Core 2 Duo vs Pentium Dual Core

This is probably a dumb question, but I'm not overly familiar with low-end hardware (look at my specs ). What was the difference between Intel's Core 2 Duo and their Pentium Dual core? They seemed like identical CPUs to me. For that matter, I think they used the same socket too...

The Core 2 Duo for the most part is better. Which CPU's specifically were you thinking of?

Core2Duo supports 64 bit and dual core doesn't, C2D is newer tech than CD.

brummyfan said:

Core2Duo supports 64 bit and dual core doesn't, C2D is newer tech than CD.

EDIT: looks like all the Pentium Dual Cores are 64bit capable.
It would depend on the Dual Core. My old Pentium Dual Core E5200 did 64bit, ran Vista Ultimate 64bit as well as Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit.
I happened to have an E6750 Core2Duo which I thought was faster than the E5200, but it wasn't. It just used more power. I should have kept the E5200.
the E6750 has more cache and a faster bus speed, but no difference in performance on my end.

Pentium Dual-Core E5200 @ 2.50GHz - 1664
Intel Core2 Duo E6750 @ 2.66GHz - 1689

And this is the latest 5xxx series Pentium Dual Core released about a year ago,
http://ark.intel.com/products/42802/...800-MHz-FSB%29

Pentium Dual-Core E5800 @ 3.20GHz - 2184

DeaconFrost said:

The processors can use the same socket, 775 in this case, but they are different architectures. The C2D is newer, and should run faster and cooler than the Pentium D processors. If you are planning a purchase, I wouldn't consider either right now, unless you already own a 775 board and memory.

You are referring to the Pentium D, which is different than the Pentium Dual Core.

In 2007, Intel released a new line of desktop processors under the brand Pentium Dual Core, using the Core microarchitecture (which was based upon the Pentium M architecture, which was itself based upon the Pentium III). The newer Pentium Dual-Core processors give off considerably less heat (65 watt) than the Pentium D (95 or 130 watt). They also run at lower clock rates, only have up to 2 MB L2 Cache memory while the Pentium D has up to 2x2 MB, and they lack Hyper-threading. On the other hand, the Pentium Dual-Core has a wider execution unit (4 issues wide compared to the Pentium D's 3) and its 14 stages-long pipeline is less than half the length of the Pentium D's, allowing it to outperform the Pentium D in most applications.