General information | |
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Launched | July 26, 2006 |
Discontinued | June 8, 2012[1] |
Marketed by | Intel |
Designed by | Intel |
Common manufacturer |
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Performance | |
Max. CPU clock rate | 1.06 GHz to 3.5 GHz |
FSB speeds | 533 MT/s to 1.6 GT/s |
Data width | 64 bits |
Address width | 36 bits |
Virtual address width | 48 bits |
Cache | |
L1 cache | 64 KB per core (32 KB data + 32 KB instructions) |
L2 cache | Up to 12 MB |
Architecture and classification | |
Application | Desktop Mobile |
Technology node | 65 nm to 45 nm |
Microarchitecture | Core : Merom (65 nm) Penryn (45 nm) |
Instruction set | x86-64 |
Instructions | MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1 |
Physical specifications | |
Transistors |
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Cores |
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Packages |
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Sockets |
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Products, models, variants | |
Core names |
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Product code names |
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Models |
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Variant | |
History | |
Predecessors | Pentium D (desktop) Intel Core Solo/Duo (mobile) |
Successor | Core i3/i5/i7 |
Support status | |
Unsupported |
Intel Core 2 is a processor family encompassing a range of Intel's mainstream 64-bit x86-64 single-, dual-, and quad-core microprocessors based on the Core microarchitecture. The single- and dual-core models are single-die, whereas the quad-core models comprise two dies, each containing two cores, packaged in a multi-chip module. [2] The Core 2 range is the last flagship range of Intel desktop processors to use a front-side bus (FSB).
The introduction of Core 2 relegated the Pentium brand to the mid-range market, and reunified laptop and desktop CPU lines for marketing purposes under the same product name, which were formerly divided into the Pentium 4, Pentium D, and Core Solo/Duo brands.
The Core 2 processor line was introduced on July 27, 2006, [3] comprising the Duo (dual-core) and Extreme (dual- or quad-core CPUs for enthusiasts), and in 2007, the Quad (quad-core) and Solo (single-core) sub-brands. [4] Intel Core 2 processors with vPro technology (designed for businesses) include the dual-core and quad-core branches. [5]
Although Woodcrest processors are also based on the Core 2 architecture, they are available under the Xeon brand. From December 2006, all Core 2 processors were manufactured from 300-millimeter plates at Fab 12 factory in Arizona and at Fab 24-2 in County Kildare, Ireland.
Core 2 and other LGA 775 processors can support virtualization if the virtual machine (VM) software supports those processors, e.g. if the processor supports VT-x.
Newer versions of VM software do not support processors older than Nehalem (Core 2 and older), as they lack support for VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also called Second Level Address Translation (SLAT).
The Core 2-branded CPUs include: Conroe/Allendale (dual-core for desktops), Merom (dual-core for laptops), Merom-L (single-core for laptops), Kentsfield (quad-core for desktops), and the updated variants named Wolfdale (dual-core for desktops), Penryn (dual-core for laptops), Penryn-QC (quad-core for laptops), and Yorkfield (quad-core for desktops). [lower-alpha 1]
The Core 2-branded processors feature Virtualization Technology without extended page tables (EPT) (with some exceptions), the NX bit and SSE3. The Merom microarchitecture introduced SSSE3, Trusted Execution Technology, Enhanced SpeedStep and Active Management Technology 2.0 (iAMT2). The Penryn microarchitecture, a shrink of the former, introduced SSE4.1. With a maximum thermal design power (TDP) of 65 W, the Core 2 Duo Conroe dissipates half the power of the less capable contemporary Pentium D-branded desktop chips [7] that have a max TDP of 130 W. [8]
Original logo | 2009 logo | Desktop | Mobile | ||||
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Code-name | Cores | Release date | Code-name | Cores | Release date | ||
Desktop version not available | Merom-L Penryn-L | Single (65 nm) Single (45 nm) | September 2007 May 2008 | ||||
Conroe Allendale Wolfdale | Dual (65 nm) Dual (65 nm) Dual (45 nm) | July 2006 January 2007 January 2008 | Merom Penryn | Dual (65 nm) Dual (45 nm) | August 2006 January 2008 | ||
Kentsfield Yorkfield | Quad (65 nm) Quad (45 nm) | January 2007 March 2008 | Penryn-QC | Quad (45 nm) | August 2008 | ||
Conroe XE Kentsfield XE Yorkfield XE | Dual (65 nm) Quad (65 nm) Quad (45 nm) | July 2006 November 2006 November 2007 | Merom XE Penryn XE Penryn-QC XE | Dual (65 nm) Dual (45 nm) Quad (45 nm) | July 2007 January 2008 August 2008 | ||
Full list | List of desktop processors | List of mobile processors |
With the release of the Core 2 processor, the abbreviation C2 has come into common use, with its variants C2S (the present Core 2 Solo) C2D (the present Core 2 Duo), and C2Q, C2E to refer to the Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Extreme processors respectively. C2QX stands for the Extreme-Editions of the Quad (such as QX6700, QX6800, QX6850).
