Computex 2007: Storage, 4+ GHz Quad Cores and Systems

Core 2 Quad Overclocking

4.2 GHz At The MSI Booth

MSI used cryo cooling to overclock the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 quad core processor, reaching as high as 4.2 GHz.

MSI used a P35 Neo Platinum motherboard and Corsair's XMS3 DDR3-1333 RAM for its demo system to show off its overclocking potential. A clock speed of 4.2 GHz is still below the 4.5 GHz that is possible with liquid nitrogen, but for a system that everyone with the appropriate budget can buy, this is an amazing result. MSI uses a cryo cooling solution by Coolaler.

CPU-Z is used to verify the clock speed, while the testing and benchmark software Everest is looped to prove that the system is actually stable.

Rob Kihlberg At Abit Runs 4.5 GHz On Liquid Nitrogen

If 4.2 GHz still isn't enough, you should have a look at what Robert Kihlberg did at the ABit booth. This P35 system is powered by a Core 2 Extreme QX6700, and it's overclocked to 4.5 GHz using liquid nitrogen, which reduces the CPU surface temperature to -139.4 °C! You can pour the nitrogen over your fingers, but you shouldn't stick them in it...

Robert says he doesn't use a selected processor sample, but actually bought the processor at retail. Given that, the 4.5 GHz is an amazing result for a product that was designed to run at 2.66 GHz.