Use of L3 cache when compiling?

[nth10sd]

I compile applications often, and they usually take 1-2 hours. I'm planning to upgrade my dual core rig to a quad core one, but I'd like to pull back on cost.

The latest Athlon X4 620 interests me, because I can make use of all 4 cores to compile the app, and it seems to come in cheaply at US$100. Does not having an L3 cache (the Athlon X4s) affect my compile time significantly? i.e. Is it worth paying total 2-3 times more for a Core i5 750 or a Phenom X4 945 instead of Athlon X4 620?

I'm largely budget-conscious but doesn't mind paying more if it's worth it (Core i7s and its associated platform costs are largely out of range though). Also, I tend leave this computer 24/7 so power may be a factor too. I plan to have 8-16 Gb of DDR3 RAM to maximize the potential of the rig during compilation... Nope I don't play games often.

[DDStriker]

I just have to ask what exactly are you compiling that takes 1-2 hours? or is it multiple applications that overall take that long?

guess it depends on what you're compiling i know the hard drive can play an important role in compile speed (i tried compiling on a flash memory stick with 10MB read/write surprisingly took a very long time considering the content)

if its processor bound then i guess a core 2 duo/quad would be a nice upgrade path

could you post the rest of your system specs?

cheers

[TokiToki]

You can look at some Phoronix articles. They test compile times under a Linux environment as part of their benchmarking process.

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=cate...item=Processors

[Argote]

This seems better for an extra $70 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103471

L3 cache, 3ghz vs 2.6ghz on the newer, more slightly efficient architecture plus it's a black edition, so you can probably get some extra mhz if you're into overclocking.

[nth10sd]

I don't overclock, and I'm on a SATA II 1Tb Seagate 7200.11 drive (which I'll swap out for an SSD when prices drop further).

Rest of my specs? Mobo depends on processor (non-gaming), probably 8-16 Gb ram, the hard drive described above, DVD burner, probably onboard graphics.

Oh, and I compile Mozilla applications, e.g. Firefox / Thunderbird. Each take ~1 hour on my dualcore rig. Athlon X2 5600+, 4Gb DDR2 RAM, that Seagate drive above. WinXP. (I compile in about half that time on Ubuntu though I not often on Linux)

[Argote]

Have you checked a resource monitor to see what is being bottlenecked right now?

[ViperAFK]

Compiling is cpu intensive, its most likely his cpu is indeed the bottleneck. A fast hard drive is also very important.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

I could be wrong, but wouldn't it also be better for you to have a larger L2 cache instead of an L3 cache? As L2 should be closer to the CPU and faster for it to access.

[Digitalx]

L2 and L3 don't make much difference. L2 pools data for cores and L3 pools data feed between L2 basically. latency of them would be minimal when compiling i'm sure.

[nth10sd]

  Quote

L2 and L3 don't make much difference. L2 pools data for cores and L3 pools data feed between L2 basically. latency of them would be minimal when compiling i'm sure.

So having an L3 cache would help? (yes, I would think that higher clockspeed would help, though increasing the number of cores would help more)

What about Core i7? Will having multithreading on top of the 4 cores prove even better?

[RAID 0]

Check this out-

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/athlon...cache,2416.html

A great article about the question you asked.

In short, no you don't need L3 for compiling.

[Rudy]

  RAID 0 said:

Check this out-

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/athlon...cache,2416.html

A great article about the question you asked.

In short, no you don't need L3 for compiling.

Thanks for the link, that was a great article :)

[nth10sd]

Thanks, RAID 0!

[RAID 0]

Any time. :)

[pat50]

That link was a bonus for me RAID O I wanted to find out the price of the i5 processors.

I have just read a 4 page review of the i5 series from APC magazine (check there web review) and it suggests that the chipset that's needed can run a new i7 series that has come out, so after say 2yrs you can just replace the cpu and carry on...

However the price for technology is over rated and yes to achieve your goal with the i5 series you need a new m/board P55 chipset and DDR3 ram and an expensive graphics card.

Think about this sum

Intel Core i5 750 Qaud Core Processor $200

Intel DP55KG Extreme M/Board $250

low voltage +2200 6gig DDR 3 ram say 300-400

9800 GT or GTX graphics card say 250-300

[DDStriker]

9800gt or gtx $300? mm what currency is this in?

as for memory no need to get 2200 ^_^

i've had nothing but bad luck with 2000+ memory and in the end if you get 6 dimms its pointless to have that kind of bandwidth as it can't all be utilized (4 dimms in the case of i5..actually anyone know the maximum bandwidth limit supported by the i5?)