The successors to the Core 2 brand are a set of Nehalem-based processors called Core i3, i5, and i7. The Core i7 was officially launched on November 17, 2008, as a family of three quad-core processor high-end desktop models; further models started appearing throughout 2009. The last processor of the family to be released was the Core 2 Quad Q9500 in January 2010. The Core 2 processor line was removed from the official price lists in July 2011, [9] [10] and the last processors were discontinued in June 2012. [1]
Celeron is a discontinued series of low-end IA-32 and x86-64 computer microprocessor models targeted at low-cost personal computers, manufactured by Intel. The first Celeron-branded CPU was introduced on April 15, 1998, and was based on the Pentium II.
Centrino is a brand name of Intel Corporation which represents its Wi-Fi and WiMAX wireless computer networking adapters. Previously the same brand name was used by the company as a platform-marketing initiative. The change of the meaning of the brand name occurred on January 7, 2010. The Centrino was replaced by the Ultrabook.
Xeon is a brand of x86 microprocessors designed, manufactured, and marketed by Intel, targeted at the non-consumer workstation, server, and embedded markets. It was introduced in June 1998. Xeon processors are based on the same architecture as regular desktop-grade CPUs, but have advanced features such as support for error correction code (ECC) memory, higher core counts, more PCI Express lanes, support for larger amounts of RAM, larger cache memory and extra provision for enterprise-grade reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) features responsible for handling hardware exceptions through the Machine Check Architecture (MCA). They are often capable of safely continuing execution where a normal processor cannot due to these extra RAS features, depending on the type and severity of the machine-check exception (MCE). Some also support multi-socket systems with two, four, or eight sockets through use of the Ultra Path Interconnect (UPI) bus, which replaced the older QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) bus.
The Intel Core microarchitecture is a multi-core processor microarchitecture launched by Intel in mid-2006. It is a major evolution over the Yonah, the previous iteration of the P6 microarchitecture series which started in 1995 with Pentium Pro. It also replaced the NetBurst microarchitecture, which suffered from high power consumption and heat intensity due to an inefficient pipeline designed for high clock rate. In early 2004 the new version of NetBurst (Prescott) needed very high power to reach the clocks it needed for competitive performance, making it unsuitable for the shift to dual/multi-core CPUs. On May 7, 2004 Intel confirmed the cancellation of the next NetBurst, Tejas and Jayhawk. Intel had been developing Merom, the 64-bit evolution of the Pentium M, since 2001, and decided to expand it to all market segments, replacing NetBurst in desktop computers and servers. It inherited from Pentium M the choice of a short and efficient pipeline, delivering superior performance despite not reaching the high clocks of NetBurst.
Yonah is the code name of Intel's first generation 65 nm process CPU cores, based on cores of the earlier Banias / Dothan Pentium M microarchitecture. Yonah CPU cores were used within Intel's Core Solo and Core Duo mobile microprocessor products. SIMD performance on Yonah improved through the addition of SSE3 instructions and improvements to SSE and SSE2 implementations; integer performance decreased slightly due to higher latency cache. Additionally, Yonah included support for the NX bit.
Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extensions 3 is a SIMD instruction set created by Intel and is the fourth iteration of the SSE technology.
Pentium is a discontinued series of x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel. The original Pentium was first released on March 22, 1993. The name "Pentium" is originally derived from the Greek word pente (πεντε), meaning "five", a reference to the prior numeric naming convention of Intel's 80x86 processors (8086–80486), with the Latin ending -ium since the processor would otherwise have been named 80586 using that convention.
LGA 771, also known as Socket J, is a CPU interface introduced by Intel in 2006. It is used in Intel Core microarchitecture and NetBurst microarchitecture (Dempsey) based DP-capable server processors, the Dual-Core Xeon is codenamed Dempsey, Woodcrest, and Wolfdale and the Quad-Core processors Clovertown, Harpertown, and Yorkfield-CL. It is also used for the Core 2 Extreme QX9775, and blade servers designated under Conroe-CL.
Nehalem is the codename for Intel's 45 nm microarchitecture released in November 2008. It was used in the first generation of the Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, and succeeds the older Core microarchitecture used on Core 2 processors. The term "Nehalem" comes from the Nehalem River.
