Winter is Coming: Keep Warm By Overclocking

Winter is coming, and so is another overclocking competition from GIGABYTE!

Throughout the month of February, we're inviting overclockers to keep warm by pushing their 6th Gen. Intel® processors to their absolute limits on a GIGABYTE 100 series motherboard during our Z170 Winter OC Challenge.

We're giving away a total of 5 GIGABYTE motherboards throughout the contest, with an additional Z170X-Gaming G1 motherboard up for grabs for those users that submit scores to all stages of a round.

You can check out the contest details below. If you head on over to HWBOT you can find out more and submit your scores.

Contest details:

Round 1: Enthusiast, Rookie and Novice Overclockers – 2 Cores
Stage 1: 3DMark11 Physics
- CPU frequency limited to 4503.00 MHz
Stage 2: HWBOT Prime
- CPU frequency limited to 4503.00 MHz
Stage 3: Geekbench Multi Core
- CPU frequency limited to 4503.00 MHZ

Round 2: Enthusiast, Rookie and Novice Overclockers– 4 Cores
Stage 1: XTU
- CPU frequency limited to 4500.00 MHz
Stage 2: HWBOT Prime
- CPU frequency limited to 4503.00 MHz
Stage 3: Geekbench Multi Core
- CPU frequency limited to 4503.00 MHz

Round 3: Elite and Extreme Overclockers – 2 Cores
Stage 1: 3DMark11 Physics
- CPU frequency limited to 5003.00 MHz
Stage 2: HWBOT Prime 
- CPU frequency limited to 5003.00 MHz
Stage 3: Geekbench Multi-Core 
- CPU frequency limited to 5003.00 MHz

Round 4: Elite and Extreme Overclockers– 4 Cores
Stage 1: XTU
- CPU frequency limited to 5000 MHz
Stage 2: HWBOT Prime
- CPU frequency limited to 5003.00 MHz
Stage 3: Geekbench Multi Core
- CPU frequency limited to 5003.00MHz

Contest Rules
- This competition is limited to GIGABYTE Z170 motherboards only.
- Every submission must include the screenshot with the competition background and a picture of the rig.
- To be eligible for the lucky draw, participants must submit in all stages of the round they select.
- A participant is eligible to win in only one round. If he is found to be the winner in multiple rounds, the prize will go to the runner up. If a participant is a round winner, he will not be eligible for the lucky draw.
- In case of a tie, the tie-breaker is the best score in Stage 3. If there’s still a tie, the best score in Stage 2, etc.

Contest Prizes
• Each 1st place winner in a round will be awarded a Z170X-SOC Force Motherboard.
• Users that submit scores to all stages of a round will be eligible to enter the lucky draw for one GIGABYTE Z170X-Gaming G1 motherboard.

Time to Upgrade: Microsoft Cuts Support For New CPUs on Windows 7/8.1

Recently Microsoft® announced that Windows 7 and 8.1 will not support future CPUs from Intel®, AMD®, and Qualcomm®.

This means that Windows 10 will be the only platform supported by future CPUs like Intel's upcoming CPU codenamed 'Kaby Lake', Qualcomm's upcoming '8996' silicon, and AMD's upcoming 'Bristol Ridge' silicon. Furthermore, Microsoft will no longer update Windows 7/8.1 for Intel's 6th Gen. Core™ processor (aka 'Sky Lake').

Here's the rationale for the change from Microsoft:

Windows 7 was designed nearly 10 years ago before any x86/x64 SOCs existed. For Windows 7 to run on any modern silicon, device drivers and firmware need to emulate Windows 7’s expectations for interrupt processing, bus support, and power states- which is challenging for WiFi, graphics, security, and more. As partners make customizations to legacy device drivers, services, and firmware settings, customers are likely to see regressions with Windows 7 ongoing servicing.

For many users, upgrading to Windows 10 is free. You can check Microsoft's website for more information.

SlipperySkip new project (In progress)

You guys might remember Jeffrey Stephenson (Slipperyskip) work from his previous project Addison in 2015 or the Flightline in 2013. Jeffrey manages to bring together style and modern PC performance together in a very unique and crafty way! 

Well good news, Slipperyskip is back at it with a new concept in mind and his work is well underway already!His new project SkyVue features one of GIGABYTE most recent motherboard, the Z170N-WIFI, a mini-ITX mobo part of the 100 Series Ultra Durable line up which is packed with great features, such as the new USB3.1 over USB Type C port which is powered by Intel's powerful USB 3.1 solution! Here are some pictures of his progress. you can follow each step of his work over at his blog here: http://slipperyskip.com/forum/index.php?topic=16.0