WAV crunchin', Video Encoding, KribiBench, Raytracing
WAV encoding is a very memory and cache insensitive activity. We can therefore understand the results above. This kind of encoding sees the Models 3000+ and 3200+ as virtually the same kind of CPU. It doesn't really touch on the difference in cache size. That makes the 3000+ look all the more attractive.
Realstorm's Raytracing benchmark has always favoured the K8 architecture. It's not too bothered about Level2 cache size, apparently. The 3000+ is far closer to the 3200+ than it is to the 3400+, which is now becoming a recurring theme. Should it perhaps have been called the Athlon 64 Model 3100+?.
KribiBench exposes the lack of L2 cache. The benchmark difference can only be attributed to that factor. L2 cache, it seems, is a strange animal when discussing performance. Its part in performance is highly dependant upon application, generally unlike clock speed, for example.
Our media encoding test belongs to the 'extra L2 cache is relatively unimportant for the Athlon 64' school of thought. Clock speed is far, far more important. Model 3000+ has impressed us in non-3D benchmarks, but extra cache has always shown significant performance increases in gaming. That's the nature of the application. Let's head over.
