December 26, 2012 at 18:05In the footsteps of the MSI Master Overclocking Arena 2012
Good afternoon friends.
It so happened that I won a trip to the MSI Master Overclocking Arena 2012, while at the same time I am fond of overclocking and am part of the XtremeLabs.org team. The Ukrainian team and two people from it went with me to the distant country of Taiwan, the city of Taipei. Let me bring to your attention a report on the trip to the final of the MSI MOA 2012.
Overclocking has long been a tool that allows component manufacturers to significantly expand the lineup, gives them the opportunity to create additional informational occasions and make themselves known as champions. Overclocking also benefits ordinary users who just need to press one button on the motherboard to automatically overclock the processor or use the sliders to increase the operating frequencies of the graphics adapter, which translates into a decent performance boost in games and various applications. As for enthusiasts who are not afraid of liquid nitrogen, in addition to the pleasure of overclocking and obtaining record results, they have the opportunity to earn money from overclocking or gain access to the latest iron. Besides, many professional overclockers have also decided for themselves the issue of employment. Today we will talk about overclockers and the company that organized a real holiday for them.
One of the most famous overclocking tournaments called MSI Master Overclocking Arena (MOA) this year celebrated its fifth anniversary. And the grand finals of the tournament were held in Taipei. The MOA gathers the strongest teams from almost every corner of the planet every year. This year 15 teams from 14 countries fought for first place. Your humble servant along with the Ukrainian team Xtremelabs.org, consisting of overclockers T0lsty and Cyclone, has set off on a long journey in order to tell the reader in detail about the grand final of the MSI Master Overclocking Arena 2012 tournament.
MSI MOA 2012 - venue and participants
Our journey began from the Boryspil airport (Kiev), where we all met (from left to right: SteelRat (representative of MSI), T0lsty and Cyclone), discussed the latest news and began to wait for the announcement of landing in Moscow. From Moscow to Hong Kong, and from this glorious city to Taipei. We were accompanied by a representative of MSI Ukraine and extreme overclocker in the past SteelRat.
If I'm not mistaken, then at the airport in Hong Kong we met just such a character, waiting for some Vasya.
Most teams and journalists arrived in Taipei a day before the final. MSI representatives met the new arrivals at the airport in the capital of Taiwan province ...
... and its local attractions helped to distract from the long flight.
I want to say a few words about the bus, and more specifically about its driver. We were met by MSI representatives and taken to this small bus. Near him, competition participants and journalists were awaited by a young girl who helped throw her backpacks and suitcases into transport. Then she flopped into the driver's seat, got the device and briskly jerked from her seat. At the same time I was traveling very fast, neatly and most importantly very smoothly for passengers.
It is difficult to convey the speed of movement with the help of a photograph, but, perhaps, this particular photo card conveys the entire drive of a bus trip at a speed of over a hundred on overpasses and smooth roads of Taipei.
On the way to our hotel there are sometimes funny structures that ...
... contrast with these.
And somewhere far away you can see the famous building - Taipei 101.
It is amazing for me, for the Ukrainian, that the city of Taipei is full of multi-tier overpasses, which avoids traffic jams and traffic around the city does not cause any problems. At the same time, more and more constructions are being built to simplify and secure the movement. Yes, I have not seen pits on the roads during my entire time in the capital of Taiwan.
You ride such a bus and here you are, because of the turn a powerful “torso” of the next flyover is approaching you.
Having reached the Miramar Garden Taipei Hotel with a breeze, everyone involved in the tournament received special T-shirts and went on vacation, as the next day promised to be hot.
After 30 hours on the road, I got to the crib.
MSI decided not to change its traditions, and organized a grand finale at the sports center of Taiwan National University (NTU).
Near the sports center there is a small park where overclockers can gain strength between the stages of the competition, wander under the shady trees and breathe fresh air.
