Intel Core 2 Duo SP9400 vs Apple M2 Pro vs Intel Core 2 Duo P9600
Intel Core 2 Duo SP9400
► remove from comparisonThe Intel Core 2 Duo SP9400 is a laptop CPU with the full 6MB level 2 cache at 2.4 GHz and a TDP of only 25 Watt.
Apple M2 Pro
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The Apple M2 Pro is a System on a Chip (SoC) from Apple that is found in the early 2023 MacBook Pro 14 and 16-inch models. It offers all 12 cores available in the chip divided in eight performance cores (P-cores) and four power-efficiency cores (E-cores). The E-cores clock with up to 3.4 GHz, the P-Cores up to 3.7 GHz (mostly 3.3 GHz in multi-threaded workloads and 3.4 GHz in single threaded).
The big cores (codename Avalanche) offer 192 KB instruction cache, 128 KB data cache, and 36 MB shared L2 cache (up from 24 MB in the M1 Pro). The four efficiency cores (codename Blizzard) are a lot smaller and offer only 128 KB instruction cache, 64 KB data cache, and 4 MB shared cache. CPU and GPU can both use the 24 MB SLC (System Level Cache).
The unified memory (16 or 32 GB LPDDR5-6400) next to the chip is connected by a 256 Bit memory controller (200 GB/s bandwidth) and can be used by the GPU and CPU.
Apple states that the M2 Pro has a 25% higher performance than the M1 Pro in Xcode compiling.
The integrated graphics card in the M1 Pro offers all 19 cores.
Furthermore, the SoC integrates a fast 16 core neural engine (faster than M1 Pro), a secure enclave (e.g., for encryption), a unified memory architecture, Thunderbolt 4 controller, an ISP, and media de- and encoders (including ProRes).
The M2 Pro is manufactured in 5 nm at TSMC (second generation) and integrates 40 billion transistors.
Intel Core 2 Duo P9600
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The Intel Core 2 Duo P9600 was a upper middle class dual core CPU for laptops, at the time of introduction. It is similar to the Core 2 Duo T9550 except for the lower TDP of 25 versus 35 Watt).
Due to the relatively high clock speed and 6MB Level 2 cache, the P9600 offers enough performance for demanding games (in 2009) and applications. The newer Core i3-330M should deliver a similar performance due to the hyperthreading support.
The P9600 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 to save power (in idle mode).
Model | Intel Core 2 Duo SP9400 | Apple M2 Pro | Intel Core 2 Duo P9600 | ||||||||||||||||
Codename | Penryn | Penryn | |||||||||||||||||
Series | Intel Core 2 Duo | Apple M2 | Intel Core 2 Duo | ||||||||||||||||
Series: Core 2 Duo Penryn |
| ||||||||||||||||||
Clock | 2400 MHz | 2424 - 3504 MHz | 2660 MHz | ||||||||||||||||
FSB | 1066 | 1066 | |||||||||||||||||
L2 Cache | 6 MB | 36 MB | 6 MB | ||||||||||||||||
Cores / Threads | 2 / 2 | 12 / 12 | 2 / 2 | ||||||||||||||||
TDP | 25 Watt | 25 Watt | |||||||||||||||||
Transistors | 410 Million | 40000 Million | 410 Million | ||||||||||||||||
Technology | 45 nm | 5 nm | 45 nm | ||||||||||||||||
Voltage | 0.9-1.2125 V | 1.05-1.212V V | |||||||||||||||||
Die Size | 107 mm2 | 107 mm2 | |||||||||||||||||
max. Temp. | 105 °C | 105 °C | |||||||||||||||||
Socket | BGA956 | PGA478 | |||||||||||||||||
Features | Virtualization (VT-x), Trusted Execution, Intel 64, Enhanced Speedstep, Execute Disable Bit | ARMv8 Instruction Set | Virtualization Technology (VT-x), Trusted Execution, Intel 64, Enhanced Speedstep, Execute Disable Bit | ||||||||||||||||
Architecture | x86 | ARM | x86 | ||||||||||||||||
$284 U.S. | $348 U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
Announced | |||||||||||||||||||
Manufacturer | ark.intel.com | ark.intel.com | |||||||||||||||||
L1 Cache | 3.3 MB | 128 KB | |||||||||||||||||
L3 Cache | 24 MB | ||||||||||||||||||
iGPU | Apple M2 Pro 19-Core GPU |
Benchmarks
Average Benchmarks Intel Core 2 Duo SP9400 → 0% n=0
Average Benchmarks Apple M2 Pro → 0% n=0
Average Benchmarks Intel Core 2 Duo P9600 → 0% n=0

* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation