what are the benefits of a 1mb L2 over 512

[ClocKworK]

I am buying a a8n-sli mobo, and with the price cuts on amd cpu's, I am planning on getting a x2 cpu or a cpu with a 1MB L2 cache.

But is an L2 cache really necessary? What would the benefits be?

 

[Dr Studly]

I am buying a a8n-sli mobo, and with the price cuts on amd cpu's, I am planning on getting a x2 cpu or a cpu with a 1MB L2 cache.

But is an L2 cache really necessary? What would the benefits be?

faster... doesn't matter much if you are gaming though... but for other things it is faster...

 

[Geoff]

The larger the L2 cache, the more data that can be stored on the CPU for faster access. When running SuperPi, it makes a big difference when running 1M vs 32M when you have different size caches, since with a larger cache it can store that data on the cpu, instead of having to go back and forth with the memory.

The performance increase between identical CPUs (except for L2 cache) isnt jaw dropping, and it does vary bades on the apps/games you use, however if the price difference isnt that much greater you may want to go with it.

 

[fade2green514]

yea... if its not too much money i'd get the larger cache.
you know what i say is get the lower frequency with higher cache because you can add frequency to a chip by overclocking... you can't add cache

 

[Geoff]

yea... if its not too much money i'd get the larger cache.
you know what i say is get the lower frequency with higher cache because you can add frequency to a chip by overclocking... you can't add cache

Well, at least not the majority of the people on this forum