Core 2 Duo and Pentium Dual core processors are great in their own way. Both CPUs have two cores on one physical package. The two cores enable processing three times faster than single-core CPUs. Both processors have 64-bit technology. However, there continues to be confusion about price, CPU speed, bus speed and size of L2 cache.
What differences exist? What are the similarities? Here are some comparisons that will clear things up when deciding on one.
Mobile Pentium Dual
The T2130, T2080 and T2060 are Pentium dual cores but they have 32-bit instruction sets. They can't run 64-bit and they are compatible with socket M.
The T2310, T2330, T2370, T2390, T2410, T3200, T3400, and T4200 are 64-bit and can run 32- and 64-bit operating systems, games and applications. They are compatible with socket P.
Desktop Duals
The Intel Pentium Dual Processor 800, 900, E2000, E5000, and E6000 series are dual-core processors and have Intel's 64-bit architecture. Budget-priced and great for overclocking, they have fewer features than Core 2 Duo. L2 cache, for instance, comes in only two sizes, 1 and 2 megabytes.
Pentium Dual Extreme Editions are another story. L2 cache sizes are 2 and 4 Mbytes. The speeds are up to 3.73 GHz. All Pentium duals fit socket 775.
Mobile 2 Duo
Laptop users can choose from well over 50 Core 2 Duo processors. Unlike the Pentium Dual, these processors are not specifically budget CPUs. Nevertheless, pricing of the Core 2 Duo is competitive in the low and mid-range.
The Core 2 Duo offers more options. For instance, the processor speed ranges up to 3.06 GHz. L2 cache size can range up to 6 Mbytes. The bus speeds are up to 1,006 MHz.
Desktop 2 Duo
The series are E4000, E6000, E7000, E8000. All are 64-bit. The E series like E6300, 6320, 6400, 6420, 6540, 6600, 6700, 6750,6850 are all Core 2 Duo.
The E8000 series processor speeds are as fast as 3.33 GHz, bus speed up to 1,333 MHz with L2 cache as large as 6 Mbytes.
Core 2 Duo processors offer more features of Intel's advanced technology.
Common Features
Both processors are overclockable with motherboard support, though Pentium Dual seems preferred. A properly overclocked CPU will perform better.
Efficient power consumption on the desktop and especially with laptops is common to both processors.
Cautions
Look out when choosing an Intel E6300. Why? Because there is an E6300 Core 2 Duo and an E6300 Dual.
Both have the same bus speed of 1,066 MHz and 2 Mbytes of L2 cache. But the Pentium E6300 Dual---a newer, faster processor---is 2.8 GHz and the price is affordable. The Core 2 Duo E6300 speed is 1.86 GHz. Core 2 Duo E6300 is much older and you probably will get a great deal on one. Nevertheless, the Pentium Dual E6300 is the better and more advanced processor of the two.
Tags: Pentium Dual, Core E6300, compatible with, compatible with socket, Core processors, Mbytes speeds