Round 3 of the MSI MOA (Master Overclocking Arena) qualifiers starts on June 15 and allows the top overclockers in the Asia-Pacific region to battle it out for a ticket to Taiwan. During the qualifiers, which have seen many new records so far, the overclocking experts from the Asia-Pacific region compete for eight tickets to the MOA 2012 grand finals to become the master of the "Steel World" competition!

The annual overclocking competition MOA (Master Overclocking Arena) 2012 held by the world's leading mainboard and graphics card manufacturer MSI, has held regional qualifier competitions since April to select powerhouse overclockers to compete in the annual worldwide Grand Final. After the Americas regional qualifier and the EMEA regional qualifier have successfully ended, the Asia-Pacific regional qualifier battle is about to begin; the competition will go on from June 15 to July 12, overclockers can participate in the competition with any model of MSI mainboard and graphics card, but is limited to a single CPU and GPU.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today announced its latest overclocking competition in conjunction with HWBOT.org, the GIGABYTE 'High on Ivy Contest'.

Calling all HWBot members! From June 1st to June 30th, GIGABYTE invites you to push your unlocked Ivy Bridge processors as high as you possibly can, with a chance to win a next-generation GIGABYTE motherboard. The rules are simple; take any GIGABYTE Z77 board and aim for the highest scores possible across four unrelenting stages.

G.SKILL International Co. Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and superior solid-state storage, has teamed up with ASUS, MSI, EVGA and GIGABYTE and will be hosting an industry-first, "G.SKILL World-Class Overclocking Invitational" with G.SKILL's extreme performance DDR3 memory at the Computex 2012.

G.SKILL invited up to 8 professional overclockers from across the world, including legendary overclockers from the United States, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Australia and Japan. Collaborating with 4 industry leading motherboard brands, G.SKILL aims to smash all overclocking world records by using ultra high performance motherboards, VGA and the fastest DDR3 memory, the "TridentX".

Team Group Inc., one of the leading memory manufacturers in the world, continues to make breakthroughs in over-clocking memory modules. Not only the new Team Vulcan series is making its entrance into the increasingly diversified and complete over-clocking product line, but also new 8GB memory modules are rolling out as a member of Xtreem, Dark and Vulcan series. The high clock speed and low timing design improves system operation performance dramatically, making it the perfect choice for players looking for extreme performance.

The first round of the annual MOA (Master Overclocking Arena) 2012 Americas Qualifier, held by the world-renowned mainboard and graphics card manufacturer MSI, ended successfully on May 10. There were overclocking experts from eight countries in the America region who competed in this event; the top three winners were Splave from the U.S., Rbuass and gnidaol from Brazil. The winners will advance into the World Final and are free to pick any member for their team to battle for the master position of the MSI Master Overclocking Arena Grand Final! For complete coverage and results of the event, please visit the MOA 2012 Americas Qualifier website.

Palit Microsystems Ltd, the leading graphics card manufacturer, has unleashed the GeForce GTX 670 graphics card. It taps into the powerful Kepler architecture to deliver faster, smoother, richer gaming. It's more than state-of-the-art technology and features. It's truly game-changing performance.

Following with GeForce GTX 680 JetStream, JetStream 風- that introduces innovative custom cooling and optimized overclocked capabilities to deliver the ultimate gaming experience, now continuing to represent the exciting new series is the Palit GeForce GTX 670 JetStream, which offers incredible overclocked performance, low noise emission, as well as a powerful cooling design for efficient heat dissipation.

Today leading international mainboard and graphics card maker MSI officially announces the new GeForce GTX 670 graphics card featuring the latest 28nm GeForce GTX 670 GPU and 2GB GDDR5 memory; supports PCI Express 3.0 standard to provide better performance and power efficiency than previous generation. The GeForce GTX 670 graphics card features NVIDIA's GPU Boost technology which allows the core clock to be automatically adjusted on the fly for optimal in-game performance.

When used with the MSI Afterburner overclocking utility, the power limit and clock offset can be adjusted as well for better overclocking capability; GPU overvoltage function to boost overclocking potential up to 22%! A single card is able to also support NVIDIA 3DVision Surround technology for up to four monitors to give gamers the best in-game experience.

Following the release of its new extreme DDR3 lineup, TridentX, G.SKILL is thrilled to host an extreme overclocking contest at HWBOT, the widely recognized authority in the field of overclocking. The G.SKILL CUP OC competition will start May 1st and run until May 30th and consists of three different stages with 14 G.SKILL Memory kits offered to the winners. For more detail, please refer to the event page.

G.Skill unveiled its newest line of memory for extreme overclocking, the Trident X. Its launch is timed to follow that of Intel's Core "Ivy Bridge" processor family, and is optimized for 7-series chipset motherboards (due to their support of latest Intel XMP 1.3 specification). Pictured below is what Trident X series modules look like: a black PCB with a slightly long black metal heatsink, which has a detachable crown heatsink (red). One can notice a slot for heat pipes in the juncture between the crown heatsink and the module's main heatsink.

