Well, it may not be exactly that easy, but AMD is certainly making it easier to increase the performance of their Phenom 8000 series triple-core and 9000 series quad-core processors.

According to TG Daily, AMD Phenom processors include six “hidden pins”, which can enable simple overclocking through your motherboard’s southbridge chip. This can either be done through the bios, a utility program, or by pressing a button on certain motherboards. If your motherboard has an AMD southbridge chip, including the SB600, SB700 and SB750 models, you can easily get a “free” upgrade to a processor running up to 3.2 GHz. That’s a clock speed comparable to the Athlon X2 6400+, AMD’s fastest clocked processor available to date.

Overclockers will be happy to know that Intel’s Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz Processor has dropped to an all time low of $277.99! (as of the time of this post) This is a serious beast of a processor for under the $300 mark. We’ve seen this processor running stable overclocked at 3.6GHz. So ultimately, you’re able to get a quad core 3.6GHz processor for under $300, which is pretty amazing and good news to anyone looking to build a serious rig for multimedia and gaming without laying down serious cash for an Intel Extreme.

*Please note - overclocking your cpu will probably void your warranty.

And some fries to go with that shake:

• ASUS P5K Deluxe/WiFi-AP Desktop Board
• PNY XLR8 2GB 1066MHz DDR2-1066/PC2-8500 CAS 5 Memory
• BFG TECH GeForce 8800 GTX OC Graphics Card

Checkout this article on bit-tech.net for information on overclocking the Q6600

We’re always looking for the best gear for gaming - keyboards, mice, surfaces, routers, graphics cards, you name it… but today we found our lust item for the ultimate gamer/audiophile.

The SteelSeries 5H v2 USB Stereo Headset is a truly remarkable professional gaming headset. Every detail and aspect has been designed and developed in cooperation with the best gamers in the world. The sound quality is awe-inspiring, allowing gamers to rely fully on their senses. The headset features a pull-out microphone attached to the right cup and the microphone metal goose neck is covered in high quality transparent plastic to ensure durability. The headset can be disassembled into three separate parts to ensure safe and easy transportation, perfect for taking with you to LAN parties. But one of the best aspects of this set is that it comes with a gaming optimized USB soundcard that supports 7.1 virtual surround sound. The soundcard software allows you to make your own custom sound settings, allowing you to choose from different audio settings for games and music.

SteelSeries also makes an array of other gaming headsets in various sizes and options with both USB and stereo connectivity.