Microsoft Really Wants You to Upgrade to Windows 10

Have you upgraded to Windows 10 yet? Soon, Microsoft might make it hard to say no.

According to media reports, Microsoft is 'aggressively' pushing out notifications to Windows 7 and 8 users to upgrade to Windows 10. The Windows 10 download will now start in the background automatically, as it will now be considered a "recommended update" in its Windows Update system, but users will still have a choice if they want to make the upgrade.

Here's what a Microsoft spokesperson had to say to The Verge on the issue:

"As we shared in late October on the Windows Blog, we are committed to making it easy for our Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 customers to upgrade to Windows 10," says a Microsoft spokesperson. "We updated the upgrade experience today to help our customers, who previously reserved their upgrade, schedule a time for their upgrade to take place."

This comes weeks after Microsoft's announcement that next-generation processors from Intel, AMD and Qualcomm would only be compatible with Windows 10 and not earlier versions of the operating system.

What do you guys think? Is this the right move by Microsoft? Let us know on our Facebook page.

Check Out This Interview With GIGABYTE's Very Own Sofos1990

One of GIGABYTE's in-house professional overclockers, Sofos 'Sofos1990' Oikonomou, was recently featured on OCTV's Overclocker in Focus series. Sofos is part of the overclocking team in Taipei, working with HiCookie to make sure GIGABYTE motherboards perform their best under the pressure of overclocking.

During the interview, Sofos discussed how he got into overclocking, his educational background, and where he sees overclocking in the future. 

You can check out his interview with OCTV here:

You can find the rest of OCTV's Overclocker in Focus interviews on their YouTube channel.

Time to Upgrade: Microsoft Cuts Support For New CPUs on Windows 7/8.1

Recently Microsoft® announced that Windows 7 and 8.1 will not support future CPUs from Intel®, AMD®, and Qualcomm®.

This means that Windows 10 will be the only platform supported by future CPUs like Intel's upcoming CPU codenamed 'Kaby Lake', Qualcomm's upcoming '8996' silicon, and AMD's upcoming 'Bristol Ridge' silicon. Furthermore, Microsoft will no longer update Windows 7/8.1 for Intel's 6th Gen. Core™ processor (aka 'Sky Lake').

Here's the rationale for the change from Microsoft:

Windows 7 was designed nearly 10 years ago before any x86/x64 SOCs existed. For Windows 7 to run on any modern silicon, device drivers and firmware need to emulate Windows 7’s expectations for interrupt processing, bus support, and power states- which is challenging for WiFi, graphics, security, and more. As partners make customizations to legacy device drivers, services, and firmware settings, customers are likely to see regressions with Windows 7 ongoing servicing.

For many users, upgrading to Windows 10 is free. You can check Microsoft's website for more information.

SlipperySkip new project (In progress)

You guys might remember Jeffrey Stephenson (Slipperyskip) work from his previous project Addison in 2015 or the Flightline in 2013. Jeffrey manages to bring together style and modern PC performance together in a very unique and crafty way! 

Well good news, Slipperyskip is back at it with a new concept in mind and his work is well underway already!His new project SkyVue features one of GIGABYTE most recent motherboard, the Z170N-WIFI, a mini-ITX mobo part of the 100 Series Ultra Durable line up which is packed with great features, such as the new USB3.1 over USB Type C port which is powered by Intel's powerful USB 3.1 solution! Here are some pictures of his progress. you can follow each step of his work over at his blog here: http://slipperyskip.com/forum/index.php?topic=16.0

GIGABYTE Z170X-Gaming G1 is Tom’s Hardware 2015 Editor’s Choice

GIGABTYE has put a lot of effort into it’s flagship motherboard and the results are showing. After collecting the Recommended award from Anandtech and the Must Have Editor’s Choice from TweakTown, it is now from non other than Tom’s Hardware that the Gaming G1 receives the 2015 Editor’s Choice!!

Without overlooking the great performance achieved, what convince the reviewer is the shear amount of features this motherboard has to offer: “Solid overclocking, true x16/x16 mode for SLI and CrossFire, 3-way and 4-way SLI and CrossFireX, Thunderbolt 3, Front-panel USB 3.1 bay device, Triple Killer Networks controllers including one 802.11ac MIMO, manually selectable firmware ROMs, generous cable kit.”

The final verdict : “Our current Editor's Choice award replaces our former "Elite" award, where highly-priced products could win simply by being best-in-class. Gigabyte's Z170X-Gaming G1 could have qualified for either of these awards, since it's both elite and this editor's choice. While far from value-priced, an extensive feature set also gives the Z170X-Gaming G1 more features for the money than its lower-cost rival.”

You can read the full review here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gigabyte-z170x-gaming-g1-motherboard,4347.html

TeamAU and GIGABYTE Break World Records!

GIGABYTE overclockers Dino (dinos22) Strkljevic, Sofos1990, and HiCookie were busy last week in Australia pushing CPUs and GIGABYTE motherboards to their absolute limit.

What was the result?

A world record shattered!

Dinos22, who also is GIGABYTE's Australia marketing manager, is currently the top overclocker on  Intel's XTU (more information on the XTU app here) leaderboards after pushing an Intel i7-5960X to 6GHz on LN2 cooling, a 16GB DDR4 RAM kit with timings of 12-14-15-15 all on a GIGABYTE X99-SOC Champion motherboard.

You can check out more information on HWBOT.

If you're new to overclocking and want to learn more about how to do it (and maybe break a world record yourself!) check out our overclocking tutorial livestream here:

The GIGABYTE Z170X-Gaming G1 Gets Reviewed by The Overclocker

We love overclockers and supporting the overclocking community. 

Recently The Overclocker Magazine ran a review of our GIGABYTE Z170X-Gaming G1 motherboard giving it their GAMING GEAR award.  

One of the beautiful things about overclocking is that you don't need a specific overclocking board. While we do offer an SOC Force board for enthusiasts, the fact is it's possible to overclock on any motherboard -- even ones that are Gaming focused as we showed in our recent overclocking livestream. For those who's interest lies more in gaming rather than enthusiast overclocking, overclocking your system effectively means a free minor upgrade with a few extra FPS.

The Overclocker liked the extensive feature set such as the inclusion of the Intel® USB 3.1 controller, the Killer NIC from Rivet, and the inclusion of a Burr-Brown DAC.  

All in all, The Overclocker said they would definitely recommend the system if they were building a high-end PC:

This motherboard is the premium Z170 motherboard GIGABYTE and as such commands a staggering $500USD price. For that you get every possible feature and function that is available on the Z170 chipset and platform. If you’re building that killer gaming rig that you have saved up for, then this is the motherboard for you. With all the extras provided, it will be hard if not impossible to find another gaming motherboard on the market that is as well spec’d.

You can read the full review over on The Overclocker's website.