Best Processor for Overclocking
Finding the best overall processor for overclocking can be overwhelming. There are many options to choose from and everyone has their own favorites. When you pair these processors with a high end air cooling system you can see great increases in performance. Some processors you can overclock by adjusting the FSB (Front Side Bus), CPU vcore, and memory dividers. Others you can overclock by just adjusting the multiplier and vcore. All overclockers are after performance, so which chips today give the best performance?
Why it's best:
Costs $300 currently and yet can generally be overclocked to 3.5Ghz- 4GHz on air cooling. This is able to exceed the performance of the Core i7 965 Extreme, priced at $1000. Today, this seems to be the chip of choice among overclockers. It does require DDR3 however, so this ... read full review
Available From:
CompUSA $279.99
Why it's a best pick:
If you don’t want to give up on DDR2 yet and your current motherboard is LGA775, this may be the best option for overclocking, as the cost of switching over to the i7 configuration may not be worth the extra costs. Overclocking to 3.8-4.2GHz on air is possible with the...
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$349.99 - $382.95
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ServerSupply.com $370.00
PC Connection $382.95
Why it's a best pick:
This processor can be overclocked to 3.5-3.9GHz easy enough, and though it provides less performance than the Core i7 920, it's about $100 cheaper. This is a DDR3 chip, however, so you may need to upgrade your ram and motherboard....
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$159.08 - $192.26
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PC Connection $192.26
Compuvest $159.08
Why it's a best pick:
With this chip, the multiplier is unlocked, so overclocking is very easy. All that’s needed is to adjust the multiplier and vcore. There’s also some talk about being able to unlock the 4th core by using a BioStar motherboard with a 690F or GX chipset. Of course, ...
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$119.00 - $143.85
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Newegg.com $119.00
PC Connection $143.85
Why it's a best pick:
This processor is based on the 45nm technology, which puts it ahead of the old favorite Q6600. Intel set the multipliers much lower though, which due to mainboard limitations, limits the overclock to about 3.5GHz. That’s not what this chip is able to do, it’s jus...
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$189.99 - $230.00
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ServerSupply.com $230.00
PC Connection $225.97