Cache

[Drexel]

I know this is a stupid question, but thats why im asking it. Why dont companies just go crazy with cache sizes. Make the die big, and put like 512kb L1 and 1024kb L2.

I'm guessing the price to make that is exponential to the size...

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by drexel on 02/26/03 04:23 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[imgod2u]

Price mainly. Die space, heat, latency. While extra cache may not neccessarily increase heat or power requirements too much, they do increase the die size, meaning lower yields and less processors are made per wafer. Not to mention that the bigger the cache, the harder it is to maintain low-latency at high clockspeeds.

"We are Microsoft, resistance is futile." - Bill Gates, 2015.

 

[sjonnie]

You can get large cache sizes. The upcoming Xeon MP will have a L3 cache up to 2MB comparable to the Itanium 2. The old Pentium III Xeon was also available with a 2MB L2 cache. Go check out the prices and you'll kind of answer your own question.

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