Intel’s newest Core i7 processor, code-named Devils Canyon, runs at 4 gigahertz under standard conditions. But overclockers at the Computex trade show in Taiwan have pushed the chip to a new world record speed of 5.5 gigahertz.
Intel overclockers use liquid nitrogen to cool chips.
Overclocking means that you run a microprocessor for a PC at a faster speed than specified. That runs the risk of melting down the chip and ruining the computer, but it also gives people like gamers the maximum performance out of their machines. Using air and liquid cooling, the competitors in Taiwan pushed all four cores, or computing brains, on the Devils Canyon chip to more than 5.5 gigahertz.
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Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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