Tuesday, March 7, 2017
GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion Debuts at CES 2015 with One More WR Under its Belt
GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion Debuts at CES 2015 with One More WR Under its Belt
Today, Jan. 5th 2015, GIGABYTE held its pre-CES Press Event in the Caesars Palace Neopolitan ballroom. One of the main focus of that event was the launch of a new overclocking board, the GIGABYTE X99-SOC Champion.
http://www.gigabyte.us/press-center/news-page.aspx?nid=1342
One of the main feature of the X99 SOC Champion is the SMT mounted DIMMs for improved signal quality and their location which is closer to the CPU socket. The DIMMs shorter trace path enables the DDR4 memory to communicate faster with the CPU, enabling the overclockers to reach higher DDR4 memory frequencies. Additionally, the motherboard includes a CPU Mode Switch; this switch allows the overclockers to switch between CPU default socket mode and OC socket mode.
The Press Event was crown by a live overclocking demonstration held by GIGABYTE famous overclockers Dinos22, Sofos1990 and HiCookie. The skilled trio managed to impress the crowd with a 1 World Record, 3 Global First and 3 Hardware First on the X99-SOC Champion! Nice going guys! Here are the submissions:
3004 Marks on XTU with Intel Core i7 5960X
http://hwbot.org/submission/27227032317 Marks on XTU with Intel Core i7 5820K
http://hwbot.org/submission/272290484470 Marks on 3D Mark Vintage with x1 GPU
http://hwbot.org/submission/2722892Ian from Anandtech already had a look at the X99-SOC Champion. Although he couldnt test the board on its true intent, LN2 overclocking, Ian gave the Champion a good thorough testing. You can read the results and his opinion here:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8804/gigabyte-x99-soc-champion-motherboard-review-low-cost-x99-overclocking
Here are a few pictures of the event:
Available link for download
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion… is still the Champion!
GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion… is still the Champion!
HWBOT published their April 2015 number run down. Quite a good month overall we must say for the overclocking world as 36 World Records and 114 Global First Place results have been achieved by overclockers at HWBOT!
But obviously, the numbers that really makes us happy here is to see this months Top Hardware numbers. where the GIGABYTE X99-SOC Champion finished in 1st place in April with 18 World Records!!!
X99-SOC Champion, you rock!!
Source: http://hwbot.org/news/12040
Available link for download
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion voted the best overclocking board by European Hardware Awards
GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion voted the best overclocking board by European Hardware Awards

