Break In: We Sneak into Gigabyte's Factory

The break in!

While we were in Taiwan, Gigabyte invited us to attend its overclocking event. The event, which was won by Team USA, had lots of spectators as well as competitors. It was crowded. It had a lot of Gigabyte's own employees attending. It was the perfect place for us to carry out our plan. The event, while exciting, left us wondering: what is it about the Gigabyte motherboards that makes them one of most popular choices for overclocking? How are they made?

Little did Gigabyte know, our Gigabyte overclocking coverage crew of two, was actually myself, and one other. I went along with Agent codenamed "Kobe"--our THSA, or Tom's Hardware Secret Agent, to a Gigabyte production facility to get a good look at just what motherboards and graphics cards go through.

While the competitors were busy overclocking their systems, we knew that many of Gigabyte's employees would either be at the competition, or at Gigabyte's booth during Computex hours. My partner in crime and I visited Gigabyte at the Taipei 101 tower and was given a "Media" badge to wear so that we could go through security.

After frequently going up and down the tower, we were passed a "Staff" badge by accident. No one seemed to have noticed. Now, we had two badges. As you leave the area, badges must be returned to security. When you return, you can pick up your badge again.

As the overclocking event picked up and more people gathered, we decided it was the perfect chance for us to sneak out. With both a Media badge and Staff badge in our possession, we exited. Security requested us to hand over our badge as usual. We nodded and took the Media badge out of our pocket, gave it over, and waved. Things were going to plan.

With taxi cabs everywhere in Taipei, it wasn't difficult for us to make our escape. And so we did.

We jumped into the taxi, handed them a Gigabyte business card with an address on it--since we can't speak Mandarin--and then sat back and enjoyed the ride to Gigabyte HQ.

Once there, I instructed my accomplice, my secret agent to infiltrate the office building. She was to make her way over to the production area, and take as many photos as possible.

Click here or on the photo to see what she revealed!