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Author Topic: Does L3 Cache matter much for gaming  (Read 3392 times)

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DaveLembke

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Does L3 Cache matter much for gaming
« on: September 19, 2017, 11:05:46 AM »
Friend of mine is looking to upgrade from his Athlon II x215 2.7Ghz to a Athlon II x4 or Phenom II x4 and asked me if there is a big advantage to Phenom II x4 with L3 Cache vs an Athlon II x4 which doesnt have L3 Cache.

I looked online and found this article here: http://wccftech.com/intel-amd-l3-cache-gaming-benchmarks/

It looks like there is up to a 10% performance gain according to benchmarks, but thats only if whatever is run can make use of the L3 Cache. Somewhere I read a while back stated the strengths and weaknesses of L1,2, and 3 Cache and some games and applications dont have a benefit in L3 Cache because they weren't coded up in a way that benefits from L3 Cache. Unable to find that article to reference here.

The Phenom II x4's come at a premium on ebay in the $60 range each and the Athlon II x4 CPUs are about half the price in the $30 range.

I told him that if he wants the maximum performance he could get then the Phenom II x4 clearly is, but as far as if it makes sense to spend the extra to get the Phenom II x4 vs the Athlon II x4 of a same or very close clock, that I am unsure of because I myself have never owned a Phenom II x4 to be able to know how much better it would be vs the Athlon II x4 and as far as Athlon II x4's go I only have experience with the Athlon II x4 620 2.6Ghz which I am happy with but not sure if this is crippled compared to the Phenom II x4 of say 2.6Ghz with the L3 cache being the only difference?

So looking for info on if it makes much of a difference or not and should he avoid the Phenom II x4 and buy the Athlon II x4 or go for it and spend twice a much for the Phenom II x4?

I looked to see if there was a list of what games make good use of L3 and found nothing. Here is a short list of games that we both play together.

World of Warcraft
Aion
Rift
Skyrim
Torchlight II
Diablo III
Hearthstone

DaveLembke

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Re: Does L3 Cache matter much for gaming
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2017, 06:59:08 AM »
Well he got impatient and bought a Athlon II x4 645 3.1Ghz off of ebay. Hopefully when it arrives its a good one and not one with bent pins etc.  ::)

So if any info gets shared about his question, it would be neat to know but it wont affect his purchase now.