EHA was formed by KitGuru, Hardware.Info (The Netherlands), Hardwareluxx (Germany), Cowcotland (France), Hardware Upgrade (Italy), Hispazone (Spain), PurePC.pl (Poland) and Lab 501 (Romania).
Combined, the European Hardware Association reaches a vast and unique audience. Here are some of the stats:-
Over 20 million hardware enthusiast visitors a month
Millions of interactions on Facebook
A combined database of more than 100,000 articles
Millions of individual, scientific hardware tests, going back man years
Source: http://www.kitguru.net/channel/computex/andrzej/european-hardware-awards-winners-announced/
Available link for download
Monday, November 14, 2016
GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion overclocking guide for uncore and memory overclocking
GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion overclocking guide for uncore and memory overclocking
Our technical marketing guru, Sofos, has put together an advanced overclocking guide based around uncore and memory overclocking using the GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion motherboard and chipset so make sure you check this out if you are on X99 platform and need a few pointers.
1. Adjust the OC switch the position 2, otherwise you wont have the voltages you need for Uncore and memories.
2. Voltages for Uncore
In the CPU Advanced Voltages, when you have the OC switch in the 2 position, you will see some extra voltages. VL1 to VL6.
You only have to change VL4, VL5 and VL6 as below.
The voltage you have to change to get higher uncore is mostly the VL6. Almost all the CPUs can do 1.45V, most of the CPUs can do 1.5V but some CPUs can do even higher Voltage. There are few CPUs that boot with lower than 1.45V though. If the CPU can do high VL6 then probably it can do and high Uncore but not all the times. It depends on the CPU. In the OS through GTL all you have to do is to raise the VRING to 1.45V-1.5V in able to get high Uncore.
Temperature also helps with VL6 and uncore. If you are using subzero cooling try to find ideal temperature for max VL6 value and then see how high the uncore will clock. VRING is another voltage option that helps some CPUs. Try 1.35v and if going subzero, test up to 1.55 to see if there is any scaling.
3. RTLs
You can change the RTLs but not manually only changing the IOLs manually. IOLs to 1 will bring the RTLs all the way down to what the board is capable of until now. You need to change the IOLs at every channel. Set the option at manual mode and change the primary and secondary timings only for channel A and then change the IOLs to each channel manually.
4. Use both 8pin and 4pin cables for CPU Power otherwise with heavy load the system maybe will be shutting down.
5. You dont need extremely high VSA and VDIMM. VSA between +0.25-0.35V should be enough to drive the mems high. +0.25-+0.3V should max your mems on most cases. VDIMM 1.55-1.65V is ok. I was able to do even C11 with 1.6V.
6. Few times you will see codes like 72, 74, 50, 51, 60, 8A. Try to press the reset button few times. Therere times that doing it it passes the training. Especially when you change the RTLs and you get 8A try it for sure. It doesnt happen on latest bios so often.https://www.dropbox.com/s/g46ggra2mtkvv4z/F4f.rar?dl=0
7. X99 MemTweak, GTLhttps://www.dropbox.com/s/546fstudskrtpb8/GTL%202.1%20B15.0129.1.rar?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/op86rsq2ikubgcl/MemoryTweak-X99%20B14.1218.1.rar?dl=0
Highest bootable VL6 cannot be overridden through software. Same value that your CPU wont boot from bios if you set it through software it will shut down.
8. Please be careful! The VLs can affect your CPU cold bug so make sure that when you change you dont hit the cold bug earlier than before. If you have this problem try higher or lower VL3 (usually higher helps). If VL3 doesnt fix your problem then try the same for VL6.
Also, different bclk affects the cold bug too, so try this as well. Almost all the CPUs are ok with 127.5 bclk and PCI3.
9. Make sure that youre using proper insulation around the memories area and also put some paper towel around the PCH cooler. The way that worked best for us was a layer of plastidip, then a layer of Vaseline and paper towel.
10. Always save a profile before you save and exit cause most of the times the only way to go back is the CMOS button.
11. For memory voltage we used up to 1.9V on single sided dimms on LN2 without a problem. But it doesnt mean that all the dimms can handle it so be careful in case you dont want to degrade or kill your memories. Dino was benching with 1.8V without any issue.
Enjoy!
Available link for download
Friday, October 28, 2016
GIGABYTE Z97X SOC FORCE LN2 Keeps on Collecting Records!
GIGABYTE Z97X SOC FORCE LN2 Keeps on Collecting Records!
Thanks to Team Lab501, the GIGABYTE Z97X-SOC FORCE LN2 collects even more records!
During the DreamHack Masters 2014 held in Bucharest last week-end, Team Lab501 (Monstru and Matose) showed off their skills at the HyperX booth. During their overclocking demonstration at the gaming event, not only did they managed to get a lot of attention on overclcoking with LN2, but also broke a few records!!
Using the GIGABYTE Z97X-SOC FORCE LN2 motherboard, overclocker Matose did indeed impress everyone with his skills by collecting to top score on PiFast with 9sec and 770ms, thus taking on the WORLD RECORD!! http://hwbot.org/submission/2667738
But that was not all, Matose had one more trick under his sleeve that he kept to keep the crowd on their toes. On the same motherboard, he collected the Hardware Top Score on SuperPi 1M !! http://hwbot.org/submission/2667731
One other Z97X-SOC FORCE LN2 achievement made by the Lab501 Matose is this CPU Frequency of 7101.67 MHZ using a 4770K. Although it is not a world record, it is the highest frequency ever achieved on the Z97X-SOC FORCE LN2! http://hwbot.org/submission/2667737_
You can find more pictures of the event on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/monstru.lab/media_set?set=a.866332913400144.1073741902.100000703307781&type=1
Nice work Lab501!
Available link for download
Thursday, October 20, 2016
GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion breaks XTU world record and highest DDR4 memory frequency
GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion breaks XTU world record and highest DDR4 memory frequency
HWBOT lit up today with some more scores from GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion coupled with DDR4 and 5960X CPU. First score was the highest DDR4 memory frequency done by hicookie. New DDR4 frequency top score was set with Corsair DDR4 memory and it stands at DDR4-4326 (2163.3MHz).
HWBOT score link: http://hwbot.org/submission/2745882_hicookie_memory_clock_ddr4_sdram_2163.3_mhz
It comes with a video validation showing oscilloscope measurements confirming the frequency.
The latest XTU world record was also broken by dinos22 on GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion motherboard. New world record XTU score is at 3039 points running 5920MHz CPU frequency on Intel 5960X CPU powered by a 1500W Corsair PSU.
HWBOT score link: http://hwbot.org/submission/2746285_dinos22_xtu_core_i7_5960x_3039_marks
Available link for download
Saturday, October 8, 2016
GIGABYTE Z97X SOC Mobo Featured in Project Modern Orange
GIGABYTE Z97X SOC Mobo Featured in Project Modern Orange
When it comes to making an epic case mod, leave it to Matteo Amodio from Italy to do it right. In its latest creation, Project Modern Orange, you can spot the GIGABYTE Z97X-SOC, which fits perfectly with the orange theme of the build.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are a few for your viewing pleasure!
You can find more picture here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/matteoamodio/sets/72157652762878630/
Available link for download
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion 6950X Broadwell E Overclocking Guide
GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion 6950X Broadwell E Overclocking Guide
GIGABYTE X99 SOC Champion OC Guide (Broadwell E Update)
by dinos22 & sofos1990


