Pentium B970 vs Core 2 Duo SP9600

Aggregate performance score

Core 2 Duo SP9600
2009
2 cores / 2 threads, 25 Watt
0.71
+4.4%
Pentium B970
2012
2 cores / 2 threads, 35 Watt
0.68

Core 2 Duo SP9600 outperforms Pentium B970 by a minimal 4% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Pentium B970 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking26962730
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Core 2 DuoIntel Pentium
Power efficiency2.691.84
Architecture codenamePenryn (2008−2011)Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)
Release date1 March 2009 (15 years ago)1 January 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$316$125

Detailed specifications

Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Pentium B970 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)2 (Dual-core)
Threads22
Base clock speed2.53 GHz2.3 GHz
Boost clock speed2.53 GHz2.3 GHz
Bus typeno dataDMI 2.0
Bus rate1066 MHz4 × 5 GT/s
Multiplierno data23
L1 cache128 KB64K (per core)
L2 cache6 MB256K (per core)
L3 cache6 MB L2 Cache2 MB (shared)
Chip lithography45 nm32 nm
Die size107 mm2131 mm2
Maximum core temperature105 °C85 °C
Number of transistors410 Million504 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
VID voltage range1.05V-1.15Vno data

Compatibility

Information on Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Pentium B970 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 configurationno data1 (Uniprocessor)
SocketBGA479,BGA956,PBGA479FCPGA988
Power consumption (TDP)25 Watt35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Pentium B970. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsno dataIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
FMA-+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
My WiFino data-
Turbo Boost Technology--
Hyper-Threading Technology--
Idle Statesno data+
Thermal Monitoring-+
Flex Memory Accessno data+
Demand Based Switching--
FDIno data+
Fast Memory Accessno data+
FSB parity-no data

Security technologies

Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Pentium B970 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT+-
EDB++
Anti-Theftno data-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Pentium B970 are enumerated here.

VT-dno data-
VT-x+-
EPTno data-

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Pentium B970. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesno dataDDR3
Maximum memory sizeno data16 GB
Max memory channelsno data2
Maximum memory bandwidthno data21.335 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardno dataIntel HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel Processors
Graphics max frequencyno data1.15 GHz

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Pentium B970 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supportedno data2
eDPno data+
DisplayPort-+
HDMI-+
SDVOno data+
CRTno data+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Pentium B970.

PCIe versionno data2.0
PCI Express lanesno data16

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 SP9600 0.71
+4.4%
Pentium B970 0.68

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
Pentium B970 2954
+4.2%

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
Pentium B970 5697
+7.3%

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
Pentium B970 2328
+6.3%

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
Pentium B970 35.77
+24.1%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 0.71 0.68
Recency 1 March 2009 1 January 2012
Chip lithography 45 nm 32 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 25 Watt 35 Watt

Core 2 Duo SP9600 has a 4.4% higher aggregate performance score, and 40% lower power consumption.

Pentium B970, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 2 years, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Pentium B970.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Pentium B970, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core 2 Duo SP9600
Core 2 Duo SP9600
Intel Pentium B970
Pentium B970

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Community ratings

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Core 2 Duo SP9600 or Pentium B970, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.