A LOOK BACK AT MSI’S
MASTER OVERCLOCKING
ARENA 2014
O
n the weekend of October
the 17th MSI held the
annual MOA (Master
Overclocker Arena) competition.
As in all the previous
competitions, MOA featured
over a dozen overclockers
from around the world. These
competitors had qualified over
the course of several months
in their respective regions.
Unlike in previous competitions
though, Instead of having a
single class or overclockers all
using the same hardware, MSI
broke it down to two classes.
Obviously entrants could
only enter in a single class,
but it did allow for those with
lesser hardware in class B for
instance to show their skill even
with limited hardware. In this
class there were no regional
restrictions and all entrants
competed around the world
simultaneously leading up to the
competition.
For the first time ever, MOA
was streamed live on Twitch,
hosted by none other than
OC-TV, which has always been
the go to, live overclocking
broadcasting agency. As
12 The OverClocker Issue 32 | 2014
expected, the rules were set
by MSI and HWBOT to ensure
consistency with international
overclocking standards. To
that end, HWBOT’s resident
celebrity (massman)was present,
but not in the capacity of a
judge, instead as one of the
commentators of the live
broadcast. The two judges
were top overclockers Ian (8pack) from the U.K and Roman
(der8auer) from Germany. Two
faces and names all competitors
were very familiar with.
Last year MSI had decided
to make this a closed event
and this year was the same
with no spectators. Only the
independent journalists,
partners, competitors
and of course MSI and its
hosts were present at the
venue. This obviously allows
the overclockers to focus
exclusively on the task at hand.
However, it is a pity that it has
made the event and exercise
very niche. We do hope next
year, should MSI hosts the
competition, that it will perhaps
be at a venue where gamers are
present as well. After all, the