Athlon II X4 641 vs Core 2 Duo P9600
Aggregate performance score
Athlon II X4 641 outperforms Core 2 Duo P9600 by a whopping 114% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Core 2 Duo P9600 and Athlon II X4 641 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | 2608 | 2064 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 0.15 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop processor |
| Series | Intel Core 2 Duo | no data |
| Architecture codename | Penryn (2008−2011) | Llano (2011−2012) |
| Release date | 1 January 2009 (15 years ago) | 6 February 2012 (12 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $348 | no data |
| Current price | $139 (0.4x MSRP) | $16.26 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Core 2 Duo P9600 and Athlon II X4 641 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 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 2.66 GHz | 2.8 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.66 GHz | 2.8 GHz |
| Bus support | 1066 MHz | no data |
| L1 cache | 128 KB | 128 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 6 MB | 1 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 6 MB L2 Cache | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 32 nm |
| Die size | 107 mm2 | 228 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 105 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | 410 Million | 1,178 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | No | No |
| VID voltage range | 1.05V-1.212V | no data |
Compatibility
Information on Core 2 Duo P9600 and Athlon II X4 641 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 | PBGA479,PGA478 | FM1 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 25 Watt | 100 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Duo P9600 and Athlon II X4 641. 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 |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
| FSB parity | - | no data |
| Status | Discontinued | no data |
Security technologies
Core 2 Duo P9600 and Athlon II X4 641 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 P9600 and Athlon II X4 641 are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | no data | + |
| VT-x | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Duo P9600 and Athlon II X4 641. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR3 |
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.
Athlon II X4 641 outperforms Core 2 Duo P9600 by 114% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 68%
Athlon II X4 641 outperforms Core 2 Duo P9600 by 113% in Passmark.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 42%
Athlon II X4 641 outperforms Core 2 Duo P9600 by 2% in GeekBench 5 Single-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.
Benchmark coverage: 42%
Athlon II X4 641 outperforms Core 2 Duo P9600 by 89% in GeekBench 5 Multi-Core.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.70 | 1.50 |
| Recency | 1 January 2009 | 6 February 2012 |
| Physical cores | 2 | 4 |
| Threads | 2 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 32 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 25 Watt | 100 Watt |
The Athlon II X4 641 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core 2 Duo P9600 in performance tests.
Be aware that Core 2 Duo P9600 is a notebook processor while Athlon II X4 641 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core 2 Duo P9600 and Athlon II X4 641, 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.
