Intel Core Duo vs. Core 2 Duo: What’s the Difference?

Three people have written to me in the last 10 days asking about
Intel Core Duo CPUs vs. Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs. I figured it was time to
tackle the topic on the blog.

Intel’s really to blame here for a
horrific naming convention. Any half-conscious marketing executive
would commit suicide before putting both a numeral 2 and the word “duo”
in the name of a product, particularly when there’s also a product with
“solo” in the name. But let’s put that aside and look at the specs of
each.

Core Duo is Intel’s first dual-core CPU. It’s a whole new
architecture for Microsoft, using two cores on a single die, which, put
simply, gives you two chips in one package. Running at lower speeds
than the old Pentium line, the Core Duo conserves substantial power vs.
ratcheting up clock speed while offering what was, at the time,
record-breaking performance.

Now there’s Core 2 Duo. In many ways
Core 2 is the same as Core: The chips are built using the same
production process and fit in the same sockets as Core Duo chips.
Putting aside Core 2 Extreme (a fancy version of the Core 2 Duo), you
won’t see many spec changes: Both chips have the same frontside bus
speed of 667MHz, but Core 2 Duo is now available at somewhat faster
clock speeds (as I write this, 2.67GHz chips are available). The
frontside bus communicates between the CPU and RAM (and other
components), and it’s a notorious performance bottleneck for computers.
The Core 2 also has the same L2 cache that the Core has. However, there
are architecture changes to the silicon that give the Core 2 more
sophisticated processing abilities. Both chips exist in desktop and
laptop versions.

Why does all of this matter? Performance, pure
and simple. In my tests, Core 2 Duo computers outperform Core Duo
computers on tasks across the board, from rendering graphics and video
to spell-checking documents. The speed improvement varies widely, but
on average it’s about 30 percent. That’s significant in an industry
that thrives on tiny, incremental improvement. Better yet, there’s not
an appreciable difference in battery life on notebooks, as power
consumption for both chips (at the same clock speed) is about the same.

Now
let’s consider pricing. Initially, Core 2 chips were more expensive
than Core, but that has changed, as Core is practically gone from the
desktop market now. Surprisingly, you can now get a 2.13GHz Core 2 CPU
for less than the price of a 1.66GHz Core CPU.

Still, expect to
see some systems still on the market that use the Core CPU, especially
in laptops. Performance is still very good with Core, so don’t feel
like you’re getting second-class goods if you buy a Core Duo notebook,
but remember you are buying a chip that Intel is no longer actively
selling, and prices for Core 2 systems aren’t really any different than
they were for Cores. If it was my money, I’d hold out for a Core 2
system unless you got a great deal on a Core… which will be all but
vanished from the market in a matter of months.