What's the benefit of greater L2 cache?

[Ð88]

ok so essentially it is just the CPU's personal memory so it can store instructions and calculations? If that's the case then it works the same as RAM in the computer so I can see why more is better. But yet, is the added 2MB of L2 cache that the E6600 has over the E6300/6400 worth the additional cost because that seems to be the only difference between them.

 

[LambOfGod]

No its not worth the additional cost, the 2MB of cache dont make as big of a difference as say adding another Gig of ram, like i said before

Most benchmarks have shown a 5% - 7% increase in performance with the extra 2MB of cache on the E6600

Same with AMD.

save your bucks and go with a 6300/6400

 

[Ð88]

all righty, thanks for the help all!

 

[mammikoura]

In my opinion the E6600 is worth the money. The l2 isn't so important, but it's 2.4Ghz, compared to the E6300 which is 1.86Ghz. Thats like 25% increase in clock speed.

 

[LambOfGod]

well you could do some overclocking on the 6300/6400 to match the 6600.

I just wouldnt want to drop $300 on a proc.

 

[Ð88]

well you could do some overclocking on the 6300/6400 to match the 6600.

I just wouldnt want to drop $300 on a proc.

That's what i would do is overclock, but just to ask, is overclocking to 2.4GHz with the E6300/6400 the same as an E6600 at 2.4GHz? (of course minus the L2 cache difference)

 

[LambOfGod]

That's what i would do is overclock, but just to ask, is overclocking to 2.4GHz with the E6300/6400 the same as an E6600 at 2.4GHz? (of course minus the L2 cache difference)

What you would do is overclock the 6300/6400 to the same speed at the 6600

Keep in mind your watching your temps.

Then i would benchmark the CPU with a program such as sisoft Sandra

See how it compares to the E6600

If it lags slightly behind becuase of the cache difference, (which should be very minimal)
overclock it higher to make up for it.

As long as you keep your temps in check, and your system runs stable, there should be no problem

use a program called Prime95 (below) to help you see if your system is stable with the overclock.

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm