Intel® Multi-Core Processors: Quick Reference Guide

Multi-core means to place two or more complete computational engines (cores) within a single processor. Multi-core technology was developed when engineers realized that merely increasing the speed of single-core chips created too much heat and did not produce the same improvements as in previous processor models. They realized at that rate, a processor would soon be hotter than the surface of the sun. Even without the heat problem, the price to performance ratio would be unacceptable, with slightly faster processors costing greatly more.