F5F Stay Refreshed Power Users Overclocking Turning up the voltage on a Core 2 Quad Q9650 to boost its speed from 4GHz to overclocking mode

Turning up the voltage on a Core 2 Quad Q9650 to boost its speed from 4GHz to overclocking mode

Turning up the voltage on a Core 2 Quad Q9650 to boost its speed from 4GHz to overclocking mode

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192
03-13-2026, 08:49 AM
#1
I am working on setting up my Q9650 rig to get it running smooth. I started with a cheap CPU from eBay that cost only $22... I got an Ultra 120 extreme cooler from someone at TPU forums. The motherboard is an Asus P53Q bought from another overclockers.com member. This makes for a real community project! The QX6850 used to start my build, but it was hard to keep stable above 4.0Ghz. So I swapped that out for the Q9650 and now I can hit 4.0Ghz right away. Finally, I settled on 4.3Ghz and I'm very happy with the results for day-to-night use. Let's check out some pictures of my build!
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Flower_Mermaid
03-13-2026, 08:49 AM #1

I am working on setting up my Q9650 rig to get it running smooth. I started with a cheap CPU from eBay that cost only $22... I got an Ultra 120 extreme cooler from someone at TPU forums. The motherboard is an Asus P53Q bought from another overclockers.com member. This makes for a real community project! The QX6850 used to start my build, but it was hard to keep stable above 4.0Ghz. So I swapped that out for the Q9650 and now I can hit 4.0Ghz right away. Finally, I settled on 4.3Ghz and I'm very happy with the results for day-to-night use. Let's check out some pictures of my build!

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Frankette44
Posting Freak
809
03-14-2026, 02:17 PM
#2
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Frankette44
03-14-2026, 02:17 PM #2

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DarklyThunder
Member
241
03-16-2026, 07:44 AM
#3
I like those old LGA775 CPUs. I am preparing to combine two locked Dell BTX motherboards featuring QX9650 processors. I have noticed that AIDA64 shows speeds of about 4.5GHz for them too.
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DarklyThunder
03-16-2026, 07:44 AM #3

I like those old LGA775 CPUs. I am preparing to combine two locked Dell BTX motherboards featuring QX9650 processors. I have noticed that AIDA64 shows speeds of about 4.5GHz for them too.

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Sven_Weetj
Member
220
03-16-2026, 08:29 AM
#4
That sounds cool! I'm hoping to do something similar because I use a Q9650 too.
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Sven_Weetj
03-16-2026, 08:29 AM #4

That sounds cool! I'm hoping to do something similar because I use a Q9650 too.