ONWARDS WE GO!
I
ssue 38 here and it’s right when Computex has
ended. It’s been a busy few months and it looks as if
2016 is only going to get a lot more exciting going
forward. Since AMD' did not be revealing their new
14nm based GPUs at Computex, we will hopefully see
these along with the new AMD CPU platform later on in
the year. In the meantime, we still have and Kabylake
to look forward to from INTEL after the erm, perculiar
shall we say Broadwell-E from INTEL.
So far it looks good for
the GTX 10XX, so we can
only imagine what the
rest of the family line up
will bring to the table
this year or early next
year.
Regardless,
we
have plenty to be excited
about as it’s been a very
long time since we had so
much hardware releasing
in a single year. After a
relatively dry spell, 2016
seems to be making up
for the last four years or
more combined and that’s
always a good thing.
Of particular interest is
what AMD might present
with their Zen platform.
I’m of the mind that it need
not be as fast as what
INTEL has at the moment
(I doubt that being behind
for several generations
or a decade can be made
up with a single generation) but, if it’s sufficiently fast
for gaming, then the overclocking community may take
to it as well. My thinking here is that if AMD matches
Ivy-Bridge levels of efficiency then we are certainly
going to be looking at a fairly competitive platform even
though it may be on the back foot. Truth be told; I
secretly wish that it is a little better. It has nothing to
do with whatever market dynamics it may lead to, but
rather that we will just have another option, a viable
option. Something that isn’t the case at present.
It’s been far too long since AMD was in the game
from a competitive overclocking and certainly a
gaming point of view. There simply isn’t any reason to
purchase any of the products they have at present for
enthusiasts and overclockers alike. Price wise there
is always an argument to be made, but I’m of the mind
that you don’t go into PC gaming with the intention of
saving costs as the PC is an inherently premium
platform. You’d be better served by any one of the
modern consoles if that is the intention.
With a competent platform featuring USB 3/3.1,
DDR4 support and PCI-Express 3.0 (let’s not forget
that only FM2+ support PCI-Express 3.0 on AMD’s
side) and other chipset features, we will finally see
something that reflects
today’s market. More
importantly though, if
AMD’s previous clock
speeds under LN2 are
anything to go by, the
new CPUs one hopes
will overclock just as
well. That alone will
make for a fun platform
with plenty possibilities
for overclockers and
gamers alike. Usually
I’m pessimistic about
AMD and I have every
objective reason to be so
given their misstep at
every opportunity. There
is hope however, if not
in the promise of much
needed performance
improvements, at least
in the newness factor
and the chance to once
again have something to
say about AMD that isn’t
all doom and gloom.
As stated earlier, we
are post COMPUTEX and everything we saw there has
already filled up the issue plan for TOC 39. Since the
GTX 1080 has not been much anything for LN2, here's
hoping some breakthrough is made and we get to see
those 3GHz clocks that seemd so possible before. If
not, we may be witnessing the Sandy-Bridge
equivelant of GPUs, which was great for getting
amateurs into overclocking, but not as effective at
keeping them going forward when LN2 mattered
again on successive platforms. Whatever happens,
we will be there to cover it in the usual awkward
detail and candor. Afterall that is why we stick around
despite, sensiblity dictating we shouldn't.
Until next time, do take care and we will see you in
Issue 39.
[ Neo Sibeko - Editor ]
Issue 38 | 2016 The OverClocker 3