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Intel Core 2 Duo vs Intel Pentium Dual Core

Posted by Roger Keays, 9 April 2008, 10:08 AM

Dad just called me because he's replacing his desktop at home and he wanted to know what chip I would choose from "Core 2 Duo" and "Dual Core". Damn, how confusing have the Intel brand names become? It used to just be Pentium is good, Celeron is crap. That was easy.

Anyway, it seems that these two chips are pretty much the same except that the Pentium Dual Core has a smaller cache, no virtualisation (VT) and in most cases, a slightly slower front-side bus. So the main difference is the branding and the price. Hooray.

Here are some links on those CPUs:

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Comment posted by: T on 23 April 2008, 8:51 AM

thx

Comment posted by: Lee on 14 May 2008, 7:19 PM

I always wondered what the dif was, I think its silly.

pk.

Comment posted by: Ateanboy on 11 June 2008, 6:29 AM

Actually, another difference is that the cheaper and less powerful Intel Pentium Dual-Core processors are 32-bit, while ALL Intel Core 2, no matter what the price, are ALL 64-bit.

So, the Intel Pentium Dual-Core line is composed both 32-bit and 64-bit processors. But all the processor lines in Intel Core 2 ALL offer 64-bit computing.

Comment posted by: Crapeater on 12 June 2008, 1:02 AM

False: the Pentium Dual Core are 64-bit, just like the Core 2 Duo, because they are technologically identical. The only difference is essentially the smaller L2 cache (1 M instead of 2, 4 or 6). And most benchmarks suggest that, at the same clock frequency, a Dual Core performs no worse than a Core 2 Duo with 2 MB cache. Why? I don't know...

Comment posted by: Roger Keays on 12 June 2008, 1:07 AM

Hey Crapeater. The Intel links above aren't very clear on which are 64 bit, but both chips have at least one variant listed as *not* having Intel 64±. I don't know exactly what that is supposed to mean though. Perhaps that Intel naming and branding is intentionally obscure?

Comment posted by: CPU _Dude on 31 January 2009, 12:42 AM

Core 2 Duo
Core Duo
Pentium Dual Core
Celeron Dual Core
The Celeron Dual Core is limited to 512KB of L2 Cache and has lower Front Side Bus (FSB) and clock speeds than chips higher up on the list. However, it is a very low priced CPU and apparently a good overclocker. The only Celeron Dual Core currently available is the E1200 (January 2008). It has 512 KB of L2 Cache, a clock speed of 1.60 GHz and an 800 MHz FSB.

The Pentium Dual Core is the next step up. With 1 MB of L2 Cache, these chips are still targeted at the cost-conscious. Slightly more expensive and slightly better performing than the Celeron Dual Core. The Pentium Dual Core models are: E2200, E21xx, T23xx, and T20xx. All have 1 MB of L2 Cache, either a 533 MHz or 800 MHz FSB and clock speeds ranging from 1.46 GHz to 2.20 GHz.

The Core Duo chips are dual core cpu’s that have 2 MB of L2 Cache. This is also a 32-bit architecture (Celeron and most Pentium Dual Cores are 64-bit). The Core Duo processors: T2700, T2600, T2500, T24xx, T23xx, T22xx, T2050, L2500, L2400, L2300 (L=Low voltage), U2500, U2400 (U=Ultra low voltage). All have 2 MB of L2 Cache. FSB is either 533 MHz or 667 MHz and clock speeds range from 1.06 GHz(for the U2400) to 2.33 GHz.

Core 2 Duo cpu’s are aimed at both desktop and mobile computers in the mid-range of the processor market. This line of cpu’s have L2 caches ranging from 2MB to 6MB and clock speeds from 1.06 GHz (again, for the Ultra low voltage U7500) to 3.16 GHz. The extra cache and higher clock and bus speeds make these generally more expensive and faster than the Core Duo’s. Intel claims a 25% performance increase between two similarly clocked Core Duo and Core 2 Duo cpu’s (but real world benchmarks pegs 5%-15% as a more reasonable claim).

Intel also manufactures the even more expensive and capable Xeon and Itanium dual and quad-core processors for the high-end workstation and server market.

And the i7 are a whole new technology that are even faster than the Core 2 Duo. I currently upgraded from a Pentium to a Core 2 Duo (E8500) and I am extremely happy. I use it to run music software and the plugin apps are basically a non-event. The i7 technology should be even better but right now the chip and the mobo need to come down in price before I make that leap

Comment posted by: Charles N Kinsey on 17 May 2009, 12:07 AM

I have the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 Yorkfield 3.0GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 130W Quad-Core Processor. My question is the i7 better (translation faster) than what I have. Obviously the i7 extreme is faster but I am asking about the other i7's.

Comment posted by: Chris on 8 July 2009, 5:30 AM

I own a Toshiba laptop with a intel Pentium Dual-Core and my question is can I pull the proccesser and put in the intel Core-Duo? I own a Dell with the Duo and same 3gig. ram at 667mhz. and the Dell is much faster.

Comment posted by: Brad on 21 July 2009, 4:32 PM

You could replace a Pentium Dual Core with a Core 2 Duo (I am not sure about just a Core Duo but they are outdated anyway); the Dual Core and Core 2 Duo both use the LGA775 socket.

Comment posted by: I Caps on 22 July 2009, 10:36 AM

Difference between Dual Core vs Core 2 Duo vs Pentium D explained in details at http://www.ialwayscapital.com/2009/07/difference-between-intel-core-2-duo-vs.html

Comment posted by: ddr on 26 September 2009, 4:46 PM

Hi,

Excellent post and wonderful blog, I really like this type of interesting articles keep it up.

Comment posted by: western digital on 26 September 2009, 9:53 PM

Difference between Intel Core 2 Duo and Dual Core is this:

1. Dual Core processors. They have 2 core in one package, but they are using 1 cache memory for the 2 cores.

2. Core 2 Duo. They have 2 core in one package, but each core have 1 cache memory. And it’s more faster…

Comment posted by: raul on 23 October 2009, 11:02 AM

Crapeater is rigth

Comment posted by: Anonymous on 30 December 2009, 8:45 AM

I agree with ddr, I liked this post too, it was useful to me so I could note better the differences between those processors. Thanks!

Comment posted by: Technologist on 12 January 2010, 9:41 PM

I want to buy a laptop and I want to run a mechanical deign and drawing package like AutoCad Inventor, what processor will suit me well?

Comment posted by: dark on 4 March 2010, 12:43 AM

Thanks... Now i know... Im no longer in the dark... bec im the dark! yeah

Comment posted by: andrew malta on 13 May 2010, 7:08 PM

Core to duo is rather 40% faster than dual core.

Why not thinking on buying core i3 since it is newer faster and has less power consuption.

Comment posted by: sriram on 17 May 2010, 11:06 PM

Good one