Phenom II X3 N850 vs Core 2 Duo SP9600

Aggregate performance score

Core 2 Duo SP9600
2009
2 cores / 2 threads, 25 Watt
0.71
Phenom II X3 N850
2010
3 cores / 3 threads, 35 Watt
0.78
+9.9%

Phenom II X3 N850 outperforms Core 2 Duo SP9600 by a moderate 10% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking28862808
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Core 2 Duo3x AMD Phenom II
Power efficiency1.100.86
DesignerIntelAMD
Architecture codenamePenryn (2008−2011)Champlain (2010−2011)
Release date1 March 2009 (16 years ago)4 October 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$316no data

Detailed specifications

Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Phenom II X3 N850 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 cores2 (Dual-core)3 (Tri-Core)
Threads23
Base clock speed2.53 GHzno data
Boost clock speed2.53 GHz2.2 GHz
Bus rate1066 MHz3600 MHz
L1 cache128 KB384 KB
L2 cache6 MB1.5 MB
L3 cache6 MB L2 Cacheno data
Chip lithography45 nm45 nm
Die size107 mm2no data
Maximum core temperature105 °Cno data
Number of transistors410 Millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
VID voltage range1.05V-1.15Vno data

Compatibility

Information on Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Phenom II X3 N850 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.

SocketBGA479,BGA956,PBGA479S1 (S1g4)
Power consumption (TDP)25 Watt35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Phenom II X3 N850. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsno data86x MMX(+), 3DNow!(+), SSE(1,2,3,4A),-64, AMD-V
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)+no data
Turbo Boost Technology-no data
Hyper-Threading Technology-no data
Demand Based Switching-no data
FSB parity-no data

Security technologies

Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Phenom II X3 N850 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT+no data
EDB+no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Phenom II X3 N850 are enumerated here.

AMD-V-+
VT-x+no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Phenom II X3 N850. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesno dataDDR3

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.

Core 2 Duo SP9600 0.71
Phenom II X3 N850 0.78
+9.9%

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 SP9600 2836
+47.6%
Phenom II X3 N850 1922

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 SP9600 5309
+2.7%
Phenom II X3 N850 5169

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 SP9600 2189
Phenom II X3 N850 2584
+18%

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 SP9600 44.4
Phenom II X3 N850 23.4
+89.7%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 0.71 0.78
Recency 1 March 2009 4 October 2010
Physical cores 2 3
Threads 2 3
Power consumption (TDP) 25 Watt 35 Watt

Core 2 Duo SP9600 has 40% lower power consumption.

Phenom II X3 N850, on the other hand, has a 9.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, and 50% more physical cores and 50% more threads.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Intel Core 2 Duo SP9600 and AMD Phenom II X3 N850.

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Intel Core 2 Duo SP9600
Core 2 Duo SP9600
AMD Phenom II X3 N850
Phenom II X3 N850

Other comparisons

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Community ratings

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4.6 31 votes

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