Intel Pentium D 945: Dual core processing at an affordable price

Intel and AMD have both been working on ways to increase processor performance within the X86/X64 platform without making drastic changes to the format of existing computer systems. By drastic changes, I mean the way computers are designed at the most basic level. The Megahertz war is over, Intel the clear winner, but that doesn’t mean that the Pentium processors are faster or better than the AMD processors by any means. They both incorporate new technologies in each processor release to get more processing power out of the same clock cycles.

Intel has decided to place two processor cores into a single chip that share the same memory and chipset interface to give multi-tasking a boost in performance. Intel has several levels of dual core technology including processors that support hyper-threading along with the dual core technology. These processors can handle up to four software threads simultaneously dramatically increasing the processing power for software that takes advantage of the technology.

A single core processor can handle one software thread while a single core processor with hyper-threading can handle two threads simultaneously. A dual core processor can handle two threads simultaneously but with better performance than a single core processor with hyper-threading. But, a dual core processor with hyper-threading can handle four simultaneous threads, taking advantage of resources that otherwise would be idle.


Pentium D 945 – 3.4GHz

The Pentium D series processors are dual core processors that do not incorporate hyper-threading. They are, however, very capable processors able to handle multi-tasking and multimedia applications without any problem. The Pentium D 945 runs on an 800MHz bus and cycles at 3.4GHz. The processor comes boxed with an Intel approved heatsink and fan combo and installation instructions for the heatsink/fan and processor.

There are actually two different boxed models of the Pentium D945 labeled SL9QQ and SL9QB. Both are virtually identical in every aspect except for one small difference. The SL9QQ processor runs on a core voltage of 1.225V-1.325V, while the SL9QB runs on a voltage of 1.225V-1.312V. The only people who may really need this information are people who plan to overclock the processor (which, by the way, both are very capable in this regard). Some overclockers may want the additional margin of voltage for getting the maximum cycles out of their CPU.

My processor is the SL9QQ and I have overclocked it up to 3.6GHz with complete stability, but I am not a serious overclocker so your mileage may vary in this respect. I do not want to push my cooling system much farther than it is now so I will leave it at 3.6GHz.

The processor has a nice amount of L2 cache memory onboard, 2MB per core (4MB total) of error correcting memory running at the full processor speed of 3.4GHz is dedicated to each processor core. L1 cache is labeled Internal Data cache (16kB synchronous) and Internal Trace cache (12kB synchronous).

The stock cooling solution that comes with the boxed processor is adequate for a mid-tower case with a couple case fans installed. I pretty much decided to toss the included heatsink/fan combo and installed a Thermaltake TMG i2 on the processor. This solution has proven to be an excellent decision and the processor has never seen temperatures above 50° Celsius even under the most demanding applications and games.


Processor features and specifications

* Dual Core
* Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology
* Execute Disable Bit 1
* Intel EM64T 2
* sSpec Number: SL9QQ
* CPU Speed: 3.40 GHz
* PCG: 05A
* Bus Speed: 800 MHz
* Bus/Core Ratio: 17.0
* L2 Cache Size: 4 MB
* L2 Cache Speed: 3.4 GHz
* Package Type: LGA775
* Manufacturing Technology: 65 nm
* Core Stepping: D0
* CPUID String: 0F65h
* Thermal Design Power: 95W
* Thermal Specification: 63.4°C
* Core Voltage: 1.225V-1.325V


Dual core vs. Hyperthreading

The Pentium D 945 does not incorporate Hyperthreading technology with the dual cores. But what is the difference? Hyperthreading allows a processor core to handle two threads of information at the same time. If you have a processor with Hyperthreading, you may notice that in the device manager, it shows your computer as a multiprocessor PC even if you only have a single processor. This is what Hyperthreading does, it gives you two “virtual” processors with two individual pipes of data streaming into the processor core at the same time.

Dual core processors have two individual cores that do very much the same thing albeit quite a bit faster. Each core handles a single thread of information so the cores do not work as hard as a single core handling two threads at once.

Dual core processors with Hyperthreading can handle four threads of data at once, where each core handles two threads, just like the single core processor. These are the most efficient (to date) of the Intel processors but also the more expensive ones. The question now is, how much processing power do you really need?


My system

This processor was installed into a new computer that I recently built for gaming and audio recording. The system is designed around the 64-bit architecture of the processor including Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition. The processor handles my 64-bit applications with great speed and high performance. The most intensive 64-bit application I have used so far is Cakewalk Sonar 6 Producer Edition. Sonar 6 Producer Edition runs natively in 64-bit but can also be used in a 32-bit environment in compatibility mode.

Recording audio files is a huge undertaking for any computer, but these days most can handle a single recording. But what I am doing is recording up to 32 tracks (32 individual audio inputs) all at one time. This is a serious task for any processor, and it is also very dependant on the speed of the hard drive and sound processor as well. I have had nothing but flawless recordings so far with not a single hiccup in timing or processing. Even with effects and EQ added to each individual track, recording and playback of 32 simultaneous tracks is not even considered work for this processor.

Each core is monitored by the software and the usage total for each core is displayed at the bottom of the working console. Neither core has ever gone beyond 35% during a recording session, which is more than acceptable for the heavy duty processing that is occurring during a session.

3D games play very well with this processor although they do rely more on the graphics processor than the main CPU. Under 3DMark 06 processor test, the Pentium D 945 3.4GHz was displaying 0.25 frames per second. That doesn’t sound like much, but that is just the processor with no help from the graphics card or the dedicated graphics memory. My main PC with a Pentium 660 3.6GHz (64-bit single core with Hyper-threading) processor could only manage 0.14 frames per second.

So you can clearly see that even though the Pentium D 945 runs at 3.4GHz, while the Pentium 660 runs at 3.6GHz, the GHz doesn’t matter as much as it used to when gauging the power of a processor.

Is the Pentium D 945 a better processor than the Pentium 660? No, not really. It is more capable of handling processor intensive multi-tasking programs; but in reality, for the average computer user you would probably not notice the difference in everyday use. This processor is designed for people who want the dual core power for heavy duty multitasking or to take advantage of software capable of utilizing the dual 64-bit cores by using an operating system that supports both features (like, but not limited to, Windows XP Professional x64 or Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition).

If you are building a gaming computer or a simple home computer, you may not need either feature. Current games do not take advantage of the 64-bit environment and will run in compatibility mode, even if running in a 64-bit operating system. Many games do take advantage of the dual core processor though.

Simple home computing tasks like browsing the web with several pages open while listening to music and downloading files will not really need either of these advanced features. You would find that the speed of downloading is not faster, the music doesn’t sound any better and the web pages do not open any faster with the dual core processor than they would with the single core processor. You would do just as well with a single core processor with Hyperthreading in this instance.


Conclusion

The Pentium D 945 processor is a workhorse and will handle more than most people would make use of it. If you need the heavy duty performance of a dual core processor, this is a great one for the price. If you have need of a processor that can handle native 64-bit applications this is a good choice also. If you need a processor than can handle multiple heavy duty applications this is not a bad choice, but you may want to look at the Pentium Core 2 Quad processors which have four cores with 2MB cache each for a total of 8MB of L2 cache. All-in-all, this is a very capable processor and can handle professional grade 32 or 64-bit software with no problem.

I paid $99.00 for this processor online at eWiz.com plus shipping. For the price, this is an exceptional value.

Thanks for reading,
Gr8ful ;-)