On Wed, 19 Jun 2002, Matt Herzog wrote:

> Hi All.
>
> I'm considering upgrading my K6-2 400 to a K6-3 450
> because I keep hearing that the 256kb of L2 cache
> on the K6-3 can practically double the performance
> in certain situations. My K6-2 has no L2 cache.
> What I'm really after is faster compilation.
> I would like to be able to build -current in under
> 12 hours, for instance.
> Should I save up for a fast Duron system instead?
>

IMHO, yes. A while back I looked into picking up a K6-something to set up a
cheap file server. I was suprised to see that it's not much more for a
Duron.

pricewatch.com lists the 900 Mhz Duron for $33 (1.2 Ghz for $45). Of course
you'll have to buy a new motherboard and memory. On the plus side, you get
a very nice upgrade path; at least up to the 1.4 Ghz Thunderbird, and
probably the XP as well.

I've found my tbird to be quite fast for compilation, very noticably faster
than my old 350 Mhz P-II. And that had 512 Kb of L2 (albeit running at only
175 Mhz)

And yes, the lack of L2 cache is probably hurting your compile times pretty
badly. That puts a hell of a bottleneck on the memory bus. If you're really
short on cash, then picking up the K6-3 will certainly help a lot.

Regards,
  Jack