OCC Week in Review: April 29 - May 3

Category: OCC News
Posted: May 4, 2013 05:02PM
Author: bp9801

Over the past week or so we've had a look at another AMD HD 7790 video card, this time the Sapphire Radeon HD 7790 2GB OC. Unlike past models with only 1GB of VRAM, Sapphire doubled it to help out with more eye candy in games. We also had a look at the AVATAR Mercury Ultrabook AVIU-145A2, which proved to be a very solid laptop from a relatively unknown company outside Latin America. There's even a USB Auto Update Guide that should help make your life a little easier when plugging in a USB drive to your PC.

On the news side, Techland, developer of the Dead Island series, took the wraps off its new game called Hellraid. This game, previously known as Project Hell, is a "first-person co-op slasher" in a dark fantasy world. It features everything from melee to ranged weapons, plus magical attacks, and allows for up to four players to join up in co-op. No release date is known, but it's definitely looking like a unique and challenging game. Rockstar also released the newest trailer for Grand Theft Auto V, although it's really more three trailers presented as one. Each part focuses on one of the main characters (Michael, Franklin, and Trevor) to give a background as to who these guys are and what makes them tick. GTA V is also looking pretty great too, so the trailer is definitely worth a watch.

AMD has two new Piledriver processors on the way: the FX-4350 and FX-6350. Each one offers a little speed boost and bigger L3 cache, while keeping prices low. Samsung is rumored to be creating four different tablets in sizes ranging from 7" to 11", including the Nexus 11 with an eight core CPU. That'd make it the first ever tablet with eight cores powering it, but we'll have to see what comes of any of them. For a bigger picture, literally, LG showed off a curved OLED TV packing a 55" screen. It's designed to deliver an IMAX-quality experience in your living room, but currently availability is limited to just Korea.

Corsair was supposedly up for sale, but that proved to be highly inaccurate. Instead the company is looking for an investor to help it acquire more companies to help boost Corsair's market share. The upcoming Haswell line of processors from Intel may present a problem for people with certain power supplies, as it supposedly needs a mere 0.05 amps on the 12V2 rail in the C6/C7 states. There aren't a lot of PSUs that can deliver that low amount of power, so we'll just have to see what happens. Also on the Intel side, the company has shown off its latest Iris integrated graphics, which delivers two to three times the performance of past generations and even provides support for 4K resolutions. Intel also found a new CEO in Brian Krzanich, who'll take over for Paul Otellini on May 16.

For some science news, a group of nanophysicists at IBM created a movie consisting entirely of carbon monoxide molecules. The movie is pretty fascinating to see, especially given its stop motion animation. Scientists at North Carolina State University were able to create a new type of ultraviolet laser using zinc oxide by fixing a stability issue in a rather novel fashion. Another group, this time at Carnegie Mellon University, managed to create touch-based interfaces on demand, by way of WorldKit. It basically makes a smart room where any surface can now be used as a controller. Eventually the team wants to allow for interfaces floating in the air, which would further bridge the gap between science fiction and science fact once realized.

OCC Week in Review: April 15 - 19

Category: OCC News
Posted: April 20, 2013 02:22PM
Author: bp9801

Things have been a little somber around here of late after the passing of Nemo, but there's still plenty to check out. We have two reviews available on some video cards from AMD, with both delivering solid numbers on a budget. The PowerColor Radeon HD 7850 PCS+ offers the chance to run some eye candy in games while providing a fantastic gaming experience for $200. The XFX R7790 Black Edition Overclocked runs the new HD 7790 GPU, and it delivers great performance at an even lower price point than the HD 7850. We even have a review on Irrational Games' BioShock Infinite, which puts gamers in the role of Booker DeWitt on the floating city of Columbia in 1912.

Flipping over to news, a Java patch recently released to fix 39 critical vulnerabilities and bugs. If you haven't downloaded it yet, now is certainly the time to do so. A Kickstarter project known as UDOO looks to combine the power of Raspberry Pi and Arduino into one educational/DIY project for a whole new generation of engineers and programmers. It's already well past its funding goal, but that shouldn't stop anyone from securing a dual or quad-core version of it. Windows users should be happy to know the Windows 8.1 (or Windows Blue) update for the newest OS may add a tradtional desktop and start menu at long last. It's just a rumor for now, but if true then Windows 8 sales could rise.

