With the Wolfdale core, Intel pours more power into a Core 2 Duo package. The 45nm process allowed Intel to reduce the power needed down to 65W. Lower power means lower CPU heat, which translates to lower system heat and longer system life. They also packed more features into the chip.
L2 cache has been bumped to 3MB and the Front Side Bus has been pushed to 1066MHz. You can now use both DDR2 and the hot new DDR3 memory for extreme performance. They also boosted memory access and execution speed with the Wide Dynamic Execution and Smart Memory Access. These combine to let the processor compute more instructions with more data per clock cycle. You'd better watch out; your enemies will be shooting back faster now.
The Advanced Digital Media Boost feature has been enhanced with the addition of the SSE4 instruction set and Intel HD Boost. This will give your entertainment experience a boost with better audio and video processing. It will also help with speech recognition, engineering and scientific applications. Perhaps most important of all will be the boost to security with increased encryption power and speed.
-
Specialized Dual-core Microarchitecture The Intel Core 2 Duo processor includes dual execution cores in a single processor to enable execution of parallel threads or applications on separate cores, resulting in revolutionary dual-core performance, breakthrough processor energy efficiency and exceptional system response when running multi-threaded or multiple demanding applications simultaneously. The innovative 45nm dual-core technology optimizes thermal performance for reduced power consumption and noise.
-
Intel Advanced Smart Cache Intel Advanced Smart Cache Technology dynamically allocates the shared L2 cache to each processor core based on workload. This efficient, multi-core-optimized implementation increases the probability that each core can access data from fast L2 cache, resulting in significantly reduced latency for frequently used data and improved performance.
-
Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (Intel EM64T) Intel EM64T provides an enhancement to Intel 32-bit architecture by enabling the mobile processor platform to access larger amounts of memory. With appropriate 64-bit supporting hardware and software, platforms based on an Intel processor supporting Intel EM64T can enable use of extended virtual and physical memory.
-
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST) EIST allows the system to dynamically adjust processor voltage and core frequency to decrease average power consumption and average heat production. Combined with existing power saving features, EIST may provide an excellent balance between providing power when you need it and conserving power when you don’t.
-
Execute Disable Bit (EDB) Intel's Execute Disable Bit function can prevent certain classes of malicious "buffer overflow" attacks when combined with a supporting operating system. Execute Disable Bit allows the processor to classify areas in memory where application code can execute and where it cannot. When a malicious worm attempts to insert code in the buffer, the processor disables code execution, preventing damage or worm propagation.
