GIGABYTE March Madness

GIGABYTE is excited to kick-off March OC Madness 2017, an overclocking contest held by GIGABYTE and hosted on HWBot.org. Top overclockers can earn bragging rights along with a bundle of top-notch hardware from a total prize pool of over $2500 USD.
This competition will have four challenges that will test your computers 3D graphics and processing: XTU 5G, 3DMark Fire Strike Physics, Geekbench 3 Multi Core and HWBOT x256 Benchmark. In each of these challenges participants can score points based on their benchmark scores. The top 3 participants who have the most points by the end of the contest gets to take home the prize! A lucky draw is also available to participants who submit scores in all stages of the competition.
Participate
- This competition is closed. You can no longer join
- GIGABYTE March Madness is closed since 31 March 2017
- This competition is between members
Stages
-
Stage 1 -
3DMark Time Spy Physics
-
Stage 2 -
XTU
-
Stage 3 -
Geekbench3 Multi Core
-
Stage 4 -
X265 1080P
General Contest Rules
- Only use a motherboard by Gigabyte/Aorus
- Commercially available hardware only (no ES, no unreleased hardware)
- "LN2" motherboards are not allowed
- Limited to 4 cores max
- HEDT not allowed
- Open to all leagues
- Please attach a picture of your overclocking rig
- Must use official competition background
- A verification screenshot is required
- On benchmarks eligible, a verification link is mandatory (check stage rules)
- To be eligible for the lucky draw, participants must submit in all stages of the competition
- In a 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
Stage 1 Rules
- A verification screenshot is required (CPUZ cpu, mainboard, memory tab + Gpuz)
- A verification link is required with max CPU clocks shown which determines the clock limit (5003 MHz max)
- Cache multiplier has to be same or lower than core multiplier
Stage 2 Rules
- A verification screenshot is required (CPUZ cpu, mainboard, memory tab)
- The clock limit is determined by screenshot (5003 MHz max)
- A verification link is required
- Cache mulitplier has to be same or lower than core multiplier
Stage 3 Rules
- A verification screenshot is required (CPU-Z cpu, mainboard, memory tab)
- The clock limit is determined by screenshot (5003 MHz max)
- Cache mulitplier has to be same or lower than core multiplier
Stage 4 Rules
- Verification screenshot is not required
- The clock limit is determined by XTU (5.00 GHz max)
- Cache multiplier has to be same or lower than core multiplier
Position | Prize | Qty | Value (USD) |
---|---|---|---|
1st Place | GIGABYTE AORUS Z270X-Gaming 7 | 1 | $239.99 |
GIGABYTE Radeon RX 480 WINDFORCE 8GB | 1 | $239.99 | |
INTEL Core i7-7700K | 1 | $349.99 | |
2nd Place | GIGABYTE AORUS Z270X-Gaming 7 | 1 | $239.99 |
INTEL Core i5-7600K | 1 | $239.99 | |
G.SKILL TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3600 Memory | 1 | $159.99 | |
3rd Place | GIGABYTE Gaming Z270X-UD5 | 1 | $199.99 |
ENERMAX Platimax 850W PSU | 1 | $169.99 | |
Enermax LiqMax II (ELC-LMR240-BS) AiO Liquid Cooler | 1 | $89.99 | |
Lucky Draw | GIGABYTE AORUS Z270X-Gaming 7 | 1 | $239.99 |
Open Benchtable | 1 | $149.99 | |
G.SKILL MOUSE/KB | 1 | $129.99 | |
Heroes of the Storm Codes | 5 | $50 | |
Steam Code | 1 | $50 | Total: USD $2549.88 |

Ranking
Rank | Participant | 3DMark Time Spy Physics | XTU | Geekbench3 Multi Core | X265 1080P |
PTS
|
1 | 50 pts | 1 pts | 50 pts | 48 pts | 149 pts | |
2 | 48 pts | 1 pts | 48 pts | 44 pts | 141 pts | |
3 | 42 pts | 1 pts | 46 pts | 50 pts | 139 pts | |
4 | 46 pts | 1 pts | 42 pts | 42 pts | 131 pts | |
5 | 38 pts | 1 pts | 36 pts | 46 pts | 121 pts | |
6 | 34 pts | 1 pts | 32 pts | 34 pts | 101 pts | |