Sapphire introduced a 2GB version of the new AMD HD 7790 video card to give gamers a memory boost. On the other side, NVIDIA is partnering with Deep Silver to provide a free copy of Metro: Last Light to anyone who purchases a GTX 660 or better video card at participating retailers. Futuremark has updated both 3DMark 11 and Vantage for better compatibility with newer hardware and Windows 8, respectively.

On the science side, researchers have found a way to etch structures in graphene using DNA. Synthetic DNA was used in the process, which while it could end up improving fabrication efforts, the graphene created isn't perfect. Still, it could be very useful with more refining. A self-healing artificial leaf has been created that uses tap water instead of pure water like older models. It allows for 100 watts of power from a quart of tap water, which is pretty outstanding when you look at it in the long run. Quantum computing is going to be a major factor in the future, and now there's one more particle for qubits: atomic nuclei. A nucleus isn't affected by outside forces nearly as much as other particles, so it should mean a longer lifespan for the qubit. Researchers were also able to create it on a piece of silicon with a single phosphorus atom embedded in it, which makes it more compatible with modern electronics and more scaleable.

OCC awards voting is still running until the end of the month, so be sure to hit up both topics if you haven't done so. You can also pay your respects to Nemo and his family in the goodbye topic.

OCC Loses a Staff Member: RIP Nemo

Category: OCC News
Posted: April 8, 2013 07:28PM
Author: bp9801

Just over three years ago, OCC said goodbye to Senior Staff member Ryan, known as Verran in the OCC forums. Today we say goodbye to another Senior Staff member; Dale Shuck known as Nemo.

Dale arrived at OCC in May 2004 and joined the OCC staff as a News Editor in December 2006. It didn't take long for Dale to take over as the Senior News Editor where he remained until his passing. Besides his news duties, he did reviews on NAS boxes and always handled our newsletter. He even took over all of the hiring and training of all the news staff because he felt I had too much on my plate. 

Dale was a guy that was full of knowledge and would always want to help. His dedication to make sure the Hardware Roundups were done before he left for work every morning was so amazing to me. He would share his knowledge anytime you needed it, and boy did he love to joke and poke fun with all of the OCC wives and girls. Dale was famous for being a smartass but he was also known for being a great person, full of life and always wanting to help. He was also known to us as a loving father who adored his four children. 

One funny story I will always remember was two years ago talking on the phone with him for three hours going over info about RAID. I was in the process of building a NAS unit and wanted his advice. All through the thunder, lightning, and tornado sirens he told me all of the info I needed to know. I think I was more scared about the tornado than he was, ha-ha. I remember asking him, "don't you have to get off the phone and hide or something?" His reply, "don't worry if I see it I will let you know and say goodbye." That was Dale for ya, lol.

Dale gave me a lot of personal support when Ryan passed away. Dale was very fond of Ryan and I would hope now that both of them will be reunited once again and watch over the rest of OCC until we are all brought back together once again.

Dale had a massive stroke Sunday morning and was declared legally dead this afternoon. Dale signed up as an organ donor and wanted to help people after he was gone. My hat goes out to you for that Dale, and it shows what kind of a person you truly were.

Dale: thank you for everything you did. It was a pleasure knowing you, and there won't be a day that goes by that I will not miss you, my friend. You were very unique and one of the smartest people I ever met and it's a damn shame you were taken from us so soon.

RIP my friend. Until we meet again, I will always remember you and think of you often. Say Hi to Ryan for me when you get there.

Your Friend, 

Dave

OCC Editor In Chief

 

 

Feel free to share your thoughts in the forums.

OCC Week in Review: April 1 - 5

Category: OCC News
Posted: April 5, 2013 06:27PM
Author: bp9801

If you've been gone from OCC for a while or just want to catch the latest news, here is your chance to do just that. There's a fair amount happening at OCC this week, starting with a slightly different review that's sure to make graphics card testing a lot more in-depth. NVIDIA's new Frame Capture and Analysis Tools are a combination of hardware and software components to accurately measure video game framerates. Software tools to accomplish the task have existed for a while, but they lack the ability to precisely record the gameplay experience. That's where NVIDIA's FCAT comes into play to provide a clearer picture of what to expect with your new graphics card.

If you need some more cooling for your computer, it's hard to pass up any fans made by Noctua. Luckily we have a roundup covering three Noctua fans in 140 and 150mm sizes that should fit into your system. Whether it's for an air cooler, a watercooler radiator, or just a spot on your case, the fans reviewed in the Noctua roundup could be just what you're after.

