:!: All hail the on-die cache :!:

My recent experience with differences in cache sizes at work has been both telling and (grrr) very trying.

If the machine is going to do anything repetative at the low level like calculations or database transactions then you want as much cache as you can get. Otherwise if you are looking at streaming media or manipulating big images then you want faster Hz and more RAM. Of course the ideal is a huge cache and lots of RAM.

In DC terms, I'd go the large on-die cache and speed things up by adding more RAM as required every time.

I found a great deal of frustration in a machine with lots of RAM and a fast CPU but minimal cache, recently. Although outside of my control, it was an experience that I do not intend to repeat if I can help it.