The Pentium Dual-Core brand was used for mainstream x86-architecture microprocessors from Intel from 2006 to 2009, when it was renamed to Pentium. The processors are based on either the 32-bit Yonah or 64-bit Merom-2M, Allendale, and Wolfdale-3M core, targeted at mobile or desktop computers.
Haswell is the codename for a processor microarchitecture developed by Intel as the "fourth-generation core" successor to the Ivy Bridge. Intel officially announced CPUs based on this microarchitecture on June 4, 2013, at Computex Taipei 2013, while a working Haswell chip was demonstrated at the 2011 Intel Developer Forum. Haswell was the last generation of Intel processor to have socketed processors on mobile. With Haswell, which uses a 22 nm process, Intel also introduced low-power processors designed for convertible or "hybrid" ultrabooks, designated by the "U" suffix. Haswell began shipping to manufacturers and OEMs in mid-2013, with its desktop chips officially launched in September 2013.
Conroe is the code name for many Intel processors sold as Core 2 Duo, Xeon, Pentium Dual-Core and Celeron. It was the first desktop processor to be based on the Core microarchitecture, replacing the NetBurst microarchitecture based Cedar Mill processor. It has product code 80557, which is shared with Allendale and Conroe-L that are very similar but have a smaller L2 cache. Conroe-L has only one processor core and a new CPUID model. The mobile version of Conroe is Merom, the dual-socket server version is Woodcrest, the quad-core desktop version is Kentsfield and the quad-core dual-socket version is Clovertown. Conroe was replaced by the 45 nm Wolfdale processor.
Merom is the code name for various mobile Intel processors that are sold as Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Solo, Pentium Dual-Core and Celeron. It was the first mobile processor to be based on the Core microarchitecture, replacing the Enhanced Pentium M-based Yonah processor. Merom has the product code 80537, which is shared with Merom-2M and Merom-L that are very similar but have a smaller L2 cache. Merom-L has only one processor core and a different CPUID model. The desktop version of Merom is Conroe and the dual-socket server version is Woodcrest. Merom was manufactured in a 65 nanometer process, and was succeeded by Penryn, a 45 nm version of the Merom architecture. Together, Penryn and Merom represented the first 'tick-tock' in Intel's Tick-Tock manufacturing paradigm, in which Penryn was the 'tick' to Merom's 'tock'.
Penryn is the code name of a mobile processor from Intel that is sold in varying configurations such as Core 2 Solo, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, Pentium and Celeron.
Wolfdale is the code name for a processor from Intel that is sold in varying configurations as Core 2 Duo, Celeron, Pentium and Xeon. In Intel's Tick-Tock cycle, the 2007/2008 "Tick" was Penryn microarchitecture, the shrink of the Merom microarchitecture to 45 nanometers as CPUID model 23. This replaced the Conroe processor with Wolfdale.
Yorkfield is the code name for some Intel processors sold as Core 2 Quad and Xeon. In Intel's Tick-Tock cycle, the 2007/2008 "Tick" was Penryn microarchitecture, the shrink of the Core microarchitecture to 45 nanometers as CPUID model 23, replacing Kentsfield, the previous model.
Lynnfield is the code name for a quad-core processor from Intel released in September 2009. It was sold in varying configurations as Core i5-7xx, Core i7-8xx or Xeon X34xx. Lynnfield uses the Nehalem microarchitecture and replaces the earlier Penryn based Wolfdale and Yorkfield processors, using the same 45 nm process technology, but with a new memory and bus interface. The product code for Lynnfield is 80605, its CPUID value identifies it as family 6, model 30 (0106Ex).
Intel Core is a line of multi-core central processing units (CPUs) for midrange, embedded, workstation, high-end and enthusiast computer markets marketed by Intel Corporation. These processors displaced the existing mid- to high-end Pentium processors at the time of their introduction, moving the Pentium to the entry level. Identical or more capable versions of Core processors are also sold as Xeon processors for the server and workstation markets.
In Intel's Tick-Tock cycle, the 2007/2008 "Tick" was the shrink of the Core microarchitecture to 45 nanometers as CPUID model 23. In Core 2 processors, it is used with the code names Penryn, Wolfdale and Yorkfield, some of which are also sold as Celeron, Pentium and Xeon processors. In the Xeon brand, the Wolfdale-DP and Harpertown code names are used for LGA 771 based MCMs with two or four active Wolfdale cores.
1st public demonstration: Anandtech discovers Core 2 Duo performance under the supervision of Francois Piednoel