Some PCs can be overclocked to achieve faster performance, but a significant difference usually requires more advanced cooling and higher-end components. ASUS just broke a world record for CPU overclocking, using an Intel Core i9 and liquid helium.

ASUS published a press release and YouTube video showcasing its new world record for CPU overclocking, which pushed the 13th gen Intel Core i9-13900K to an incredible 9.008 GHz — under normal conditions, that processor has a maximum boost clock of 5.8 GHz. The feat was achieved using ASUS’ own ROG Maximus Z790 Apex motherboard, an ROG Thor 1600W Titanium power supply, and “a healthy supply of liquid helium.”

The company said, “a limited supply of liquid helium forced the team to accomplish this historic feat within one hour. They had initial success reaching 8.9 GHz, but the target of 9 GHz was always in their sights. In their first attempts, they just could not get it to validate. Adding to the pressure, one of the USB ports froze up, disabling the system’s keyboard and wasting precious time.” Eventually, the team was able to save the result.

According to Intel’s HWBOT rankings, the previous record holder was from over eight years ago, when an AMD FX-8370 was cooled with liquid nitrogen to reach a clock speed of 8.72 GHz. The CPU reached a temperature of -186°C, or -302.8°F. ASUS’s team was testing a Core i9-13900K with liquid nitrogen cooling, where it achieved 8.7 GHz, and some extra tinkering and a different chemical was enough to break all existing records.

Source: ASUS