overclocking | going down the rabbit hole
TRANSCRIPT
Overclocking:Going Down the Rabbit Hole
IntroductionWho am I and why am I here
Hi, I’m Pieter• Belgian, 27y, male• I live in Taiwan• Build first PC at age of 13• First overclock at age of 13• HWBOT
• 2006: Volunteer – Moderator• 2009: Employed – Project Manager• 2014: Co-owner – Director
I’m here to talk about overclockingTip of the Ice Berg Down the Rabbit Hole
What we’re covering today• Part 1: Introduction• Part 2: Brief introduction to overclocking• Part 3: HWBOT and overclockingShort break• Part 4: Going down the rabbit hole• Part 5: Challenges ahead• Part 6: Start overclocking today – HWBOT narrative• Part 7: Q & A
A Brief Introduction to OverclockingAnswering the Who, What, Why and How’s
Overclocker in Focus: Joe and Steponz
The Art of Overclocking• Overclocking is increasing the operating frequency of the processor,
graphics card, or memory to increase its performance.
• Different people have different overclocking goals• Overcome performance deficit due to system cost• Increase performance for free• Achieve higher performance than available on market
Performance / Cost
Lowest SKU
Top SKU
Match performance of more expensive part
Core i7 Up to 10 coresUp to USD $1650
Core i3 / i52 to 4 coresUSD $100 to $250
Core i5 / i7 4 to 6 cores USD $250 - $600
Product offering
Have more performance than the most expensive part
“I need more than what you offer”
“I want to spend less for this performance”
“I get more out of what I paid for”
The Overclocker’s Mind-set
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q12012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Pentium Core i3 Core i5 Core i7 - DT Core i7 - HEDT
Growing Overclocking Activity
500% increase in active user base
Brief Historical Overview
History Lesson – Some thirty years ago
How to Overclock NecV30 from 8 MHz to 10 MHz
History Lesson – Some twenty-five years ago
Landmark System Speed Test v6.001993
Wolfenstein 3D benchmark1992
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=46406
History Lesson – Some twenty years ago
http://holicho.lib.net/
Muropaketti
History Lesson – Some fifteen years ago
January 6, 2000Northwind Gold Fingers Device (GFD)
October 18, 2000SuperPI 32M Leaderboard
http://www.anandtech.com/show/457http://holicho.lib.net/pi3355/pi3355.htm
History Lesson – Some ten years ago
History Lesson – Some five years ago
GIGABYTE GOOC 2010 MSI MOA 2011
HWBOT and OverclockingWhat’s HWBOT and how do we fit in the overclocking space?
HWBOT History – Part 12005 2016
HWBOT Portfolio
Supporting the overclocking ecoystemHWBOT
News Hub
Discussion Forum
World Records
Overclockers League
Hardware Rankings
Benchmark
integration API
Embed Function
Intel XTU Integratio
n
World Tour
Amateur Workshop
Gathering
Competition
World Champion
ship
OC-ESPORTSCommunit
y Competiti
on Task Force
Road To Pro
Pro OC & Challenger
World OC Ranking
Competition
Schedule
Overclocking
Tournaments
Open Benchta
bleOpen Source
Blueprint
Support for 3D Print
Projects
Benchtable Product
Overclocking .gui
deTutorials
Advanced Guides
Product Tests
Pro OC Program
Pro OC Content Creation
Pro OC Cash
Prizing
Road To Pro
Challenger Division Support
HWBOT X
Online Event
Repository
Workshops
Gathering
Competitions
Demonstrations
Skatter Bencher
Video Guides
HWinsights
Quarterly Reports
Analyst Reports
Opinion Pieces
Consultancy
OtherOC Game Software
Wiki
Overclocker in Focus
The OC Show
Information Community Competitive OtherProduct
Legend
Motives and ScopeScience, Technology, Problem-Solving
Overclocking and Basic Science
Overclocking and Technology
Key Skill: Problem-Solving Logic
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/3d516w/new_improved_cpu_overclocking_flow_chart/
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?264300-Sandy-bridge-OC-Guide
Recognition for Work and Effort
Scope of OverclockingEasy
OnlineCasual
SoloEducation
ProductCommunity
Affordable
Advanced Offline CompetitiveSocial EntertainmentServiceIndustryExpensive
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Easy – AdvancedEasy Advanced
Online – OfflineOnline Offline
Casual – CompetitiveCasual Competitive
Solo – SocialSolo Social
Education – EntertainmentEducational
Entertainment
Product – ServiceProduct Service
Community – IndustryCommunity Industry
Affordable – ExpensiveAffordable Expensive
Short break
Going Down the Rabbit HoleWhat does it take to be a competitive extreme overclocker?