The tournament participants quickly unloaded from the buses, not forgetting about their valuable supplies: copper glasses for nitrogen, pre-prepared video cards, professional thermometers and, of course, talismans.
Regulations
In preparation for the 2012 MOA, each team received from MSI's local representative offices a kit consisting of a Big Bang-XPower II motherboard and an N680GTX Lightning graphics card. In addition, already in the framework of the final, all participants were given a chance to choose iron from the prepared sets.
As a result, overclockers armed themselves with the following iron:
In addition, the organizers clearly determined what software can be used during the nitrogen battle.
In order for the reader to understand how busy the competition day was, I’ll give the MOA 2012 final schedule.
Schedule (in Taipei time):
In other words, enthusiasts spent more than nine hours under the “load”.
Making arena MOA 2012.
Stable power supply for all the teams provide a powerful power supplies, designed for loads of up to 100 kW. Each table, each team, had its own separate 5 kW line.
We have to fight for this, and of course for the money. The first three places mean “monetary pleasure”.
To thunderous applause, overclockers from 14 countries go inside the arena through its main entrance. They are met by the organizers, journalists and guests of the event.
Measure of time, so far by zeros. The time of each of the three stages will be counted here.
Official part, performance and parting words.
In the meantime, nothing particularly interesting is happening on stage, I am leaving to conduct reconnaissance. To recharge enthusiasts, the organizers prepared the appropriate drinks, decorated in the format of "MOA 2012".
To prevent overclockers from feeling a lack of liquid nitrogen, it was 2.5 tons in the arena. Yes, 2500 liters of liquid nitrogen.
It was enough for the enthusiast to approach these guys in gloves and to collect “liquids” into their thermos.
Strict judges. Connoisseurs immediately recognized one person - Massman.
Huge posters with photographs of all participants are located above the arena.
And next to it you could see all this on one big map.
All honestly, the distribution of iron. What number I got, I took such a kit.
Russian guys are the most cheerful and charismatic.
Smoke and 12
"Che dry something to disperse!"
I will not bore the reader with a long story about how the test participants, their processors and graphics adapters overclocked the contestants in time and in three disciplines. I’ll go over the highlights of the acceleration process itself.
Everyone ran to their stands and began to collect the pieces of iron together ...
... fill the thermoses with nitrogen under the neck ...
... and fill it in copper cups for cooling
“First-person shooter ready”
Kettles are conveniently used as an intermediate element between a large vessel and a small thermos.
Time has gone gentlemen! The final table is updated with the results online.
Start is not a start. The eternal element of the experiences of overclockers. When a frozen processor and the whole system as a whole start for the first time.
Come on, buddy.
The test bench is set up and ready for battle.
The girl from the Polish team aroused genuine interest. Well, the girl is an overclocker.
Does Angry Birds play?
In order on the table, you can understand that the acceleration process is in full swing.
But everyone has a fighting mood.
And again: the start is not the start?
Dry the oars, sir. When the processor does not want to start when certain negative temperatures are reached (indicated by the English phrase “coldbug”), then the time comes to pick up a hair dryer.
On the tables after long hours of dispersal and nitrogen, “Battle of the Ice” in the truest sense of the word
Summing up ...
... “Do not forget what”
Rewarding
Fifth place for the guys from Romania.
The fourth went to the HW GURUS team from Montenegro and Croatia.
A pair from Poland was a bronze medalist and received $ 2,000.
Second place for Team USA and their well-deserved prize of $ 2,500.
But, and those whom no one actually bet on were the winners of the MSI MOA 2012. These are overclockers oc_Windforce and Littleboy from Korea.
Photo for memory.
An event of this level could not do without charming girls.
Well, that’s all. Thanks for attention. See you again. Till!
PS I shot on Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 + Minolta AF 28-135 / 4-4.5 (old man). At that time there was still no flash.
