Gizmodo Australia » overclocking

AMD Phenom II Breaks 7GHz Barrier

Rosa Golijan — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:01:21 +0000

7.08GHz. That’s the record-shattering speed an AMD Phenom II processor was overclocked to using a massive amount of liquid helium. You can watch the process in this documentary video set to a kickass soundtrack. [Crunchgear]

The F1OC Overclocking Comp Sounds Pretty Definitive

Nick Broughall — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:26:14 +0000

This sounds like it’s going to be pretty hardcore: The Overclocker Magazine has somehow managed to convince all the top PC component manufacturers to compete against each other and the world’s best overclockers to see who really does have the best equipment. It sounds like they should have a steel cage on standby…

Official overclocking teams from Biostar, DFI, EVGA, Gigabyte and MSI will be taking on national, continental and world champion overclocking teams to see not only who can get the best performance out of different PC components, but also which components deserve recognition as the best. And seeing as how all the kit being overclocked is available to the general public, the rest of us can sit back and enjoy the benefits of the competition. Although the official F1OC rules state you can’t use liquid helium, which really just takes all the fun out of it if you ask me.

The comp starts this month and runs over the next five months with different components being scored. If you’re keen to see what’s being tested each month and who’s on top, check out The Overclocker.

[F1OC]

Corsair Cooling Ice Series T30 Chills Memory for More Overclocking Pew Pew

Matt Buchanan — Thu, 21 May 2009 00:20:00 +0000

How nerdy are you? Oh really? Yea rly? Corsair’s Cooling Ice Series T30 “world’s first” sub-ambient PC memory cooler gives you 20 degrees of breathing room for overclocking your memory to make your computer more fasterer. [Fareastgizmos via Ubergizmo]

Asus Marine Cool Motherboard Fights Heat with Ceramic Plates

Mark Wilson — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:40:00 +0000

Ceramic isn’t just for pottery. It’s used in military armour to stop bullets and the Space Shuttle to thwart heat. Now, Asus is reintroducing the material in its sci-fi-tastic Marine Cool motherboard.

If our best guess is correct, all of those off-white stuctures on the board are “micro-porous ceramic” heat sinks. But not only do they dissipate heat from board components while looking ever so evil—the ceramic also improves the structure integrity of the board itself.

The only catch to performance clockers may be the inclusion of SO-DIMM slots—small form memory slots generally reserved for notebooks.

As of right now, the Marine Cool is a concept. But like their dual-screen laptop, if Asus actually brings this model to market, we’d all remember that the company is capable of creating a lot more than just netbooks. [Softpedia via Engadget]

AMD Shows Off Phenom II Processor’s Headroom, By Overclocking to 5GHz

Kit Eaton — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:00:00 +0000

From AMD’s upcoming chip roadmaps we know the Phenom II is due out early next year, and it’s AMD’s second 45nm chip, but in a recent show and tell session AMD demonstrated the “overhead” built into the chip by overclocking one to a crazy 5GHz. It did take a special CO2 sublimation cooling unit that carries the danger of suffocating you if you use it in a small room, but what the hey. With a liquid nitrogen cooling system the chip was easily pushed way over 5 gigs. You may think “yeah, I could overclock anything with that stuff!” but it should be noted that with fairly normal high-end air-cooling the chips could get up to 4GHz. It’ll be interesting to watch AMD’s battle with Intel’s i7 play out. [PCPerspective]

Thermaltake’s Xpressar PC Case Uses Actual Fridge Compressor For Cooling

John Mahoney — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Onwards and upwards in the overclockers’ heatsink game: The crazed coolant doctors at Thermaltake are now shipping what they’re claiming is the first case to feature a DC-inverter micro refrigeration system onboard, which goes beyond conventional liquid-cooled setups by using the same type of compressor/condenser/coolant system found in a refrigerator or air conditioner into your PC case.

Thermaltake claims the Xpressar gains an additional drop of 20° C below liquid-cooled systems that don’t feature an actual fridge compressor. But, as you know, your AC and refrigerator tend to make a lot of noise and suck down a lot of power (Xpressar’s compressor is rated at 50W), so you can assume that this is not the most practical of setups. And the crazy ductwork required means only certain ATX and mini-ATX motherboards are supported, but practicality’s never really been first on overclockers’ minds, right? [Hexus, Far East Gizmos]