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What was the best CPU for overclocking of all time?

I still have my i7 920 that did 4.2GHz with some ridiculously low voltage up in the loft. Sold the motherboard but nobody ever wanted the processor.
 
I'll suggest my old Athlon X2 5200+ (45nm version). Unlocked to Phenom FX 5200+ X4 (including unlocking L3 cache not usable as an Athlon) and then overclocked from 2.3 GHz to 3.3GHz for a rock solid overclock I kept in my main rig for about 9 years. Cost me about £30 something. This was basically a Phenom 2 with an easter egg for a name when unlocked (thanks AMD).

So unlocking a dual core to quad core, unlocking L3 cache and a big overclock. That's hard to beat for added value. It pushed a £30 ish budget CPU up to the performance of a £140 CPU (Phenom II 955 or 965 equivalent). That's hard to beat.

I did briefly push it up to 3.8 GHz for the odd benchmarking run but could never get it 100% stable up there.

My thread about it was here: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...5nm-am3-may-unlock-to-phenom-fx5200.18225299/

I did also have an Athlon X2 5000+ I unlocked to a Phenom FX 5000+ but I needed to add a fair bit of voltage to keep the unlock stable and hence it ran hot. My 5200+ was a much better chip.
 
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Great to read all these experiences. Truly hefty OC is generally a thing of the past, sadly.

The standouts are the 2500K (I think I settled at around 4.5GHz) and Q9400 (I can't remember the specifics as it was over 15 years ago, but I think I got it from a base of 2.6GHz up to 3.4GHz or so).
 
That’s a tough one because “best overclocking CPU” can mean different things — raw headroom, ease of use, or how legendary it became in the community. But if I had to pick the standouts over the years, here’s how I’d break it down:


  • Intel Core i5-2500K / i7-2600K (Sandy Bridge) – Honestly the GOATs. These chips made overclocking mainstream again. 4.5GHz+ on air was easy, and they stayed competitive for nearly a decade. If you were building a gaming PC in 2011–2012, this was the CPU to tweak.
  • Intel Celeron 300A (1998) – The OG legend. You could take it from 300MHz to 450MHz just by bumping the FSB. It turned a bargain chip into something that rivaled high-end Pentiums. Pure overclocking history.
  • AMD Athlon XP 2500+ “Barton” – Early 2000s classic. Unlocked multipliers, BIOS-friendly, and almost guaranteed to hit 3200+ speeds. Every enthusiast forum back then had people squeezing more out of this chip.
  • Intel Q6600 (Core 2 Quad) – The budget quad-core king. 2.4GHz stock to 3.6GHz was common. If you wanted to mess with voltage and cooling, this chip was pure fun.
  • AMD FX-8350 / FX-9590 – Not efficient, but if you loved pushing silicon limits, these were ridiculous. They hit 8GHz+ under LN2 and became world record holders.
  • AMD Ryzen 5 1600 AF – The modern budget overclocker’s dream. Basically a rebranded 2600 for cheap, and hit 4.1–4.2GHz without much effort.
 
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