3 MB Intel Smart Cache compared to 12 MB L2 Cache
3 MB Intel Smart Cache compared to 12 MB L2 Cache
Intel Smart Cache is impressive, but it's significantly smaller than the 12MB L2 cache you mentioned. Intel dynamically distributes the total cache across cores based on their workload needs—each core can access a larger portion of the cache depending on its requirements. With a 12MB L2 cache, each core can handle more data, potentially improving performance in certain scenarios.
Comparing the Q9650 CPU with its 3MB Smart Cache to the Intel i3 2100 CPU with its 3MB Intel Smart Cache seems straightforward. Based on your observation, both CPUs offer similar performance, but the larger L2 cache in the 12MB version might provide a noticeable edge.
To determine if this difference matters, you could run specific benchmarks that stress different workloads and measure actual throughput and latency. Keep in mind that older generations often trade off cache size for speed, so the impact can vary.
The system typically requires the main core for access, while L3 is available to everyone. Certain operations could gain from extra caching, but performance depends on both hardware and memory as well, making it difficult to forecast without targeting particular jobs.