Aesthetically, the Trident X series modules don a black+red color scheme, which goes well with the black+red motherboard in the background (in the press-shot). Pictured below are the DDR3-2400 MHz (PC3-19200) modules in dual-channel configuration. The XMP profile runs the module at its 2400 MHz DDR (1200 MHz real) speed, with timings of 10-12-12-31T, and DRAM voltage of 1.65V. The modules will be available in various other speed/timing configurations, and in densities of 4 GB and 8 GB, making up for 8 GB and 16 GB dual-channel kits, for the new "Ivy Bridge" platform; 16 GB and 32 GB quad-channel kits for the Sandy Bridge-E platform. The older Sandy Bridge LGA1155 platform might not be 100% compatible, since it lacks XMP 1.3 support. G.Skill Trident X will be formally announced on May 4.

Leading international graphics card maker MSI today officially announced the new GTX 680 Twin Frozr /OC graphics card equipped with the latest NVIDIA 28nm GeForce GTX 680 GPU, 2GB video memory and PCI Express Gen3 support. The new GTX 680 Twin Frozr /OC sports the popular Twin Frozr III thermal design, featuring dual 80mm Propeller Blade fans, a nickel-plated copper base heat sink and SuperPipe technology. MSI's GTX 680 Twin Frozr /OC has 22°C lower temperatures and runs 10.2dB quieter than the reference design, providing the perfect balance of low-noise and great cooling capabilities.

In addition the GTX 680 Twin Frozr /OC also supports MSI's Afterburner overclocking utility, which enables you to tweak power and clock settings to get even more performance out of your graphics card. Both NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround and 4 display out from a single card are supported ensuring that gamers can enjoy the best entertainment and multitasking experience possible.

Celebrating its 5th anniversary, MSI's Master Overclocking Arena (MOA) joins the most stable Military Class III components with record-breaking overclocking performance. Themed "Steel World", MSI has forged the first evolution starting with the American Regional Qualifiers on the world-class overclocking community website HWBOT.org on April 13, 2012.

The American Regional Qualifiers this year consist of three stages: 3DMark11, 3DMark03 and SuperPI 32M. Each with a different point scheme. There will be no model limitation on MSI mainboards and graphics cards, however entries are limited to single CPU and GPU setups. A cut-off elimination will be applied on May 4th (75% of the contest period) after which the qualifiers will continue with only the best 15 overall participants.

Leading international graphics card and mainboard maker MSI today announced the release of the MSI R7970 Lightning, the new heir to the throne of Lightning graphics cards. Equipped with AMD's 28 nm Radeon HD 7970 GPU, the MSI R7970 Lightning features an all-new Unlocked Digital Power Architecture that incorporates an Unlocked BIOS, Digital PWM Controller, and Enhanced Power Design to boost overclocking potential to new heights and make overclocking easier than ever.

In an industry first, the proprietary "GPU Reactor" power supply module reduces power supply noise and also boosts overclocking stability as well. To keep this beast cool, the MSI R7970 Lightning utilizes the latest Twin Frozr IV Thermal Design equipped with Dust Removal Technology. The dual 10 cm fans with Propeller Blade Technology generate massive airflow for fast heat dissipation while remaining whisper silent. The two form-in-one heat sinks improve cooling for memory and the power supply module as well ensure structural integrity.

ORIGIN PC starts off 2012 with three major announcements. The award-winning GENESIS desktop has been overclocked to a record 5.7GHz with the exclusive new ORIGIN PC Phase Change cooling system. The Phase Change cooling system will be available in late Q1. ORIGIN PC launches free U.S. based lifetime 24/7 technical support on all desktops and laptops starting today. The award winning EON17-S and EON15-S laptops both receive an upgrade with the new exclusive ORIGIN PC design.

If you thought the overclocking and benchmark feats we reported on a few days ago here and here were impressive, wait until you see what four cards can do. Overclocking champion Shamino over at Kingpin Cooling has set four 3DMark and one Unigene benchmark record:

Leading global motherboard and graphics card maker MSI today announces the release of the N560GTX-448 Twin Frozr III Power Edition/OC and N560GTX-448 Twin Frozr III Power Edition graphics cards. The two graphics cards feature the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti chipset with 448 CUDA cores and 1280MB of 320-bit GDDR5 high-speed graphics memory. The N560GTX-448 Twin Frozr III Power Edition graphics card supports MSI's exclusive Triple Overvoltage and 6+1 Phase PWM design. The greatly improved overclocking potential and stability increases overclocking performance by up to 29%.

The acclaimed Twin Frozr III system is used for cooling and features not only twin 8cm Propeller Blade fans for 20% more air flow but also 8mm SuperPipe technology. Fan noise of just 30dB at full load provides gamers with the quietest user experience, while MSI Military Class II components are used to guarantee the highest quality and stability. For gamers seeking overclocking potential, cooling and stability, the N560GTX-448 Twin Frozr III Power Edition graphics card offers the perfect choice.

Leading international mainboard and graphics card manufacturer MSI today announces the official release of its X79A-GD65 (8D), X79A-GD65, X79A-GD45, and X79MA-GD45 mainboards. The new mainboards are based on Intel's latest X79 chipset and uses the LGA 2011 socket supporting the 2nd generation Core i7 processors. The X79A-GD65 (8D) features with 8 memory DIMMs, supports 16GB DDR3 memory modules, bringing maximum capacity up to a staggering 128GB! For superior quality and stability, MSI X79 series mainboards adopts Military Class III components. With DrMOS II - the next generation of DrMOS with improved double thermal protection - the lifetime of components is maximized, even in warmer environments or when the machine is heavily overclocked.

MSI X79 series mainboards also feature the latest PCI Express Gen 3 bus and MSI's proprietary Click BIOS II for maximum performance and user convenience. When taking into account all of the other advanced technologies supported such as 3-Way NVIDIA SLI and 4-way AMD CrossFireX multi-GPU processing technology, THX TruStudio PRO sound, Multi-BIOS II, Control Center II, and Super Charger, MSI X79-series mainboards are simply the best choice for enthusiasts!

Intel have finally confirmed that they will be including water cooling as an enthusiast solution for their upcoming Core i7-3000 series Sandy Bridge-E processors due for release on November 14 - a first for Intel and something for AMD to match. They have gone with Asetek due to their high quality products and good reputation, which will be branded with the distinctive Intel blue logos. The 12cm radiator fan will actually be illuminated in Intel Blue, giving a classy look to the kit. On top of that, they will actually sell the kit separately, so no one need feel left out. The E-series chips are already significantly faster than the current Sandy Bridge offerings, but water cooling will be able to stretch that lead even further and should make for some exciting overclocking achievements. Perhaps 6GHz or more 24/7 reliable operation is within reach? No prices as yet.

Well, this is good news for PC enthusiasts. PC overclocking has become a competitive sport in recent years with various brands hosting the competitions and others also chipping in with sponsorship money. This year's event was the fourth annual MSI Master Overclocking Arena competition held in Taipei, Taiwan, with sponsorship money coming from the likes of Intel and Kingston among others. Basic competition info: sixteen teams worldwide; benchmarks used were Super PI 32M, 3DMark 11 and surprisingly, the ancient 3DMark 2001SE but it's not clear why such an old benchmark is being used; the components used are given to contestants based on a lottery system, the team picking a number corresponding to either a CPU or a complete rig. This prevents contestants from having an unfair advantage by bringing in their own heavily modified kit to press home an advantage. Imagine how much more potent a modded motherboard with beefed up voltage regulators could be? Turned out that the favourites, previous winners Romania, won the competition. The prize money was only $3000, which is paltry compared to mainstream sports, but remember that this overclocking "sport" is still very new and is very niche in nature, so isn't so unreasonable when viewed in that light. Head on over to VR-Zone for more competition details and photos.

AMD's Bulldozer 8.4 GHz+ OC Achievement: Cooled to Near-Absolute Zero

TechPowerUp recently brought you news on AMDs fantastic overclocking achievement with their new processors. Now we can tell you how it was done: cherry-picking the chips and slapping on some water cooling isn't quite enough. AMDs new processors can operate at much lower temperatures without displaying the "cold bug" - where it just gives up and goes home - and performance scales very well at super-low temperatures. The problem is that the cold affects lots of things such as timing, but more importantly, power circuits, which stop switching and just fry everything in sight - surely one to avoid. AMD senior manager of social media, Simon Solotko explains in detail how it was all done, using both liquid helium and liquid nitrogen to make the poor processor really cold. The new processor had these great qualities, according to Solotko:

It was able to take a lot of voltage, extremely low temperatures, extremely high frequencies," he said. "It was very durable under extreme overclocking. So that was awesome. So it worked well, it scaled well, it responded to cold well - all the right variables.

This overclock is an impressive feat and it will be interesting to see if Intel can match it.

"Empty Overclocking" is a term we just made up, to describe unreal overclocking headroom that does not translate into any performance improvements, with AMD's A8-3850 APU. This chip can be set to run at base clock multiplier value above 29x on some motherboards, that will increase clock speed being reported to you, but that "increased" clock speed will not translate to any performance improvements at all.

