Confused 2 Duo

[PostTribber]

trying to understand the terminology of 'Core 2 Duo'. is this a single Intel 'core' with 2 processors each or 2 Intel 'cores' with 2 processors each? the MacPro comes in configs of 'quad' and 'octo'. is the new iMac a 'quad', or does Core 2 Duo mean it is a 'dual' processor in regards to the old single processor Macs? there's now talk of 'Quad-Core' Duo's in the future? thanks for your help!

 

[Eidorian]

Core 2 = Core Microarchitecture
Duo = Two Cores

 

[PlaceofDis]

the chips in the Mac Pro are different than those that are in the iMacs.

in the iMacs you have one chip with two processing cores.
in the Mac Pro you have the option of either two chips with two processing cores each or two chips with four cores each. quad and octo respectively.

 

[Eidorian]

the chips in the Mac Pro are different than those that are in the iMacs.

Sadly, they aren't. It's the same Core 2 processor but with different thermal characteristics and SMP support.

 

[barr08]

Sadly, they aren't. It's the same Core 2 processor but with different thermal characteristics and SMP support.

Interesting. So, theoretically, with the proper cooling, you could clock a new iMac 2.8 to run faster than a 2.66 MP?

 

[Umbongo]

Intel made a mess of their naming conventions, they are dropping the "duo" part as of 2008.

 

[PlaceofDis]

Sadly, they aren't. It's the same Core 2 processor but with different thermal characteristics and SMP support.

ah, i thought it was a different development platform. thats my mistake then.

 

[daneoni]

Sadly, they aren't. It's the same Core 2 processor but with different thermal characteristics and SMP support.

Are you sure about that...i mean Merom all the way to Xeon?

 

[Eidorian]

Are you sure about that...i mean Merom all the way to Xeon?

They're all Core Microarchitecture processors. They only have different thermal characteristics and the Xeon's support SMP.

 

[PostTribber]

thanks!

the chips in the Mac Pro are different than those that are in the iMacs.

in the iMacs you have one chip with two processing cores.
in the Mac Pro you have the option of either two chips with two processing cores each or two chips with four cores each. quad and octo respectively.

...what was confusing also was at Apple>Mac>iMac>Specs it said "4MB 'shared'..." so that means 4MB shared between both processing cores on the same chip! it also pictured 2 Intel chips, but one of them is the Intel 2 Extreme (barely notice it behind the Intel 2 Duo) leading me to think the iMac had (2) Intel Core 2 Duo's inside. so it'll be a whole lots faster than my 450mhz Sawtooth with twice as many processors. still seems a worth while upgrade.

 

[AlexisV]

I'm seeing adverts for cheap 'Dual core' laptops, wich in fact turn out to be Pentium D's.

 

[Eidorian]

I'm seeing adverts for cheap 'Dual core' laptops, wich in fact turn out to be Pentium D's.

They're actually Pentium Dual Core processors under the T20xx/T21xx model lines. These are based off of Yonah (Core Duo) processors with less L2 cache.