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Desktop processors comparison – Intel Quad Core Q8200 vs Q9400 vs Q9550

Name

Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q8200 (4M Cache, 2.33 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB)

Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q9550 (12M Cache, 2.83 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB)

Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q9400 (6M Cache, 2.66 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB)

Status

Launched

Launched

Launched

Launch Date

Q3’08

Q1’08

Q3’08

Embedded

 N

N

Y

Supplemental SKU

 N

N

N

Lithography

45 nm

45 nm

45 nm

Max TDP

95 W

95 W

95 W

1ku Bulk Budgetary Price

$163.00

$266.00

$213.00

Processor Number

Q8200

Q9550

Q9400

# of Cores

4

4

4

Clock Speed

2.33 GHz

2.83 GHz

2.66 GHz

Cache

4 MB L2 Cache

12 MB L2 Cache

6 MB L2 Cache

Bus Type

FSB

FSB

FSB

System Bus

1333 MHz

1333 MHz

1333 MHz

Instruction Set

64-bit

64-bit

64-bit

Core Voltage

0.8625V-1.237V

0.850v – 1.3625v

Intel® Demand Based Switching

N

N

N

Intel® Dynamic Speed Technology

N

N

N

Intel® 64

Y

Y

Y

Execute Disable Bit

Y

Y

Y

Halt State

Y

N

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology

N

N

N

Enhanced Intel® Speedstep Technology

Y

Y

Y

Intel® Trusted Execution Technology

N

Y

Y

Intel® VT-x

N

Y

Y

Package Specifications

Tcase

71.4°C

71.4°C

71.4°C

Package Size

37.5mm x 37.5mm

37.5mm x 37.5mm

37.5mm x 37.5mm

Die Size

164 mm2

214 mm2

164 mm2

# of Transistors

456 million

820 million

456 million

FSB Parity

N

Y

N

Sockets Supported

LGA775

LGA775

LGA775

Halogen Free Options Available

Y

Y

Y

The three processors Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q8200, Q9400 and Q9550, are the three options most Desktop buyers would be looking to choose between (Sorry for the AMD users, we will come back to AMD comparison soon) if they are looking for Quad Cores. All these processors have four cores and are in the entry to mid level of the Quad Core segment (All in premium end of overall processors). Price wise all of them fall in medium to premium segment costing between $150-$260 on their own ( Rs 9000.00 to Rs 15000.00 INR )
The highlights of these three processors are they all follow 45nm architecture, 95W power consumption and all are supported in LGA775 socket. So you can choose your motherboard and decide between these three procesors. All these processors use 1333 MHZ System Bus.
The main difference is the processor speed at 2.33GHZ, 2.66GHz and 2.83 GHz respectively which isn’t a big difference for the cost. Other significant difference in terms of technical details is the Cache which is 4MB L2, 6MB L2 and 12 MB L2 for processors Intel® Core 2 Quad Processor Q8200, Q9400 and Q9550 respectively. But the performance improvement of the increased cache can be hardly felt as most hardware experts say beyond 2MB L2 cache the difference in performance is minimal.
When we check the performance of the processor as per CPU benchmark results the results are very much progressive.

See the price vs performance ratio of the Quad Core desktop processors here.

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Intel core 2 duo T5800 vs T6400 Notebook processors comparision

Notebook Intel Core 2 Duo processors comparision T6400 vs T5800
Notebook Intel Core 2 Duo processors comparision T6400 vs T5800

Specs:

T6400 – 2 GHz 2MB L2 Cache , 800MHz FSB, 45nm (lower better), 35watts, Penryn Family of processors.

T5800 – 2 GHz 2MB L2 Cache , 800MHz FSB, 65nm(lower better) , 35watts, Merom Family of processors

And both the models support native 64 bit computing

Review:

T5800 was the popular model of Intel’s midrange laptops but it has got a upgrade with a new T6400 processor after the 2008 Christmas season. Almost all the major laptop brands have started sidelining their T5800 models in favour of T6400 with almost the same spec.

Many have asked me what is the difference between T5800 and T6400. Typically should be no major difference between the two, but if you have the choice and the price difference is less than or around 50$ always go for the newer model(T6400), the newer models have better architecture better support and your laptop might get a better resale value if you decide to sell.

The only difference in terms of specs is T6400 follows 45nm technology and belongs to the penryn family, whereas the T5800 follows the 65nm architecture.

CPU Benchmark (cpubenchmark.com) values of a very small sample of T6400 show a markedly high improvement over the T5800, im not sure if this is because of the overall higher configuration associated with current T6400 based laptops or maybe inaccurate performance measurement at cpu benchmark. I haven’t included the benchmark values as it could be misleading.