Switching over to the news, NVIDIA launched its new mobile GPU line that consists of five models in the 700M series. Three of them, the GT 750M, GT 745M, and GT 740M, are for the performance crowd, while the GT 735M and GT 720M are perfect for mainstream users. Some intrepid Linux users have discovered some possible ways Valve is going to expand Steam on the open source OS, potentially for a Steam Box. An NVIDIA Linux graphics driver and new boot splash screen were discovered, so we'll just have to see what this means for Steam. Perhaps the biggest gaming news from the week was the unfortunate demise of LucasArts. Disney acquired LucasFilm and LucasArts last year, but things were not meant to be for one of the most well-known and longest running gaming studios.

Thermaltake added a new case to its Urban series, the S71 full tower. It offers sound-dampening foam, room for two 200mm and two 120mm fans, space for three 5.25" devices and six 3.5/2.5" drives, plus an optional window. Mushkin launched a new line of 1.8" solid-state drives, the Chronos GO series. Each drive runs on SATA III and comes in 120, 240, and 480GB capacities.

Quantum computing is going to be a huge factor in the future, but there's still plenty of things to perfect before that happens. A new mechanical qubit design was proposed that works in a totally different way than past versions, as it's based on a vibrating carbon nanotube to protect the data from interference. It also allows for viability with current technology, which would bring quantum computers closer to reality. Graphene is a super strong yet fantastically thin product, yet even it appears to have a weakness. It appears the seven-atom rings at the domain borders of polycrystalline graphene can fracture with enough applied force. The good thing from the discovery is that the weakness can be circumvented with monocrystalline graphene, or polycrystalline graphene with smaller domain borders.

One final thing to take away from this week is that voting for the OCC forum awards is now open. There are a multitude of categories and members to vote for in each one, so head on over to the voting threads and choose who you think is more deserving.

OCC Weekly Recap: January 21 - 25

Category: OCC News
Posted: January 25, 2013 05:48PM
Author: bp9801

It's time to start up the OCC Weekly Recap again, as the holidays and some personal reasons necessitated a hiatus. Just like the last one in December, this is a chance to look back at the latest reviews, hottest forum topics, and interesting news items from the past week. If you've been gone from OCC for a while or visiting for the first time, this is your chance to be caught up in no time at all.

Reviews
CES 2013 Coverage
Cooler Master, DEEPCOOL, Noctua, and Thermaltake CPU Cooler Roundup
Phanteks PH-TC90LS Review

Thermaltake Level 10 Mouse Review
Noctua NH-L9i Review
Phanteks PH-TC12DX Review

News
Roadmap for Fusion Power Released
Belkin to Buy Cisco's Home Networking Business Unit, Includes Linksys
NVIDIA GeForce Experience Arrives in Open Beta

New File Upload Site Launched by Kim Dotcom
THQ Auction Ends - Sales of Assets Detailed
Sign-Up for Elder Scrolls Online Beta Today

Hot Forum Topics
A different kind of contest @ OCC - Four Kingston V300 120GB SSDs added!
Tier 5 Contests - Donate to OCC for exclusive contests!

OCC Now on Google Currents

Category: OCC News
Posted: January 24, 2013 05:47PM
Author: bp9801

Good news OCC faithful, as OverclockersClub is now on Google Currents! Google Currents is a quick and efficient way to get all of your favorite news sources delivered through a convenient app that works on both Google and Apple devices. These sources are displayed in a way that is perfect for reading on your tablet or smartphone, and now your favorite computer enthusiast, overclocking, and gaming website is available on it. Just head on over to the OCC Google Currents page, subscribe, and that's all there is to it. You also need to have Google Currents on your smartphone or tablet, but luckily there is a download link at the OCC page. That's all there is to it in order to keep current with all the latest OCC news and reviews.

OCC Giving Away Kingston SSDs - One Just for Tier 5 Members

Category: OCC News
Posted: January 24, 2013 01:36PM
Author: bp9801

OverclockersClub's head honcho, Bosco, sure likes to reward the members with new hardware fairly regularly. This time Kingston has donated several new V300 120GB SSDs to give away, with four of them open to all members and one just for the Tier 5 members. The long-running Different Sort of Contest thread is the place to be for four of the SSDs, but you need to be entered by Tuesday, January 29, to be eligible. If you've already submitted your system information, then you're all set, but if you haven't done so, then just head over to the forum thread, read the rules, and get entered. This contest is open for everyone except OCC reviewers and staff members from other sites, so come on in and enter!