It so happened that I won a trip to the MSI Master Overclocking Arena 2012, while at the same time I am fond of overclocking and am part of the XtremeLabs.org team. The Ukrainian team and two people from it went with me to the distant country of Taiwan, the city of Taipei. Let me bring to your attention a report on the trip to the final of the MSI MOA 2012.
Overclocking has long been a tool that allows component manufacturers to significantly expand the lineup, gives them the opportunity to create additional informational occasions and make themselves known as champions. Overclocking also benefits ordinary users who just need to press one button on the motherboard to automatically overclock the processor or use the sliders to increase the operating frequencies of the graphics adapter, which translates into a decent performance boost in games and various applications. As for enthusiasts who are not afraid of liquid nitrogen, in addition to the pleasure of overclocking and obtaining record results, they have the opportunity to earn money from overclocking or gain access to the latest iron. Besides, many professional overclockers have also decided for themselves the issue of employment. Today we will talk about overclockers and the company that organized a real holiday for them.
One of the most famous overclocking tournaments called MSI Master Overclocking Arena (MOA) this year celebrated its fifth anniversary. And the grand finals of the tournament were held in Taipei. The MOA gathers the strongest teams from almost every corner of the planet every year. This year 15 teams from 14 countries fought for first place. Your humble servant along with the Ukrainian team Xtremelabs.org, consisting of overclockers T0lsty and Cyclone, has set off on a long journey in order to tell the reader in detail about the grand final of the MSI Master Overclocking Arena 2012 tournament.
MSI MOA 2012 - venue and participants
Our journey began from the Boryspil airport (Kiev), where we all met (from left to right: SteelRat (representative of MSI), T0lsty and Cyclone), discussed the latest news and began to wait for the announcement of landing in Moscow. From Moscow to Hong Kong, and from this glorious city to Taipei. We were accompanied by a representative of MSI Ukraine and extreme overclocker in the past SteelRat.
If I'm not mistaken, then at the airport in Hong Kong we met just such a character, waiting for some Vasya.
Most teams and journalists arrived in Taipei a day before the final. MSI representatives met the new arrivals at the airport in the capital of Taiwan province ...
... and its local attractions helped to distract from the long flight.
I want to say a few words about the bus, and more specifically about its driver. We were met by MSI representatives and taken to this small bus. Near him, competition participants and journalists were awaited by a young girl who helped throw her backpacks and suitcases into transport. Then she flopped into the driver's seat, got the device and briskly jerked from her seat. At the same time I was traveling very fast, neatly and most importantly very smoothly for passengers.
It is difficult to convey the speed of movement with the help of a photograph, but, perhaps, this particular photo card conveys the entire drive of a bus trip at a speed of over a hundred on overpasses and smooth roads of Taipei.
On the way to our hotel there are sometimes funny structures that ...
... contrast with these.
And somewhere far away you can see the famous building - Taipei 101.
It is amazing for me, for the Ukrainian, that the city of Taipei is full of multi-tier overpasses, which avoids traffic jams and traffic around the city does not cause any problems. At the same time, more and more constructions are being built to simplify and secure the movement. Yes, I have not seen pits on the roads during my entire time in the capital of Taiwan.
You ride such a bus and here you are, because of the turn a powerful “torso” of the next flyover is approaching you.
Having reached the Miramar Garden Taipei Hotel with a breeze, everyone involved in the tournament received special T-shirts and went on vacation, as the next day promised to be hot.
After 30 hours on the road, I got to the crib.
MSI decided not to change its traditions, and organized a grand finale at the sports center of Taiwan National University (NTU).
Near the sports center there is a small park where overclockers can gain strength between the stages of the competition, wander under the shady trees and breathe fresh air.
The tournament participants quickly unloaded from the buses, not forgetting about their valuable supplies: copper glasses for nitrogen, pre-prepared video cards, professional thermometers and, of course, talismans.
