When you think of GIGABYTE, you probably think of those LEGO-Like motherboards that happen to be extremely well built under the pastel colors (they’re about netbook tablets too now, but in more subtle colors). At CES 2009, the company made it very clear that they were more than just about motherboards by participating in a large number of community events at this year’s show (I can hardly believe that the show only ended about a week ago).
From industry parties to charity events to overclocking competitions, GIGABYTE was front and center with a show of force that other manufacturers should really be taking note of. In an economic downturn, you definitely don’t want people forgetting about you and it was clear that no one is forgetting about GIGABYTE after all the love they’ve shown during the week of CES.
The Night Before CES Party
The Futurelooks hosted “Night Before CES Party” was sponsored by both GIGABYTE and REDUX. REDUX provided the atmosphere, while GIGABYTE provided the refreshments. The combination provided industry professionals and invited press/media an opportunity to relax and network before the big show began the next morning. The event was mentioned in the local Las Vegas Sun Newspaper and it was reported that over 100+ extra people tried to crash this invited only event. The video below shows what those people missed out on:
The GIGABYTE staff were on hand to answer questions on their new innovations and what they had coming up for 2009. Everyone had a great time and everyone appreciated GIGABYTE for buying the drinks. More pictures of this event are available here and here.
The Tiger Direct / COMPUSA Charity PC Race
This awesome event for charity has been taking place for over thirteen years and every year Futurelooks eagerly anticipates the opportunity to race again. The reason why this event is so popular and dear to our hearts is because the proceeds of this event is strictly for charity, with prizes of up to $10,000 for the winner. However, there would be nothing to build if it wasn’t for the sponsors and GIGABYTE was one of them.
The company generously donated a number of their new GA-MA790GP-DS4H motherboards which feature support for the AMD Phenom II X4 Processor and the new AMD Dragon Platform, for the competition. The upcoming GIGABYTE Ultra DurableTM 3 Classic AMD Motherboard lineup with the support of Phenom II Processor is scheduled to launch by end of January, 2009 and we were honoured to have a crack at them under race conditions. Here’s a short video of this exciting event:
Despite the fact that we were not able to best our 2nd place performance from Last Years’s event, everyone still had a good time and it feels good to do something for charity. The system featuring the GIGABYTE board will be donated to Futurelooks’ charity of choice which is the BC Children’s Hospital.
Overclocking In the Desert…
GIGABYTE is big into overclocking and their boards are definitely engineered to handle it. This year GIGABYTE went to a new production process called Ultra Durable 3 which in addition to more durable surface components, it introduces a PCB layer process that increases copper content from 1 oz to 2 oz, leading to a more robust platform for your PC. This process will be part of their new INTEL and AMD boards and what better way to test it than to overclock the snot out of it in the middle of the Las Vegas Desert.
GIGABYTE partnered up with overclocking forum XtremeSystems.org to take the new AMD Phenom II CPUs to the limit on their new Ultra Durable 3 Classic AMD boards.
In between the BBQ and beers, it looked like everyone had a great time doing everything from Air Cooling to Liquid Nitrogen Cooling on these durable boards. GIGABYTE is fully committed to the overclocking community and it shows in their support of these events and their product line. More pictures of the event can be found here.
According to Gary Tam, Senior Technical Product Manager with GIGABYTE “By doubling the copper layers to 2 ounces for both power and ground layers, Ultra DurableTM 3 motherboards improve power efficiency by reducing circuit impedance by as much 50% and allowing more bandwidth for electron passage, delivering dramatically lower system temperatures and enhancing stability for overclocking. With GIGABYTE Ultra DurableTM 3 Technology, ordinary endusers are able to set world records by pushing memory DDR2 beyond 1800MHz without increasing much voltage.” Definitely some great news for enthusiasts wondering if that upgrade is worth it.
GIGABYTE: 2009 and Beyond
It is clear that GIGABYTE understands the need to build a community behind their products which is the reason why they put so much effort in making CES 2009 a memorable show. More importantly, they know that they need to stay true to that community by continuing to build it and nurture it. Even more so, they understand that products need to be tailored to each market. What works in Taiwan doesn’t always work in North America.
I knew they really got it when Tony Liao, Vice President at GIGABYTE North America said “GIGABYTE has a very positive outlook for the year 2009 based on its strong product positioning in terms of innovation, performance and quality with the focus on GIGABYTE Ultra DurableTM 3 Technology in the market and will continue to engineer products tailored to each market segment.” GIGABYTE has also recognized the growing demand for Netbooks and skipped right to the tablet version for North America in their M912 Cafe Book; a product that has been sold out since it was announced late last year.
This tailoring of their products to specific markets and their leadership in technology that appeals to both enthusiasts, gamers and regular users alike will allow them to weather this storm that the North American market is currently going through. Loyal users that they’ve cultivated through their community building efforts will only solidify that positive outlook and I can only see GIGABYTE not only weathering, but thriving in this storm.
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