Whats up with the Xeon 1MB cache... Anyone with details?

[MadRat]

I have heard so much how an L3 cache is pointless yet Intel does it again with the Xeon. The newest one is competing with the Opteron by using raw power of the cache... the L3 cache that is. Now that we've broken through the idea that an L3 cache on present chips is pointless, its time we look at just what this L3 cache is and its limitations as far as the socket, speed rating of the memory, etc. Anyone know?

 

[pspada]

Probably pointless (at this time) on a home computer. Likey to be useful on a server, particularily a database server or such, where there would be lots of requests for the most recently accessed data.

 

[Mingon]

Intel havent realeased much info about its specs, how wide is the data width? 256 I would assume, is it exclusive? How much extra heat? is it on the same die?

 

[dullard]

Here is my thread on the subject.

Summary:
Intel claims a 14%-18% speed on SPEC, Ansys, and Linpack.

GamePC claims these:
10% faster on Discreet 3D Studio Max 5.0 - Taj Mahal Render
6% faster on Alias|Wavefront Maya 4.02 Render Test
7% faster on Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Filter Test
4% faster on Sciencemark 2.0 Beta - Molecular Dynamics
8% faster on Sciencemark 2.0 Beta - Primordia
~0% different on the rest of their tests.

The tests I'm waiting to see will be server benchmarks. The L3 should help tremendously there.

 

[MadRat]

Is it inclusive or exclusive?