Core 2 Dual

The Core 2 brand was introduced on July 27, 2006,comprising the Solo (single-core), Duo (dual-core), Quad (quad-core), and in 2007, the Extreme (dual- or quad-core CPUs for enthusiasts) version. Intel Core 2 processors with vPro technology include the dual-core and quad-core branches.
Core 2 is a brand encompassing a range of Intel's consumer 64-bit x86-64 single-, dual-, and quad-core CPUs based on the Intel 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.The introduction of Core 2 relegated the Pentium brand to the mid-range market, and reunified laptop and desktop CPU lines, which previously had been divided into the Pentium 4, Pentium D, and Pentium M brands.

The Core microarchitecture returned to lower clock rates and improved the usage of both available clock cycles and power when compared with the preceding NetBurst microarchitectue of the Pentium 4/D-branded CPUs. The Core microarchitecture provides more efficient decoding stages, execution units, caches, and buses, reducing the power consumption of Core 2-branded CPUs while increasing their processing capacity. Intel's CPUs have varied wildly in power consumption according to clock rate, architecture, and semiconductor process, shown in the CPU power dissipation tables.

Core-based processors do not have Hyper-Threading Technology found in Pentium 4 processors. This is because the Core microarchitecture is a descendant of the P6 microarchitecture used by Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III, and Pentium M. Core 2 also lacks an L3 Cache found in the Gallatin core of the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, although an L3 Cache is present in high-end versions of Core-based Xeons and Hyper-Threading is present on select Atom processors. Both an L3 cache and Hyper-threading is present in current Nehalem and future Westmere processors.

USB

USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a way of setting up communication between a computer and peripheral devices. USB is intended to replace many varieties of serial and parallel ports. USB can connect computer peripherals such as mice, keyboards, PDAs, gamepads and joysticks, scanners, digital cameras, printers, personal media players, flash drives, and external hard drives. For many of those devices, USB has become the standard connection method. USB was designed for personal computers, but it has become commonplace on other devices such as PDAs and video game consoles, and as a power cord between a device and an AC adapter plugged into a wall plug for charging. As of 2008[update], there are about 2 billion USB devices sold per year, and approximately 6 billion total sold to date.

The design of USB is standardized by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), an industry standards body incorporating leading companies from the computer and electronics industries. Notable members have included Agere, Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft and NEC.