Is a 2.16 ghz duo core more powerful than 3.2 ghz P4 ht?

Question

is it just better as far as multitasking is concerned or is it a faster processor?

Answer 1

Oh yeah. I'm not sure specifically about the 2.16GHz version, but I know that the 2.4GHz Core Duo does.

Have a look here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/07/14/core2_duo_knocks_out_athlon_64/page12.html#games

The 3.72GHz P4 (single core) doesn't come anywhere close to the 2.4GHz, which leads me to believe that the 2.16GHz will easily beat the 3.2GHz.

It's a different technology altogether that's even rattled AMD's top-of-the-line CPUs. The Core 2 Duo is extremely efficient. It redefines the "performance per MHz" war that AMD has been winning all these years. Now it's in Intel's favor by a large margin, and they've stepped it up a notch by introducing a new war - "performance per watt". Very little power is needed by the new Core 2 Duo in comparison to any other CPU on the market.