Intel Core 2 is a processor family encompassing a range of

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

's mainstream

64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing units (CPU) and arithmetic logic units (ALU) are those that are based on processor registers, a ...

x86-64 x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set architecture, instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new ope ...

single-, dual-, and quad-core

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...

s based on the Core microarchitecture. The single- and dual-core models are single- die, whereas the quad-core models comprise two dies, each containing two cores, packaged in a

multi-chip module A multi-chip module (MCM) is generically an electronic assembly (such as a package with a number of conductor terminals or Lead (electronics), "pins") where multiple integrated circuits (ICs or "chips"), semiconductor Die (integrated circuit), d ...

. The Core 2 range is the last flagship range of Intel desktop processors to use a front-side bus (FSB). The introduction of Core 2 relegated the

Pentium Pentium is a series of x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel from 1993 to 2023. The Pentium (original), original Pentium was Intel's fifth generation processor, succeeding the i486; Pentium was Intel's flagship proce ...

brand to the mid-range market, and reunified laptop and desktop CPU lines for marketing purposes under the same product name, which were formerly divided into the

Pentium 4 Pentium 4 is a series of single-core central processing unit, CPUs for Desktop computer, desktops, laptops and entry-level Server (computing), servers manufactured by Intel. The processors were shipped from November 20, 2000 until August 8, 20 ...

, Pentium D, and Core Solo/Duo brands. The ''Core 2'' processor line was introduced on July 27, 2006, comprising the ''Duo'' (

dual-core A multi-core processor (MCP) is a microprocessor on a single integrated circuit (IC) with two or more separate central processing units (CPUs), called ''cores'' to emphasize their multiplicity (for example, ''dual-core'' or ''quad-core''). Ea ...

) and ''Extreme'' (dual- or quad-core CPUs for enthusiasts), and in 2007, the ''Quad'' ( quad-core) and ''Solo'' ( single-core) sub-brands. Intel Core 2 processors with

vPro The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for ''Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep'', lit. 'Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcaster', nowadays known as ''Omroepvereniging VPRO'') is a Netherlands, Dutch Public broadcasting, public broadca ...

technology (designed for businesses) include the dual-core and quad-core branches. Although Woodcrest processors are also based on the Core 2 architecture, they are available under the

Xeon Xeon (; ) is a brand of x86 microprocessors designed, manufactured, and marketed by Intel, targeted at the non-consumer workstation, server, and embedded markets. It was introduced in June 1998. Xeon processors are based on the same archite ...

brand. From December 2006, all Core 2 processors were manufactured from 300-millimeter plates at Fab 12 factory in Arizona and at Fab 24-2 in County Kildare, Ireland.

Virtual machine or virtualization abilities

''Core 2'' and other LGA 775 processors can support

virtualization In computing, virtualization (abbreviated v12n) is a series of technologies that allows dividing of physical computing resources into a series of virtual machines, operating systems, processes or containers. Virtualization began in the 1960s wit ...

if the

virtual machine In computing, a virtual machine (VM) is the virtualization or emulator, emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide the functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve ...

(VM) software supports those processors, e.g. if the processor supports

VT-x x86 virtualization is the use of hardware-assisted virtualization capabilities on an x86/x86-64 CPU. In the late 1990s x86 virtualization was achieved by complex software techniques, necessary to compensate for the processor's lack of hardware-a ...

. Newer versions of VM software do not support processors older than Nehalem (Core 2 and older), as they lack support for VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also called

Second Level Address Translation Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), also known as nested paging, is a hardware-assisted virtualization technology which makes it possible to avoid the overhead associated with software-managed shadow page tables. AMD has supported SLAT throug ...

(SLAT).

Models

The ''Core 2''-branded CPUs include: ''Conroe''/''Allendale'' (dual-core for desktops), ''Merom'' (dual-core for laptops), ''Merom-L'' (single-core for laptops), ''Kentsfield'' (quad-core for desktops), and the updated variants named ''Wolfdale'' (dual-core for desktops), ''Penryn'' (dual-core for laptops), ''Penryn-QC'' (quad-core for laptops), and ''Yorkfield'' (quad-core for desktops). The Core 2-branded processors feature Virtualization Technology without extended page tables (EPT) (with some exceptions), the

NX bit The NX bit (no-execute bit) is a processor feature that separates areas of a virtual address space (the memory layout a program uses) into sections for storing data or program instructions. An operating system supporting the NX bit can mark certai ...

and

SSE3 SSE3, Streaming SIMD Extensions 3, also known by its Intel code name Prescott New Instructions (PNI), is the third iteration of the SSE instruction set for the IA-32 (x86) architecture. Intel introduced SSE3 in early 2004 with the Prescott revis ...

. The Merom microarchitecture introduced

SSSE3 Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extensions 3 (SSSE3 or SSE3S) is a SIMD instruction set created by Intel and is the fourth iteration of the SSE technology. History SSSE3 was first introduced with Intel processors based on the Core microarchitect ...

, Trusted Execution Technology, Enhanced

SpeedStep Enhanced SpeedStep is a series of dynamic frequency scaling technologies (codenamed Geyserville and including SpeedStep, SpeedStep II, and SpeedStep III) built into some Intel's microprocessors that allow the clock speed of the processor to be ...

and Active Management Technology 2.0 (iAMT2). The Penryn microarchitecture, a shrink of the former, introduced SSE4.1. With a maximum thermal design power (TDP) of 65 W, the Core 2 Duo Conroe dissipates half the power of the less capable contemporary Pentium D-branded desktop chips that have a max TDP of 130 W. Core 2 Duo E7500 2

Known marks

With the release of the Core 2 processor, the abbreviation ''C2'' has come into common use, with its variants ''C2S'' (the present Core 2 Solo) ''C2D'' (the present Core 2 Duo), and ''C2Q'', ''C2E'' to refer to the Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Extreme processors respectively. ''C2QX'' stands for the Extreme-Editions of the Quad (such as QX6700, QX6800, QX6850).

Successors

The successors to the Core 2 brand are a set of Nehalem-based processors called

Core i3 Intel Core is a line of multi-core (with the exception of Core Solo and Core 2 Solo) central processing units (CPUs) for midrange, embedded, workstation, high-end and enthusiast computer markets marketed by Intel Corporation. These processors ...

, i5, and i7. The Core i7 was officially launched on November 17, 2008, as a family of three quad-core processor high-end desktop models; further models started appearing throughout 2009. The last processor of the family to be released was the Core 2 Quad Q9500 in January 2010. The Core 2 processor line was removed from the official price lists in July 2011, and the last processors were discontinued in June 2012.

Compatibility issues with modern operating systems

As of 2025, a handful of

Linux distribution A Linux distribution, often abbreviated as distro, is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro—if distributed on its own—is oft ...

s will not run on Intel Core 2-series CPUs due to them requiring the x86-64-v2 microarchitecture level, which is not fully supported by any of the Core 2-series CPUs. Examples include Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 as well as openSUSE Tumbleweed. Attempting to run these distributions on a Core 2 CPU will result in an error message or crash during the boot process. Windows IoT Enterprise releases, starting with Windows 11, version 24H2, will also not run on Intel Core 2 CPUs as it requires the SSE4.2 and POPCNT instruction sets, neither of which are supported by Core 2 CPUs.

Notes

References

External links

1st public demonstration
Anandtech discovers Core 2 Duo performance under the supervision of Francois Piednoel

Intel Penryn Architecture and Performance Preview

Intel Centrino Duo Mobile Technology papers

Intel Core Microarchitecture
* {{Intel processors, core Computer-related introductions in 2006 Core 2 64-bit microprocessors