importance of L2 cache

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eric

I have a celeron 566 that'll run all day at 133FSB and at normal
voltage. that's 1.13ghz. (Actually it'll do 140FSB 1.189Ghz) So it's
just like a PIII or a Tualatin Celeron except for the L2 cache. How
much difference does there have to be in cpu Mhz to make a
substitution (this chip for a PIII) worth it considering the
difference in L2 cache? Does it depend on the application?

eric
 
In alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus, ordered an army of hamsters to type:
I have a celeron 566 that'll run all day at 133FSB and at normal
voltage. that's 1.13ghz. (Actually it'll do 140FSB 1.189Ghz) So it's
just like a PIII or a Tualatin Celeron except for the L2 cache. How
much difference does there have to be in cpu Mhz to make a
substitution (this chip for a PIII) worth it considering the
difference in L2 cache? Does it depend on the application?

eric
Click to expand...



If you had two cpu's running at exactly the same speed and one had more L"
cache than the other then that one will have a performance advantage in
more applications than the other.

If you are not able to upgrade the whole mobo cpu and ram and can find a P3
for a reasonably cheap price then it might actually be worth the change of
cpu.

However, it may be a better use of your money saving for more of an upgrade
than just a cpu. Particularly with the recent introduction of new Intel
chipsets brining down the prices of some of the faster equipment than you
have. Of course then you'd have the opportunity to change to AMD aswell
then.

I recommend thinking about it, do some research on newer chipsets and
motherboards (they dont necessarilly have to be the most recent) and see
what the prices are like. It is worth considering.

love

Kokoro
 
There very existence of an L2 cache is denial of the use of the word
Celeron. So, what's a Tualatin Celeron?
 
I have a celeron 566 that'll run all day at 133FSB and at normal
voltage. that's 1.13ghz. (Actually it'll do 140FSB 1.189Ghz)
Click to expand...

Not too shabby. Which stepping is it? (cD0, I bet - CPUID is 068A. I
once read about a cD0 1 GHz PIII which would run happily at its nominal
clock with just 1.35 V core.)
So it's
just like a PIII or a Tualatin Celeron except for the L2 cache. How
much difference does there have to be in cpu Mhz to make a
substitution (this chip for a PIII) worth it considering the
difference in L2 cache? Does it depend on the application?
Click to expand...

Let me list the differences first:

Coppermine Celeron: 128K L2 4-way associative (like Mendocino).
Coppermine PIII/Tualatin Celeron: 256K L2 8-way associative, faster.
Tualatin PIII: Same as above, but with hardware prefetch added.
PIII-S: Same as above, but with 512K L2 and prefetch.

In benchmarks, the 850 MHz CuMine Celeron was found to be about equal to
a 700 MHz CuMine PIII, so your 1.13 GHz variant would be about as fast
as a PIII-933. Of course, the exact relationship would depend on the
specific application. Something that strictly scales with core clocks
and needs little cache access, like MP3 encoding, would be just as fast
as on a 1.13 GHz PIII-S. In Q3A (which loves fast caches and high memory
bandwidth) it would apparently be about on par with an 800EB. If you'd
like a Celeron that's a whole lot faster when overclocked, try a
Tualatin 900A or 1.0A (many, if not most 1.0As will run happily at 1.33
GHz).

Stephan
 
I have a celeron 566 that'll run all day at 133FSB and at normal
voltage. that's 1.13ghz. (Actually it'll do 140FSB 1.189Ghz) So it's
just like a PIII or a Tualatin Celeron except for the L2 cache. How
much difference does there have to be in cpu Mhz to make a
substitution (this chip for a PIII) worth it considering the
difference in L2 cache? Does it depend on the application?
Click to expand...

Yes - it depends on the application. If no other user knows details,
Dr Google will help you;-)
I remember suggestions that a Celeron corresponds in speed to a PIII
minus 200 MHz, e.g. Celeron 800 ~ PIII 600, because of the L2 cache;
but that's a _very_ rough estimate in any case.

roy
 
That's very impressive, since I used to have a 566 and
it just would not go over 707 no matter what. I'm now
running a 1GHz cu Celeron II at 1.12 - Got a BX chipset here
on a Abit BH6, using a slotket. I suspect x2 L2 alone is not worth
the upgrade, probably no more than %10 or %15 boost.
The only PIII worth considering is of the 512k variety,
running 1.26 or better, which your motherboard may not
support, and it's still relatively expensive and hard to find.
I'm not going to bother, since I seriously doubt it's compatibility
with my BX chipset.

Next stop, a new Celeron D system, which looks very promising at
the D0 stepping that started shipping in early July.
 
Not too shabby. Which stepping is it? (cD0, I bet - CPUID is 068A.
Click to expand...

Yeah, of course cD0. An SL5L5, 1.75v. not even listed on Intel's
website. That's strange. But these are amazing chips. I have 4 of them
and 3 of the 4 will do 133FSB at stock voltage.

Ionce read about a cD0 1 GHz PIII which would run happily at its nominal
clock with just 1.35 V core.)
Click to expand...
Coppermine Celeron: 128K L2 4-way associative (like Mendocino).
Coppermine PIII/Tualatin Celeron: 256K L2 8-way associative, faster.
Tualatin PIII: Same as above, but with hardware prefetch added.
PIII-S: Same as above, but with 512K L2 and prefetch.

In benchmarks, the 850 MHz CuMine Celeron was found to be about equal to
a 700 MHz CuMine PIII, so your 1.13 GHz variant would be about as fast
as a PIII-933. Of course, the exact relationship would depend on the
specific application. Something that strictly scales with core clocks
and needs little cache access, like MP3 encoding, would be just as fast
as on a 1.13 GHz PIII-S. In Q3A (which loves fast caches and high memory
bandwidth) it would apparently be about on par with an 800EB. If you'd
like a Celeron that's a whole lot faster when overclocked, try a
Tualatin 900A or 1.0A (many, if not most 1.0As will run happily at 1.33
GHz).
Click to expand...


thanks for the information, Stephen.

eric
 
Running this chip with an ordinary slocket on a P2b rev 1.10.

Not interested in an upgrade, but was just wondering about how it
compares to others in the family.

thanks,
e.
 
Lil' Dave said:
There very existence of an L2 cache is denial of the use of the word
Celeron.
Click to expand...

I can only remember Covington Celerons that had no L2-cache.
So, what's a Tualatin Celeron?
Click to expand...

A Celeron processor built on P6-architecture on a 0,13 micron process.
 
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