Regulations
In preparation for the 2012 MOA, each team received from MSI's local representative offices a kit consisting of a Big Bang-XPower II motherboard and an N680GTX Lightning graphics card. In addition, already in the framework of the final, all participants were given a chance to choose iron from the prepared sets.
As a result, overclockers armed themselves with the following iron:
In addition, the organizers clearly determined what software can be used during the nitrogen battle.
In order for the reader to understand how busy the competition day was, I’ll give the MOA 2012 final schedule.
Schedule (in Taipei time):
- 08: 50-09: 00 Opening ceremony
- 09: 00-10: 30 Assembly of stands
- 10: 30-12: 30 Task 1: SuperPi 32M
- 12: 30-15: 00 Task 2: 3DMark 03
- 15: 00-18: 00 Task 3: 3DMark 11 Performance
- 18: 00-18: 30 Winners Announcement
In other words, enthusiasts spent more than nine hours under the “load”.
Making arena MOA 2012.
Stable power supply for all the teams provide a powerful power supplies, designed for loads of up to 100 kW. Each table, each team, had its own separate 5 kW line.
We have to fight for this, and of course for the money. The first three places mean “monetary pleasure”.
To thunderous applause, overclockers from 14 countries go inside the arena through its main entrance. They are met by the organizers, journalists and guests of the event.
Measure of time, so far by zeros. The time of each of the three stages will be counted here.
Official part, performance and parting words.
In the meantime, nothing particularly interesting is happening on stage, I am leaving to conduct reconnaissance. To recharge enthusiasts, the organizers prepared the appropriate drinks, decorated in the format of "MOA 2012".
To prevent overclockers from feeling a lack of liquid nitrogen, it was 2.5 tons in the arena. Yes, 2500 liters of liquid nitrogen.
It was enough for the enthusiast to approach these guys in gloves and to collect “liquids” into their thermos.
Strict judges. Connoisseurs immediately recognized one person - Massman.
Huge posters with photographs of all participants are located above the arena.
And next to it you could see all this on one big map.
All honestly, the distribution of iron. What number I got, I took such a kit.
Russian guys are the most cheerful and charismatic.
Smoke and 12
"Che dry something to disperse!"
I will not bore the reader with a long story about how the test participants, their processors and graphics adapters overclocked the contestants in time and in three disciplines. I’ll go over the highlights of the acceleration process itself.
Everyone ran to their stands and began to collect the pieces of iron together ...
... fill the thermoses with nitrogen under the neck ...
... and fill it in copper cups for cooling
“First-person shooter ready”
Kettles are conveniently used as an intermediate element between a large vessel and a small thermos.
Time has gone gentlemen! The final table is updated with the results online.
Start is not a start. The eternal element of the experiences of overclockers. When a frozen processor and the whole system as a whole start for the first time.
Come on, buddy.
The test bench is set up and ready for battle.
The girl from the Polish team aroused genuine interest. Well, the girl is an overclocker.
Does Angry Birds play?
In order on the table, you can understand that the acceleration process is in full swing.
But everyone has a fighting mood.
And again: the start is not the start?
Dry the oars, sir. When the processor does not want to start when certain negative temperatures are reached (indicated by the English phrase “coldbug”), then the time comes to pick up a hair dryer.
On the tables after long hours of dispersal and nitrogen, “Battle of the Ice” in the truest sense of the word
Summing up ...
... “Do not forget what”
Rewarding
Fifth place for the guys from Romania.
The fourth went to the HW GURUS team from Montenegro and Croatia.
A pair from Poland was a bronze medalist and received $ 2,000.
Second place for Team USA and their well-deserved prize of $ 2,500.
But, and those whom no one actually bet on were the winners of the MSI MOA 2012. These are overclockers oc_Windforce and Littleboy from Korea.
Photo for memory.
An event of this level could not do without charming girls.
Well, that’s all. Thanks for attention. See you again. Till!
PS I shot on Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 + Minolta AF 28-135 / 4-4.5 (old man). At that time there was still no flash.