Nick Shih, a professional overclocker supported by Asrock mainboard maker, has set up the world's record in overclocking Intel Corp.'s Core i "Ivy Bridge" microprocessor. Using the specially-designed Z77 OC Formula mainboard, the Core i7 3770K chip was overclocked to 7.136GHz.

“Hitting number one on Hwbot makes my day, but scoring number one with the motherboard I designed is like the wildest dream come true! Thanks to everyone who helped make my dream, ASRock Z77 OC Formula, into reality,” said Nick Shih, a professional overclocker who works with Asrock.

In a bid to overclock the Core i7-3770K (3.50GHz/3.70GHz clock-speed) microprocessor to whopping 7136MHz, Mr. Shih had to use liquid helium for cooling. The efforts - usage very exotic cooling along with a specially-designed mainboard - have paid off: 7.136GHz is the world's highest clock-speed ever reached by code-named Ivy Bridge microprocessors, according to Hwbot database.

“When we declared that ASRock Z77 OC Formula was born to be fast, we really meant what we said. No stretching the truth. No marketing gimmicks. Our goal was not coming second or third, it was number one the whole time, and now our effort has paid off," said James Lee, vice president of sales and marketing at Asrock.

Asrock recently released its first mainboard of the OC Formula series designed specifically for extreme overclockers who demand no-compromise quality in a bid to set new records.

The first mainboard in Asrock OC Formula family is Z77 OC Formula, which is based on Intel Z77 core logic and is designed for the latest Intel Core i-series 3000-family "Ivy Bridge" central processing units (CPUs). The mainboard provides a rich set of overclocking options in the BIOS/UEFI, including NickShih’s OC Profile provides that a taste of Nick’s secret sauce for extreme overclocking. The platform also supports multiple thermal sensors that allow users to track and control the temperature of various parts of the motherboard graphically in both UEFI setup and using an utility for Windows. Asrock Z77 OC Formula comes in server CEB form-factor (so a special case will be required), features design that allows to relatively easily install components for liquid nitrogen (LN2) cooling and has a number of innovative features that make it unique even compared to the most advanced motherboards out there.

Tags: Asrock, Intel, Ivy Bridge, Core