Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 vs Apple M3 Max 14-Core vs Intel Core 2 Duo P8600
Intel Core 2 Duo T9550
► remove from comparisonThe Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 was the middle class dual core CPU for laptops at the time of introduction. It is similar to the Core 2 Duo P9600 except for the higher TDP of 35 versus 25 Watt.
Due to the relatively high clock speed and 6MB Level 2 cache, the T9550 offers enough performance for demanding games (in 2009) and applications.
The T9550 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).
Apple M3 Max 14-Core
► remove from comparisonThe Apple M3 Max 14 core CPU is a system on a chip (SoC) from Apple for notebooks that was introduced towards the end of 2023. It integrates a new 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores with up to 4.06 GHz and 4 efficiency cores with 2.8 GHz. There is also a more powerful 16-core variant with 40 GPU cores.
Thanks to the higher clock rates and architectural improvements, the processor performance is also significantly better than the M2 Max in benchmarks and can keep up with the fastest mobile CPUs.
The M3 also integrates a new graphics card with dynamic caching, mesh shading and ray tracing acceleration via hardware. In the cheaper model, 30 of the chip's 40 cores are used and support up to 5 displays simultaneously (internal and 4 external).
GPU and CPU can jointly access the shared memory on the package (unified memory). This is available in 36 and 96 GB variants and offers 400 GB/s maximum bandwidth (512 bit bus).
The integrated 16-core Neural Engine has also been revised and now offers 18 TOPS peak performance (compared to 15.8 TOPS in the M2 but 35 TOPS in the new A17 Pro). The video engine now also supports AV1 decoding in hardware. H.264, HEVC and ProRes (RAW) can still be decoded and encoded. Like its predecessor, the Max chip offers two video engines and can therefore encode and decode two streams simultaneously.
Unfortunately, the integrated WLAN only continues to support WiFi 6E (no WiFi 7), unlike the small M3 SoC thunderbolt 4 is also supported (max 40 Gbit/s).
The chip is manufactured in the current 3nm process (N3B) at TSMC and contains 92 billion transistors (+37% vs. Apple M2 Max).
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600
► remove from comparisonThe 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)
Model | Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 | Apple M3 Max 14-Core | Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Series | Intel Core 2 Duo | Apple Apple M3 | Intel Core 2 Duo | ||||||||||||||||||||
Codename | Penryn | Penryn | |||||||||||||||||||||
Series: Core 2 Duo Penryn |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Clock | 2660 MHz | 2748 - 4056 MHz | 2400 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||
FSB | 1066 | 1066 | |||||||||||||||||||||
L1 Cache | 128 KB | 128 KB | |||||||||||||||||||||
L2 Cache | 6 MB | 3 MB | |||||||||||||||||||||
Cores / Threads | 2 / 2 | 14 / 14 10 x 4.1 GHz Apple M3 P-Core 4 x 2.7 GHz Apple M3 E-Core | 2 / 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
TDP | 35 Watt | 78 Watt | 25 Watt | ||||||||||||||||||||
Transistors | 410 Million | 92000 Million | 274 Million | ||||||||||||||||||||
45 nm, 1.05-1.212V | 3 nm | 45 nm, 1-1.25 V | |||||||||||||||||||||
Die Size | 107 mm2 | 81 mm2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
max. Temp. | 105 °C | 105 °C | |||||||||||||||||||||
Socket | BGA479, PGA478 | Socket P (BGA479, PGA478) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Features | Virtualization, Trusted Execution, Intel 64, Enhanced Speedstep (up to C6), ExBit, SSE4.1 | ARMv8 Instruction Set | SSE4.1, Virtualization Technology, Execute Disable Bit, Enhanced Speedstep, Ehnaced Halt State (C1E), 64 Bit, Trusted Execution Technology | ||||||||||||||||||||
Architecture | x86 | ARM | x86 | ||||||||||||||||||||
$316 U.S. | $209 U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Announced | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Manufacturer | ark.intel.com | www.apple.com | ark.intel.com | ||||||||||||||||||||
iGPU | Apple M3 Max 30-Core GPU |