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Doesn't this Geekbench result seem strange to you?

Posted by: indibil on 2026-09-25 09:07:18 Hi. Today, by chance, I ran a Geekbench test on two CPUs, and the results don't seem to make much sense. One of them is a Sonnet Encore ST 1.2GHz with 2MB of cache. The other is an 800MHz QS daughterboard—originally without L3 cache—that I upgraded by swapping in an XC7455 running at 1.33GHz. After running Geekbench 2.2.7 on Sorbet Leopard using the same QS machine, the 1.33GHz board (without L3 cache) actually scored higher than the Sonnet 1.2GHz board (with 2MB of cache). Sonnet 1.2GHz - 2MB: 1.33GHz without L3: Based on my online research, the score for the Sonnet card seems consistent with expectations. Power Macintosh G4 1.25 (MDD 2003): 727 How do you explain this result? I’ve run the test several times, and the results are consistently similar.

Posted by: Byrd on 2026-09-25 16:31:35 Have you tried other benchmarks, real world apps like game FPS? It might be at higher clocks the L3 cache becomes less important, I recall later 7455 equipped Macs without L3 (eMacs) it was only a 5 - 15% hit without it.

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