L2 Cache in AMD's Bulldozer Microarchitecture

A CPU cache is a hardware cache utilized by the central processing unit (CPU) of a pc to scale back the typical price (time or vitality) to entry information from the principle memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, positioned closer to a processor core, which stores copies of the information from often used primary memory locations, avoiding the necessity to always discuss with essential memory which could also be tens to lots of of occasions slower to entry. Cache memory is usually implemented with static random-access memory (SRAM), which requires a number of transistors to store a single bit. This makes it costly by way of the realm it takes up, and in fashionable CPUs the cache is usually the most important part by chip space. The dimensions of the cache must be balanced with the final desire for smaller chips which cost less. Some fashionable designs implement some or all of their cache utilizing the bodily smaller eDRAM, which is slower to make use of than SRAM but permits larger quantities of cache for any given quantity of chip area.

The different ranges are carried out in numerous areas of the chip