As for the Tier 5 members, everyone who has a membership by Tuesday, January 29, is eligible. To donate to OCC and become a Tier 5 member, head here to check out all the benefits and cost. Each Tier 5 membership is valid for one year, but if you've doubled or tripled your donation (or more), then you gain an extra entry for each year. Remember, you need to be a Tier 5 member by January 29 to enter that contest, so be sure to donate to have a chance.

Edit: The contest has been postponed until Friday, February 1, at 8PM PST.

OCC Weekly Recap: December 10 - 14

Category: OCC News
Posted: December 14, 2012 08:31PM
Author: bp9801

Welcome to the first installment of a new weekly feature on OCC, where we take a look at our recent reviews, hot forum topics, and some of the more interesting news articles. This is a way to get people caught up on the latest reviews, news, and forum posts, and will be an evolving segment as time goes on. Think of it as a handy way to get up to speed on all things OCC after being gone for a week. So without further ado, here is the first OCC weekly recap.

Reviews
Sapphire Vapor-X Universal CPU Cooler
CM Storm Quickfire TK Keyboard
Thermaltake Armor Revo Gene 'Snow Edition' Case
CM Storm Recon Mouse, Pad, and Bungee Roundup

News
Futuremark Announces New DirectX 10 Benchmark
Password-Cracking Expert Unveils 25-GPU Cluster to Crack Every Common Windows Password in Under Six Hours
Intel and IBM Detail New 22nm Technology
Rare Kind of Galaxy Discovered

New Space Power System Designed and Tested
First Wave of Intel Haswell Processors Specs Leaked
Vulnerability in Internet Explorer Allows for Mouse Movement Tracking
Google Maps Returns to iOS

Hot Forum Topics
Official 2012 OCC Christmas Contest - From now until December 24
New Forums and Official Forum Bug Reports - Big change for OCC's forums, so if you spot any lingering bugs feel free to let us know!

2012 OCC Christmas Contest is Now Over!

Category: OCC News
Posted: December 10, 2012 09:36PM
Author: bp9801

It's that time of year again, when our head elf Bosco launches the annual Christmas Contest. The grand prize this year is really something special, as an Intel Core i7 3770K, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, MSI Z77A-GD65, and 16GB of Corsair Dominator Platinum RAM make up the guts of the beast. There's plenty of other prizes to try and win too, with some of the largest names in the industry donating hardware to the contest. A full list of each product can be seen in the forum post, but the sponsors include: Noctua, DimasTech, Cougar, G.Skill, Phanteks, ROCCAT, Gigabyte, In Win, Deepcool, OCZ, Patriot, Seasonic, Prolimatech, Enermax, LEPA, AZiO, Thermaltake, and Cooler Master.

OCC's Christmas Contest is open worldwide to every member and staff. All you need to do to enter is send an email to [email protected] with the following: forum user name, full system specifications, complete mailing address and phone number, and a paragraph (or less) of what you'd upgrade in your computer and why. An auto-reply email will be sent upon successful entry completion, but please remember to include every detail in your initial email as incorrect ones are deleted.

If you are lucky enough to win the grand prize, Bosco will be calling your phone number listed in the email with the good great news on December 25. Make sure that number is where you can be reached, like a cell phone or even your grandparents' house, as failure to answer means forfeiture of the grand prize. No one would ever want that, so answer your phone on Christmas Day, even if you don't recognize the number!

Good luck and Happy Holidays from all of us at OCC!

EDIT: Winners for the contest have been announced! Go check the forum thread to see if you're one of the winners, and a special congratulations to WARDOZERX on the grand prize!

OCC Forums Down Temporarily... Now Up

Category: OCC News
Posted: December 9, 2012 02:45PM
Author: Nick Harezga

The OCC forums will be going down soon for a major software upgrade. I was told by the admins that they will be down for two hours at most, and that it could take less time than that. When the forums come back the OCC theme will be temporarily disabled and a standard theme will be used until the forum software is configured. The full site won't experience any downtime.

Update: The forums are now up but not yet rethemed. For more information or to report an issue, visit the forum thread New Forums.

OCC and Neoseeker Need Reviewers!

