The Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 and Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 are desktop processors, or central processing units, from the Core 2 brand, which semiconductor company Intel Corp. debuted in 2006 and produced for the next five years. The E8600 is the newer of the two chips, with a release date of 2008 as compared to the 2007 debut of the Q6700. Customers looking for the slightly more advanced and compact chip should go for the E8600, while those more concerned about processing power are better off with the Q6700.
Manufacture
The E8600 falls under Intel Core's 2 Duo division because it consists of two cores, or processing units. The Q6700 has the Core 2 Quad designation because of its quad-core layout. Intel used the 45-nanometer manufacturing process for the E8600, resulting in the cores placed on a die -- a wafer of semiconductor material -- that measures 107 square millimeters and contains 410 million processing transistors. The older Q6700 CPU uses the 65-nm manufacturing process, which produces a larger chip with a 286-square millimeter die size and 582 million transistors.
Speeds
Each Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 and Core 2 Quad Q6700 processor has a clock speed, which is the rate of the chip's execution of basic functions; and front-side bus speed, which measures the speed of data transfer between the CPU and motherboard via the front-side bus interface. The E8600 has a clock speed of 3.33 GHz and FSB speed of 1,333 MHz. The Q6700, on the other hand, is slower -- with a 2.66 GHz clock speed and 1,066 MHz FSB speed.
Cache and Power Consumption
Each E8600 and Q6700 computer chip has two caches: a Level 1 cache and Level 2 cache. These are small memory banks for the processor to access the computer's most frequently used data at a faster rate than the system memory. Intel records the storage amount of the L2 cache on the E8600 and Q6700 as 6MB and 8MB, respectively. Regarding power consumption, the E8600 has a peak thermal design power rating of 65 watts, while the Q6700 is less energy-efficient at 105 W.
Technologies
Both the E8600 and Q6700 are 64-bit processors. Each has virtualization technology for integrating multiple computing environments in a single desktop, Intel SpeedStep for optimal processing without compromising power conservation, TDP technology for encouraging energy efficiency and execute disable bit for anti-virus protection. On the E8600, virtualization is improved for input/output devices, and Intel added Trusted Execution Technology for making desktops even safer from viruses and other threats.
Tags: Intel Core, Core Quad, clock speed, Core E8600, Core Quad Q6700, E8600 Q6700