[GUIDE] What HWBot is and how to join our benchmarking team.

So.. you want to join overclockers.com's benching team, but just can't meet the requirements?
Your hardware is old?
You're not familliar with the requirements?
You have no idea what HWBot is all about?
I'm here to change that.
There's nothing to worry about, we've all been there.
So.. lets start with the guide, shall we?

Things you'll need:

• A computer
• Some spare time
• Dedication

What is a HWBot and how can I submit my scores to it?

- HWBot.org, main office located in Belgium, is a dynamic team of international hardware fanatics as well as internationally recognized overclockers, dedicated to gathering specifications and benchmark performance results of computer hardware as well as serving a non-stop overclocking competition platform for amateur and die-hard overclockers..... click here to continue reading

How are hardware points being calculated?

- Points are awarded based on hardware popularity, more submissions with the specific CPU/GPU/Motherboard = more boints.
Please bare in mind that this doesn't apply in all cases. For instance - if you're ranked 9999th out of 9999 submissions with the specific hardware you will most likely earn 0-0,1 points, which is less than if you were the only one using this component.
Practical example:
I'm the only one using Phenom II X4 850 so a single submission got me 7 points, whereas my E5400, which is more popular only received 0,1.

Types of benchmarks:

• Memory
• Motherboard
• Processor
• Videocard
• HDD/SSD

You can click on a category to view the full list of benchmarking software available for it.

Submitting your score(s):

Step 1: Create a new HWBot account
An example of how the registration form should be filled correctly:

Step 2: Click the "Submit" button located at the right corner of the webpage


Step 3: Select the benchmark you want to submit (for instance SuperPi 32M)


Step 4 fill all the necessary fields (check at the end of the topic for a full list)




Click submit and its all done! Congratulations on making your first HWBot submission!


My score is too low, thus I can't achieve the required 20 point limit to join, how can I overcome my hardware's limitations?

- You can do this by overclocking your components.

What do you mean by "overclocking"..? What does that mean?"

- Overclocking is the process of making a computer or component operate faster than specified by the manufacturer by modifying system parameters.... click here to continue reading.

Guides on overclocking/useful tools/articles

Intel
3 Step Guide To Overclock Your Core i3, i5, or i7 - Miahallen
HOWTO: Overclock C2Q (Quads) and C2D (Duals) - A Guide v1.1 - graysky

AMD
Dolk's Guide to the Phenom II - Dolk
OC'ing an AM2: An update to Easy 1, 2, 3, Overclocking ... - QuietIce

Software:
CPU-Z - shows CPU frequency, memory info & etc.
GPU-Z - shows graphics card clocks, info & temperatures.
SetFSB - for squeezing those last few mhz out of your CPU (NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PEOPLE NEW TO OVERCLOCKING
AMD OverDrive - AMD CPU overclock on the go
HWMonitor - component temperature/voltage monitoring at its finest.
RivaTuner - graphics card overclocking software.


Benchmark Buffet - lots of useful info
P.S Please bare in mind that BIOS overclocking is always recommended over using OC software.

Extra stuff
Necessary fields:
CPU:
SuperPi, PiFast, SuperPi 32M,PCMark 04-05, CPU Frequency, wPrime 32M/1024M, PCMark Vantage, UCBench, PCMark7 - benchmark score, processor & verification screenshot

Disk:
AS SSD benchmark - score, processor, disk manufacturer & verification screenshot

Videocard:
3DMark 99-11, vantage - score, processor, videocard & image verification screenshot (orb link required for top 20 hall of fame)
Aquamark & Unigine - processor, videocard & .hwbot file

Motherboard:
Reference clock - benchmark score, processor, motherboard model & verification screenshot (cpu-z link required for top 20 hall of fame)

Memory:
MaxxMem & Memory clock - score, processor, memory & verification screenshot
I've only linked a small part of the benchmarks, since most of them are submitted via http://hwbot.org/submit/create

Benchmark specific rules:
Memory:

• MaxxMem

Motherboard:

• Reference Clock

Processor:

• SuperPi 1M/32M
• PiFast
• PCMark 2004
• PCMark 2005
  [*]CPU-Z (CPU Frequency)
• wPrime 32/1024M
  [*]PCMark Vantage
• UCBench 2001

Videocard:

• 3DMark 01 SE
• 3DMark 03
• 3DMark 05
• Aquamark
• 3DMark 06
• 3DMark Vantage - Performance
• 3DMark Vantage - Xtreme (DX11)
• 3DMark Vantage - Basic (DX9)
• 3DMark 2000
• 3DMark 99 Max

Source(s):
http://hwbot.org
http://google.com
http://wikipedia.org

Thanks to Dolk, Miahallen, QuietIce and graysky for their wonderful overclocking tutorials!
Also - a special shout out and a huge thank you to everyone from our benchmarking team.
Thanks for all the guidance, support and the awesomness you guys are spreading around.

Dont we have this already in the How to join the benching team thread and the Benchmark Buffet article?

EDIT: Most of it, not all..

EarthDog said:

Dont we have this already in the How to join the benching team thread and the Benchmark Buffet article?

Click to expand...

I believe it's not quite the same, but I have no problem deleting the topic if you guys think its useless.

I like it, we don't have a screenshot filled HWBot submission guide that I know of.

