Intel releases Core 2 Duo for notebooks

Intel launches its T-series of Core 2 Duo processors, tailored specifically for notebooks, today.

The Core 2 Duo line represents a clear step forward from Intel. It decided upon a complete reworking of its dual core technology rather than producing further iterations of the Core Duo. The mobile version, known throughout its development as ‘Merom’, is based upon Intel’s Core Microarchitecture.

Despite both being developed from a common architectural base, the T-series notebook and E-series desktop chips differ in some respects. The T-series has a slower front side bus (FSB), running at 667MHz compared to the E-series’ 1GHz. The FSB is the channel through which the processor communicates with other system components such as Ram and PCI cards.

The T-series has also been engineered to enhance battery life via Intel’s intelligent power capability. This means the processors are capable of shutting down internal components when they’re not in use.

This release closely follows the launch of the desktop Core 2 Duos in July. The combined release is considered by Intel to be as important to the processor market as the introduction of the Pentium line was back in 1993.

The desktop Core 2 Duo is currently the fastest consumer processor in the world, outstripping its competitors in sheer performance terms. This has prompted rival chip maker AMD to slash the prices of its desktop chips.

While the Core 2 Duo T-series runs at clock speeds of up to 2.33GHz, testing conducted in the PCW labs indicates that the improvement from notebooks running Core Duo is not as pronounced as the leap in performance was on the desktop platform.

AMD has not, as yet, significantly reduced the price of its Turion 64 X2 dual core mobile processors.

More detailed information on the Core Microarchitecture can be found here.

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