Intel's Core 2 Extreme & Core 2 Duo: The Empire Strikes Back
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 14, 2006 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
L2 Cache: 4MB or 2MB?
The majority of Intel's Core 2 Duo line feature a single shared 4MB L2 cache, but the E6300 and E6400 are only equipped with a 2MB cache. Given that the Core 2 Duo doesn't have an on-die memory controller, it is more dependent on larger caches than AMD's Athlon 64 X2, which raises the question - how big of a difference is there between the 2MB L2 and 4MB L2 parts?
Our Core 2 Extreme X6800 (2.93GHz) part, like all X6800s, is unlocked so we could simulate any other Core 2 Duo clock speed with it. We managed to get our hands on a Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.86GHz/2MB) and we were in business.
The graph below features all of the benchmarks we ran on the processors in this review, showing the percent performance improvement from a Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.86GHz/2MB) to a hypothetical 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo with a 4MB L2 cache. The bar labeled "Average" is simply an average of all of the performance improvements graphed on the chart.
The 4MB L2 cache can increase performance by as much as 10% in some situations. Such a performance improvement is definitely tangible, and as applications grow larger in their working data sets then the advantage of a larger cache will only become more visible. Unfortunately, you do pay a price premium for this added performance and future proofing as the cheapest 4MB L2 part is the E6600 priced at $316.
If you're the type to upgrade often, then the extra cache is not worth it as you're not getting enough of a present day increase in performance to justify the added cost. However, if this processor will be the basis for your system for the next several years, we'd strongly recommend picking a 4MB flavor of Core 2.
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bob661 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
But they're not available today. Why is that?So Intel is launching this twice? What is going on today? Technology preview?
Questar - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Sold out?
RTFA. The NDA lifted today. Launch is on the 27th.
bob661 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
If they were sold out they would still show on Newegg and ZZF.I RFTA! That's how I was able to correlate the lack of product to the availability of benchmarks. Products leak all of the time and NDA's are held in place. This maybe a creative way of paper launching but it's still a paper launch.
Questar - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Yeah, because that's the only two places you buy a CPU from.
Sheesh.
Questar - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
bob and MrKaz, forever the fanboy.Please explain to me why Intel having the better cpu upsets you so?
MrKaz - Monday, July 17, 2006 - link
And you?It can be better than Cyrix, IBM, Sun, ... I don’t care.
But you seem to care more than me.
If you don’t, why do you complain?
This is not for me because my maximum 100€ for processor.
It’s cheap (compared to others Intel past released brand new CPU) but not cheap enough.
bob661 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
I'm not a fanboi. I just hate hypocrites. If you read another post of mine in this section (use the scroll button Luke) you will see me praise the performance of the Conroe. I plan on buying one for my wife. I'll probably get a K8L if it turns out to be even or faster than Conroe otherwise I'll get a Conroe for myself.bob661 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Here's the post I made. Sound like a fanboi to you?forPPP - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Why buying more expensive and slower Core 2 Extreme (X6800, 2.93 GHz) ? There is cheaper Woodcrest at 3.0 GHz !Are there no motherboard with unbuffered memory support for Woodcrest ?
coldpower27 - Friday, July 14, 2006 - link
Nope Intel doesn't allow their Server processor to be used for desktop stuff as it's LGA771 socket.