Core i7-6970HQ vs Core 2 Duo T8300

Place in the ranking	2511	1652
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core 2 Duo	Intel Core i7
Power efficiency	2.51	6.14
Architecture codename	Penryn (2008−2011)	Skylake (2015−2016)
Release date	10 January 2008 (16 years ago)	2 January 2016 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$241	$623

Detailed specifications

Core 2 Duo T8300 and Core i7-6970HQ 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)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	2	8
Base clock speed	2.4 GHz	2.8 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.4 GHz	3.7 GHz
Bus type	no data	DMI 3.0
Bus rate	800 MHz	4 × 8 GT/s
Multiplier	no data	28
L1 cache	no data	256 KB
L2 cache	3 MB	1 MB
L3 cache	3 MB L2 Cache	8 MB
Chip lithography	45 nm	14 nm
Die size	107 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	105 °C	100 °C
Number of transistors	410 Million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
VID voltage range	1V-1.25V	no data

Compatibility

Information on Core 2 Duo T8300 and Core i7-6970HQ 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	no data	1 (Uniprocessor)
Socket	BGA479,PGA478	FCBGA1440
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	45 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Duo T8300 and Core i7-6970HQ. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	no data	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI	-	+
AVX	-	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
eDRAM	no data	128 MB
Turbo Boost Technology	-	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	-	+
Smart Response	no data	+
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
FSB parity	-	no data

Security technologies

Core 2 Duo T8300 and Core i7-6970HQ technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	+
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	no data	+
MPX	-	+
SGX	no data	Yes with Intel® ME
OS Guard	no data	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core 2 Duo T8300 and Core i7-6970HQ are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Duo T8300 and Core i7-6970HQ. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	no data	DDR3, DDR4
Maximum memory size	no data	64 GB
Max memory channels	no data	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	no data	34.134 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	no data	Intel Iris Pro Graphics 580
Max video memory	no data	64 GB
Quick Sync Video	-	+
Clear Video HD	no data	+
Graphics max frequency	no data	1.05 GHz

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core 2 Duo T8300 and Core i7-6970HQ integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	no data	3
eDP	no data	+
DisplayPort	-	+
HDMI	-	+
DVI	no data	+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core 2 Duo T8300 and Core i7-6970HQ integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support	no data	+
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	no data	4096x2304@24Hz
Max resolution over eDP	no data	4096x2304@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort	no data	4096x2304@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core 2 Duo T8300 and Core i7-6970HQ integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	no data	12
OpenGL	no data	4.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core 2 Duo T8300 and Core i7-6970HQ.

PCIe version	no data	3.0
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 T8300 0.93

i7-6970HQ 2.92
+214%

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 T8300 1472

i7-6970HQ 4632
+215%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.93	2.92
Recency	10 January 2008	2 January 2016
Physical cores	2	4
Threads	2	8
Chip lithography	45 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	45 Watt

Core 2 Duo T8300 has 28.6% lower power consumption.

i7-6970HQ, on the other hand, has a 214% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, 100% more physical cores and 300% more threads, and a 221.4% more advanced lithography process.

The Core i7-6970HQ is our recommended choice as it beats the Core 2 Duo T8300 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core 2 Duo T8300 and Core i7-6970HQ, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.