Athlon II X2 250 vs Core 2 Duo P8600
Aggregate performance score
Athlon II X2 250 outperforms Core 2 Duo P8600 by a significant 28% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Core 2 Duo P8600 and Athlon II X2 250 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2858 | 2740 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 3.61 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop processor |
| Series | Intel Core 2 Duo | no data |
| Power efficiency | 2.01 | 0.99 |
| Architecture codename | Penryn (2008−2011) | Regor (2009−2013) |
| Release date | 15 July 2008 (16 years ago) | 2 June 2009 (15 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $209 | $39 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Core 2 Duo P8600 and Athlon II X2 250 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 | 2.4 GHz | 3 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.4 GHz | 3 GHz |
| Bus rate | 1066 MHz | no data |
| L1 cache | 128 KB | 256 KB |
| L2 cache | 3 MB | 2 MB |
| L3 cache | 3 MB L2 Cache | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | 81 mm2 | 117 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 105 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | 274 Million | 410 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| VID voltage range | 1.05V-1.15V | no data |
Compatibility
Information on Core 2 Duo P8600 and Athlon II X2 250 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 |
| Socket | BGA479,PBGA479,PGA478 | AM3 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 25 Watt | 65 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Duo P8600 and Athlon II X2 250. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | - | no data |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
| FSB parity | - | no data |
Security technologies
Core 2 Duo P8600 and Athlon II X2 250 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 P8600 and Athlon II X2 250 are enumerated here.
| VT-x | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Duo P8600 and Athlon II X2 250. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR3 |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | On certain motherboards (Chipset feature) |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core 2 Duo P8600 and Athlon II X2 250.
| PCIe version | no data | 2.0 |
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.53 | 0.68 |
| Recency | 15 July 2008 | 2 June 2009 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 25 Watt | 65 Watt |
Core 2 Duo P8600 has 160% lower power consumption.
Athlon II X2 250, on the other hand, has a 28.3% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 10 months.
The Athlon II X2 250 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core 2 Duo P8600 in performance tests.
Be aware that Core 2 Duo P8600 is a notebook processor while Athlon II X2 250 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core 2 Duo P8600 and Athlon II X2 250, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Similar processor comparisons
We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.
