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What difference does L2 cache make?

 
 
GTS
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      29th May 2008
Building a budget PC and ordered an OEM AMD X2 5600 2Mb cache (2x1mb)
ADA5600IAA6CZ

BUT Ebuyer have sent me an OEM cpu that is not even listed on their website:
ADO5600IAA6DO

The one they sent only has 1mb (2x512kb) cache. So what difference will I
noitice - is it worth RMA'ing?

There are other differences - the one I ordered is 90nm 89W 2800 clock
speed, and the one they sent is 65nm 65W 2900 clock speed. I am not bothered
too much about the power consumption / heat, I just want to know how
performance will be affected....


 
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larry moe 'n curly
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      31st May 2008


GTS wrote:

> Building a budget PC and ordered an OEM AMD X2 5600 2Mb cache (2x1mb)
> ADA5600IAA6CZ
>
> BUT Ebuyer have sent me an OEM cpu that is not even listed on their website:
> ADO5600IAA6DO
>
> The one they sent only has 1mb (2x512kb) cache. So what difference will I
> noitice - is it worth RMA'ing?
>
> There are other differences - the one I ordered is 90nm 89W 2800 clock
> speed, and the one they sent is 65nm 65W 2900 clock speed. I am not bothered
> too much about the power consumption / heat, I just want to know how
> performance will be affected....


The fact that AMD assigned both CPUs the performance rating of 5600
indicates that the two chips are about equally fast, and I'd prefer
the 65nm part for its lower power consumption, meaning it won't put as
much wear on the capacitors in the mobo's voltage converter. That's
probably not important if the mobo has high quality capacitors
(Japanese) in that circuit. However I have to admit that I'm not
interested in maximum computer speed.

OTOH if the dealer didn't warn you about having the right to make
substitutions, you may have the right to treat the shipment as a gift
as defined by FTC rules, i.e., a freebie. This shouldn't be too
difficult to exploit if you paid with a credit card, but I wouldn't
resort to anything that nasty unless the dealer played dirty and did
something like refuse to pay for return shipping. It may be best for
both you and the dealer if the dealer just gives you a discount equal
to the cost of shipping a CPU both ways (check what the shipper
charges for each trip before you contact the dealer). Or how about a
discount of 25%, based on the fact that the CPU you received has 25%
fewer transistors than the one you ordered, the cache being roughly
half of the CPU and you being out for half of that half?

BTW if you have to handle this through a credit card complaint, be
sure to write to the card issuer at the special address for billing
problems because any other address or any other method of complaint
(phone call, e-mail, online complaint form) may result in you
forfeiting some of your credit card rights, resulting in the card
issuer being let off the hook of its legal responsibility to correct
your bill even if they can't collect from the merchant.
 
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GTS
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      31st May 2008
Thank you for the informative replies. In the end I complained on principal
to the supplier, and they are sending out a replacement CPU (and collecting
the one I have at the same time).
However I bet the one the send is the same chip! I don't really mind though,
as stated they are both rated 5600+...


 
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larry moe 'n curly
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      2nd Jun 2008


GTS wrote:

> Thank you for the informative replies. In the end I complained on principal
> to the supplier, and they are sending out a replacement CPU (and collecting
> the one I have at the same time).
> However I bet the one the send is the same chip! I don't really mind though,
> as stated they are both rated 5600+...


I hope you get lucky and end up with the 65nm version of the 2x1M CPU
that you originally ordered.

Through Tuesday, Fry's is selling a 5200+ version, probably with the
smaller cache, for $55, including mobo.
 
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