Author: Roberto Waldteufel
Date: 11:03:01 10/22/98
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I know this may seem like a dumb question, but could you explain exactly how the cache works? I know the basic idea is to speed up memory acces by holding frequently accessed data in a special place, the "cache", from where it may be accessed more quickly, but I don't know much more than that. Is the cache part of RAM, or is it held on the CPU chip, or on a separate chip? What is the significance of L1 and L2 cache? I have heard that sometimes the cache is accessed at different speeds depending on the machine. Is it possible to add more cache, and if so would this be likely to improve performance? The most important thing I wold like to understand is how I can organise my programs so as to extract maximum benefit from the cache available (I use a P II 333MHz). In the Spanish Championships I heard that some programs (including mine), especially the bigger ones, were at a disadvantage due to the absence of L2 cache on the Celeron machines. I don't know how big an effect this may have had. If I better understood how caching works, maybe I could improve the way I code things. I'm afraid I'm rather a novice regarding hardware details like this. Thanks in advance, Roberto
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