Pentium Dual-Core

The Intel Pentium Processor Extreme Edition 840 running at 3.2 GHz and Intel 955X Express Chipsets are being built into computers that are now entering the market. This is Intel's first desktop dual-core product supporting Hyper-Threading Technology. Processor features include the following:
· Hyper-Threading Technology: Enables you to run multiple demanding applications at the same time.
· Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology: Provides flexibility for future applications that support both 32-bit and 64-bit computing.
· Dual-Core: Two physical cores in one processor support better system responsiveness and multi-tasking capability than a comparable single core processor. [Source: Intel Dual-core Desktop Processor]
AMD also announced its line of desktop dual-core processors, the AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor family. The initial model numbers in the new family include the 4200+, 4400+, 4600+ and 4800+ (2.2GHz to 2.4GHz).The processors are based on AMD64 technology and are compatible with the existing base of x86 software, whether single-threaded or multithreaded. Software applications will be able to support AMD64 dual-core processors with a simple BIOS upgrade and no substantial code changes. [Source: AMD Dual-core Desktop Processor]
Both companies have also announced or released dual-core processors for servers and workstations as well.

The Pentium Dual-Core brand was used for mainstream x86-architecture microprocessors from Intel from 2006 to 2009 when it got renamed to Pentium. The processors are based on either the 32-bit Yonah or (with quite different microarchitectures) 64-bit Merom-2M, Allendale, and Wolfdale-3M core, targeted at mobile or desktop computers.
In terms of features, price and performance at a given clock frequency, Pentium Dual-Core processors were positioned above Celeron but below Core and Core 2 microprocessors in Intel's product range. The Pentium Dual-Core was also a very popular choice for overclocking, as it can deliver optimal performance (when overclocked) at a low price.
In 2006, Intel announced a plan[1] to return the Pentium trademark from retirement to the market, as a moniker of low-cost Core microarchitecture processors based on the single-core Conroe-L but with 1 MiB of cache. The identification numbers for those planned Pentiums were similar to the numbers of the latter Pentium Dual-Core microprocessors, but with the first digit "1", instead of "2", suggesting their single-core functionality. A single-core Conroe-L with 1 MiB cache was deemed as not strong enough to distinguish the planned Pentiums from the Celerons, so it was replaced by dual-core CPUs, adding "Dual-Core" to the line's name. Throughout 2009, Intel changed the name back from Pentium Dual-Core to Pentium in its publications. Some processors were sold under both names.

All About Dual-Core Processors

Dual-core refers to a CPU that includes two complete execution cores per physical processor. It combines two processors and their caches and cache controllers onto a single integrated circuit (silicon chip). It is basically two processors, in most cases, residing reside side-by-side on the same die.
Dual-processor (DP) systems are those that contains two separate physical computer processors in the same chassis. In dual-processor systems, the two processors can either be located on the same motherboard or on separate boards. In a dual-core configuration, an integrated circuit (IC) contains two complete computer processors. Usually, the two identical processors are manufactured so they reside side-by-side on the same die, each with its own path to the system front-side bus. Multi-core is somewhat of an expansion to dual-core technology and allows for more than two separate processors.
Even without a multithread-enabled application, you will still see benefits of dual-core processors if you are running an OS that supports TLP. For example, if you have Microsoft Windows XP (which supports multithreading), you could have your Internet browser open along with a virus scanner running in the background, while using Windows Media Player to stream your favorite radio station and the dual-core processor will handle the multiple threads of these programs running simultaneously with an increase in performance and efficiency.
Today Windows XP and hundreds of applications already support multithread technology, especially applications that are used for editing and creating music files, videos and graphics because types of programs need to perform operations in parallel. As dual-core technology becomes more common in homes and the workplace, you can expect to see more applications support thread-level parallelism.