PICTORIAL: Gigabyte GO OC 2009 Inside out

Seven minutes before the 3DMark06 part of the event concluded, more people were standing than sitting as the pressure to achieve a good result.

Here is some LN2 being poured int the Copper Pot... LN2 functions at a -196C temperature, but don't think that this 4.6 GHz CPU setup churns out less than 200 Watts of heat. Once you start clocking the Core i7, TDP [Thermal Design Power] will shoot up through the sky... and that is the reason why Intel isn't selling 3.5 or 4.0 GHz models - 3.2W is specc'ed at 120-130W and that is a stable wattage bin for an i7 with Turbo mode on [3.33 GHz, Ed.]. 3.6 GHz would probably fluctuate around 160W TDP, but with Turbo mode reaching 3.73 GHz, you could have a repeat of Prescott-like TDPs.

Here are some other setups as well...

Notice the ice build up as a result of all that cold air...

This is not a gum, but you're not exactly far off. Once that the competiton part was over, some overclockers went to quickly tear the setup apart, change what they feel it was necessary and get back into the action. Same thing applied for some setups where components went "poof".

Updated 3DMark06 scoreboard - four minutes before the end of the run, it was just enough time to do one final push - you can compare this to Formula 1 racing, four minutes before the end of qualifying session, all the cars go out on the track to get that one final qualifying lap. In this case, the award was a ticked to Taiwan and a lot of dough.

Some shots people trying to get in one last run...

The last second.... will the scoreboard change and Fugger finally meet his match?

The answer will be revealed soon.

Continued on the next page...