Category: OCC News
Posted: October 16, 2012 07:47PM
Author: bp9801

OverclockersClub and Neoseeker need reviewers to help with all the new computer gear coming out. Reviewers need to have recent hardware, so for Intel that means an Ivy Bridge, Sandy Bridge, or socket 1366 Core i7 CPU, and for AMD that's an AM3+ CPU with a Bulldozer or Piledriver core. Monitors need to be 23" or higher and capable of at least 1920x1080, but three monitors is not required (although welcomed). Potential reviewers must also live either in the United States or Canada, so only those residents need apply. A high level of dedication is required to be a reviewer, as some reviews can be time consuming. A good grasp of the English language is also a plus.

If being a reviewer sounds like something you can do, send a private message or email to Bosco letting him know your interest. Currently a dozen people are needed to help out, so feel free to apply!

OCC Hosting a Contest to Help You Upgrade

Category: OCC News
Posted: August 20, 2012 08:23PM
Author: bp9801

We here at Overclockers Club love giving back to the community, since after all it is the community that makes us what we are. Today there is a new contest running at OCC, but Bosco, our editor-in-chief, has decided to shake things up a little. Instead of trying to win a few specific components, Bosco will determine the one you need the most and send it your way. All you have to do to enter is your post your accurate system specifications and country in the contest thread. Winners will be chosen randomly every so often based on the area you lack the most. You may find yourself the winner of a new video card, hard drive, CPU cooler, or some other item. If Bosco has the item he will send it to you directly, but if not then he will contact a sponsor to donate.

There are some basic guidelines for the contest that everyone must follow.

1. You need to post an accurate system specification, which means no dumbing down of any components to try and get something. Bosco has the logs of currently listed specs on the forums, so make sure you write correctly. You are able to edit the specifcations if you perform upgrades of your own, but just make sure that is accurate, too.
2. If you are a winner, you cannot win another prize in the contest for three months. This will not exclude you from any other contest at OCC however, like the Christmas one. Winners will be chosen at random at least once a month, with the first drawing in the next week. There is no end date listed!
3. All OCC members with the exception of reviewers at OCC and staff members at other sites are eligible for a prize.

Good luck to everyone who enters from all of us at OCC!

2011 OCC Christmas Contest

Category: OCC News
Posted: December 4, 2011 06:14PM
Author: Guest_Jim_*

As another year is coming to an end, the OCC 2011 Christmas Contest is beginning. This year there are 20 sponsors and the grand prize is an Intel i7-965 Extreme rig. The full list of prizes can be found at the forum thread. All forums members with over 20 posts and whose accounts are over 30 days old are allowed to enter for the grand prize for the rest of the prizes you just have to have a membership. Check the forum thread for how to enter! The winners will be selected Christmas Eve after 6 PM PST.

What are you waiting for? Check out that thread and enter already! Good luck everyone.

OCC XFX Contest - October 14-21

Category: OCC News
Posted: October 14, 2011 10:18AM
Author: Guest_Jim_*

Overclockers Club is holding an XFX sponsored contest to give away two power supplies; a 750W and 850W. To enter just click the link to the XFX Contest forum thread, and post what system you would put the PSU in, if you won. There is only one entry per person and is only open to residents of North America (sorry to our international friends). The contest has already started and will end next Friday, October 21 at roughly 6PM pacific time.

Good luck everyone.

Sign Up for the OCC Newsletter

Category: OCC News
Posted: September 5, 2011 07:30AM
Author: Nick Harezga

For those of you that are new to the site, be sure to sign up to receive the OCC Newsletter. It is easy to sign up and will give you a heads up when something really important is happening. It will keep you up to date on any contests we might have coming up, as well as tell you about some of the more interesting news that has been posted.

Neoseeker Opens PC Games Store

Category: Gaming, OCC News
Posted: April 15, 2011 05:05AM
Author: Dale Shuck

Don't you hate it when you drag yourself into a brick-and-mortar games store, only to find the PC games section has been relegated to a couple of bins in the back? Well, fret no more as the Neoseeker PC Games Store has opened its virtual doors for business. You'll find plenty to choose from the extensive game catalog that includes hundreds of titles including the latest releases, special deals and enough selection to satisfy any type of gamer from the casual to hard-core FPS enthusiast. You can check out a few examples below and then head on over to the store for more!

