Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 vs Intel Core i7-960

Comparative analysis of Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 and Intel Core i7-960 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Compatibility, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization, Memory. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core, 3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score, CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s).

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600

Intel Core i7-960

Differences

Reasons to consider the Intel Core 2 Duo E6600

2x lower typical power consumption: 65 Watt vs 130 Watt

Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt vs 130 Watt

Reasons to consider the Intel Core i7-960

2 more cores, run more applications at once: 4 vs 2
Around 13% higher maximum core temperature: 67.9°C vs 60.1°C
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 45 nm vs 65 nm
Around 54% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1458 vs 946
3.6x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 3347 vs 942
Around 82% better performance in Geekbench 4 - Single Core: 565 vs 310
4.1x better performance in Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core: 2198 vs 533

Specifications (specs)
Number of cores	4 vs 2
Maximum core temperature	67.9°C vs 60.1°C
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm vs 65 nm
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1458 vs 946
PassMark - CPU mark	3347 vs 942
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	565 vs 310
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	2198 vs 533

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
CPU 2: Intel Core i7-960

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

946

1458

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

942

3347

Geekbench 4 - Single Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

310

565

Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

533

2198

Name	Intel Core 2 Duo E6600	Intel Core i7-960
PassMark - Single thread mark	946	1458
PassMark - CPU mark	942	3347
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	310	565
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	533	2198
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score		0
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		1.115
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		59.327
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		0.374
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		0.395
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		4.942

Compare specifications (specs)

	Intel Core 2 Duo E6600	Intel Core i7-960
Essentials
Architecture codename	Conroe	Bloomfield
Launch date	Q3'06	October 2009
Place in performance rating	2773	2765
Processor Number	E6600	i7-960
Series	Legacy Intel® Core™ Processors	Legacy Intel® Core™ Processors
Status	Discontinued	Discontinued
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Launch price (MSRP)		$316
Price now		$99.99
Value for money (0-100)		17.14
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	2.40 GHz	3.20 GHz
Bus Speed	1066 MHz FSB	4.8 GT/s QPI
Die size	143 mm2	263 mm2
Manufacturing process technology	65 nm	45 nm
Maximum core temperature	60.1°C	67.9°C
Number of cores	2	4
Transistor count	291 million	731 million
VID voltage range	0.8500V-1.5V	0.800V-1.375V
Front-side bus (FSB)		1333 MHz
L1 cache		64 KB (per core)
L2 cache		256 KB (per core)
L3 cache		8192 KB (shared)
Maximum frequency		3.46 GHz
Number of QPI Links		1
Number of threads		8
Compatibility
Low Halogen Options Available
Package Size	37.5mm x 37.5mm	42.5mm x 45.0mm
Scenario Design Power (SDP)	0 W
Sockets supported	PLGA775	FCLGA1366
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt	130 Watt
Max number of CPUs in a configuration		1
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
FSB parity
Idle States
Intel 64
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Thermal Monitoring
Instruction set extensions		Intel® SSE4.2
Physical Address Extensions (PAE)		36-bit
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)
Memory
Max memory channels		3
Maximum memory bandwidth		25.6 GB/s
Maximum memory size		24 GB
Supported memory types		DDR3 800/1066