Core 2 Extreme X7900 vs Core 2 Duo P9700

Place in the ranking	2682	2709
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core 2 Duo	Intel Core 2 Extreme
Power efficiency	2.43	1.51
Architecture codename	Penryn (2008−2011)	Merom (2006−2008)
Release date	2 June 2009 (15 years ago)	1 September 2007 (17 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$348	$851

Detailed specifications

Core 2 Duo P9700 and Core 2 Extreme X7900 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	2
Base clock speed	2.8 GHz	2.8 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.8 GHz	2.8 GHz
Bus rate	1066 MHz	800 MHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB
L2 cache	6 MB (shared)	4 MB
L3 cache	6 MB L2 Cache	0 KB
Chip lithography	45 nm	65 nm
Die size	107 mm²	143 mm²
Maximum core temperature	105 °C	100 °C
Number of transistors	410 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
VID voltage range	1.012V-1.175V	1.1V-1.375V

Compatibility

Information on Core 2 Duo P9700 and Core 2 Extreme X7900 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
Socket	PGA478	PPGA478
Power consumption (TDP)	28 Watt	44 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Duo P9700 and Core 2 Extreme X7900. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	-
Idle States	no data	-
Demand Based Switching	-	-
AMT	no data	+
FSB parity	no data	-

Security technologies

Core 2 Duo P9700 and Core 2 Extreme X7900 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 P9700 and Core 2 Extreme X7900 are enumerated here.

VT-x

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Duo P9700 and Core 2 Extreme X7900. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types

DDR2, DDR3

DDR1

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

On certain motherboards (Chipset feature)

no data

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 P9700 0.72
+2.9%

Core 2 Extreme X7900 0.70

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 P9700 1149
+4.1%

Core 2 Extreme X7900 1104

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 P9700 374

Core 2 Extreme X7900 387
+3.5%

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 P9700 634
+1.4%

Core 2 Extreme X7900 625

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

Core 2 Duo P9700 3425
+13.3%

Core 2 Extreme X7900 3022

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

Core 2 Duo P9700 6133
+6.4%

Core 2 Extreme X7900 5764

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

Core 2 Duo P9700 2540
+3.7%

Core 2 Extreme X7900 2449

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

Core 2 Duo P9700 54.6

Core 2 Extreme X7900 31.05
+75.8%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.72	0.70
Recency	2 June 2009	1 September 2007
Chip lithography	45 nm	65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	28 Watt	44 Watt

Core 2 Duo P9700 has a 2.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 44.4% more advanced lithography process, and 57.1% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Core 2 Duo P9700 and Core 2 Extreme X7900.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core 2 Duo P9700 and Core 2 Extreme X7900, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.