Featured Titles

• Crysis 2
  
• Dragon Age II
  
• Rift
  

Special Deals

• Alpha Protocol
  
• Batman Arkham Asylum GOTY Edition
  
• Dead Space 2
  

OCC Unveils New Tier-Based Donation System

Category: OCC News
Posted: April 10, 2011 06:38PM
Author: Dale Shuck

Overclockers Club is a forum for and by members. The vitality and growth that makes OCC so special is due to the participation of our members through time donated by staff members and members' participation in the forums. Another way you can help OCC grow and get better is through member donations. In the past, members who donated got a few extra perquisites, one of which is a red star next to your name in the forums.

Well, the power of the red star just got a lot stronger as OCC is proud to announce a new tiered donation system. There are now five tiers, with each tier offering more benefits. Our Tier 1 donors will receive:

•     A Red Star beside your member name in the forums
•     Increased member file space and storage space (2,000 message limit and 60MB storage)
•     Can edit own topic title and description
•     Can remove "Edited By" text from own posts
•     3MB Per Image upload limit in gallery
•     60MB photo gallery space
•     No daily transfer/bandwidth restriction in the photo gallery
•     Unlimited number of albums in the photo gallery
•     Ability to upload video to the photo gallery

Like they say on TV — "That's not all!" We're also offering $30, $40, $50 and $60 tiers that can earn you more space, access to private contests and special beta invites, discounts on OCC clothing, special hardware sales, and more!

You can check out the donation link and if you have questions or comments you can head over to the forums and discuss it here. So check it out and take a moment to consider helping your OCC reach the next level!

Two Video Card Winners at OCC

Category: OCC News
Posted: March 20, 2011 09:11PM
Author: Dave Rattray

Congrats goes to OCC forum members Dr. Bowtie and IVIYTH0S for each winning AMD 5970s! Well done guys. We will have another contest starting soon, so stay tuned for that.

Another Awesome Contest but Ya Gotta Be Fast

Category: OCC News
Posted: February 22, 2011 04:54PM
Author: Dale Shuck

OCC currently has a power supply giveaway contest underway through February 25th courtesy of our friends at XFX. However, Bosco is never satisfied it seems as he's decided to personally sponsor another contest on Sunday, February 27th beginning around 6 PM Pacific time.

Bosco's playing this close to his vest, but we do know there will two 40GB solid state drives up for grabs. Now, we all know how much faster SSDs can be versus conventional drives, so you're going to have to be fast to have any chance at all in this one, so why don't we call it the Ya Gotta Be Fast Contest? Sounds as good as anything else, so head over to the forum thread here and we'll see you sometime after 6 PM Pacific next Sunday evening. Good Luck!

Happy New Year

Category: OCC News
Posted: January 1, 2011 01:22AM
Author: Dave Rattray

Happy New Year to all of you from the OCC Staff. I hope you all had a great Christmas and have a safe New Year's see you in 2011 :)

One Year Anniversary Of The Passing Of Verran

Category: OCC News
Posted: December 3, 2010 01:08AM
Author: Dave Rattray

One year ago today we lost OCC staff member Verran to his battle with Cancer.

This year was rather tough for me not having him around. Meeting his family and speaking at his memorial was a great honour for me that I will never ever forget. Keeping Ryan's memory alive is what gave me the courage to speak at his memorial which is something I might not have been able to do otherwise.

The memory of Verran/Ryan has kept my drive going for OCC over the past year, OCC and myself will continue to honour my friend who is very much missed by everyone. I really miss you buddy.

Tribute Thread

OCC Christmas Contest 2010 Has Begun

Category: OCC News
Posted: December 2, 2010 05:58AM
Author: Dale Shuck

It's that time of year again, time when most boys and girls straighten up their acts for Santa. Quite frankly, we here at OCC don't care whether you've been naughty or nice, we're going to give away presents anyway. A lot of them as a matter of fact. That's just the kind of Santas we are. The list of prizes is long and it's still growing but we can tell you that there will be two complete AMD computer systems up for grabs:

• Dual core or Quad CPU's (supplied by Bosco)
• Gigabyte 880GMA-UD2H Motherboard (supplied by Gigabyte)
• 4GB of Mushkin Radioactive Memory (supplied by Mushkin)
• Radeon HD 6850 XXX Edition Video Card (supplied by XFX)
• 40GB SSD (supplied by Mushkin)
• Seagate 640GB Momentus (supplied by Seagate)
• Cooler Master HAF-X Case (supplied by Cooler Master)
• V6GT CPU Cooler (supplied by Cooler Master)
• LG DVDRW (supplied by Bosco)
• 800 Watt PSU (supplied by Mushkin)
• Inferno Gaming Mouse (supplied by Cooler Master)

There are many more prizes, too numerous to mention here, but you can find out more details in the OCC Christmas Contest 2010 forum thread. The contest is open to all OCC forum members worldwide and you have to follow a few simple steps to enter:

First, you must be a member of the forums.