7 | 40 pts | 1 pts | 38 pts | 20 pts | 99 pts | |
8 | 30 pts | 1 pts | 34 pts | 28 pts | 93 pts | |
9 | 24 pts | 1 pts | 28 pts | 38 pts | 91 pts | |
10 | 44 pts | 1 pts | 44 pts | 89 pts | ||
11 | 22 pts | 1 pts | 24 pts | 30 pts | 77 pts | |
12 | 36 pts | 40 pts | 76 pts | |||
13 | 40 pts | 32 pts | 72 pts | |||
14 | 18 pts | 1 pts | 26 pts | 24 pts | 69 pts | |
15 | 32 pts | 1 pts | 36 pts | 69 pts | ||
16 | 4 pts | 1 pts | 30 pts | 26 pts | 61 pts | |
17 | 16 pts | 1 pts | 20 pts | 37 pts | ||
18 | 14 pts | 1 pts | 18 pts | 33 pts | ||
19 | 10 pts | 1 pts | 22 pts | 33 pts | ||
20 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 12 pts | 16 pts | 30 pts | |
21 | 28 pts | 28 pts | ||||
22 | 26 pts | 26 pts | ||||
23 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 16 pts | 6 pts | 24 pts | |
24 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 10 pts | 12 pts | 24 pts | |
25 | 1 pts | 22 pts | 23 pts | |||
26 | 1 pts | 4 pts | 18 pts | 23 pts | ||
27 | 20 pts | 1 pts | 21 pts | |||
28 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 6 pts | 10 pts | 18 pts | |
29 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 14 pts | 16 pts | ||
30 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 14 pts | 16 pts | ||
31 | 12 pts | 1 pts | 13 pts | |||
32 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 1 pts | 8 pts | 11 pts | |
33 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 8 pts | 10 pts | ||
34 | 8 pts | 1 pts | 9 pts | |||
35 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 1 pts | 4 pts | 7 pts | |
36 | 6 pts | 6 pts | ||||
37 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 1 pts | 2 pts | 5 pts | |
38 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 1 pts | 1 pts | 4 pts | |
39 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 1 pts | 1 pts | 4 pts | |
40 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 2 pts | 4 pts | ||
41 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 1 pts | 1 pts | 4 pts | |
42 | 2 pts | 1 pts | 3 pts | |||
43 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 2 pts | |||
44 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 2 pts | |||
45 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 2 pts | |||
46 | 1 pts | 1 pts | 2 pts | |||
47 | 1 pts | 1 pts | ||||
48 | 1 pts | 1 pts | ||||
49 | 1 pts | 1 pts | ||||
50 | 1 pts | 1 pts | ||||
51 | 1 pts | 1 pts | ||||
52 | 1 pts | 1 pts | ||||
53 | 1 pts | 1 pts | ||||
54 | 1 pts | 1 pts | ||||
55 | 1 pts | 1 pts | ||||
56 | 1 pts | 1 pts | ||||
57 | 1 pts | 1 pts | ||||
58 | 1 pts | 1 pts |
Awarded Season Points
Rank | User | Season Points |
1 | 50 | |
2 | 44 | |
3 | 39 | |
4 | 35 | |
5 | 32 | |
6 | 30 | |
7 | 28 | |
8 | 26 | |
9 | 24 | |
10 | 22 | |
11 | 21 | |
12 | 20 | |
13 | 19 | |
14 | 18 | |
15 | 17 | |
16 | 16 | |
17 | 15 | |
18 | 14 | |
19 | 13 | |
20 | 12 | |
21 | 11 | |
22 | 10 | |
23 | 9 | |
24 | 8 | |
25 | 7 | |
26 | 6 | |
27 | 5 | |
28 | 4 | |
29 | 3 | |
30 | 2 | |
31 | 2 | |
32 | 2 | |
33 | 2 | |
34 | 2 | |
35 | 2 | |
36 | 2 | |
37 | 2 | |
38 | 2 | |
39 | 2 | |
40 | 2 | |
41 | 2 | |
42 | 2 | |
43 | 2 | |
44 | 2 | |
45 | 2 | |
46 | 2 | |
47 | 2 | |
48 | 2 | |
49 | 2 | |
50 | 2 | |
51 | 2 | |
52 | 2 | |
53 | 2 | |
54 | 2 | |
55 | 2 | |
56 | 2 | |
57 | 2 | |
58 | 2 |
First statement before the competition starts, the new Gigabyte Z270X Gaming SOC will not be allowed for the march madness. Unfortuantely it is not available at shops at the competitions start (in europe not listed). In case something changes we will make an announcement, this thread is also open for questions but we already included the non released hardware not allowed rule from the first day of announcing the contest.
