14 DAY TRIAL // There was a time when every respectable geek on the planet would have aspired to be called "cracker". Things have changed now, since cracking is likely to bring you a prize of some couple of years in jail, so people had to figure out other glorious occupations. They took up overclocking, as dangerous for the budget as defusing land mines is for body integrity.
Gigabyte dares every respectable overclocker to join the contest it has announced today. The company has announced some serious prizes, such as a $2,500 cash prize plus the latest Gigabyte X48 motherboard, the GA-X48-DQ6, for the one who ranks first in the competition. The second place gets a $2,000 cash prize and the above-mentioned motherboard. The company has announced that it will invest over $12,000 in cash and prizes to its overclocking contest winners.
The rules of the contest are simple, but involve dirty tricks that a sane producer would have never recommended to its customers. Shortly put, in order to be eligible, the participants need to use a Gigabyte motherboard (models X38 or P35 are the only accepted) as well as an Intel processor.
They will have to overclock the combination to reach the physical limits of the components. The winner will be decided by a jury to evaluate the 3DMark06 benchmarking scores uploaded to the contest website. Participants will also have to shoot a video demonstrating the system actually running at the rated clock speed.
The contest is open to all the Gigabyte X38 or P35 owners that are running an Intel processor and are living in Canada or in the United States. The participants must be at least 18 years old, since things may get a little out of the hand here. There is no word about what happens with the failed overclockings and the trashed motherboards or CPU's, but we are sure that the fried motherboards' price will heavily exceed the $12,000 at stake.
An interesting marketing strategy for the upcoming GA-X48-DQ6 model: set your old mobo on fire then get a new one.