Pentium B960 vs Core 2 Quad Q9550s
Primary details
Comparing Core 2 Quad Q9550s and Pentium B960 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | not rated | 2773 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Laptop |
| Series | no data | Intel Pentium |
| Power efficiency | no data | 1.67 |
| Architecture codename | Yorkfield (2007−2009) | Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) |
| Release date | 27 January 2009 (15 years ago) | 3 October 2011 (13 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $134 |
Detailed specifications
Core 2 Quad Q9550s and Pentium B960 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 | 4 (Quad-Core) | 2 (Dual-core) |
| Threads | 4 | 2 |
| Base clock speed | 2.83 GHz | 2.2 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 0.83 GHz | 2.2 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | DMI 2.0 |
| Bus rate | 1333 MHz | 4 × 5 GT/s |
| Multiplier | no data | 22 |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 128 KB |
| L2 cache | 12 MB (shared) | 512 KB |
| L3 cache | 0 KB | 2 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 32 nm |
| Die size | 2x 107 mm2 | 131 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 85 °C |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | 76 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | 820 million | 504 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| VID voltage range | 0.85V-1.3625V | no data |
Compatibility
Information on Core 2 Quad Q9550s and Pentium B960 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 | LGA775 | FCPGA988,PGA988 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 35 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Quad Q9550s and Pentium B960. 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) | + | + |
| My WiFi | no data | - |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | - | - |
| Idle States | + | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | + |
| Flex Memory Access | no data | + |
| Demand Based Switching | - | - |
| FDI | no data | + |
| Fast Memory Access | no data | + |
| FSB parity | + | no data |
Security technologies
Core 2 Quad Q9550s and Pentium B960 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | - |
| EDB | + | + |
| Anti-Theft | no data | - |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core 2 Quad Q9550s and Pentium B960 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | - |
| VT-x | + | - |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Quad Q9550s and Pentium B960. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR1, DDR2, DDR3 | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 16 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 21.335 GB/s |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | On certain motherboards (Chipset feature) | Intel® HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel® Processors |
| Graphics max frequency | no data | 1.1 GHz |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Core 2 Quad Q9550s and Pentium B960 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | no data | 2 |
| eDP | no data | + |
| DisplayPort | - | + |
| HDMI | - | + |
| SDVO | no data | + |
| CRT | no data | + |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core 2 Quad Q9550s and Pentium B960.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 16 |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 27 January 2009 | 3 October 2011 |
| Physical cores | 4 | 2 |
| Threads | 4 | 2 |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 32 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 35 Watt |
Core 2 Quad Q9550s has 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads.
Pentium B960, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 2 years, a 40.6% more advanced lithography process, and 85.7% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between Core 2 Quad Q9550s and Pentium B960. We've got no test results to judge.
Note that Core 2 Quad Q9550s is a desktop processor while Pentium B960 is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core 2 Quad Q9550s and Pentium B960, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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