Core i3-330M vs Core 2 Duo E6550

Place in the ranking	2821	2750
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	Intel Core i3
Power efficiency	0.81	1.75
Architecture codename	Conroe (2006−2007)	Arrandale (2010−2011)
Release date	July 2007 (17 years ago)	7 January 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$49

Detailed specifications

Core 2 Duo E6550 and Core i3-330M basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores	2 (Dual-core)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	2	4
Base clock speed	2.33 GHz	2.13 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.33 GHz	0.03 GHz
Bus type	no data	DMI 1.0
Bus rate	1333 MHz	1 × 2.5 GT/s
Multiplier	no data	16
L1 cache	64 KB	128 KB
L2 cache	4 MB	512 KB
L3 cache	0 KB	3 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	65 nm	32 nm
Die size	143 mm²	81+114 mm²
Maximum core temperature	72 °C	90 °C for rPGA, 105 °C for BGA
Number of transistors	291 million	382 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
VID voltage range	0.85V-1.5V	no data

Compatibility

Information on Core 2 Duo E6550 and Core i3-330M compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1 (Uniprocessor)
Socket	PLGA775	BGA1288,PGA988
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Duo E6550 and Core i3-330M. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	no data	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
FMA	-	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	no data	+
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
PAE	no data	36 Bit
FDI	no data	+
Fast Memory Access	no data	+
FSB parity	-	no data

Security technologies

Core 2 Duo E6550 and Core i3-330M technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	-
EDB	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core 2 Duo E6550 and Core i3-330M are enumerated here.

VT-d	no data	-
VT-x	+	+
EPT	no data	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Duo E6550 and Core i3-330M. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR1, DDR2, DDR3	DDR3-800, DDR3-1066
Maximum memory size	no data	8 GB
Max memory channels	no data	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	no data	17.051 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	no data	Intel® HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel® Processors
Clear Video	no data	+
Clear Video HD	no data	+
Graphics max frequency	no data	667 MHz

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core 2 Duo E6550 and Core i3-330M integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core 2 Duo E6550 and Core i3-330M.

PCIe version	no data	2.0
PCI Express lanes	no data	16

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Core 2 Duo E6550 0.56

i3-330M 0.65
+16.1%

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Core 2 Duo E6550 891

i3-330M 1022
+14.7%

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

Core 2 Duo E6550 260

i3-330M 272
+4.6%

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

Core 2 Duo E6550 431

i3-330M 566
+31.3%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.56	0.65
Threads	2	4
Chip lithography	65 nm	32 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	35 Watt

i3-330M has a 16.1% higher aggregate performance score, 100% more threads, a 103.1% more advanced lithography process, and 85.7% lower power consumption.

The Core i3-330M is our recommended choice as it beats the Core 2 Duo E6550 in performance tests.

Note that Core 2 Duo E6550 is a desktop processor while Core i3-330M is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core 2 Duo E6550 and Core i3-330M, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.