I like to disassemble everything

 

Well, you could consider extreme overclockers as the best test of a motherboard. It is thanks to them that various modifications are performed on motherboards in order to get them to clock higher. Motherboard manufacturers find this information pretty useful.

Look at the EVGA Classified. That thing was designed by an extreme overclocker, Shimano, and it is one of the best boards out there (albeit, only for overclocking...)

But competitions, it comes down to luck on your CPU binning and the tiniest of little tweaks. I would love to see a competition of the form that isaac postulates, where teams are backed by motherboard manufacturers. Would force some pretty cool developments.

Laz

 

Who here owns a Classified? Who here will benefit from one unless they are extreme cooling?

All that R&D and how many sales?

It might be a big dick swinging marketing machine, but at the same time, where's the "F1 experience for the masses?"

 

What a topic, OverClocking contests!
These contest's to OverClock for the highest scores through BenckMark programs only show that current equipment is capiable of producing amazing increases that are not stable for daily use of a PC.
As a consumer that has interest in OverClocking, it would seem non-supportave of these contest buy being of agreement that an OverCkolcking Contest from the Manufacturer's would have more of an impact on us OverClockers that want to Get the Best out of our PC's through OverClocking and having a "Stable" condition that will both tune-up and maximize our available speeds, than to watch a group of talented people get statistics that are useless to the everyday user. Not to forget that there is a lot of money in our equipment, warranties to stay within and adjustments that work all day.

They should have two contest's. One as they do, and another to get result's that BenckMark "Stable" long runs like the 24hrs mentioned. And not just speed but what a true OverClock "Tune-up" will do for us like overall Mathmatics and processing speed's, not overall speed. What OverClocked system get's the best out of thier equipment against simular equipped PC's. That way it is not who can afford the best current equipment, but who has fine tuned the best for overall performance.

If I read an article about success that way it would influence my buying decissions, or future upgrades.

 

IMO, a misguided use of a company's increasingly limited promotional budget. Support for case modders and case mod compettions is being slashed and diverted to a narrowly focused niche competition whose end product is a screenshot of a fleeting moment in time. Am I to believe that this is a more effective promotional tool than a photo of a logo emblazoned across a real world application?

 

They would also need to all use the same motherboard and memory as they also vary.

That just proves my point. If you'll look at the EVGA Forum you'll see alot of Classified boards that don't OC as well as my standard EVGA X58 mobo and I'm on air.

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=164340
I have upgraded to a D stepping and DDR3 2000 memory



Given the right equipment 85% of the over-clocking community could contend for a World Record or Tournament Win.

 

This is weird to see the topic of "Do OC Tourny work" coming from a Mod website. Is Bit-Tech trying to intentionally trying to split the two main PC enthusiast community?

What if an OC website wrote an article, "Do Case Modding Contest Work"? They can start asking stuff.. is it fair that some people have access to CNC, laser cutter, powder coating machine, and HVLP?

I have been involved in both OC'ing contest and Case modding contest. I think PC vendors do a great job of supporting both community. I just think this article is in real bad taste. I have no idea what the goal is for this article?

Rich.. you wrote this about OC'ing contest, "...from an consumer point of view, what is the relevance?"

Hmm.. Now i put the question to you.. if a case modder put a particular PC part in their computer, then is there more relevance to the consumr?

-Ton

 

PS - Hey Slay.. whats up buddy.. its been a long time.. i hope things are well with you

 

hey titon.. what I never understood is why these guys who do ocing with ln2 just don't hire a hack to skew the marks believably- just to win the contest.. I mean noone at these events would even suspect there was a prize whore in the ranks

 

Not much Ton, a little overclocking and case modding here and there

I'm always in the market for slightly used sample parts, I'm still using the last ES I got from Cpt.Planet in my office PC

I'll install a chat program and catch you in the next few days.