Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 vs Intel Core i3-2375M vs Intel Core 2 Duo SL9300

Intel Core 2 Duo P8600

The Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 is a dual core processor for laptops. It features 2.4 GHz and a shared level 2 cache of 3 MB. Due to the smaller cache (Core 2 Duo T-Models got usually 6 MB at this clock rate), the TDP is only 25 Watt (instead of the 35 Watt of the T-models).

Due to the relatively high clock speed, modern games (in 2009) should not be limited by the CPU speed (in conjunction with a middle class graphics card). High end gamers should choose a higher clocked Dual Core instead (when using a high end GPU). Compared to the fastest Turion II Ultra M640, the P8600 should be still faster.

The P8600 uses a Penryn (Montevina Update) core that features 2 integer units, 1 floating point unit, 1 load unit, and 1 store unit in a 14-stages long pipeline. Due to the Wide Dynamic Execution Technology, the core is able to simultaneously execute up to four instructions.

The integrated Enhanced Speedstep is able to downclock the core dynamically as low as 1200 MHz to save power (in idle mode).

The Core 2 Duo P8600 can be used in a Socket P socket with 479 pins: Socket P / Micro Flip-Chip Pin Grid Array (Micro-FCPGA) requires 479-pin surface mount Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket (mPGA479M socket) or Micro Flip-Chip Ball Grid Array (Micro-FCBGA) for surface mount (479-ball)

Intel Core i3-2375M

The Intel Core i3-2375M is a power efficient ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) processor for thin and light laptops. The base frequency of 1.5 GHz is relatively low and the CPU does not support Turbo Boost for automatic overclocking. Due to HyperThreading, the i7-2375M is able to handle 4 threads in parallel. Compared to similar clocked Celeron and Pentium models, the i3 features the faster HD 3000 graphics card and offers more enabled features (like Quick Sync). However, compared to the expensive i7 CPUs, the i3 lacks VT-d, Trusted Execution and VPro support. The difference to the similar Core i3-2377M is just the lack of Small Business Advantage (SBA) support (needed for the Ultrabook logo).

Sandy Bridge is the evolutionary successor of the Arrandale architecture. The most notable improvements is the improved Turbo 2.0 (not used for the processing cores in the i3-2375M) and the integration of the graphics card into the 32nm CPU core.

The integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 is clocked at 350 up to 1000 MHz (Turbo Boost). Due to the slower clock rate without the Turbo, compared to HD Graphics 3000 in 35W and 45W processors (usually clocked at 650 base speed in non LV processors), the performance is noticeable lower.

The performance of the CPU is a bit higher than a similar clocked Arrandale Core i3 ULV and therefore above the 1.33 GHz Core i3-380UM. The average performance of the CPU part is therefore similar to the AMD A4-3320M. Detailed benchmarks can also be found on the CPU page of the Core i3-2377M.

The TDP of 17W (includes the integrated GPU and memory controller) allows the use of the 2375M CPU in small subnotebooks.

Intel Core 2 Duo SL9300