Cores

• The Pentium D and the Pentium E2160 are both dual-core microprocessors: Each microprocessor utilizes two cores, or processing units, for reading and executing computer instruction sets. Dual cores enable a microprocessor to multi-task more easily, as, for example, it can assign one core to run one application and another core to run a second application.
  
  

Frequency

• Depending on the specific model, a Pentium D microprocessor can have a frequency ranging from 2.66GHz to 3.6GHz. While first-generation Pentium Ds, which are based on Smithfield cores, can provide frequencies of up to 3.2GHz, second-generation Pentium Ds, which are based on Presler cores, can attain a 3.6GHz maximum. In comparison, the Pentium E2160 has a frequency of 1.8GHz. Also known as clock rate, frequency refers to how frequently a microprocessor can generate electronic pulses for executing computer instruction sets. A higher frequency allows a microprocessor's host computer to complete tasks more rapidly.
  
  

Bus Speed

• Bus speed refers to how fast data can travel through a microprocessor's front side bus (FSB), which is the group of wires that connects a microprocessor to a host computer's motherboard. The higher a microprocessor's bus speed, the more rapidly it can transmit data to other motherboard components, such as memory modules and graphics cards. Depending on the specific model, a Pentium D can have a bus speed of between 533MHz and 800MHz. The Pentium E2160 has a bus speed of 800MHz.
  
  

L2 Cache

• A Pentium D microprocessor can have an L2 cache size of either 2MB or 4MB. In comparison, the Pentium E2160 has an L2 cache size of 1MB. L2 cache is an on-chip storage location that provides a microprocessor with commonly-accessed data, preventing the microprocessor from having to retrieve such data from a motherboard. Higher L2 cache sizes allow host computers to operate more rapidly.
  
  

Socket

• For connecting to host computers, microprocessors rely on sockets. Both the Pentium D and the Pentium E2160 rely on the same socket: the LGA755. Also known as Socket T, the LGA755 has 755 protruding pins.
  
  

Instruction Set

• In addition to sharing a dual-core construction and the same type of socket, the Pentium D and the Pentium E2160 utilize the same instruction set architecture: Intel 64. This 64-bit architecture allows computer systems, such as mobile, desktop, workstation and server platforms, to address more than 4GB of both physical and virtual memory.