Core i3, Core i5 Dual-Core Processor Model Numbers Surface

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More information on Intel's Core i3 and i5 dual-core processors surfaces.

Intel is weeks away from letting loose its first socket LGA-1156 processors, starting with a series of quad-core models, namely Core i5 750, Core i7 860, and Core i7 870. According to the latest roadmaps, dual-core derivatives of the Westmere architecture, will arrive in early 2010. IT168 sourced details of the model numbers Intel chalked out, based on roadmap excepts. An older report detailed all six models based on the "Clarkdale" core, including three in the Core i5 series, two in the Core i3 series, and one in the Pentium Dual-Core series. Let's try to make sense of this branding structure.

To begin with, Core i3 series dual-core processors differ from Core i5 in lacking three features: Intel Trusted eXecution Technology (TXT), a set of features that enhance security using hardware-based mechanisms. More on TXT can be read here. The second feature Core i3 lacks is Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d), an enhancement to the virtualization capabilities (details here. Core i3 however, does feature VT-x, the regular hardware virtualization features found on today's Intel processors. The third and more relevant feature Core i3 lacks is Turbo Boost technology, a feature that assesses processor load, powers-down one of the two cores, and overclocks the active core, all automatically, and on the fly. This feature holds even more importance in quad-core and multi-socket quad-core machines, but may come handy nonetheless.

Here's what the lineup stands at:

• Core i3 530 -2.93 GHz
• Core i3 540 -3.06 GHz
• Core i5 650 -3.20 GHz, with Turbo Boost speed of 3.43 GHz
• Core i5 660 -3.33 GHz, with Turbo Boost speed of 3.60 GHz
• Core i5 670 -3.43 GHz, with Turbo Boost speed of 3.73 GHz

Source: techPowerUp!

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