Not sure about difference between San Diego and Venice cores

[bovinda]

I've been out of the game for a little while, and I'm looking to build a new HTPC. Both these processors look to be in my price range...somewhere from 200-250, and like a "3500-3700" sort of thing. But what is the difference between the San Diego and Venice cores (other than 512 kB extra of L2)?

The only article I found comparing them was from Phoronix last July. (Admittedly I haven't looked too hard yet--I'm really short on time these days, which is why I turn to all you knowledgable people.) Anyone know of any other benchmarks comparing San Diego and Venice CPUs?

Or does anyone have any other suggestions for that price range? I really haven't even looked at mobo or RAM or anything else yet. I'm just starting with the CPU, trying to learn a little.

Thanks for any suggestions/links/readings. :beer:

 

[Absolute0]

get the venice its cheaper. some claim venice runs cooler than SD.

 

[bovinda]

Yeah, I noticed the price difference...that's partly why I was wondering. Especially looking at the difference between the Venice 3500 and the San Diego 3700...is there much of a difference? It's just a 30$ difference or so.

Anyone else have any thoughts, or know of any benchmarks/reviews/readings?

 

[TheRyuu]

Venice=512kb L2 Cache
San Diego=1mb L2 Cache

Take your pick.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

The SD's have more cache and utilize a newer improved silicon technology.
For the small price difference the 3700+ is a better buy IMO than the 3500+

 

[Painman]

If this is strictly an HTPC, there's no advantage to the SD over Venice. For that matter, there's no advantage in a 3500 over a 3000 in that application. Sink the money into something else that will give you a noticeable improvement - better audio, video, etc.

 

[bovinda]

Thanks for the thoughts guys...yeah, I know the cache difference. I think I'm leaning towards the San Diego 3700, I guess.

It won't be just an HTPC, that will be probably 1/4 it's main function. It will also double as a standard home office computer, as well as be used for some photoshop type stuff and light gaming.

Anyone else have any opinions? Anyone know of any benchmarks or articles?

 

[Painman]

BleedinEdge Review

And I'm a SD 3700+ owner myself, btw. I've had it since May. It's true that the SD 3700 @ 2.2 GHz isn't incredibly faster than Venice 3500 @ 2.2 GHz in most tasks, but I've always felt that it had more 'snap' than the Venice 3500 when it comes to day-to-day farting around in Windows. (Yes, I've used that chip too.) I'm very satisfied with mine, and since the price difference between the two is now down to about $32 I'd say go for it.

 

[bovinda]

Thanks Painman, that's exactly the sort of info and feedback I was looking for...that makes the decision easy, 3700 SD it is.

What mobo are you using with it? That's the next piece I need to consider...I won't be doing any overclocking, I just need something stable and reliable. Any suggestions there?

 

[Painman]

I'm using the DFI Ultra-D so I can gank mine up (2750 right now) but that may not be the ideal board for you. I'll leave mobo recommendations to others, because I haven't kept up with them over the last 6 months or so. There might be something out there that's perfect for you, and I don't know about it. But for HTPC, you probably want passive NB cooling for starters.

 

[bovinda]

All right. Thanks for the input.