Quanta AT3 DA0AT3MB8E0, DA0AT3MB8F0 Schematic Circuit Diagram
Quanta AT3 DA0AT3MB8E0, DA0AT3MB8F0 Schematic Circuit Diagram
Cache Memory
Memory rates could not keep up as CPU core speeds increased. How could you operate a CPU faster than the memory it was supplied without causing it to function poorly? The cache was the solution. Cache memory, in its most basic form, is a high-speed memory buffer that temporarily stores data needed by the processor, allowing the processor to access the data faster than if it came from main memory. However, a cache has one advantage over a plain buffer, and that is intelligence. A cache is a buffer that also has a mind.
A buffer stores random data in a first-in, first-out (FIFO) or first-in, last-out (FILO) format. A cache, on the other hand, stores the data that the processor is most likely to need before it is required. This allows the CPU to operate at full or near-full speed without having to wait for data to be fetched from slower main memory. Although previous systems with cache used chips mounted on the motherboard, cache memory is generally made up of static RAM (SRAM) memory integrated into the CPU die.
Level 1 (L1) and Level 2 (L2) processor/memory caches are common in recent low-cost CPU architectures (L2). A Level 3 cache is also available in mid-range and high-end architectures. In the next sections, we'll go through these caches and how they work. To discover the kinds and amounts of cache memory in your computer's CPUs, use the popular CPU-Z program introduced previously in this chapter.
