Why do some core duo's only have 533 fsb?

Just the real early core duos?

 

Yes, there now are three generations of intel dual core processors if I'm right. These 3 are (from early to now):

Core Duo
Core 2 Duo
Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa

 

No, it's not age. It's a bit of Intel Marketing. It's a way to sell CPUs with similar clock speeds but different prices. If you have a notebook with the ATI chipset then there a good chance that you can get ClockGen to work. If your CPU has a 533MHz FSB then you may be able increase it up to 667MHz knowing that the basic hardware will be OK and you have a 25% faster CPU.

John

 

Hmm... so it's a way of "Celeron-ing" dual core processors? I mean: is it the same method Intel used to downgrade their Pentium M's to Celeron processors?

 

Intel has budget CPUs - they are cut-down versions Intel sells to manufacturers at lower prices as John said.

The Core Duo T2250, T2350, T2450 all have 533MHz FSBs, and so do the Core 2 Duo T5200, T5300. The Pentium Dual-Core T2060, T2080 also have a 533MHz bus. Despite the different name, the Pentium Dual-Core is a cut-down Core Duo as well. Most people aren't going to see a difference between a 533MHz and a 667MHz FSB.

 

Ah! so that's why those names are so different from the rest. =P Learned something today.

 

This is completely off topic, but do you know if Intel ever offered a mobile single-core 64-bit processor? A Core 2 Solo, or anything like that?

 

I havent come across a Core 2 Solo but they do offer 64bit in the Celeron M 5xx series.

 

I recall that there is a way using a software to disable one core on a Core 2 Duo, but probably i am hallucinating

 

There is actually going to be a Core 2 Solo Ultra Low Voltage processor coming out in September:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3777

 

Ah. It was in a notebook I returned. There were too many weird things about it like that (it was the T2350).


So the ultra low voltage versions are pretty much only used in the really small ones- 12 inchers and under? I notice dell has them in the d420, and sony's tx series. Wish lenovo had them as an option in their X's if lower voltage = less heat.

 

The Lenovo X61 is available with the Low Voltage processors - I have an X61 tablet on order with an L7500 processor. The non-tablet X61s (not the X61) is also available with it. The nice thing about the Low Voltage processor is that it still has the full 4MB L2 cache and the 800MHz FSB of the regular Core 2 Duos yet it consumes less power. You can't get them in the same clockspeeds though; the L7500 is clocked at 1.6GHz but it should be more than enough. Clockspeed doesn't mean a whole lot these days anyway.

I would not recommend getting an Ultra Low Voltage processor. They can do just about everything but are weak one way or another.

 

I'll be looking for your impressions when you get your x61, esp regarding heat w/the L7500.

I've seen L2400's in x60's, and almost every review of it complained about the heat.

 

I'll be writing a review so look for that. I'll post impressions in the mean time. I'm also very interested in how the L7500 performs and how much heat it gives off. As long as the notebook's cooling system can cope with it I think it will be fine.

For now I have to wait until Lenovo actually ships my machine. A lot of other people are getting theirs shipped:
http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/showthread.php?t=7867
See some of the later posts (within the last week and a half).

 

All of the Core ULV chips right now (Solo, Duo, 2 Duo) also have 533 FSB.