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I was wondering what is the best Intel Processor? There is all like Pentium D, Pentium M, Celeron, Dual Core etc but I don't understand them all. Anyone willing to explain?
Hey,
I was wondering what is the best Intel Processor? There is all like Pentium D, Pentium M, Celeron, Dual Core etc but I don't understand them all. Anyone willing to explain?
Well, the 'best' desktop chip is the intel core 2 quad extreme IIRC. But then it all depends on the purpose of that chip. You wouldn't use that chip in a umpc for example. You choose the chip for the purpose you want to use it for.
As above, the best Intel desktop chip is the Core 2 Duo/Quad processor.
Starting off with Celeron, these are aimed at lower end desktops and laptops. These are perfectly suitable for most light applications. Celeron's generally have the same clock speed (measured in MHz/GHz, Megahertz/Gigahertz), as other processors but the cache (processor onboard memory), is relatively small, which keeps the price down.
Pentium M's are used generally for laptops/notebooks, offering good performance. These are suitable for light/medium applications, however (to my knowledge) they're now discontinued. Pentium M's generally have a much larger cache than Celeron's, which means they perform better in most scenarios.
Pentium 4's are very similar to that of Pentium M's, however Pentium 4's are generally used in desktops. Pentium 4 was Intel's flagship processor for quite a number of years, until the dual core/multi core era began. Pentium 4's are still very good processors, however these also are now discontinued. Pentium 4's are suitable for medium applications, however there were quite a few revisions to the Pentium 4 specification in its time.
Dual Core's are essentially two Pentium 4's put together, so you have two 'brains' working together. As you can imagine, these ran incredibly hot and were mostly used in desktops. I have seen them used in laptops too, however the battery life is poor. Dual Core's are suitable for medium/high applications. Later revisions of Dual Core's had a larger cache than Pentium 4's, coupled with two cores (brains) made them perform better than Pentium 4 in most applications (that is, if the application was written to use multiple cores).
Core 2 Duo - Intel's current flagship processor. This also is a processor with two brains, however because it was designed as a true "multi core" from the beginning it out performs Dual Core processors, runs a lot cooler and later revisions come with an even larger cache than Dual Core processors. Core 2 Duo's are found in a lot of desktops and laptops and is the processor of choice for most users. I have one myself and they are superb, highly recommended!
Core 2 Quad, is exactly the same as Core 2 Duo, but comes with four cores instead of just two. As if two wasn't enough already! Core 2 Quad is aimed at very heavy users or enthusiasts who have endless amounts of cash to spend, or lack of sense! It never is cost effective to buy a top of the range processor, as the price/performance ratio is comparatively poor to other more widely used processors.
Intel Xeon, is widely used in servers. In the old days, Xeons were the only way to go multi core, with two physical processors in one computer. Xeons are very expensive, but they are superb processors. These days, Xeons come with multi cores and a lot of cache (each), which sets them apart from Core 2 Duo. There are a wide range of Xeon revisions with the regular increase in demand for power, (within smaller densities) from schools and businesses.
I could go into a lot more detail, however I hope this guide points you in the right direction. I have written this guide in order of processor power/performance starting from lower to the very highest. If you're on the look out for a computer, I would recommend a Core 2 Duo processor. These start from around £80 upwards.
The Core 2 Duos are also extremely overclockable.
i have my Q6600 (quad core) running at 3.6ghz with all cores running below 50 degrees on full load. This is with air cooling using a TR Ultra 120 Ex HSF.
just to add to what michael has said, there are various core duo versions for the laptops. To deal with the power consumption problems intel have released various versions of low voltage processors designated LV and ULV for ultra-low voltage. You'll find these in ultraportables such as the panasonic business toughbooks. They run at lower clockspeeds 1.0ghz to 1.6ghz, much lower than the core 2 duos and there are 'solo' versions of the ULV proc. that don't have 2 cores.Originally Posted by My220x
Despite the drawback of the sluggish performance the ULV's can provide much better battery life than the more power hungry core 2 duos.
Of note, intel will be moving to a 45nm manufacutring process with the next-gen 'penryn' processors. As yet there are no LV or ULV processors in the penryn roadmap. Observers have speculated that this is because the 'penryn' line will consume less power overall, so there won't be a requirement for ULV and LV processors for ultraportables. A different processor codenamed 'merom' is targeted for use in umpc's and small internet tablets. Hence the speculation that intel won't release a ULV version of the penryn.
'Penryn's main aim will be the smaller footprint and lower power consumption, therefore there's less of a focus on ramping up clock speeds and performance.
Don't expect quad core processors for anything other than high-end gaming laptops anytime soon. Then again, who needs such a power hungry beast in a latop ?
Ever considered AMD? Mine is an Athalon 64 x2 5600+ was rather cheap in comaparison to the intels.
Sounds good, yes?
That's because they're not as fast or energy efficient as the Intel Core2Duo's
does job for me anyways!
Yeah, just being cheeky! There's not much in it really TBH but the intel Core2 chips have a slight performance edge at the moment over the AMD X2s.
Last edited by flyinghaggis; 10th March 2008 at 12:04 PM.
What about Pentium D?
Pentium D has been phased out by Intel. Its dual core or Core 2 Duo now
Right, i'm being lazy and should look this up myself, but what is the difference between pentium dual core and core 2 duo......
I think the intel marketing dept or the persons in charge of product naming should be sacked for confusing customers. Either that or they should just stick with the codenames.
That was answered in an ealier post.
P4's are two single core chips mated whereas the core2 were designed from the ground up to be multi core and hence run much cooler.
Pentium4 chips weren't dual core at all, just some trickery to fool the operating system.
The C2D is based on the Pentium M, which is in turn engineered in Israel and based on the Pentium 3, fact fans!
They're pretty much the same architecture. Pentium Dual Core processors just have less on-board cache.
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