Ask HN: How much does L2 cache impact performance of a development machine?
Hi, I&#x27;m trying to decide between two budget laptops. While the lenovo laptop has only 4 gb ram, Im planning to add another 4GB so that is fine.  My concern is, I&#x27;ll be using the laptop for programming.  It will mostly involve text processing and occasional number crunching. I will also be using two vms. Both the machines are quad core.  Will the 4 mb L2 cache of HP have a greater impact on performance compared the 1 mb L2 cache of  Lenovo?<p>This is going to be my primary work machine.  I have only worked with thinkpads till date.  So I&#x27;m also concerned about the comfort level of the keyboards.  Has anyone used the HP Pavilion keyboards?   Also, I have only used keyboards sans dedicated numeric keys.   Both the laptops come with dedicated numeric keys and I&#x27;m afraid the keyboard might be a bit cramped. Any inputs regarding this experience would be great!<p>=======================================
HP Pavilion 15-e026AX Laptop (APU Quad Core A10&#x2F; 8GB&#x2F; 1TB&#x2F; DOS&#x2F; 1 GB Graph)
http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.flipkart.com&#x2F;hp-pavilion-15-e026ax-laptop-apu-quad-core-a10-8gb-1tb-dos-1-5gb-graph&#x2F;p&#x2F;itmdp2awh5hdhndg?pid=COMDP2AWH5HDHNDG&amp;srno=b_1&amp;ref=bc0646b6-bce2-45d7-81dd-5938a283feda<p>Rs. 37900
+8 gb ram
+a10 processor
+4 mb cache<p>-dos
-it has full keyboard including numeric pad I&#x27;m not sure how
comfortable that will be
-generally dont know how hp products are<p>=======================================
Lenovo Essential G505s (59-379987) Laptop (APU Quad Core A8&#x2F; 4GB&#x2F; 1TB&#x2F;
Win8&#x2F; 2GB Graph)
http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.flipkart.com&#x2F;lenovo-essential-g505s-59-379987-laptop-apu-quad-core-a8-4gb-1tb-win8-2gb-graph&#x2F;p&#x2F;itmdz5afmgr6facs?pid=COMDZ59FTHJV9T9K<p>Rs. 32707 (at 22% off)
+ Brand that I have used in the past and trust
+ windows 8.1
+2 gb video raQ1m<p>* saw a review that said the keyboard was good, It also has full
keyboard with numeric keys<p>- 1 mb cache
- 4 gb ram
- a8 processor