Is Cache memory located in the CPU or at the motherboard?
2013-08
student
I have a doubt whether cache memory is located in the processor or at the motherboard?
Majenko
Most computers have a multi-layer cache approach. The first layer - L1 cache is always located on the processor. L2 cache, the next layer up, can either be located on the CPU or on the motherboard depending on the architecture. Some systems also have a third layer of cache L3 which again could be located on either the CPU or the motherboard.
Older 486 systems, for example, had L1 in the CPU and an optional L2 on the motherboard.
Most modern systems have all the cache on the CPU.
slhck
Kind of obvious, but anyway.
From Wikipedia:
A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit of a computer to reduce the average time to access memory. The cache is a smaller, faster memory which stores copies of the data from the most frequently used main memory locations.
Thus, the cache is always attached to the CPU itself and has nothing to do with the motherboard or even the memory.
Edit: Some people feel the need to downvote without giving comments, so I might want to add that this holds for modern systems as cache could be used on motherboards too, but isn't nowadays.
soul
Which is better? High cache memory or low cache? And what exactly is their difference.
William Hilsum
Always - More the better.
If you are talking about the CPU cache, Wikipedia says it best -
A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit of a computer to reduce the average time to access memory. The cache is a smaller, faster memory which stores copies of the data from the most frequently used main memory locations. As long as most memory accesses are cached memory locations, the average latency of memory accesses will be closer to the cache latency than to the latency of main memory.