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Loading ...Q. When is a Core 2 Duo not a Core 2 Duo?
garethogden
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A. When it’s a Pentium Dual-Core!
Okay, so it’s not very funny, at least not in a funny ha-ha kind of way, although Intel’s decision to release another Pentium-branded CPU is certainly a little strange, especially when it ditched the Pentium name in the first place because it had become synonymous with poor-performing, inefficient Netburst-architecture chips.
What’s even stranger is that the E-series Pentium Dual-Core processors are actually based on the Core architecture, not the old Netburst design, and some retailers are actually labelling them (perhaps slightly cheekily) as Core 2 Duos
The only significant difference between an E-series Pentium Dual-Core chip and an E4-series Core 2 Duo chip is that the former has only 1MB of shared L2 cache, compared to 2MB for an E4-series Core 2 Duo. Both run at an 800MHz FSB and are otherwise identical, aside from clock speeds.
Bizarre naming conventions aside, the fact that the Pentium Dual-Core is really just a slightly cut-down Core 2 Duo could be very good news for enthusiasts, particularly as the 1.6GHz E2140 costs only £54 and various reports on the web suggest it can hit 3GHz, with a willing motherboard.
We’ll have a review of the E2140 in the next issue (Issue 48, on sale 26 July) so sit tight for the results.
Edit: You can read the review here.
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