Overclocking
The QX6700's unlocked multiplier makes overclocking dead easy. Just raise the multiplier, perhaps twiddle with the voltage, and reboot. If it works, great. If not, you know the problem is the CPU and not some other component of your system throwing a fit about running out of spec.

Overclocking the QX6700 was still an adventure, though, because of another factor. As you saw on the last page, this CPU draws about as much power as any current PC processor when running at its stock speed. Getting it to run at higher speeds can present cooling challenges. This is true even though Intel sent along a cooler with it that has a B-52 propeller attached to the top. Seriously, check it out:

Running at full tilt, this thing sounds like a Metallica concert. I don't believe I've ever heard a CPU cooler this loud. It's effective, too, easily besting the results I got with my Zalman CNPS9500 LED. Still, even with this cooler, overclocking the QX6700 presented what was, for me, a new conundrum: if the CPU is totally stable at a given speed but generates heat beyond the bounds of your best cooler's capacity, is it a successful overclock? The QX6700 was stable running four instances of Prime95 but edging up toward 73°C with the Metallica concert raging away, deep into Enter Sandman. That's near thermal throttling territory, killing the potential benefits of overclocking. You're going to want to use water—or something more potent—to cool the QX6700 well enough to really overclock it.

I think I can declare our overclock to 3.2GHz a success. The QX6700 was stable at that speed at its stock 1.35V. I got it to POST at 3.46GHz at 1.375V, but the system crashed while loading Windows. Here's how the QX6700 performed at 3.2GHz.

Yep, this quad-core processor at 3.2GHz is fast. Uh huh. Yep.