is L3 cache necessary?

[justMATokay]

Hey people

 

   I'm new to pc and have actually grasped many of the concepts quite well by watching videos from youtube channels like LinusTechTips, Austin Evans, CultOfMush, and Tek Syndicate. I'm was gonna start my first build with an amd athlon x4 750k, but my friend who is also new to pc said that it lacked L3 cache. Is this needed? What are the benefits? Is there that much of a difference? My upgrade option was gonna be an FX 6300 because it does indeed have L3. Also, what is better, 8mb of L2 or 2x4mb of L2? Thanks for helping me!

[Ryan Leech]

It doesn't do much of anything for gaming

[sanderdegrote]

Cache is used to decrease access time to the memory, less cache=higher access time. But for your usage, it probably doesn't care. And i think 8mb l2 and 4x2 mb l2 is just the same. (not sure)

[FireFox]

Since both AMD and Intel utilise it, I'd say yes.

[Samdb]

It runs at whatever clock speed your CPU runs at so it can store vital data to be quickly access, otherwise you would effectively have a 1.6GHz CPU even though it may be clocked at 5GHz due to the slower RAM speed and cannot be access quickly enough.

 

Sam,

Intel Response Squad member

http://bit.ly/IntelRally

[TechSage]

The more is usually better so access times are cut down.