Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology for Laptop Computers

The best laptops have Intel® Centrino® 2 processor technology insideΔ1

Intel’s BEST performing laptop technology includes:
• Up to 50% faster performance when multitasking‡1
• Optimized for wireless - up to 2X greater range and up to 5X better Wi-Fi performance, with optional built-in WiMAX to equip your laptop for the future of metro-wide broadband wirelessΔ2 Δ3
• Designed for the longest possible battery life
• Up to 90% faster performance on intensive multi-
media applications like HD video encodingΔ4

View All Processor Families


Intel® Centrino® 2 processor technology

What’s Inside

Intel® Centrino® 2 processor technology is not just a processor, but a revolutionary technology composed of either a dual-core or quad-core processor, plus a chipset and the latest innovations in integrated wireless technology.

Key Features for Laptop Computers

Intel® Centrino® Processor Technology

Unsurpassed mobile computing performance
Get performance that meets the processing needs of the most demanding multitasker, whether you're editing photos, watching HD video, or gaming. With a minimum of 3MB Smart Cache and 1066MHz Front Side Bus, Intel® Centrino® 2 processor technology delivers performance gains of up to 50 percent.Δ No more waiting for your laptop to catch up! Now also available with quad-core performance to handle the most intensive multimedia applications.

Fast and convenient Wi-Fi wireless
Operate wirelessly with up to five times better Wi-Fi performance, including faster Web browsing, file transfers and rich media downloads.‡ Connect easily to Wi-Fi hotspots at the office, the park bench, the café and back home again without missing an online minute.

Optional WiMAX built-in
With WiMAX rolling out in cities around the U.S., you’ll want to be ready with WiMAX built into your laptop powered by Intel Centrino 2 processor technology. Adding the optional WiMAX technology will position you at the cutting edge of 4G wireless. It’s like taking the fast, high-performance Internet experience you’ve come to expect at home, all around town with you. Now the whole city can be your hotspot.

Great performance has never been so stylish with ultra-thin laptops
Intel puts sleeker laptops at your fingertips. Powered by ultra-low voltage Intel® Core™ processor, these new ultra-thin laptops bring together great performance and longer battery life in sleek, slim designs.

Break free with longer battery life
Deep Power Down and other energy-efficient capabilities extend your battery life to let you stay unplugged longer, so you won't need to search for power outlets at every stop along your travels.

Enhanced digital media experience
With Intel® Graphics Technology, you’ll experience the hottest media in razor-sharp HD with crystal-clear images and brilliant colorΔ and more than three times better graphics performance for rich, realistic and immersive gaming and video experiences.Δ You’ll also get up to 90% faster performance on intensive multimedia applications like HD video encodingΔ

What is WiMAX?

With high-speed wireless broadband built in, WiMAX-enabled laptops will provide the freedom and convenience of accessing your own Internet service from anywhere within a metropolitan area, essentially creating a city-wide hotspot. WiMAX provides a similar Internet experience and performance to what you get with your high-speed home service, even for data-intensive applications such as streaming media, live video conferencing, and more. And that broadband Internet connectivity goes with you while you’re on the move around town. Intel is working with providers around the world to roll out new WiMAX networks, so check back to see when your city is added.

Learn more about Intel WiMAX Technology

Compare Processor Numbers

Is faster always better? Yes, but it's not always what you should buy.

So as you evaluate the performance of the components below, don't analyze them in isolation from each other, but consider them interdependent partners that make up your projected system. And, keep in mind that your future needs—adding software from a growing family or a growing business—might be different later.

Roll over each word below to find a pop-up box: we have provided definitions you need to know so you can better understand how each will work together in your system.

Processor Family
Processor Family
Processor
Number
Processor Number
What is this?
Cores
Cores
What is this?
Clock Speed
Clock Speed
What is this?
Front Side Bus (MHz)
Front Side Bus
What is this?
L2 Cache
L2 Cache
What is this?
Silicon Technology
Silicon Technology
What is this?
Built-in WiMAX

Built-in WiMAX
What is this?
PERFORMANCE
Intel® Core™2 Quad processor
Q9100 4 2.26 GHz 1066 MHz 12 MB 45nm not available
Q9000 4 2.00 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm available option
PERFORMANCE
Intel® Core™2 Duo processor
T9900 2 3.06 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm available option
T9800 2 2.93 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm available option
T9600 2 2.80 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm available option
T9550 2 2.66 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm available option
T9400 2 2.53 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm not available
POWER OPTIMIZED PERFORMANCE
Intel® Core™2 Duo processor
P9700 2 2.80 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm available option
P9600 2 2.66 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm available option
P9500 2 2.53 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm available option
P8800 2 2.66 GHz 1066 MHz 3 MB 45nm available option
P8700 2 2.53 GHz 1066 MHz 3 MB 45nm available option
P8600 2 2.40 GHz 1066 MHz 3 MB 45nm available option
P8400 2 2.26 GHz 1066 MHz 3 MB 45nm available option
P7450 2 2.13 GHz 1066 MHz 3 MB 45nm available option
P7350 2 2.00 GHz 1066 MHz 3 MB 45nm not available
LOW VOLTAGE PROCESSORS
Intel® Core™2 Duo processor
SP9600 2 2.53 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm available option
SP9400 2 2.40 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm not available
SP9300 2 2.26 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm not available
SL9600 2 2.13 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm available option
SL9400 2 1.86 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm not available
SL9300 2 1.60 GHz 1066 MHz 6 MB 45nm not available
ULTRA LOW VOLTAGE PROCESSORS
Intel® Core™2 Duo processor
SU9600 2 1.60 GHz 800 MHz 3 MB 45nm available option
SU9400 2 1.40 GHz 800 MHz 3 MB 45nm not available
SU9300 2 1.20 GHz 800 MHz 3 MB 45nm not available
Intel processor numbers are not a measure of performance. Processor numbers differentiate features within each processor family, not across different processor families. See www.intel.com/products/processor_number for details.
 
