Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4500 socket: Socket P

What the Pentium Dual-Core T4500 is

The Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4500 is a dual core Penryn mobile processor that Intel launched in January 2010 for budget notebooks. It runs two cores at 2.3 GHz with no turbo, so 2 cores give 2 threads. The pair shares 1 MB of L2 cache on a 45 nm process with 410 million transistors on a 107 mm² die. Power is rated at 35 W with an 800 MT/s front side bus and the SLGZC sSpec.

The T4500 sits near the top of the Pentium T4xxx line with 200 MHz over the T4400. Against Core 2 Duo mobiles at the same clocks it trails in cache sensitive work because 1 MB faces 2 to 6 MB, but office suites and media playback rarely expose the gap. A CPU-Z validation shows it on an Acer board with a GM45 north bridge and DDR3 modules in dual channel.

There is no graphics on the CPU. Display comes from the board chipset such as GM45 integrated graphics or a discrete mobile GPU.

Socket and motherboard compatibility

The Pentium Dual-Core T4500 fits Socket P with 478 pins in micro-FCPGA form. Montevina GM45 and PM45 boards boot Penryn natively, while Santa Rosa 965 boards need a BIOS that lists the R0 stepping. Check the notebook vendor CPU list because OEM boards often restrict quads even when the chipset matches.

Socket P chips never fit Socket M or desktop Socket 478 despite the pin count. Arrandale on Socket G1 replaced the platform in 2010. The Socket vs chipset: what decides whether a CPU works guide covers pairing rules.

Memory, PCIe and cooling

Memory is DDR2 on 965 boards and DDR2 or DDR3 on GM45 and PM45 boards, in two channels up to 8 GB on common notebooks. The validation sample runs DDR3-800 class modules in dual channel for 12.8 GB/s class bandwidth.

The 800 MT/s front side bus links the CPU to the chipset. PCIe slots hang off the mobile chipset rather than the processor.

Cooling uses the notebook vendor heat pipe assembly rated for 35 W, not a retail tower. Replacement fans and pads come from the notebook maker.

Upgrade paths

On Socket P the upgrade is a Core 2 Duo such as the T9600 with 6 MB of cache on the same board, or a Core 2 Quad where the vendor firmware allows it. A move beyond Socket P needs a new notebook with Arrandale on Socket G1 and DDR3.