Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 vs Intel Core i7-2760QM

Intel Core 2 Duo T6600

The Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 is an entry to mid-range dual core processor for laptops. It is based on the Penryn architecture, but features only 2 MB level 2 cache and a mediocre clock rate of 2.2 GHz. Compared to the similar T6670, the T6600 does not feature Virtualization features in hardware and is speced at a lower maximum temperature.

The performance should be suited for non demanding applications like office, internet, entry level video editing or image correction. CPU intense games may be limited by the power of the T6600.

Intel Core i7-2760QM

The Intel Core i7-2760QM is a fast high-end quad core processor for laptops and successor of the slower clocked Core i7-2720QM. It is based on the Sandy Bridge architecture and offers Hyperthreading to handle 8 threads at once (for a better usage of the pipeline). Compared to the previous Clarksdale quad-cores, the i7-2760QM is now manufactured in 32nm and offers an integrated graphics card and AES functions. Compared to the 2820QM, the 2760QM offers less level 3 cache (6 vs. 8MB) but should make this up due to the higher clock speed.

Sandy Bridge is the evolutionary successor of the Arrandale architecture. The most noteable improvements are the new 256Bit AVX instructions, the improved Turbo Boost and the integration of the graphics card into the 32nm CPU core. Furthermore, the integrated memory controller was improved and supports up to 8 GB DDR3-1333.

The i7-2760QM offers an integrated graphics card (Intel HD Graphics 3000) which proved to be clearly faster than the old Intel HD Graphics in the Arrandale CPUs and on a level with entry level dedicated graphics cards like the GeForce 310M. The HD Graphics 3000 also supports Turbo Boost and clocks between 650 MHz and 1300 MHz in the i7-2720QM (should be similar to the 2760QM). As the graphics card shares the fast last level cache, the processor is a bit slower with activated GPU.

The performance of the Core i7-2760QM is only slightly below the Core i7-2920XM (see benchmarks below). Therefore, the performance should be sufficient for modern 3D games and demanding applications. Thanks to the fast Turbo Boost 2.0 even single threaded applications run very fast.

The relative high TDP rating of the 2760QM of 45 Watt enables the usage of the quad core only in 15" laptops and up. However, compared to the previous generation of quad-cores, the TDP improved, as the integrated GPU is now included.