14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is bragging that Windows 10 offers the best performance on new processors such as Skylake (and even makes its new OS mandatory on PCs powered by this CPU starting 2017), but it’s an older Windows version that’s powering the monster computer that has set a new overclocking record earlier this week.
Hong Kong-based Chi-Kui Lam has managed to push the Intel Core i7 6700K way beyond its limits with the help of a custom configuration that included, among others, liquid nitrogen cooling and Windows XP.
First and foremost, the speed. Lam used the i7 6700K, which by default runs at 4,000 MHz, with a custom cooling system that allowed a maximum speed of no more, no less than 7025.66 MHz. Typically, the standard air cooling that most people use only allows for a maximum of 4,800 MHz, so a custom LN2-based cooling system was needed in order to keep the CPU working at even higher speeds.
Super cooling for super speed
Liquid nitrogen is said to lower temperatures to no less than -321 degrees Fahrenheit (-196 degrees Celsius), so it’s pretty obvious how hot a Skylake CPU can get when pushed to almost double its default clock.
In order to set this new record, Lam also used an ASRock Z170 motherboard (with standard stock cooling) and 4GB of G.Skill DDR4 RAM, as well as a 1,3000W Antec power supply and Windows XP Professional installed on a 256GB Plextor SSD.
Certainly, seeing the Intel Skylake i7 6700K achieving such speeds is undoubtedly impressive, but at the same time, it’s at least as surprising that Windows XP, a 15-year-old operating system, continues to be used well beyond its limits such a long time after its official launch.
At this point, Windows XP is still running on some 10 percent of the world’s PCs, and after seeing these new overclocking achievements, it’s no wonder why.