 

Processor Number

CLOSE

Processor models vary according to cache size, clock speed and RAM speed. If you run computer-intensive programs, the more L2 Cache you have the better. If, however, you use your PC for gaming, streaming video or watching movies, the size of your L2 Cache is not as significant as having a speedy Front Side Bus and increased Clock Speed. That said, every year, software developers design programs and applications that demand more and more of all three of these elements. So, our advice is to think about tomorrow’s needs as well as today's. Still don’t know how much to err on the side of caution? Choose the best processor you can afford. No matter what, you’re bound to be impressed.

Here is some guidance to consider when looking at our laptop processors:

Intel® Core™2 Extreme mobile processor:
X9000 series: For ultimate mobile gaming and/or media performance

Intel® Centrino® processor technology:
T9000/T8000 series: Great for visually intense gaming and/or high definition media
T7000/ T5000 series: Create and store your photos, videos and music

Intel® Pentium® dual-core processor:
T2000 series: Aptly handles a variety of simple computing tasks simultaneously

Intel® Celeron® dual-core processor:
T1000 series: For when you want to run a few basic tasks simultaneously

Intel® Celeron® processor:
500 series: For when you just need the basics

Extend your hand and place four marbles in the palm. That's the gist of quad-core. It’s that simple.

Quad-core technology is a single processor chip (your hand), including four processor cores (the four marbles) or rather four simultaneously hard working brains. And just like those marbles, each core can work either separately, or together on one large task.

Software developers chop up their code (known as threading) and run each piece concurrently through whatever processor core happens to be most available. Increasingly, software developers rely on Intel® quad-core and dual-core technology so their multithreaded program can do more things simultaneously producing faster, more efficient results for you.

Tip: for exceptional multitasking, look for Intel® dual-core processors. If you’re a mega-multitasker, gaming elitist, or multimedia maven, look for Intel quad-core processors.

The simplest way to understand clock speed is to imagine a stopwatch measuring laps. Question is, where is the stopwatch? At an Olympic pool, a racetrack or your child's sports day?

Just like a stopwatch, a clock speed measures how fast a processor performs an activity. But which activity?

That’s up to you. How do you plan to use your computer? Will you video your child with your new HD camera? Then find a benchmark test that tells the clock speed of the processor running a media-intensive program. Do you love re-touching photos? Then look up how a processor was benchmarked running the photo software you like to use.

Tip: yes, you will find numbers. You will see rates in gigahertz (GHz), which means a billion cycles per second.

But numbers don’t tell the story. How you use your processor is what you want to find out. After all, you wouldn’t compare a lap time from your local swimming pool with a grand prix race, would you?

Imagine the RAM of your computer as one city, and the CPU as another. Between them is a wide road (the Front Side Bus). When you’re making calculations, developing graphics - anything you and your software demands - the Front Side Bus transfers data quickly to meet that demand.

Tip: whatever system you choose, make sure the components work together. For example, if you’re building a media computer, having a 1333 MHz front side bus that can handle HD video is wonderful - but make sure the CPU is adequate for the challenge.

Imagine arriving at your local shop and having all your favourite food fly off the shelves and fill the shopping trolley in minutes.

That’s L2 cache. It remembers the information you access most frequently in your computer so you can easily get to it without those annoying lags. (Just don’t expect it to remember documents you didn’t save.)

Tip: more L2 cache reduces bottlenecks and helps speed memory performance.

45nm – A nanometre is one-billionth of a metre. The processors we have on the market are just 45-billionths of a metre wide. To get an idea of the size of the technology: you could lay over 2000 of our transistor gates side-by-side and almost equal the diameter of a strand of human hair. The new Hafnium-infused Intel 45nm process allows transistors to be packed more densely than the 65nm process. With the use of hafnium oxide replacing silicon dioxide (in use since the 1960s) the new transistors leak less energy, produce less heat and switch faster.

Nearly doubling the density of our processors means extra performance, an up-to-50-percent larger L2 cache, and new levels of breakthrough energy-efficiency. Cool – in many ways.

Performance Benchmarks

Performance for Intel® Centrino® 2 processor technology and comparisons to
previous generation Intel® Centrino® processor technology.

 

Watch a full-length Blu-ray* movie on one battery charge

With Intel’s newest mobile technology you can enjoy watching your favorite Blu-ray* movies when you're away from home.

Click here for Blu-ray Playback system configuration.‡

Break free! …with longer battery life

Get Intel’s best notebook technology designed to bring you the longest possible battery life. Enjoy the freedom and flexibility to work, learn and play on the go.

Click here for MobileMark*2007 system configuration.‡

Get a better visual experience

Now with DirectX* 10 support!

Multitask – Do more with your notebook in less time

Get amazing dual-core performance and prepare your favorite photos for sharing on Facebook* while at the same time creating your own family web gallery. This test measures the number of digital photos you can prepare in one minute for sharing on Facebook*.

Share your videos with the world

With the new Intel Centrino 2 Processor technology, you can quickly convert your standard-definition videos, like MiniDV format, for uploading to YouTube*.

Quickly compress, store, and share your Hi-Def home videos

Intel’s newest mobile technology makes quick work of the toughest computing tasks like Hi-Def video encoding for sharing on DVD. This test measures the time to convert and compress 30 minutes of Hi-Def video.

Click here for performance system configuration.Δ