Which CPU is faster: Higher clock speed with lower cache or higher cache with lower clock speed?

[fuwasteven]

I have salvaged two extremely old computers (over 10 years) from my basement... I have two CPU's and want to find out which one is faster. Here are the specifications of the two CPU's:

CPU 1:

• 
  Clock Speed: 500 MHz
  Cache: 512 KB L2
  Bus Speed: 100 MHz FSB

CPU 2:

• 
  Clock Speed: 800 MHz
  Cache: 256 KB L2
  Buss Speed: 133 MHz FSB

This the link for the comparison of the two CPU's: http://ark.intel.com/compare/27538,27553

 

[kanewolf]

Usually clock speed wins. You also get faster interface to RAM. Cache won't make up for clock speed.

 

[urbancamper]

Cpu2 is faster. The question though is why would you want to build something that is too slow for pretty much anything?

 

[photonboy]

BTW, not only does frequency trump most everything else for similar architectures, but a larger CACHE can actually be a bad thing.

CACHE is specifically optimized for the jobs you are doing. If it's too small you fill it up too quickly and slow things down. But if it's too big then your frequently requested data fills up the cache and you query the cache too frequently and that slows you down too.

I think most people with average to low computer understanding think more cache is simply better but that's far from the truth.

OTHER:
Those CPU's aren't even sufficient to use a web browser. They would perhaps be useful for making a Linux machine (with appropriately chosen distro for the hardware) to do word processing.

They aren't even suitable for watching video.

 

[fuwasteven]

BTW, not only does frequency trump most everything else for similar architectures, but a larger CACHE can actually be a bad thing.

CACHE is specifically optimized for the jobs you are doing. If it's too small you fill it up too quickly and slow things down. But if it's too big then your frequently requested data fills up the cache and you query the cache too frequently and that slows you down too.

I think most people with average to low computer understanding think more cache is simply better but that's far from the truth.

OTHER:
Those CPU's aren't even sufficient to use a web browser. They would perhaps be useful for making a Linux machine (with appropriately chosen distro for the hardware) to do word processing.

They aren't even suitable for watching video.

Thank you for your reply!

I plan to just use this computer for testing some Linux features. I am quite new to the Linux command line and I just want to try it out without the fear of accidentally messing something up. I might not even install the graphic interface because I won't be using it.