Second, send an email to [email protected]. In that email you must do the following:

1. List your OCC forum name
2. List your name, address, postal code and phone number. (This is for shipping if you win.)
3. List your full system specifications
4. Tell us who your favorite manufacturer for computer hardware is and why.
5. Tell us your least favorite manufacturer is and why.

For items 4) and 5) you don't have to write a long paragraph, just a sentence or two unless you want to write more.

You can check out the current list of prizes and complete contest details in the OCC Christmas Contest 2010 forum thread. The contest begins December 1st and will end on the evening of December 24th. Good Luck!

Computer Ed Holiday Giveaway 2010

Category: OCC News
Posted: November 24, 2010 09:31PM
Author: Dale Shuck

Computer Ed is a radio show about computing that airs once a week on WJPF radio hosted by Edward Crisler, aka Computer Ed. The show is presented on Sunday afternoons at 1:00 PM CST. Now, not all of our readers can tune in to AM 1340 to listen to the show, but you can pick up a live stream from the Internet.

As an added inducement, Computer Ed has put together some great prizes for its listeners. To participate in the contest, all you have to do is listen for the “Code Word” of the week during the show which will be followed by a response word. To enter, simply email the response word, along with your name and city and state to [email protected].

More details on the contest can be found on the Computer Ed blog, so check it out and remember to Listen Live on WJPF on Sundays at 1:00 PM CST.

Labor Day Giveaway!

Category: OCC News
Posted: September 5, 2010 11:10AM
Author: Dale Shuck

If you're interested in a chance to participate in the Final Fantasy 14 beta, now is your chance! Over the next two days a name will randomly be drawn from names on the IRC Channel. All you need to do is be a member of OCC from August 1st, be in IRC, and check your forum PMs to win! What will happen is a name will be randomly drawn from the channel, matched up with a member name on the forums and a PM will be sent to the winner. The winner will have 1 hour to respond to that PM in order to claim his/her prize. If the winner does not respond with in the hour, another name will be chosen at random. Don't miss out on your opportunity to enjoy the company of your fellow forum members along with a chance to win a key to participate in the FF14 beta. Check out the IRC forum thread for more information on connecting to IRC.

Happy Labor Day and look forward to seeing you in IRC!

Overclockers Club Announces Mushkin 3DMark06 Contest

Category: OCC News
Posted: August 22, 2010 09:20PM
Author: Dale Shuck

In case you missed out on our recent contest featuring a MSI Big Bang XPower motherboard as the main prize, Overclockers Club has announced yet another contest courtesy of our friends at Mushkin. Now, the goal is pretty easy - score as high as you can using the Futuremark 3DMark06 benchmark. You can only post once in the scoring thread, but you can edit that post as many times as necessary before the end of the contest.

Here is what you have to do in order for your score to count:

Run 3DMark06 at default settings:
1. You must submit your score to 3DMark for it to be valid and post your validation link.
2. You must show a CPU-Z and GPU-Z screen shot along with your 3DMark score.
3. You must show the date and your forum user name in your screenshot as well.
4. List your system specs in your post below or above your screen shot or include it in your screenshot.

Here is how the prize break down is going to work:

Grand Prize - 2 X Mushkin 40GB SSD's. (These are under NDA but all I can tell you is they are very fast.)
2nd Prize - A set of Mushkin 6GB Ridgebacks or a 4GB set of Ridgebacks for AMD or P55 depending on the winning platform.
3rd Prize - Mushkin 800 Watt PSU - (Under NDA)
4th Prize - Mushkin 32GB USB flash drive
5th Prize - Mushkin 8GB USB flash drive

Winning scores will be broken down into ranks as follows, with the winners in each rank eligible for the corresponding prize:
Rank 1-3 - Grand Prize
Rank 4-6 - Second Prize
Rank 7-10 - Third Prize
Rank 11-15 - Fourth Prize
Rank 16-20 - Fifth Prize

That means the top 20 scores posted will be eligible for a prize. The contest is currently under way and ends on September 12th at 9pm Pacific time. Any questions or comments can be posted in the contest thread here. For scores only, post in the scoring thread. Good luck everyone!