I would definitely put a link to the Benchmark Buffet in, as it has lots of details on the benches themselves and how to set the screenshots up.

Bobnova said:

I like it, we don't have a screenshot filled HWBot submission guide that I know of.

I would definitely put a link to the Benchmark Buffet in, as it has lots of details on the benches themselves and how to set the screenshots up.

Click to expand...

Mmmkay, thanks for the suggestion!
Added.

I think it's a great start...

Some recapped information from Benchmark Buffet, but some good new stuff also such as how to submit.

Keep adding resources to it Mario... I think you'll have something!

Naa, this is a great start to a how to join hwbot guide. There is some duplication of other information (benches to use and software to assist in BBuffet Guide), but this is solid as it stands...

Now its up to the mgmt team here to hash this out!

Yeah was thinking about adding that to the benchmark buffet since its attempting to be an all encompasing guide(ish). But Im game to not have it in there.

Convicted1 said:

I think it's a great start...

Some recapped information from Benchmark Buffet, but some good new stuff also such as how to submit.

Keep adding resources to it Mario... I think you'll have something!

Click to expand...

Will add more information tomorrow.
Benchmark-specific rules and cheap CPUs/GPUs good for boint farming list is my next task

EarthDog said:

Dont we have this already in the How to join the benching team thread and the Benchmark Buffet article?

EDIT: Most of it, not all..

Click to expand...

Not really, it doesn't explain a lot of things in detail, and it doesn't include screenshots which really help people get familiar with how to navigate hwbot. The biggest problem I recognize is that hwbot has a hard time documenting their own rules, let alone any documentation at all for how to use the site... Many of us don't need it, but to get new people in, saving them time or just getting them familiar could help.

@Mario1: Step1, when creating a new account is self explanatory, but the one thing we should specifically mention is joining the OC Forums team.

Step4, maybe you should include the minimum fields required to be filled out for a submission, specifically for each benchmark type (CPU, GPU, Mobo, etc). I have seen repeated questions in the forums about how to fill out the submission, when all a newbie really needs to do is put in their score, their CPU model, CPU frequency, and their screenshot. All other fields are optional, but might be a good idea to fill out for reference later so they know what hardware they used exactly and what the other settings were.

Great stuff Mario, thanks for taking the initiative...with some edits and additions it would make a nice Front Page article

HWbot, the rev 4, I find not that user friendly and I've been here a while, so this guide is much needed imo

I.M.O.G. said:

Not really, it doesn't explain a lot of things in detail, and it doesn't include screenshots which really help people get familiar with how to navigate hwbot. The biggest problem I recognize is that hwbot has a hard time documenting their own rules, let alone any documentation at all for how to use the site... Many of us don't need it, but to get new people in, saving them time or just getting them familiar could help.

@Mario1: Step1, when creating a new account is self explanatory, but the one thing we should specifically mention is joining the OC Forums team.

Step4, maybe you should include the minimum fields required to be filled out for a submission, specifically for each benchmark type (CPU, GPU, Mobo, etc). I have seen repeated questions in the forums about how to fill out the submission, when all a newbie really needs to do is put in their score, their CPU model, CPU frequency, and their screenshot. All other fields are optional, but might be a good idea to fill out for reference later so they know what hardware they used exactly and what the other settings were.

Click to expand...

Working on it right now!
EDIT3: Done. Took me a lot of time due to HWBot loading slow.

Mario one other suggestion is that your picture (step4) shows EVGA GTX275 CO-OP, is that how it shows up in HWBot or did you just type it in manually? I would make sure to say to use the drop-down as you type in the name as it has to be selectable.

Janus67 said:

Mario one other suggestion is that your picture (step4) shows EVGA GTX275 CO-OP, is that how it shows up in HWBot or did you just type it in manually? I would make sure to say to use the drop-down as you type in the name as it has to be selectable.

Click to expand...

I wrote "E" and sellected the 1st card that appeared in the menu, will update with more detailed info on how to find your component(s) right now
EDIT: Done.

Looking good Mario!

Benchmark-specific rules added.

I agree to mention the drop-down selection process and how important it is to make sure you get credit. Also, mention the pictures needed for verification. I had gotten a lot of submissions done before I realized I needed some additional documentation.

But then, I'm not too bright.

tRidiot said:

I agree to mention the drop-down selection process and how important it is to make sure you get credit. Also, mention the pictures needed for verification. I had gotten a lot of submissions done before I realized I needed some additional documentation.

But then, I'm not too bright.

Click to expand...

Picture is updated with a tutorial on how to use the drop-down menu and you can see all the benchmark-specific rules linked near the end of the topic.

Mmmkay, I believe I've included everything you guys wanted. Any other suggestions?

I dunno... maybe some of us could post up what we did to make the team? Like compile our initial scores on our basic hardware to show how many points each item was worth, sort of to make it easier for people to see what kinds of things we did to make the points needed?

I can do that for mine shortly, but I just got home after an 18-hour day, so it may have to wait. I know I was pretty discouraged trying to put up numbers the first few tries and nearly threw in the towel, even though I felt i had pretty damn good equipment.

I dunno.... maybe it's silly. But wading through bot-scores can be daunting for a newbie.

Mine were all 0.1 point results with a E5200 and 4830, the team didn't have the 20 boint requirement back then.