Does Celeron use more memory?

[nextGoal100kVisitors]

There are many differences between Celeron, Pentium and Xeon, but I'd like to ask this question. Does Celeron use more memory than Pentium and Xeon? I keep hearing that Celeron's performance isn't that great, particularly as a CPU that powers a server, but I'd like to know what disadvantage it has if there is any.

[littleFella]

Originally Posted by nextGoal100kVisitors

There are many differences between Celeron, Pentium and Xeon, but I'd like to ask this question. Does Celeron use more memory than Pentium and Xeon? I keep hearing that Celeron's performance isn't that great, particularly as a CPU that powers a server, but I'd like to know what disadvantage it has if there is any.

Celeron does not use any more memory that Pentium or Xeon. Memory usage depends more on individual applications and the Operating System.

The main difference between the 3 processors is the amounf of cache memory installed on the CPU.

Cache memory is an operational space where calculations occur. That memory is much faster than regular RAM. When the CPU runs out of cache then it needs to process info in smaller chunks and send those chunks to RAM via system bus. Since the system bus is slower than the CPU you get an effect similar to disk swapping, i.e. processing slows down.

Celeron has 128K to 256 K
Pentium and Xeon have 256 and up

The difference between Pentium and Xeon is that the Xeon line is certified for Dual and Multi Processor use, and ALL Xeon processor have HyperThreading enabled.

They have the SAME cache, the SAME core logic, the SAME performance on a per cpu basis as a regular P4 does. Intel ONLY manufactures Xeon solutions in multiprocessor motherboards. Theoretically they could create a regular dual proc P4 motherboard and it should have the exact same performance as a dual xeon board.

Most people look at celerons for financial reasons and celeron is just fine for basic processing and some type of servers. If you serve static pages you'll be fine for light to moderate traffic. If you serve dynamic pages, especially based on some sort of a database then you will be less fine. Of course there are ifs, ends and buts.

If you have a relatively small number of visitors then the Celeron will suffice, but in general Celerons are not a good idea for servers.

If money is an object then I would suggest AMD processors. They are cheaper than Intel CPUs and yet match or exceed Intel's speed. Additionally, AMD processors have a larger cache (640KB) than stock Pentiums.

[fishfreek]

The current class of P4's seem to have 1mb of cache.

[Fusion]

Originally Posted by littleFella

The main difference between the 3 processors is the amount of cache memory installed on the CPU.

Cache memory is an operational space where calculations occur.

Isnt that the ALU? Cache memory stores locations of recently accessed data?

[littleFella]

actualy I wasn't very precise, cache will indeed store recently accessed/computed data, ALU is an area which contains hardcoded algorithms for performing mathematical and logical operations, i.e. the instruction set.

[Ashish]

Originally Posted by fishfreek

The current class of P4's seem to have 1mb of cache.

i mb :O ... wel i have a 2.4 Ghz at home.. dont think it has got 1 MB

[Fusion]

think servers do

[Ashish]

oh.. that's alright then... i was beginning to get worried that i got ripped off