How much of an advantage is Core 2 Duo over Dual Core?

[Jahee]

I'm looking for a laptop currently, and wondering how much of an advantage is the Core 2 Duo over the Dual core? Obviously Core 2 Duo is more expensive, but is it worth it?

I'll just be using the laptop for university work and home multimedia stuff.. No gaming or anything too intensive. Will it be worth the extra cost for me?

 

[Foxery]

You may have your terms mixed up - The word Duo means that these are dual core chips. Both are words for the number two.

As far as what to buy - there are no longer any single-core CPUs on the market, so there's no choice to make!

 

[imported_apocalypse]

Core Duo vs Core 2 Duo maybe? Core 2 is 10%+ faster, clock for clock

There are a lot of cheap core 2 duo options available.

Which laptops are you looking at, if you give more specifics, we can better help you to decide.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Core 2 Duo is more powerful per clock and consumes less power. If you are looking at Core Duo laptops, (Pentium Dual-Core) you may want to look at a computer with an Athlon X2 or Turion X2. But Core 2 Duo is the best option.

 

[Jahee]

Originally posted by: ap0calypse
Core Duo vs Core 2 Duo maybe? Core 2 is 10%+ faster, clock for clock

There are a lot of cheap core 2 duo options available.

Which laptops are you looking at, if you give more specifics, we can better help you to decide.

Thats the answer i was looking for, aswell as BlueAcolytes, thanks..

Every site i've visited offers either a "Core 2 Duo", or a "Pentium Dual-Core".. Maybe the terminology is different in the UK.. Specifically i've been looking at the HP Pavilion systems..

That also brings me to another question... How do the AMD Turion 64 X2 based systems compare to the Intel Core 2 Duo based ones?

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: Foxery
You may have your terms mixed up - The word Duo means that these are dual core chips. Both are words for the number two.

As far as what to buy - there are no longer any single-core CPUs on the market, so there's no choice to make!

Intel named their Pentium E2xxx series with the 'Dual Core' moniker. Text

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: Jahee

Originally posted by: ap0calypse
Core Duo vs Core 2 Duo maybe? Core 2 is 10%+ faster, clock for clock

There are a lot of cheap core 2 duo options available.

Which laptops are you looking at, if you give more specifics, we can better help you to decide.

Thats the answer i was looking for, aswell as BlueAcolytes, thanks..

Every site i've visited offers either a "Core 2 Duo", or a "Pentium Dual-Core".. Maybe the terminology is different in the UK.. Specifically i've been looking at the HP Pavilion systems..

That also brings me to another question... How do the AMD Turion 64 X2 based systems compare to the Intel Core 2 Duo based ones?

"Pentium Dual-Core" chips are essentially the Core2 architecture with less cache. As someone else said, they'll be slightly slower than an equivalent Core2Duo, but not by leaps and bounds. Definitely fine for basic work. Just make sure you have sufficient RAM if you're expecting to run Vista on the laptop.

 

[Jahee]

Originally posted by: DSF

Originally posted by: Jahee

Originally posted by: ap0calypse
Core Duo vs Core 2 Duo maybe? Core 2 is 10%+ faster, clock for clock

There are a lot of cheap core 2 duo options available.

Which laptops are you looking at, if you give more specifics, we can better help you to decide.

Thats the answer i was looking for, aswell as BlueAcolytes, thanks..

Every site i've visited offers either a "Core 2 Duo", or a "Pentium Dual-Core".. Maybe the terminology is different in the UK.. Specifically i've been looking at the HP Pavilion systems..

That also brings me to another question... How do the AMD Turion 64 X2 based systems compare to the Intel Core 2 Duo based ones?

"Pentium Dual-Core" chips are essentially the Core2 architecture with less cache. As someone else said, they'll be slightly slower than an equivalent Core2Duo, but not by leaps and bounds. Definitely fine for basic work. Just make sure you have sufficient RAM if you're expecting to run Vista on the laptop.

Looking at no less than 2GB, will that be sufficient?

 

[Foxery]

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: Foxery
You may have your terms mixed up - The word Duo means that these are dual core chips. Both are words for the number two.

As far as what to buy - there are no longer any single-core CPUs on the market, so there's no choice to make!

Intel named their Pentium E2xxx series with the 'Dual Core' moniker. Text

Yes, except the E2000 and E5000 lines are, in fact, Core2 technology with a misleading product name. (It's meatnt to denote that they are the budget range.) I stand by my statement.

Originally posted by: Jahee
Every site i've visited offers either a "Core 2 Duo", or a "Pentium Dual-Core".. Maybe the terminology is different in the UK.. Specifically i've been looking at the HP Pavilion systems..

That also brings me to another question... How do the AMD Turion 64 X2 based systems compare to the Intel Core 2 Duo based ones?

The terminology is the same - and always a bit convoluted. At any rate, Core2 is a bit newer than the Turion, and should generally be faster with your multimedia apps.

2GB RAM ought to be plenty for a non-gaming machine.

 

[imported_apocalypse]

Originally posted by: Jahee
Looking at no less than 2GB, will that be sufficient?

Are you going to run Vista? I would personally get 4GB for a vista machine, but I do like opening a lot of windows in my browsers and have a few different apps running at the same time.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: ap0calypse

Originally posted by: Jahee
Looking at no less than 2GB, will that be sufficient?

Are you going to run Vista? I would personally get 4GB for a vista machine, but I do like opening a lot of windows in my browsers and have a few different apps running at the same time.

You would make a fantastic PC salesman. Would you recommend quad core for multiple browser windows? :roll:

Originally posted by: Jahee
Looking at no less than 2GB, will that be sufficient?

More than sufficient, especially for "university work and home multimedia stuff.. No gaming or anything too intensive".

 

[DSF]

As Roguestar said, 2GB will be fine, even if you want to play music while you have several browser windows open.

 

[Blain]

Yes, 2GB is fine.
But you'll need at least 1kw PS for running the dual core and memory. 😛

 

[ther00kie16]

I've read some opinions that the Pentium Dual Core CPUs for laptops are closer to what would be a dual core Celeron (btw, Celeron M's for laptops are still single core) so they are significantly slower than the Core duo or Core 2 duo. However, for basic apps, any modern day dual core will do. Cheapest X2 laptop is probably $399 depending on the week while cheapest Pentium dual core is $499 and Core 2 would be $599 (or cheaper online). I recommend a Core 2 for <$600 online as it would be much faster than the other 2 alternatives. Also, if you can wait that long, Black Friday isn't too far away.

 

[Roguestar]

Ok, there is a load of FUD about the Pentium Dual Core series of processors floating around right about now.

Originally posted by: ther00kie16
I've read some opinions that the Pentium Dual Core CPUs for laptops are closer to what would be a dual core Celeron (btw, Celeron M's for laptops are still single core) so they are significantly slower than the Core duo or Core 2 duo. However, for basic apps, any modern day dual core will do. Cheapest X2 laptop is probably $399 depending on the week while cheapest Pentium dual core is $499 and Core 2 would be $599 (or cheaper online). I recommend a Core 2 for <$600 online as it would be much faster than the other 2 alternatives. Also, if you can wait that long, Black Friday isn't too far away.

The Pentium "Dual Core" series consist of laptop and desktop processors.

The Pentium "Dual Core" series is based upon Allendale and Wolfdale microarchitecture, both derivatives of Conroe and Penryn respectively, and have very similar clock-for-clock performance to "full" Core 2 Duo branded CPUs.

The Pentium Dual-Core CPUs for desktop and laptop perform slightly better than what would be an equivalent dual-core Celeron, as the Celeron is also based on a watered-down version of Core 2 microarchitecture, with further watered-down FSB and cache. This was more or less correct in your post, but contextually misleading.

They perform better than the Core Duo range of laptop processors (and infact were designed by Intel to replace them as a Core 2 based laptop processor), and are of almost comparable performance to the Core 2 Duo range, though they have slower FSBs and less cache.

In a laptop, for "university work and home multimedia stuff.. No gaming or anything too intensive", a Pentium Dual Core CPU is more than enough processing power.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Ok, there is a load of FUD about the Pentium Dual Core series of processors floating around right about now.

Originally posted by: ther00kie16
I've read some opinions that the Pentium Dual Core CPUs for laptops are closer to what would be a dual core Celeron (btw, Celeron M's for laptops are still single core) so they are significantly slower than the Core duo or Core 2 duo. However, for basic apps, any modern day dual core will do. Cheapest X2 laptop is probably $399 depending on the week while cheapest Pentium dual core is $499 and Core 2 would be $599 (or cheaper online). I recommend a Core 2 for <$600 online as it would be much faster than the other 2 alternatives. Also, if you can wait that long, Black Friday isn't too far away.

The Pentium "Dual Core" series consist of laptop and desktop processors.

The Pentium "Dual Core" series is based upon Allendale and Wolfdale microarchitecture, both derivatives of Conroe and Penryn respectively, and have very similar clock-for-clock performance to "full" Core 2 Duo branded CPUs.

The Pentium Dual-Core CPUs for desktop and laptop perform slightly better than what would be an equivalent dual-core Celeron, as the Celeron is also based on a watered-down version of Core 2 microarchitecture, with further watered-down FSB and cache. This was more or less correct in your post, but contextually misleading.

They perform better than the Core Duo range of laptop processors (and infact were designed by Intel to replace them as a Core 2 based laptop processor), and are of almost comparable performance to the Core 2 Duo range, though they have slower FSBs and less cache.

In a laptop, for "university work and home multimedia stuff.. No gaming or anything too intensive", a Pentium Dual Core CPU is more than enough processing power.

But he "read some opinions..." :shocked:

 

[ther00kie16]

Originally posted by: Blain

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Ok, there is a load of FUD about the Pentium Dual Core series of processors floating around right about now.

The Pentium "Dual Core" series consist of laptop and desktop processors.

The Pentium "Dual Core" series is based upon Allendale and Wolfdale microarchitecture, both derivatives of Conroe and Penryn respectively, and have very similar clock-for-clock performance to "full" Core 2 Duo branded CPUs.

The Pentium Dual-Core CPUs for desktop and laptop perform slightly better than what would be an equivalent dual-core Celeron, as the Celeron is also based on a watered-down version of Core 2 microarchitecture, with further watered-down FSB and cache. This was more or less correct in your post, but contextually misleading.

They perform better than the Core Duo range of laptop processors (and infact were designed by Intel to replace them as a Core 2 based laptop processor), and are of almost comparable performance to the Core 2 Duo range, though they have slower FSBs and less cache.

In a laptop, for "university work and home multimedia stuff.. No gaming or anything too intensive", a Pentium Dual Core CPU is more than enough processing power.

But he "read some opinions..." :shocked:

Yea, I said they are other people's observations/opinions because I personally haven't used a Pentium Dual Core laptop. I've used laptops with Core Duo, Core 2 Duo and Turion X2 and therefore said that any dual core is fast enough. I was only providing more information that hasn't been presented in this thread about the relative performance of the Dual Cores to the Core 2 and Celeron lines. And yes, I'm aware of the architecture of the different chips but strictly speaking performance-wise, Dual Cores are no Core 2's.