L2 cahce vs FSB...

[DanTheMiataMan]

Looking to pick up at 700 dollahish Dell either Inspiron or Vostro. The only big difference really is that the Inspiron comes with a better graphics card but has 4mb L2 cache with a 667 FSB. The Vostro has a lesser card but has a 2mb L2 Cache with 800 FSB... so the question is what is a bigger deal performance wise.. 800 FSB or 4mb L2 Cache.

Things that will be done on machine

Light Gaming
Megatune and Megalogger (For those car nerds who knows what this is)
Interwebs
Music
Movies

 

[lostandwandering]

Generally a larger cache helps in games. The 800mhz FSB is useless on the Vostro since Dell still only offer DDR2-667 RAM. There isn't much performance difference between the two RAMs anyway. If you want to play games get the one with the better card IMO. Before you fully take that advice, which CPUs are they? Specific model, i.e. Core2 T7300 or TurionX2 TL-60.

 

[DanTheMiataMan]

Both are Core 2 Duo's... one has 667 FSB on the chip the other has 800... the 667 has 4mb l2 and the 800 has 2mb l2.

Vostro - T5470 2mb l2 800 FSB with 2gb 667 DDR2 Shared 2 DIMM

Both have 667 DDR2 ram so really the only diff is the FSB. Is there a big diff in 667 FSB and 800 FSB on the board or is the 4mb l2 vs the 2mb l2 going to be where the real performance is seen?

 

[locky28]

Get the one with the 667mhz FSB and the 4Mb Cache, I'm assuming a T7200 or something similar.

See even though the other chip has an 800MHZ FSB, as LW said because the RAM is only 667MHZ the FSB can't fill the RAM up at 800 anyway so it's pointless.

The 4Mb cache is going to be much more beneficial, because laptops have slower memory in general having the extra on chip cache will benefit you greatly.

 

[DanTheMiataMan]

Get the one with the 667mhz FSB and the 4Mb Cache, I'm assuming a T7200 or something similar.

See even though the other chip has an 800MHZ FSB, as LW said because the RAM is only 667MHZ the FSB can't fill the RAM up at 800 anyway so it's pointless.

The 4Mb cache is going to be much more beneficial, because laptops have slower memory in general having the extra on chip cache will benefit you greatly.

Mucho Thanks