Messages in this thread | | | Date | Thu, 24 Jul 1997 08:56:23 +0100 (GMT/BST) | From | Mike Jagdis <> | Subject | Re: question about M2 "feature" |
| |
On Tue, 22 Jul 1997, Patrick St. Jean wrote:
> I saw it in "Windows Sources" August 1997 issue. Page 108 third column. > > here's the quote: > [snip] > An intersting feature available on the 6x86MX, which has yet to be > implemented in software is Scratchpad RAM. This tiny 8K block of cache on > the chip stores small pieces of code locally, rather than in the L2 cache. > Cyrix promises that this will allow a serious performance boost to any > instructions an application might post there. > > end quote.
It isn't a special area of "scrathpad RAM". The 6x86MX allows you to lock down L1 cache lines. This means that the line will never be discard and hence you will never take a reload hit on the region of memory it is covering. Of course, you also have one less line of L1 cache available for general caching too...
Mike
-- .----------------------------------------------------------------------. | Mike Jagdis | Internet: mailto:mike@roan.co.uk | | Roan Technology Ltd. | | | 54A Peach Street, Wokingham | Telephone: +44 118 989 0403 | | RG40 1XG, ENGLAND | Fax: +44 118 989 1195 | `----------------------------------------------------------------------'
| |