Adobe Air Coming to Android in Fourth Quarter 2010

Category: OCC News
Posted: August 16, 2010 02:53PM
Author: Scott Young

Adobe Air has been on the PC for a while now, but what about on the mobile scene? Well Adobe will answer that (perhaps unasked) question in the fourth quarter of this year when it releases Adobe Air for the Android platform. TalkAndroid is covering the Adobe / Android conference in San Francisco and they snapped a photo of a slide that shows Adobe's timeline for Air that includes releasing it on the Android OS.

Our Top News Stories For The Week

Category: OCC News
Posted: August 15, 2010 03:55PM
Author: d3bruts1d

In case you missed them, here is a roundup of our top ten most popular stories from the past week.

• Apple Plugs iOS PDF Security Hole
• AMD Phenom II X6 1075T BE Shows Up Online
• Motorola Droid 2 is Finally Official
• Black Ops Prestige Edition to Include RC-XD Remote Control Car
• 250GB Xbox Kinect Bundle Sighted
• Pacman + Android - Apple = One awesome tshirt
• AMD Phenom II X4 970 in September, Possibly Two Versions?
• ASUS to Develop AMD Fusion Mini-ITX Board
• Duke Nukem Forever to Finally See the Light of Day?
• Evercool Launches Battle Hero Laptop Cooler

If you come across an interesting story you feel our news team should know about, you can always send the OCC News Team a tip. Who knows, it might get you a job.

Enjoy OverclockersClub.com? You can follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

OCC Teams with MSI for Motherboard Giveaway Contest

Category: OCC News
Posted: August 9, 2010 05:02AM
Author: Dale Shuck

The good folks at MSI are giving the members of OCC a chance to win a Big Bang XPower motherboard. They are also offering up twenty game codes for Metro 2033. You can read all about the Big Bang XPower board in the OCC review to get an idea of what an incredible board this is.

Entering the contest is simple: just take a picture of your current motherboard and post it in the MSI Contest Thread and state what model board it is. Then tell us what you like about the MSI Big Bang XPower board. That's three simple things. Pretty easy, huh?

The contest runs from now until the evening of August 15th so get your entries in by posting in the MSI Contest thread. Good Luck!

The contest is now over. Congrations to OCC forum wevsspot for winning the MSI Big Bang XPower board and also to the twenty winners of  the Metro 2033 game codes. OCC would also like to thank MSI for sponsoring this contest!

Our Top News Stories For The Week

Category: OCC News
Posted: August 8, 2010 03:50PM
Author: d3bruts1d

Been too busy playing StarCraft II to keep up with the news on OCC? Don't worry, we have got you covered with our round up of the most popular stories from the past week. When you are done reading the news, be sure to check out our newest contest sponsored by Micro-Star International.

• Palit GeForce GTX 460 Sonic 2GB Graphics Card Announced
• Latest Playstation 3 Firmware Bricks Consoles Under Certain Conditions?
• Apple Ready to Plug Security Hole that Allowed for Web-based iPhone Jailbreak
• BlackBerry Torch 9800 Announced, Launching August 12th on AT&T
• ASUS Announces the Rampage III Formula Motherboard
• Corsair Launches Hydro Series H70 Cooler
• Batman: Arkham City Announced
• NVIDIA to Cut GTX 400 Prices?
• XFX to Release Two Single Slot HD 5770s
• Thermaltake Releases Toughpower Ultra Slim Power Adapter

That's it for the top news for the past week. If you come across an interesting story you feel our news team should know about, you can always send the OCC News Team a tip. Who knows, it might get you a job.

Enjoy OverclockersClub.com? You can follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Overclockers Club Brings You the Gift of Gab

Category: OCC News
Posted: August 1, 2010 08:49PM
Author: Dale Shuck

OK, maybe it's not quite gab, but OCC does have a new chat room. It might be old technology but it's easy to use and it works!

All you need to know to get started is in the OCC Chat Room forum thread. There you'll find a link to the client and instructions on how to join. Already have your favorite IRC client software? There's also server and channel information in the thread as well.

Come join your fellow OCC members and chat about whatever's on your mind. Just please be courteous, respectful and remember the forum rules also apply to our chat room. So what are you waiting on? See you in the chat room!