What Is Pentium Duo?

Pentium Duo is another name for Intel's Pentium Dual Core processors, and a variant of their popular Core 2 Duo range of computer processors.

Types

Pentium Dual Core processors start life as regular Core 2 fabrications. When tested prior to shipping, some chips fail to meet Intel performance standards, but rather than being discarded, the company sells them as budget variants, in this case renamed Pentium Dual Core, or Pentium Duo.

Features

Pentium Dual Cores differ from Core 2 Duos in two main aspects--their cache size is smaller, and their bus speed is lower. They are the result of less successful fabrication that leads to more mid-range performance than other Core 2 Duo chips.

Function

Pentium Dual Cores have become quite popular in laptops, especially budget models aimed at cost-conscious consumers. Intel positions them between the low-end Celeron range and the more performance-minded Core 2 processors.

Identification

Pentium Dual Cores have been fabricated in both 45 and 65 nanometer processes. Early models were 32 bit, while current chips are 64 bit. All comply with Intel's x86 architecture and follow the company's naming scheme--the newest (as of 2009) being the Wolfdale E5200 variety.

Considerations

Users looking for reasonably priced laptops capable of typical usability should consider Pentium Dual Core-equipped models. However, anyone interested in more demanding applications, notably gaming and multimedia rendering, would be best served by stronger Core 2 and Xeon offerings.

Misconceptions

These processors have little to do with the classic Pentium and Pentium D chips of the 1990s and early 2000s. They subscribe to a different architecture and offer much more processing muscle without the extreme clock rates older Pentiums were known for. Intel simply chose to re-use the brand for its face value.