Good luck and have fun at the contest
Where is official competition background?
Only Gigabyte board I have is LN2........
Background - it will also be added to the competition page - happy benching
is z170 allowed
Yes, Z170 is allowed, I see no restriction on this
- but no unreleased hardware (LN2 boards or sadly the z270 gaming soc)
Z97 LN2 board allowed or not? Using Haswell is competitive disadvantage no matter the board's DIMM layout
As far as I know the board was alibi retail at some time so it should be OK for the lucky draw
thanks for the update
so...its Z270 or the Z170 SOC Force
ugh
Yes Matt, we all would have liked to get Z270 Gaming SOC in the march madness as well, but shop availability is delayed
you're going to have so many people with the same score haha.
Thats a shame, all I have is a z270 gaming soc, was excited to enter, definitely dissapointed but I understand from hwbot point of view.
This decision was made in dialogue with Gigabyte, we both agreed that it is a shame but to give all contestants the same chance we had no other choice.
ya I understand, it makes sense
Please specify clearly whether the panel at the Z170 gaming can be
Z270 Gaming K3 GIGABYTE
may be allowed
All Gigabyte retail boards available in shop before 1st of march 2017 are allowed, this excludes z170 and z270 LN2 board and Z270SOC Gaming. Zhe Gaming k3 is in shops, so it is allowed
When stage 2 and 3 will be open?
When stage 1 closes stage 2 opens, when stage 2 closes stage 3 open
Is Aorus Z270X Gaming 5 not allowed? I bought at my local store on February 9. I cannot upload submission.
Hi, I'm new, so please forgive my idiocy. How can I delete a submission? I posted score for the wrong test!
(",)
Normally at hwbot,org there is a button on the right to edit or delete results
How can I delete my submission too? Seems like XTU read my mobo wrong. Just noticed it after submitting. Supposed to be Z270X Gaming 5 instead of Z170X Gaming 5.
Can't you edit the mobo type after submitting the score? So submit first, let the database calculate your score/ranking. Afterwards press the EDIT button on the right (as Websmile mentioned before) and edit your mobo type
Looking to confirm if GIGABYTE GA-Z270N-Gaming 5 is allowed. I think it was released March 1st or so in US but earlier overseas
The board is allowed, apart from the LN2 1151 boards and the soc gaming z270 all boards should be eligible for use
P.S. I asked at GA again to see if I am right, if it is much better than z270n wifi we might have problem, it is not listed in europe
P. P.S. Board is ok, it seems to have no technical advantage above others
I found a few price compare sites a while back. This one shows prices from Feb 27 from 9 shops
https://www.priceme.co.nz/Gigabyte-Z270N-Gaming-5/p-898785404.aspx
This site claims 02/22/2017 release date
https://dgxtech.com/sales/gigabyte-ga-z270n-gaming-5-lga1151-intel-z270-rgb-fusion-hdmi-dp-usb3-1-type-c-mini-itx-ddr4-gaming-motherboard
A couple of hints, LOD is not allowed for time spy, it is explicitly ruled out and this is also valid for time spy physics, second point is that 5003 is the limit, if the futuremark link shows higher results you are out, and please only use publicly available BIOS versions, we do not want guys to have an unfair advantage by new xoc BIOS others cannot use
So the x06 bios on a z97x-soc force is not alowed,than i know what to do tomorow after work.
