Intel Core 2 Duo

Intel Core 2 Duo Architecture :

Intel’s Core Architecture is a first for Intel’s platform development. Core Architecture has been designed to support not only the desktop environment but also mobile and servers.

Smart Cache is Intel’s latest way of not only reducing the amount of cache memory needed for its dual core CPU’s but also a way to increase the efficiency of the data being shared between the 2 cores.

Intel’s Smart Memory Access includes a new technology called memory disambiguation. With this new feature each core is able to guess what data is needed from memory and is able to retrieve it before all the previous instructions in the queue have been completed.

The Core 2 Duo CPU is similar to the Extreme in almost every way. It features use of the same FSB, same cache volume, same transistor count and manufacturing process and only the use of a 10x multiplier giving a speed of 2.66Ghz differentiates it from the Extreme edition. In fact other than the writing on the heat sink it is impossible to tell the difference between each CPU just by looking at it.

There is a small clock speed difference between the two products, there is also one significant feature for the enthusiast market. Whereas previous Extreme CPU's came with increased cache or HT the Core 2 Extreme comes with a very useful feature – an unlocked multiplier. If the Extreme processor is to be over clocked the unlocked multiplier opens up huge performance tweaking options. That said, there is a huge price difference between the 2.93 and 2.66 GHz models and if you aren’t a hard core overclocker it would be hard to justify the extra expense.

The architecture of Intel Core 2, represented by the desktop core Conroe which has grown from the mobile core Yonah. Which in its turn stems from the ideas of Pentium M (Banias and Dothan). What concerns the latter, it has been noted many times that they are direct descendants of the 6-gen core of Intel processors (P6), which had been designed prior to Pentium Pro and had lived to Pentium III. Thus, on one hand, Core 2 is a step back, as it sort of cancels many architectural solutions that appeared in processor cores of the later generations (the famous Intel NetBurst architecture of the seventh generation). On the other hand, we cannot say that Core 2 is the direct heir to Intel P6 because of too many modifications. The new core has been altered beyond recognition :).

The key differences of the new architecture from the closest parent — Intel Core Duo (Yonah) come down to the following:

1. Improved decoder, expanded to 4 decoders of x86 macro-ops (3 in the closest counterparts, Intel Pentium M / Core Duo).
2. The execution speed of 128-bit SIMD instructions is one instruction per cycle in each execution unit (twice as fast as Yonah).
3. Improved operations with memory and hardware prefetch.
4. L2 Cache is shared by both cores, its size is distributed dynamically depending on the load (we have already seen it in Intel Core Duo).
5. Better power saving technologies.
6. Support for a new set of SIMD instructions, SSE4.

The following are the parameters of new processors:

1. 65 nm process technology
2. 1.87-2.93 GHz core
3. 800-1066 MHz FSB (probably 1333 MHz in XE models)
4. 2-4 MB Shared L2 Cache
5. 65-80 Watt TDP

Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme will be the fastest processors available. Faster than the Pentium EE having Smart Cache and Dynamic Execution.


FEATURES OF CORE 2 DUO :

Intel has specifically created one unified Core architecture for all categories: Conroe (desktops), Merom (notebooks), and Woodcrest (workstation/servers). All are based on Intel's Core technologies, and all three are 64-bit-capable dual-core processors with shared enhancements.

It consists of three variations :
Conroe,Merom and Woodcrest.

All three variations (Conroe, Merom, and Woodcrest) will provide more computing power and use less energy. This will help laptops extend their battery life.

Multitasking moves to the next level. With Core 2 Duo's virtualization technology, you can turn one physical PC into several virtual systems, all running different applications and OSs.

The Core 2 Duo processors can processes four full instructions per clock cycle.

Smart Memory Access has been designed to lower memory latency and improve data access. The key to this is "memory disambiguation", which allows the execution cores to pre-load instructions that are about to be executed before the previous instruction has finished. This is based on a set of intelligent algorithms and it doesn't work under all circumstances,