Question : Problem: Core 2, Duo Core, Core 2 Duo, etc.

Yet another Core Duo/Duo Core/Core 2 question...

It's been awhile since I bought a computer, but I am configuring a Dell laptop, and for the processors they have the following options.  How many combinations of the word Duo and Core and the number 2 can they come up with???

Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 (1.83GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB)
Intel Core 2 Duo T5200 (1.6GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
Intel Core DUO T2350 (1.86GHz,  2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
Intel Pentium dual-core T2080 (1MB Cache/1.73GHz/533MHz FSB)

The first choice is the most expensive, so I gather that is the fastest, but is the Pentium option a pentium 4, or a pentium D...is there a difference?  Is a Core DUO older technology than the Core 2 Duo?

Has Intel purposely created this "core" "Duo" "2" combination of names just to throw people off?  How I wish the days of the simple Pentium II, Pentium III and plain GHz speeds were still here (at least as far as understanding what you were buying).  Although, I do remember the days when I thought the only type of Pentium III chip came on a Slot 1 socket...then I saw a pentium III chip in a socket 370 format and I couldn't figure out what kind of processor I had!  So maybe intel has always been tricky with their processor names, but what I really dislike is when they give them "regular" code names...like Prescott or Northwind or Dothan or whatever the latest names are.  The Pentium 4 seemed to come in so many different flavors, I just didn't keep up and now I simply cannot keep things strait any longer with all new duo stuff.

Answer : Problem: Core 2, Duo Core, Core 2 Duo, etc.

"Is a Core DUO older technology than the Core 2 Duo?"

Yes, Core 2 is newer than Core Duo.

My own informal benchmarks show the following relative speeds:

 Dell 2.0 Ghz Core-2 Duo laptop:       97
 Dell 2.0 Ghz Pent-Duo laptop:          59
 Dell 2.0 Ghz Pentium-M laptop:        50
 Dell 2.0 Ghz Pentium-IV desktop:     25

The numbers are computational speeds relative to a 120 MHz Pentium. Obviously other things can have an impact, such as disk speed, memory speed etc. Also, for very short computations the advantage of the Core-2 Duo and Core Duo is not as great compared to the normal Pentium cpu's.

I hope this can help you decide. I would also highly recommend a 7200 rpm disk if available for the laptop model you're looking at.