Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 vs Intel Core 2 Duo SP9300 vs Intel Core 2 Duo SU9600

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 2 Duo SP9300

The Core 2 Duo SP9300 is a power efficient (25W TDP) dual core CPU for laptops. Compared to other Core 2 Duo with 2.26 GHz, the SP9300 features the full 6 MB level 2 cache of the Penryn core. Usually 3MB are enabled for 25 W CPUs at this clock range (e.g. P8400). Therefore, the performance is a bit better than similar clocked C2D CPUs.

Intel Core 2 Duo SU9600

The Intel Core 2 Duo SU9600 is a power efficient subnotebook processor based on the Penryn 3M core. It features all functions of the Penryn core, like Virtualization (VT-x), Trusted Execution and Speedstep. Due to the low core clock, the performance is a bit limited, but should be sufficient for everyday tasks.