First time overclocking Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 processor

I bought a second hand pc which has Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 processor and some msi board. It has 8GB RAM on the same. I added my old 1TB drive on the same and it is working fine. I can play games like Far Cry 4 on it due to a good gpu support. Now when I connect dual monitor I can see some lagging issue in the game. I want to know that does overclocking this processor will be enough. I am not having any liquid cooler in the pc. And I had also found that old cpu heats up a lot compare to a new one.

You will need a good liquid cooler if you do not want to burn your processor. Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 is old high end processor. It is not having the power management technology that new processors have. So it will surely heat a lot on extreme usage. And in overclocking there is more risk. The latest 3rd Generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processor are the best when it comes to overclocking. They are more smartly designed with latest support for handling pressure. If you are planing to add a liquid cooler then I think you must overclock.

I also think the same way. If you are not having a liquid cooler then it will be very complicated for you to work on the same. Overclocking can be tough if your pc is not complicated updated. Like you must have a good psu unit. And above all a good cooler is also an important requirement. Having a good ram and gpu is not enough. Your motherboard must also be designed to handle overclocking pressure. Today's latest motherboard comes loaded with overclocking utility in bios itself. And they are designed to handle high heat.