Intel Pentium Dual-Core

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Pentium Dual-Core
Central processing unit

Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2140
Produced: From 2006
Manufacturer: Intel
Max CPU clock: 1.4 GHz to 2.6 GHz
FSB speeds: 533 MT/s to 800 MT/s
Min feature size: 0.065 µm
Instruction set: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, x86-64
Microarchitecture: Core Microarchitecture
Cores: 2 (2x1)
Socket: LGA 775, Socket M, Socket P

The Pentium Dual-Core brand refers to lower-end x86-architecture microprocessors from Intel. They are based on either the 32-bit Yonah or 64-bit Allendale processors (with very different microarchitectures) targeted at mobile or desktop computers respectively.

Intel Pentium Dual-Core processor family
Logo Desktop Laptop
Code-named Core Date released code-named Core Date released
Pentium Dual-Core logo as of 2006 Allendale dual (65nm) Jun 2007 Yonah
Merom
dual (65nm)
dual (65nm)
Jan 2007
Nov 2007
List of Intel Pentium Dual-Core microprocessors

In 2006, Intel announced a plan[1] to return the Pentium brand from retirement to the market, as a moniker of low-cost Core architecture processors based on single-core Conroe-L, but with 1 MB cache. The numbers for those planned Pentiums were similar to the numbers of the latter Pentium Dual-Core CPUs, but with the first digit "1", instead of "2", suggesting their single-core functionality. Apparently, a single-core Conroe-L with 1 MB cache was not strong enough to distinguish the planned Pentiums from other planned Celerons, so it was substituted by dual-core CPUs, bringing the "Dual-Core" add-on to the "Pentium" moniker.

The first processors using the brand appeared in notebook computers in early 2007. Those processors, named Pentium T2060, T2080, and T2130[2], had the 32-bit Pentium M-derived Yonah core, and closely resembled the Core Duo T2050 processor with the exception of having 1 MB L2 cache instead of 2 MB[3]. All three of them had a 533 MHz FSB connecting CPU with memory. "Intel developed the Pentium Dual-Core at the request of laptop manufacturers"[4].

Subsequently, on June 3, 2007, Intel released the desktop Pentium Dual-Core branded processors[5] known as the Pentium E2140 and E2160[6]. A E2180 model was released later in September 2007. These processors support the Intel64 extensions, being based on the newer, 64-bit Allendale core with Core microarchitecture. These closely resembled the Core 2 Duo E4300 processor with the exception of having 1 MB L2 cache instead of 2 MB[7]. Both of them had an 800 MHz FSB. They targeted the budget market above the Intel Celeron (Conroe-L single-core series) processors featuring only 512 kB of L2 cache.

Such a step marked a change in the Pentium brand, relegating it to the budget segment rather than its former position as the mainstream/premium brand. An article on Tom's Hardware claims that these CPUs are highly overclockable.

[edit] Comparison to the Pentium D

Although using the 'Pentium' name, the Pentium Dual Core is based on the Core technology, which can clearly be seen when comparing the specification to the Pentium D series. For example, the Pentium Dual Core has a maximum of 1MB of L2 Cache while the Pentium D processors can have up to 4MB of L2 Cache. But the major difference is the Pentium Dual Core processors only consume 65W peak while the Pentium D consumes a considerable 130W peak consumption which shows its relation to the Core power saving technology. Despite having a smaller L2 cache, the Pentium dual-core is proven to be much faster than the Pentium D under a variety of CPU intensive applications.[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Intel Processor Numbers chart for Intel Pentium Dual-Core processors