Large L2 cache vs. large L3 cache?

More cache at a lower level directly translates to better performance. The way that this works is that a CPU needing to poll cache will check L1 first. If it doesn't find the stored string it needed, it retries the poll on L2. If it again fails, it moves on to L3. The more you can fit into L2, the faster the CPU can move on with it's processing because it can skip any further polling. Most Intel chips have L3 as well. This ranges from 6MB in the older Itaniums, to 8MB in the i7, to 16MB in the hefty server grade Xeons. Rather than basing your decision souly on this math, though, check out the benchmarks for the chips, such as these... http://www.cpubenchmark.net/common_cpus.html As you can see, all of the top chips are Intels. This isn't counting overclocking for any of the models. So, the key is to find the AMD chip and the Intel chip you were comparing on a chart like this, then decide which is a better value based on the performance numbers listed against the amount of money you want to spend. Equivalent Intels tend to crush their counterpart AMD's in the benchmarks, but cost more for that performance. It's up to you to decide which is the best value for your needs. Don't let any of the AMD or Intel bias fanboys sway you. Stick to the dollar vs performance numbers!