This means that the multiplier is ineffective in driving the clock above its maximum default value. So the next time you see screenshots screaming something like "6.00 GHz" on air with the base clock at its default 100 MHz, don't be fooled, trust only those overclocking feats in which the multiplier is set at the maximum default (29.0x) or lesser, and in which the overclocker has increased the base clock among other things.Update: It seems like AMD is aware of the issue, and forewarned reviewers about it. Apparently a glitch in the BIOS code allows the users to "set" higher multiplier values than the chip can respond to, even as the chip doesn't run at those values. Utilities like CPU-Z read those BIOS-set values and display the effective clock speed, even as the actual clock speed doesn't budge. AMD recommends only the base clock increase method for overclocking. As always, AMD warned that overclocked chips are not covered by product warranties. Perhaps future BIOS updates by motherboard vendors will fix this bug.

Apacer, one of the world's leading brands of memory modules, today announced an expansion of its ARES overclocking memory series with high capacity and clock rate: DDR3-2133 8GB (4GBx2) dual channel memory kit,which is engineered for the latest Intel P67 and Z68 Sandy Bridge platforms. With a combination of high clock rate, huge capacity and low latency of CL9, ARES series is a perfect solution for extreme PC enthusiasts and gamers who want to optimize performance on the new platforms.

The newly-unveiled ARES DDR3-2133 8GB dual channel memory kit provides the highspeed and capacityon the Intel P67 and Z68 Sandy Bridge platforms and is backwards compatible with existing the P55 platform. It runs at CL9-11-9-27 with 1.65 voltage, using advancedprocess 256Mb x 8chips, which are screened and tested withthe advanced test fixture and programs under diversified parameters of voltage and time sequences.

Continuing the success of its popular ROG MATRIX Series graphics cards, ASUS today launches the ROG MATRIX GTX 580 Series. Based on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 GPU, the ROG MATRIX GTX 580 Series combines a dual-fan DirectCU II thermal design and 19-phase Super Alloy Power components with instant hardware overclocking tools; TweakIt, ProbeIt and an innovative Safe Mode button. Together, with the new GPU Tweak software overclocking utility, both gamers and overclockers can now gain an undeniable performance advantage over the competition.

MSI, the world-renowned graphics card and motherboard manufacturer, officially releases the latest R6790-2PM2D1GD5 graphics card based on AMD's next-generation Barts GPU core utilizing the 40 nm manufacturing process and 1GB GDDR5 memory. The R6790-2PM2D1GD5 is equipped with MSI's exclusive Afterburner overclocking software that supports GPU over-voltage, offering up to 25% more overclocking potential!

The MSI R6790-2PM2D1GD5 is equipped with stereoscopic 3D capability and has the ability to output video to four displays from a single card via AMD's Eyefinity technology. The heatpipes directly contact the GPU head spreader, and coupled with 9cm PWM fans this exclusive thermal design provides 50% more cooling efficiency when compare to reference design. An All-Solid Capacitor design ensures a long lifespan and stability under extreme operating conditions.

ColorFire, the associate brand of Colorful that specializes in AMD Radeon-based graphics cards, today released a new Radeon HD 6870 card geared for extreme overclocking. Its design revolves around high-grade VRM, powerful cooling, and dual BIOS, each packing overclocked settings. The ColorFire Xstorm HD 6870 is a completely non-reference design card, the GPU is powered by a 5+1 phase VRM that uses POSCAP capacitors. The card uses two BIOS ROM chips that can be selected using a push-switch on the rear panel. The "normal" BIOS packs clock speeds of 940 MHz core and 1100 MHz (4.40 GHz effective) memory, while the "turbo" BIOS runs the card at 1050 MHz core, 1150 MHz (4.60 GHz effective) memory.

The card is cooled by a large custom-design cooler the company earlier used on an HD 6850 card with similar design. It uses a large heat pipe-fed heatsink that is cooled by a 110 mm fan. Other overclocker-friendly features include consolidated voltage measure points with cables; and hardware-based voltage adjustment using DIP switches on the card. It draws power from two 6-pint power connectors. Display outputs include two DVI, and one each of full-size HDMI 1.4a, and DisplayPort 1.2. Colorfire will first sell the card in Asia, and then in Europe.

In its 25th anniversary year, Antec, Inc., the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets, today announced it has set two new world records on 3DMark06 and 3DMark03, using Antec's renowned High Current Pro series HCP-1200 power supply to simultaneously power four high-end intensive graphics cards with a power consumption up to 1700 watts.

The world record scores of 48,096 marks on 3DMark06 with four Radeon HD 5870 graphic cards in 4-way Crossfire, and a 3DMark03 score of 233,433 marks in 4-way SLI-configuration with GeForce GTX 580 cards were achieved by Nick Shih, current world-wide leading overclocker. Both scores represent the unrivaled overclocking capabilities of Antec's HCP-1200 PSU and how the unparalleled performance of Antec's HCP-1200 is engineered to satisfy the needs of PC enthusiasts and overclockers for high-performance, compatibility and stability.