This is an old BIOS which was published several times on hwbot and elsewhere, I only refer to new Z270 Bioses which might be given to Beta testers
https://www.mediafire.com/?wsldl1r1wlh2ris
X8e bios for Z270N Gaming 5.
I make absolutely no claims that its any good, I haven't had a chance to properly test it myself
Thanks for the BIOS, but we will not allow it for the march madness because it came too late. We will re evaluate this like all restrictions for the next parts of the Gigabyte series, yes, there is more to come
Another heads up - for time spy physics the rules of time spy apply for LOD (not allowed) and latest system info with monitoring enabled is mandatory - we orientate on screenshot and validation link for seeing if the 5003 cap was not violated, when I see 4ghz as max turbo or something similarily ridiculous I have no choice but to remove the entry
thats what I figured.
good luck guys, I'm out.
wait so do I need to redo my 102.05BCLK run? Because I have 5G CPU-z but 3Dmark is showing 5004MHz
Unfortunately yes, CPUZ and futuremark readout have to be 5003 or less
Great so I can go back to rerunning timespy for a while but at 0.02 less BCLK or what ever it is that will make 3Dmark happy.
I have the best Haswell, I'm taking that as a moral victory.
What was wrong with my submissions?
I checked stage 1, remaining subs should be ok @fgi please check the time spy rules again, you used tesselation tweaking which is explicitly disallowed for time spy - sorry, but it is written in the benchmark rules and I also gave a heads up here at support thread that rules are applying also for physics on top
Really tight 1st round - around 2.6% from Top 10 to 1st place, awesome competition
You had no chance
- north american slacker timings owned you :'( 
Still in for Lucky draw, right? Hahahahahah
:p
Not the fastest but at least I'm the oldest one around here
Somehow I think it might be time to enter stuff like this again someday iin the future...
Guys, now when 1 stage is done, can you tell me how the hell you get 200 more points with less core speed and not so tight RAM like i get
i was going to bad at 7AM, so my wife was werry angry with me all the day -> this must be enough for you
I tested all, z270x 5 with Kaby Dual and Quad, z170 Soc with Kaby Dual and Quad.
I have strong RAM Setting with 1900 cl12 1T
But No chance
Please tell use the tweak
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Look at the GPU-Z... yep GPU-Z
my run was utter luck was always between 6780ish and 6815ish then this 6865 appeared...
I had 6850+ and 1-2 was 6900+. 5g/5g 1933 tight(at least for my mobo). But according to the 6950+ scores, the less you clock the better you score.
I dont judge anyone but it would be better if we know what we were doing wrong.
GPU mem clocks aid the score apparently, lowering cache too... thx to Splave for revealing their tweaks
damn, i think that gpu doesnt affect anything... and my gpu got extra good ram
Lowering cache ? Guys, iam unnable to get case same as core ratio on 270 g9, still got 200mhz lower than i set in bios and if i try set 50/52 it doesnt boot, is there any cure with this mb ?
you set it from bios or from windows? I thnik giga boots with 200 mhz lower cache. Try set it from gtl
E.g if you boot 5gcore /5g uncore it boots 5g/4.8.
Z270N seems to lock cache to be 200MHz less than core. I have cache set to 50x but get 4800 cache with 5G core and 4600 cache with 4.8G core.
The benchmark is really inconsistent. My 6663 run was pure luck if I fire up the system on the mem settings I used for the 6663 run it scores ~6.5K but sometimes it randomly jumps above 6.6K.
Yes set in bios, but i try set it in XTU, but doing nothing. Didnt try GTL, its possible there ?
How do we make sure that people dont run 5.2ghz for geek bench?
Plausibility check - this is why we have the link on top, you can see a lot at sub tests that scales from cpu frequency mostly
why can i not enter whit this sub ?
skulstation`s Geekbench3 - Multi Core score: 7826 points with a Pentium G3258
if all is ok plys add it to the stage 2.
thx
Geekbench is not able to provide a single link adress, and hwbot has problem to configure links accepted therefore, we have same again at gskill, so I asked for a fix. Should be done tomorrow I hope...
Thx for info.
