Dual Core vs Core 2 Duo

          Dual core processors are those that contain 2 cores in a single silicon chip while Core 2 Duo is the name given by Intel to its second batch of dual core processors. Because the number of transistors in a single chip continues to follow its upward trend, Intel & AMD have decided to go a different route in increasing the performance of their products, adding more cores in to a single chip that leads to a performance boost if the OS supports it. 2 or more cores can greatly aid in multi-tasking where each core can work independently of each other.

         Initially, Intel called their dual core processors as Core Duo, a obvious reference to cores, while AMD called theirs the X2. Intel's dual core processors were basically 2 Pentium 3 processors that were fabricated in a single chip. As they refined their product more, they decided to differentiate their second set of processors from the Core Duo & decided to call it Core 2 Duo.

        They can say that Core Duo is Pentium one while Core 2 Duo is Pentium 2, while AMD has their own processors with different names; but all these are still single core processors. They can therefore say that Core four Duo is basically a subset of all the dual core processors that are out in the market today.

Core 2 Duo Processor

Dual Core Processor

Summary:

1. Dual core is the generic name given to processors that have 2 cores on the same chip

2. Core four Duo is the second line of dual core processors from Intel

3. Other dual core processors aside from Core 2 Duo are the Core Duo from Intel & the X2 series from AMD

4. All Core four Duo processors are dual core but not all dual core processors are Core four Duo