If you go into a computer stores these days looking for a new laptop or desktop the salesman will at some point start talking about the CPU. This is the Central Processing Unit or in other words the bit of the computer that does all the thinking. You will often hear a salesman say things like “well of course its got a “Core 2 Duo” processor!” Or perhaps he will say “and of course it has a Quad Core under the hood”, possible implying that Quad must be better than a Duo.

So you are standing there thinking “well I vaguely remember that Quad is something to do with four and duo must be something to do with two, but two or four of what?” So you ask the salesman what he is talking about and he is immediately off sounding like a Gillette marketeer trying to convince you that five or six blades (or how many it has got to now) on your razor is better than measly two that you have still got. I am convinced that at least half the time these guys don’t really know what they are talking about anymore than we do! Tip: Identify the guy in your local computing shop who really does know, and always go to him with your questions, it can save a lot of time.

What is a Core 2 Duo?

So what is a Core 2 Duo? What are the benefits and should we be looking for a computer that uses one? It was conceived initially as a mobile processor, the Core 2 Duo is essentially two single CPU’s on the same unit (die). This provides some substantial benefits to the user in the areas of multitasking, such as running two programs at once as each of the two processors can handle different things at the same time. It does not double the computing speed however as the two units are still sharing the rest of the computer’s resources. The Core 2 Duo can also take advantage of any software that is coded to utilise multiple threads, i.e. Software that needs to different jobs, or needs to do the same thing multiple times, and has been programmed to allow this to happen in parallel.

This extra power was also achieved at very low voltages and temperatures, as they needed to be used in laptops, but the extra power meant they are excellent in desktops as well especially where there is a need for low noise which usually comes form the cooling fans. In summary, the Core 2 Duo comes in standard in many laptops nowadays and you should really not buy one without, unless you are going for something like an Asus Eee. It is an excellent choice for a quiet desktop PC or a silent gaming rig, and it’s perfect for a home theater PC, which is why buying something like the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 off the shelf make sense if you are building your own or upgrading!