Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 vs Intel Core i5-520M

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 i5-520M

The Intel Core i5-520M is a dual core CPU for laptops and clocks (due to the Turbo Mode) from 2.4 to 2.93 GHz. Each core is based on the Nehalem (Westmere) micro-architecture. Hyperthreading enables the Dual Core CPU to handle 4 threads at once (for a better usage of the pipeline). Compared to the faster Core i7-620M, the 520M features only 3 MB Level 3 Cache and a lower clock speed (CPU and GPU).

A feature of the new Core i5-520M is the integrated graphics card called GMA HD and memory controller. Both are on a separate die that is still manufactured in 45nm whereas the CPU die is already manufactured in the new 32nm process.

The performance of the i5 520M is on average faster than a Core 2 Duo T9500 and due to the Turbo Boost, single threaded applications run even better. Therefore, the Core i5-520M is as fast as high clocked Core 2 Duo CPUs and should handle most gaming and multimedia tasks well.

The 32nm cpu cores of the Westmere generation can also process some new instructions to accelerate AES encryptions.

The integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD (GMA HD) graphics card is known to be clocked up to 500-766 MHz and should be clearly faster than the old GMA 4500MHD. A GeForce 9400M (ION) should still be a faster (especially as Nvidia and ATI cards have a better driver support than Intel up to now). According to rumors, the GMA core will also use the Turbo Mode regulate the clock speed.

The power consumption of 35 Watt TDP (max.) counts for the whole package and therefore it is clearly better than the 35 Watt TDP of the Core 2 Duo T-series (CPU alone). Due to the Turbo Boost, the Core i5 more likely uses the TDP under load than the older Core 2 Duo CPUs. Without any load, the i5 uses noticable less power.