Intel Core i7-860S vs Intel Core 2 Duo E6420

Comparative analysis of Intel Core i7-860S and Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Peripherals, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, 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), Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core.

Intel Core i7-860S

Intel Core 2 Duo E6420

Differences

Reasons to consider the Intel Core i7-860S

CPU is newer: launch date 2 year(s) 9 month(s) later
2 more cores, run more applications at once: 4 vs 2
Around 62% higher clock speed: 3.46 GHz vs 2.13 GHz
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 45 nm vs 65 nm
4x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
Around 40% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1093 vs 781
3x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 2280 vs 752

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	January 2010 vs April 2007
Number of cores	4 vs 2
Maximum frequency	3.46 GHz vs 2.13 GHz
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm vs 65 nm
L1 cache	64 KB (per core) vs 64 KB
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1093 vs 781
PassMark - CPU mark	2280 vs 752

Reasons to consider the Intel Core 2 Duo E6420

4x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
Around 26% lower typical power consumption: 65 Watt vs 82 Watt

L2 cache	4096 KB vs 256 KB (per core)
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt vs 82 Watt

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Intel Core i7-860S
CPU 2: Intel Core 2 Duo E6420

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1093

781

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

2280

752

Name	Intel Core i7-860S	Intel Core 2 Duo E6420
PassMark - Single thread mark	1093	781
PassMark - CPU mark	2280	752
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)	0.907
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)	46.184
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)	0.278
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)	1.222
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)	2.716
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		296
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		541

Compare specifications (specs)

	Intel Core i7-860S	Intel Core 2 Duo E6420
Essentials
Architecture codename	Lynnfield	Conroe
Launch date	January 2010	April 2007
Launch price (MSRP)	$422
Place in performance rating	2912	2903
Price now	$198.99	$49.99
Processor Number	i7-860S	E6420
Series	Legacy Intel® Core™ Processors	Legacy Intel® Core™ Processors
Status	Discontinued	Discontinued
Value for money (0-100)	6.97	8.02
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	2.53 GHz	2.13 GHz
Bus Speed	2.5 GT/s DMI	1066 MHz FSB
Die size	296 mm2	143 mm2
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	64 KB
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	4096 KB
L3 cache	8192 KB (shared)
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm	65 nm
Maximum frequency	3.46 GHz	2.13 GHz
Number of cores	4	2
Number of threads	8
Transistor count	774 million	291 million
VID voltage range	0.6500V-1.4000V	0.8500V-1.5V
Maximum core temperature		60.1°C
Memory
Max memory channels	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	21 GB/s
Maximum memory size	16 GB
Supported memory types	DDR3 1066/1333	DDR1, DDR2, DDR3
Compatibility
Low Halogen Options Available
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1
Package Size	37.5mm x 37.5mm	37.5mm x 37.5mm
Sockets supported	LGA1156	PLGA775
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	82 Watt	65 Watt
Peripherals
Max number of PCIe lanes	16
PCI Express revision	2.0
PCIe configurations	1x16, 2x8
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2
Intel 64
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Intel® vPro™ Platform Eligibility
Physical Address Extensions (PAE)	36-bit
Thermal Monitoring
FSB parity
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)