Intel Core 2 Duo
Intel
Specifications
- CPU
- Core 2 Duo, LGA 775, 1.86 – 3.33 GHz
- Memory
- 2 – 8 GB DDR2 / DDR3
- Storage
- 500 GB – 2 TB SATA; first consumer SSDs
- Display
- PCIe GeForce 8000 / Radeon HD
- OS
- Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, OS X
- Intro price
- Systems from $899
The machine
Intel scrapped NetBurst and built Core out of the efficient laptop Pentium M lineage. Two real cores on a single die. Dramatically lower power per unit of work than the Pentium 4 it replaced.
Why it matters
Reset Intel's lead. Apple's 2006 transition from PowerPC to Intel landed on this generation. Multi-core became the default; the years of pretending one CPU on a faster clock would be enough were over.