Intel Core2 Duo E8500 vs AMD Phenom II X2 550. Specifications, performance, tests

Background information about the processors being compared, series, generation and market segment.

• Segment
  Desktop Desktop / Server
• Family
  Intel Core2 Duo AMD Phenom II
• Generation
  2 2
• CPU group
  Intel Core 2 Duo E7000/E8000 AMD Phenom II - 545
• Predecessor
  No --
• Successor
  No --

Basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base and turbo frequency, and cache size. These parameters indirectly tell about the speed of the processor, the higher they are the better.

• Frequency
  3.16 GHz 3.10 GHz
• CPU Cores
  2 2
• Turbo (1 Core)
  No No turbo
• CPU Threads
  2 2
• Turbo (2 Cores)
  No turbo No turbo
• Hyperthreading
  No No
• Overclocking
  Yes Yes
• Core architecture
  normal normal

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by AMD Phenom II X2 550 and Intel Core2 Duo E8500. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

• Memory type
  DDR2-1066 / DDR3-1333 DDR2-1066
• Max. Memory
  16 GB
• ECC
  No No
• Memory channels
  2 2

• AES-NI
  No No

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Intel Core2 Duo E8500 and AMD Phenom II X2 550 to select a cooling system. Note, the TDP value refers to thermal watts, not electrical watts.

• TDP (PL1)
  65 W 80 W
• TDP up
  No --
• TDP (PL2)
  No --
• TDP down
  No --
• Tjunction max.
  80 °C --

Architecture, interfaces, additional instructions supported by Intel Core2 Duo E8500 and Intel Core2 Duo E8500, virtual machine technologies and process technology.

• Instruction set (ISA)
  x86-64 (64 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
• Virtualization
  VT-x AMD-V
• ISA extensions
  MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE 4.1 SSE3, SSE4a
• L2-Cache
  6.00 MB --
• L3-Cache
  No 6.00 MB
• Architecture
  Wolfdale Callisto (K10)
• Technology
  45 nm 45 nm
• Socket
  LGA 775 AM3
• Release date
  Q1/2008 Q4/2009