Core 2 Quads, cache size big performance impact?

Ok so I am planning to get a new Core 2 Quad CPU and motherboard and I was wondering how big the performance difference is between a 8mb L2 and 12mb L2 running at the same clock speed and bus speed?

hey noob next time read the title he didnt ask what AMD chip to get, fanboy.

as far as my knowledge goes the bigger cache the more improvement you will see in heavy applications such as rendering and intense games. think of it this way, do you think there is a big difference between 4 vs. 8 instead? i'm inclined to say yes. higher cache you will notice a difference for sure.

It depends on the program, but in most cases, there won't be much of a difference. IIRC though, all 8MB cache Core 2 quads are 65nm, while 12MB are 45nm. The 45nm will run cooler and use less power (and overclock better).

This.

There is a point of diminishing return with only limited improvement in very specific tasks.


edit: And, yes. Tuff to top some of the Phenom combos if you are from the USA and buying from the Egg ...

How much cache is needed is also determined by the clock speed, Just say your running both quads at 2GHz there will be very little difference between 8mb and 12mb. As you increase the speed to 3GHz the gap will widen(but still may be small) and the difference will carry on getting bigger at higher clock speeds.

SeXy??

You are the first guy who calls those chips 'sexy'.

Rate them outta 10.How sexy they are?

Call yourself a man?
Then why are you angry of such a small joke?
Don't you have any manners?

on topic,

@daship, the 'above 6MB cache makes no difference' argument only applies to the phenom II's, because it has 2MB L2 cache and 6MB L3 cache. However if it has a smaller L2 cache then you need a bigger L3 cache. Hence why the i7's have 8MB L3 cache, although Intel could have increased performance by a severe margin by doubling the L1 and L2 cache on the i7's.