Originally posted by: twitchee2
how much preformace increase will i see between these 2? will the 1 MB cache help at all. not really OCing. i want lots of speed. and thoughts/ ideas?
Unfortunately, I couldn't find any benchmark tests specifically pitting the 3500+ "Venice" against the 3700+ "San Diego." However, there's at least one testbed that has the 3500+ "Winchester" against the 3700+ "San Diego." But before we get to that...
At stock speed, the "Winchester" performs almost identically to the "Venice." Just check out this little graph:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/athlon64-venice_14.html At most, the performance difference between the two is less than 3%, and on average, more like 1% (or less). So, the "Winchester" is a sensible stand-in for the "Venice" in benchmark testing.
As someone before me pointed out, here is a review of the "San Diego" 3700+ next to the "Winchester" 3500+:
http://www.bleedinedge.com/reviews/proc..._reviews/3700sd/3700_San-Diego_05.html Obviously, it's not the greatest set of benchmarks, but they do demonstrate that the performance edge of the 3700+ over the 3500+ is pretty marginal.
My suggestion--and this is especially appropriate if you don't plan on overclocking--is to go with the 3400+, which at the moment can be had for under $200. And socket 754 boards are almost always cheaper than similarly-configured 939 boards. If you need something faster, a 3700+/s754 setup is about the same price as a 3500+/Venice.
Anyway, the benchmarks don't show real-life applications, so it's going to be tough for you to decide on what to go for. Good luck!