Review: The Intel Core 2 Duo Processors

Intel's new Core 2 Duo Processor Range. What does it mean to everyone? We take a look at what's on offer from Intel.
Author: Michael Keating

The Intel Core 2 Duo is the brand spanking new processor released by Intel, designed to replace the Pentium-branded Processors. These new processors are developed on the state of the art “Core” micro architecture. By micro architecture, we are talking about the actual way the processor is designed and manufactured in silicon. The Core architecture represents a new way of thinking for Intel, which is now focusing on more processing power per watt of power consumed. In other words, its another way to shrink the size of the main component in the system, all the while making it quicker.

For those interested, the Core architecture was developed in the Israel division of Intel. They instigated the release of the Pentium M for notebooks, by trying to increase the amount of battery life for the notebook while maximum the overall power of the system in general. This has matured and developed into the Core 2 Duo in a matter of only a couple of years, by using the same philosophy, as we shall see.

Product Overview

There are five different flavours of the Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, and they are not based on the clock speed now (more on that in a moment). They are: the E6300, E6400, E6600, E6700 and X6800 (listed in increasing order of performance). Each processor is, of course, dual core. By this, we mean that there are 2 physical processors on the one central chip. This of course, improves performance, assuming the software can take advantage of this. Here are some more details:

Model Code	Clock Speed	Front Side Bus	Level 2 Cache Size
E6300	1.86GHz	1066MHz	2MB
E6400	2.13GHz	1066MHz	2MB
E6600	2.4GHz	1066MHz	4MB
E6700	2.66GHz	1066MHz	4MB
X6800	2.93GHz	1066MHz	4MB

The X6800 is the flagship model of the range, tagged the Core 2 Extreme, and is designed for extremely high-end usage (read: hard-core gamers and enthusiasts). However, with the RRP being $2,099, only those with Extreme-ly deep pockets need apply for this one…

It’s how Intel made these processors that need to be looked at, and understood before we can go any further. Most people see the speed of the processor, in GHz, as being the most important factor for choosing a machine. AMD, the second CPU manufacturer in the mainstream market, realised a long time ago that GHz isn’t everything. They have been making processors for several years that outperform a particular Pentium model, while having a clock speed lower than that of the Intel. How the do it is called ‘increasing the Instruction per Second count’. In other words, for each of the, say, 2-billion cycles per second (2GHz), it could process more data in the small period of the cycle, than the Pentium, which relied on increasing the amount of cycles per second (GHz) to increase performance. Well, not any more.

The actual clock speed of the Core 2 Duo models are a lot less than the Pentium 4/D range. So, they generate a lot less heat than ever before, and use a lot less power (the E6300, E6400 and E6600s are rated at 65W consumption max, roughly the same as the average household light bulb!). All the while, they are (officially) the fastest desktop processors in the market. Combined with DDR2 RAM (the only type of RAM that the Core 2 Duo can use) and the new Intel 965 Chipset, you can really create a system that will do practically everything.

System Testing

We have now had a couple of Core 2 Duo performance systems in the store now, and to see the sheer amount of power these systems have is incredible, to say the least. Specs were as follows:

To start off, the fan on top of the processor and heatsink assembly does not even spin up on start up. (This scared us when we first fired it up, we thought we had a dead unit! Some playing around soon showed us that that was normal) This goes to show how much heat the Core 2 Duo doesn’t generate. Once it was all running, we could really test the system.

First off, a straight up stress test for the whole system: 3D Mark 05. This program benchmarks the setup, not just for the graphics but also the Processor/Memory as well. To say that the results were good would be an understatement. Two tests in particular, which forced the CPU to draw all the graphics on the screen, blew us away. Instead of running at a standstill, like it does on most systems, we saw roughly a 300-500% of performance, in terms of framerate. Unreal!

For our next test, we chose a task that most people would be doing, in a fairly regular basis: encode music. By this we mean ripping a CD or converting .WAV files into compress, mp3 files. The maths and calculations involved in this process is pretty hefty, and most modern systems can take around the 5 – 10 minute mark, of course depending on the quality of music that is trying to be achieved, and the other specifications of the system. I chose to encode the music from Need For Speed: Most Wanted game. Roughly 2GB worth of un-compressed music, in 26 songs. Using CDex, and looking for the highest quality music, we saw each song being encoded in 12 seconds each. On a Pentium 4-based system, you could be looking at roughly half a minute for each song, if not more!

The icing on the cake came when we noticed that it was only using one of the processor cores to do the conversion. So we fired up the Need For Speed: Most Wanted Demo, and starting playing a challenge in the game. No slowdowns, stopping, or drop of performance whatsoever. It was playing like it was when we fired it up as the only program running on the system. We could only imagine what other fun, or torture, we could inflict on the system before it would slow down.

Why Choose a Core 2 Duo System?

So what are the more practical uses for a Core 2 Duo based system? Well, there are quite a few, beyond that of gaming and benchmarks.

Firstly, there is the practicality of having a fast processor to be able to deal with anything that you are willing to throw at it. DVD watching, ripping music, serving files on a home network, and editing movies and DVDs all become possible by choosing a Core 2 Duo based system. Not to mention that while editing a video, you can also be converting music to add to a soundtrack for that movie, at the same time. For people who are looking to build a Home Theatre PC (a computer used instead of a DVD player and TV Tuner in the lounge room), a silent PC can be achieved without having to resort to a massive drop in overall performance. And of course, for people looking to play games, a Core 2 Duo based system provides a solid groundwork for basing a great gaming PC.

For those looking at a system that will last them several years, without having to upgrade, using a Core 2 Duo instead of a Pentium-based system will allow them to build a platform that will keep them happy for years to come, without spending a small fortune. Some simple decisions on the overall setup now can prolong the life of a computer system, even when faced with software that seems to be dragging your computer down. With a Core 2 Duo-based system, you can make your new machine the cornerstone of your digital lifestyle.