Introducing K|ngp|n, Legendary Overclocker
Rabbit Hole – Pick the ChallengeChallenges
• Personal rig performance improvement• Improve my personal bests in
benchmarks• Improve in the league• Join an online competition• Join an offline competition• Aim for benchmark world records
Choice: World Record Attempt
Rabbit Hole – Pick the BenchmarkBenchmarks
• CPU benchmark• Single threaded: SuperPI• Multi threaded: Cinebench• Frequency: CPU-Z
• GPU benchmark• Single GPU• Multi GPU• Current-gen or Legacy
• Memory benchmark• Frequency• Bandwidth
Choice: Current-Gen Single GPU
Rabbit Hole – Pick the HardwareHardware: Processor
• Processor• Architecture / platform• Core count• Hyper-threading• Binning / batch
Binning CPUs
Rabbit Hole – Pick the HardwareHardware: Motherboard
• Motherboard• Memory trace lay-out• BIOS• PCIe lane configuration• OC buttons• Debug LED
PCIe Lane Configuration
Rabbit Hole – Pick the HardwareHardware: DRAM
• Memory• Bin• ICs• Frequency • Timings• Training
Rabbit Hole – Pick the HardwareHardware: Graphics Card
• Graphics Card• GPU• Memory• PCB• BIOS• Driver
“Zombified” graphics card
Rabbit Hole – Pick the CoolingCooling
• Ambient: air to water• Subzero: chilled water to dry ice• Extreme: cascade to liquid
helium• Hardware: cooling pots• Insulation
Design of CPU LN2 Pot
Rabbit Hole – Bringing Things Together
Other Choices
• Operating System• Power Supply• Temperature issues• “Coldbug”• “Coldbootbug”
• Liquid Nitrogen Storage
Test Procedure
1. Determine hardware capability1. Processor2. Memory3. Graphics Card
2. Determine baseline scores3. Max out hardware4. Hope for Record
Rabbit Hole – It Continues …
Challenges AheadLet’s talk about the future of overclocking
It’s all about the money• Entry Cost Increase• $250 K-CPU + $90 Z-MB
• Top Competitive Cost Increase• $1700 X-CPU + $1200 GPU + $600
X-MB
• Binning• Industrial and commercial
Last budget overclocking CPU: USD $117Paired with H-series motherboard: USD $135
Source: http://hwbot.org/submission/1017589_kkwong_cpu_frequency_core_i3_530_6886.28_mhz
Pursuit of Perfection (or lack thereof)• Lack of competitive platform to
stimulate engineering race• Tour de France• Formula One
• Lack of appreciation for engineering effort• Cost-down vs add features
Cultural Relativism• Industry• Use overclocking as a mean to
promote component quality (2005)• Organizes large-scale overclocking
tournaments (2006-2010)• World records can be achieved
internally (2011-2015)• Gaming!
• Technical media• It’s not relevant• It’s a waste of time• It’s pointless
• Community• Used to be “king”, now sidelined• Hard to find new blood
Start Overclocking Today!The HWBOT Narrative
Amateur Workshops and Competition
XTU, Rookie League and Rookie Rumble
Start Learning and Experimenting
http://www.overclockers.ua/news/hardware/2016-07-05/118461/
Apprentice and Extreme
Join Gatherings and Competitions
The Overclocking World Championship
Projects• Today• World Tour 2017: 10 locations• World Championship
• Short-term• Educate and bring in new blood• Building the definitive oc wiki
• Long-term• Platform engaging all partners• Team of Professional “evangelists”• Ultimate ambient: South Pole
Summary• Overclocking is not something you can pick up and do, you need to grasp
the technology and science and apply basic problem-solving logic
• Overclocking is more than what meets the eye; extreme overclocking requires hard work, dedication and in-depth knowledge
• Honor the history and tradition of Overclocking
• HWBOT’s mission is to foster and support a healthy overclocking ecosystem
Thanks!