is the 1MB L2 cache a BIG deal ?

[DeeKnow]

I've been thinking about a P4/2.8GHz setup and wondering if the 1MB L2 cache is worth paying extra for... I know a bit about how the cache helps, so imagine 1024k vs 512 k is a big improvement. Question is, if I am primarily interested in video editing, is this for me??

on a separate but related note, the 533FSB model is $196 according to the April price guide, but the 800FSB chip is $166... maybe I'm missing the point here, but should I not expect it to have been the other way around?

 

[LTC8K6]

The only desktop P4's with 1MB cache are Prescotts, and you don't want one of those yet. The Northwoods with 512K cache are cooler, and at this point, faster.

Presently the Prescotts need 1MB cache to hide the latencies of their longer pipeline.

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
The only desktop P4's with 1MB cache are Prescotts, and you don't want one of those yet. The Northwoods with 512K cache are cooler, and at this point, faster.

Presently the Prescotts need 1MB cache to hide the latencies of their longer pipeline.

The P4 EEs also have 1MB of cache.

 

[Celeryman]

Actually the P4EE's have 512K of level 2 cache and also they add 2MB of L3. Some performance (5-10%) advantage but definitely not worth the price premium.

 

[charloscarlies]

The benefits of the extra L2 cache will be greatly outweighed by the fact that it's a Prescott. Get the Northwood.

 

[DeeKnow]

okay, thanks for all your responses... guess it's pretty clear I should go with the Northwood. Next questions - is the Northwood designated by the "a", and Prescott by "c" in the chip description?

 

[Soulkeeper]

prescott is the "e"
800mhz fsb northwood is the "c"
i think "a" is the celeron-prescott thing they got out now

so unless you are getting the new ati chipset that is designed with prescott in mind then the c is good for you

 

[charloscarlies]

Actually the 2.4"A" is a Prescott as well, but with a 533 fsb. Otherwise all the Prescotts are "E".

 

[LTC8K6]

What you want is the "C" model, just to be clear. 512K cache 800Mhz FSB.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: DeeKnow
on a separate but related note, the 533FSB model is $196 according to the April price guide, but the 800FSB chip is $166... maybe I'm missing the point here, but should I not expect it to have been the other way around?

Supply and demand. That's why a Pentium 200 MMX is still more expensive than a Duron nowadays.

 

[DeeKnow]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
[Supply and demand. That's why a Pentium 200 MMX is still more expensive than a Duron nowadays.

damn! and I just threw out my P166MMX in the trash..LOL!

 

[IntelUser2000]

Actually, I don't know about Prescott in video editing. Just check out at Anand's Prescott article. What seems to be true is that Nocona may be competitive since Prescott, which is based on same core, performs rather well in Workstation applications.

 

[zephyrprime]

I would bet that a big l2 has a pretty small effect for video editting because it's an application that only deals with big blocks of data and exibits poor spatial locality. I think the most important thing for video editing would be lots of memory bandwidth and big HD STR.

 

[PhlashFoto]

Originally posted by: DeeKnow

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
[Supply and demand. That's why a Pentium 200 MMX is still more expensive than a Duron nowadays.

damn! and I just threw out my P166MMX in the trash..LOL!

hmm, and I have 2 of these cpus in front of me. What aare they going for???

 

[superHARD]

I could just be crazy but...

I had a 2.6c OC'ed to 3.3 and I got 13000 3dMark01's
I upgraded to a 2.8E and at stock I got 14000 3dMark01's with exact same system and everything...

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: superHARD
I could just be crazy but...

I had a 2.6c OC'ed to 3.3 and I got 13000 3dMark01's
I upgraded to a 2.8E and at stock I got 14000 3dMark01's with exact same system and everything...

Something else changed, a 3.3C with a high fsb would be a lot faster.

 

[superHARD]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: superHARD
I could just be crazy but...

I had a 2.6c OC'ed to 3.3 and I got 13000 3dMark01's
I upgraded to a 2.8E and at stock I got 14000 3dMark01's with exact same system and everything...

Something else changed, a 3.3C with a high fsb would be a lot faster.

Well as you can see above ... it wasn't

Remember the system was exactly the same...I tested the 2.6C first rebooted changed fsb settings, turned computer off, installed prescott, turned system on...ran 3dMark and you get the results listed above.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Hold on people.
Here is the actual meanings:

-A Pentium 4 supporting Asychronous cache

-B 533FSB

-C 800FSB

-E Prescott with 1mb of L2 cache and all the other crap

-EE Extreme/ Emergency Edition 512k of L2 and 2mb of L3. Uses the Xeon core but FSB is at 800.

That should set ya stright
I do believe however that the prescotts are getting an L2 caache bump and a FSB bump cant wait!

 

[DeeKnow]

so why isn't all this neat stuff explained clearly at intel.com...?