All New Intel CPU has 256K but older ones had 512K why??? + More other question

[Exiler]

Allright, I must have missed out on this cache thinge since my knowledge of Computer parts only began about a year ago.

My question is why is it a P2 350 SLOT 1 has 512K L2 Cache while my new P3 733 EB FC-PGA has only 256K!!

Also, I have a Celeron o/c question.

If I get a Celeron II PC-PGA 600 and overclock it to 900 (I want only 900, cause want FSB at 100 = 9x100)
And since the celeron has 128K L2 Cache only, how much performance difference can I see with a P3 900E. The P3 900, I know doesnt exist only at 933, but I'm using it as an example.

Just how much of a gaming and Application performance can I see against a C900 Vs P3 900??

The memory will be fixed at 100FSB

Also how can I find out what my PCI divider is for my mobo? Asus P2B Rev 1.02
Since I do not intend on o/c my PCI or ISA Slot too much that I will have instability.

Video card being a Geforce 2 MX which I beleive can handle anything.

[Pinky]

I will answer these as best I can individually...

Exiler (May 22, 2001 01:32 p.m.):
Allright, I must have missed out on this cache thinge since my knowledge of Computer parts only began about a year ago.

My question is why is it a P2 350 SLOT 1 has 512K L2 Cache while my new P3 733 EB FC-PGA has only 256K!!

<b>[You'll have to ask Intel or one of the experts about this one, I don't really understand it either, other than to say they really don't need a lot like the older PIIs]</b>

Also, I have a Celeron o/c question.

If I get a Celeron II PC-PGA 600 and overclock it to 900 (I want only 900, cause want FSB at 100 = 9x100)
And since the celeron has 128K L2 Cache only, how much performance difference can I see with a P3 900E. The P3 900, I know doesnt exist only at 933, but I'm using it as an example.

Just how much of a gaming and Application performance can I see against a C900 Vs P3 900??

<b>[You'll notice a market improvement from 600 to 900... 900 C to PIII900 will be noticeable too, because of the increased L2 memory. The numbers I've seen are a celeron 667 to 1000 equals a PIII 750 in raw processing power/speed when gaming. Not bad considering the celeron goes for almost $40 (or 40%) less.]</b>

The memory will be fixed at 100FSB

Also how can I find out what my PCI divider is for my mobo? Asus P2B Rev 1.02
Since I do not intend on o/c my PCI or ISA Slot too much that I will have instability.

<b>[dunno, I don't venture into odd timings (124, 85, etc). Stick with 66, 100, or 133 to be safest.]</b>

Video card being a Geforce 2 MX which I beleive can handle anything.

[Blue Jester_2112]

The older pii's and first generation piii's all had 512k off-die cache which I believe ran at half the speed of the processor, when the next generation of piii's came out (coppermines) the cache was moved on-die which allowed it to run at the full speed of the processor. 256k was found to be the optimal amount needed and, since cache is expencive to produce, allowed them to lower prices. (Not that they lowered them all that much)

The difference between a piii and a celeron (even at 100mhz fsb) will be noticeable becuase of the cache, it's what keeps the cpu fed and the 128k cache of the Celeron can be a bitch when you want to multitask and play cpu intensive games. It would be fast, but not nearly as fast as a piii 933.

I'm not sure about your mobo, but i if you can adjust the PCI divider in the BIOS then I believe you set it to 1/3 if your running a 100mhz fsb.

Hope that helps.

[Newbie_Doo]

The data path on the old (Katmai) 512k cache is also half as wide. The new data path (coppermine)from the CPU to the cache is now running at clock speed, rather than half, is on-die rather than off, and theoretically has twice the throughput of the old cache per clock cycle.