If the problem is fixt whil this submission automatic added tot the stage or do i need to re sub it?
Ther is a chanse thad i have no internet acces for some days afther tonight ( provider whil do some updates and othther thins )
I will take a look and add it
such a good competition, i didn't think it's going to be warm.
but now i see hot competition in here.
hope everybody have good time benching with GA motherboards.
Seems we can submit at two pages from the Geekbench developpers... sigh
Are there any operating system restrictions in this comp regarding geek bench running a 4790K as HWBot seem to stipulate one prior to Windows 8 while Sky and Caby Lake can use Window 8, 10.
Sure, benchmark rules apply, for pre skylake systems the windows real time clock bug is the problem, so you will have to use 7 on haswell for example
changed my gtx 760 gpu to a 1070 turbo and gained a big nothing in cpu tests. so how is that ? ( apart from Im stuck at 59 RTL maybe thats capping my eff )
Guys, how properly set RTL on GTB mbs? IT ignores everything i want from IT, still Getting loose 59/60 (asr timing configurator)
I have best RTLs when using 3733 divider, 12-12-12-28 gives me 49-51, tWCL 10 and tCKE 6 set, you can tweak IO RTL to 6
Thanks, but i have a problem set anything, i cant write 50/51 7/7 ets, but after boot into win, it stuck 659/61 etc.. This make me mad.
Thats Giga
Big bugs
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Maybe thats why they call it March Madness
Add me on messenger mate, talk ya through (I hope)
If someone runs e.g 5030 and in the screenshot "retuns" to 5000 how is it possible to know if he cheats?
I believe we will see a lot of crazy scores.
Thats a Big Problem
Lucky run
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Leeghofd told it on previous page, check CPU results.
You can see easily. I have tested it. The first and or second test will be great. And the mem score will be crap
Dont worry the mods will find it.
Can always ask for a video. Should be easy to reproduce. There is good runs but no lucky runs like hwbp.
I checked top 25 preliminarily, result is not final because we need to conform the ban of one user for cheating - thanks for your patience
Your cpu suxx, I offer you 5 dollars shipped at 1,45v 5g
so how do you get Geek Bench 3 to save a validation file? because every time I pressed save or export nothing happened.
Hmm, weird, you click on file at the result tab and have option save/save as there, works for me every time. Don´t use file option at launch app, no idea what went wrong at your try to save. If this doesn´t work for you, maybe something is wrong with install or OS
Did you buy a license? Maybe saving scores offline is a paid users only feature?
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
Yeah I bought a license. And I did do the File >> Save thing and the app just does nothing when I press save. I guess it might be my win 10 install but everything else works fine. 3Dmark has no problem saving files.
too much OS hacking mate
Use the "save as" at result tab shown, the launch app cannot save file. If you did and still doesn´t work I agree with Alby, new install of program first, then maybe you have to try another OS or reinstall 10. Some slyake insstalled OS I had did not work for all programs properly for me on Kaby, maybe this is a problem
Stage 2 result is final now, keep pushing for x265
Show me your backups
Moderation done, the result is final for me. It was a very good competition, and I handled the rules in favour of benchers especially on some rig pictures
can we draw the rig pictures next time
thanks for your hard work and congrats guys good comp
Congrats to all. Thx gigabyte for this competition.
I did have a lot of fun and a bit stres.
Hope to meet you all in the next round.
Thx Gigabyte for the compo. Congratz to all. To be honest had some short nites due to this compo. Great stuff by everybody. OCing is not dead!!
Nice x265 Old tymer
lucky draw winners ?
Me :3 - no announcement yet, no idea when it will be drawn, first we need to confirm winners
no idea? sounds awful
Contact gigabyte and ask them
- I am sure a multi million dollar business will jump at your command^^
I thought you pick the lucky draw winners.But I can ask them
Saves me time and trouble, lucky draw for prizes is better in hands of vendor who sponsors this than at staff when guys related to hwbot might participate. This is also the reason I cannot particpate at competitions like these, I assume you can guess why^^
OMG I just asked and it turns out I won alllll the lucky draws as well
What a coincindence, we both won the lucky draw
- and I did not even submit 
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