Overclocking Intel's New 45nm QX9650: The Rules Have Changed

Final Thoughts

Although we cannot possibly go over everything there is to know about overclocking, we have definitely covered a lot of ground in a relatively short amount of time. We've looked at the QX9650's real power consumption figures, noting that the values published by Intel and AMD are not meant to exactly represent typical high-load scenarios. Studying just how the processor responds to more voltage shows us why we seem to reach a rather abrupt stop on the way up when overclocking.

We've also learned how rather than pushing a CPU to the ragged edge, sometimes it is better to find that point where performance and efficiency can co-exist in a delicate balance. A good overclock is not always about maximum speed. Instead, we would like to advocate what we call the "intelligent overclock" - find that point where going higher just doesn't make any sense…then simply stop and tune from there. We have provided many of the tools for doing so in this article; now it's up to you to make it happen.

With respect to the throttling issues we discovered during testing, we will not rest in our search for answers. It is unfortunate that we were able to find concern so early in such an impressive product. To some degree, this one has us scratching our heads; if our suspicions are correct, we may be looking at some rather drastic shifts in the cooling industry. As soon as we know more, so will you. In the meantime, we have seen nothing that would discourage us from recommending the Core 2 Extreme QX9650 to anyone that wants to experience the most that overclocking has to offer.

Intel's QX9650 is just the beginning - breakthroughs happen every day and design improvements will occur. After experiencing just how good 45nm is already, we cannot help but to be excited about what lies in store for us next. Cheaper 45nm processors like the Q9450 are at the top of our list, naturally, but we also eagerly await AMD's response to Intel's latest challenge. Can AMD reach 45nm and gain some similarly startling improvements? We can only hope!