How fast is your CPU on your gaming PC rig? You may think that you have a fast processor inside, all overclocked and cooled to the max. But recently a team managed to boost the speed of an AMD processor so much it got the attention of the Guinness World Record folks. In a new blog post by AMD, the company revealed that on August 31, the team achieved a speed of 8.429 GHz out of an AMD FX processor in an event in Austin, Texas. The new clock speed has been recognized by Guinness under the "Highest Frequency of a Computer Processor" category. You can check out a video showing the team cooling the processor and setting the new world record below.
The increase in speed was achieved by a combination of increasing the voltage with cooling the CPU with liquid helium, which took the temperature down to just a few degrees above absolute zero. The team itself was comprised of what AMD called "elite overclocking specialists" that worked with AMD engineers to reach the new record. However AMD said that they achieved overclocked speeds of 5 GHz with the same processor using just air or an off the shelf cooling system that cost less than $100.
The processor used to reach that new CPU speed record was the AMD FX, an upcoming eight core processor that uses the Bulldozer design. The CPU hasn"t even been released yet by AMD. It"s scheduled to launch sometime in the fourth quarter of 2011.