Laptop Specs Query FSB, Cache, Processor

[overture 0]

Hey, i have been looking through a lot of Laptops lately Macs and PCs and there are a couple of queries that i have. I have noticed that say 1 laptop has these specs (part of):

Intel Celeron M Processor 350 1.30GHz

400 MHz FSB

1 MB Cache

and then i see one with these specs:

Intel Celeron M 340 1.5 GHz processor

400 MHz FSB

512 Kb Cache

what is the FSB and what kind of difference does the size Cache make, what kind of data is stored in the Cache and would a Laptop with 1.5 GHz, 2 MB Cache be better than a 2.8 GHz, 512 KB Cache Laptop?

 

overture.

[Brian1405241474 0]

FSB is most likely the front side bus. I'm not sure about what that cache thing is....

[ebbinger_413 0]

the cache is basicly faster ram....

[Rhys_Rhaven 0]

ok i wasnt going to post because i wasnt quite sure on what im doing, but i think i know more than these guys..cache is onboard ram. its ram levels built directly into the CPU, made for storing data to be used immeadatly. its something of the same to overflow from the cache to physical ram as it is from physical ram to pagefile or swap memory. im thinking stuff like games and media and such must use physical, but small memory apps like mail and such use alot of cache. not entirely sure, check toms hardware guide. (google it, on im on dialup and busy.)

[Rudy1405241475 0]

FSB does stand for “front side bus” and is really the data channels that take data to and from the cpu, memory and other devices for processing. FSB has different clock speeds just like the cpu and memory.Cache can be on the microprocessor chip and is random access memory. Because the cache is local to the cpu the microprocessor can access it much faster than it would access regular ram and so it is called fast memory. But hard drive space is also used as cache too. Even hard drives have cache memory.Computers have a lot of factors that determine their speeds, including bus speed. So the difference in the cache size of a cpu may not be enough the make a computer with a slower cpu speed faster than one with less cache and faster cpu clock. The cpu clock speed and the amount or ram is what most people look at to determine which machine they thin is better.

[overture 0]

wow, thanks for the info Rhys_Rhaven and Rudy, very informing. we did a unit about this crap in college but the teacher was rubbish lol. thanks.overture.