LN2 cooling we find that its best to start with 1.5v at -60C and go colder. Most CPUs will like 1.55vcore with -80 to -110C. Some chips will scale higher with 1.6v-1.7v but majority we tested stop scaling up to 1.6vcore. Majority of CPUs did 5GHz, great CPUs did 5.2GHz and special chips will go beyond 5.3GHz with Cinebench R15. This may change with new retail batches.
VRIN is another voltage you need to use (up to 2V on air and generally 2.2v LN2). 2.6v can kill CPUs so be careful.
PLL TRIM is the last one to look out for. Use +15. Improves OC performance and stability.

LLC (load line calibration), set to Extreme (refer to screenshot below for full settings).


. B-die memory screenshots




http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5280#bios
In the CPU Advanced Voltages when you have switched to the OC mode you will see some extra voltages. VL1 to VL6.
You only have to change VL4, VL5 and VL6 as below.

You can change the RTLs but not manually only changing the IOLs manually.
IOLs to 1 will bring the RTLs all the way down to what the board is capable of until now.
You need to change the IOLs at every channel. Set the option at manual mode and change the primary and secondary timings only for channel A and then change the IOLs to each channel manually.


https://www.dropbox.com/s/g46ggra2mtkvv4z/F4f.rar?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/546fstudskrtpb8/GTL%202.1%20B15.0129.1.rar?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/op86rsq2ikubgcl/MemoryTweak-X99%20B14.1218.1.rar?dl=0
Highest bootable VL6 cannot be overridden through software. Same value that your CPU wont boot from bios if you set it through software it will shut down.
Also, different bclk affects the cold bug too, so try this as well. Almost all the CPUs are ok with 127.5 bclk and PCI3.
Available link for download