An Aussie Explains The Different Intel "Core" Chips (In A Way That Even I Can Understand)

From: mssmallbiz@yahoogroups.com [mailto:mssmallbiz@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Quark IT - Hilton Travis
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 6:53 PM
To: mssmallbiz@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [mssmallbiz] dual-core vs core duo vs...

Hi Ben,

I can't talk much aboot the AMD side as we almost exclusively use Intel
CPUs here.

But, as for the Intel side...

Once upon a time there was a processor called the Pentium-III. It got
outdated, so along came the Pentium 4 CPU which was based on the P-III,
but with "more modern" design ideas. Things went swimmingly for a
while, but 2 major issues were noted - 1. It ran so hot in a laptop
computer that it was impractical and 2. It wasn't really that fast.

So, Intel had another thunk aboot the P-III that was, relatively
speaking, a really good CPU. They decided to implement the now "even
more modern" design lessons they learned since designing the Pentium $
and called it the Pentium M (for Mobile). It ran at a much slower clock
speed, power usage and temperature but produced numbers as quickly as
the Pentium 4. "We are onto a good thing here" thought Intel, even
though the Pentium M was a 32-bit only CPU core.

Now, as the desktop CPU requirements were getting biggerer and biggerer,
Intel decided to gaffer tape another Pentium 4 core into the same
package, making the Pentium D. So, the Pentium D is basically 2 *
Pentium 4 CPU cores on individual pieces of silicon in a single package.
Old school. Power hungry. Damn hot.

Intel also needed to update the Pentium M and did so, making the Intel
Core Duo CPU which was 2 * modernized Pentium M cores in the one
package. It, too, was stupidly only 32-bit. It was basically a
stepping stone to a real CPU - the Core 2 Duo - which is a full 64-bit
version of the Core Duo CPU.

Now, Intel has managed to make the Core 2 Duo into a single piece of
silicon, so that there's one chunk of silicon in the CPU package, but it
has 2 * CPU cores. Nifty. Now, they realised that the next step - the
Core 2 Quad - can be initially released by gaffer taping 2 of these bits
of silicon on the one chip - so the current Core 2 Quad CPUs are
basically a pair of Core 2 Duo CPUs in a single package. The upcoming
Core 2 Quad will be a single piece of silicon containing the 4 * CPU
cores.

So, there you go - a basic overview of single and Dual Core Intel P4 (or
Xeon) CPUs and where they evolved. Hope that helps.

--

Regards,

Hilton Travis Phone: +61 (0)7 3344 3889
(Brisbane, Australia) Phone: +61 (0)419 792 394
Manager, Quark IT http://www.quarkit.com.au
Quark AudioVisual http://www.quarkav.net