Bulldozer 16MB total Cache

That's a pretty large increase in cache, even compared to what Intel has done in the past. I wonder what this'll mean for performance...
 
Unknown-One said:
That's a pretty large increase in cache, even compared to what Intel has done in the past. I wonder what this'll mean for performance...
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Depends. How much cache is useful largely depends on the workload. That why server chips often have more, is that the kind of stuff they do usually can make more use of it. So it'll depend on the apps you run, and also just on how the CPU deals with data.

I would presume they are putting it on because it is useful.
 
looks quite interesting.. cant wait til december when leaked benchmarks start appearing :D
 
Sycraft said:
Depends. How much cache is useful largely depends on the workload. That why server chips often have more, is that the kind of stuff they do usually can make more use of it. So it'll depend on the apps you run, and also just on how the CPU deals with data.

I would presume they are putting it on because it is useful.
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I wonder if the huge cache is only for their server chips. After all, they're still only 32nm, so that much cache would definitely increase the die area and lower profit margins. Makes sense in a high-margin, low-volume market but not when the opposite is true (desktop market).
 
JimmiG said:
I wonder if the huge cache is only for their server chips. After all, they're still only 32nm, so that much cache would definitely increase the die area and lower profit margins. Makes sense in a high-margin, low-volume market but not when the opposite is true (desktop market).
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most likely but even the istanbuls werent any different from the phenom II's.. so it might not be that big of a profit margin loss.. especially since the cost differences is moved on to the consumer anyways.. so instead of 300 dollars they charge 315 dollars(random numbers i came up with)..
 
Istanbul was different from phenom. There are features in phenom that are not in istanbul and vice versa.

But the orochi die will (initially) be the same for Zambezi and Valencia. There may be features turned on/off for each but the die will be the same. At least with the initial launch.
 
Bulldozer is going to kick ass. I can't wait until it comes out. I won't buy it right away, but six-core phenoms will go down and I could buy one of those.
 
I think lot bigger news is each module has 2MB of fast L2 cache dedicated to itself.

But at the same time it's scary when you remember cache is extremly costly in transistor count so that might be unhealthy for profit margins on those chips.

I wonder if we will have line of lower end Bulldozers with parts or whole L3 disable as with this high transistor count there will be some chips with defects in cache area.
 
DrDoU said:
Doesn't Intel swear by 2meg per core?
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I remember they loaded up the Core2 Quads with lots of cache to help make up for the serious lack of memory bandwidth that LGA 775 motherboards had (no integrated memory controller, mostly DDR2).

AMD has an integrated memory controller and direct access to high bandwidth DDR3, so I doubt they're adding it for the same reason. The extra cache might be beneficial to bulldozer units, the way they function and share data, etc.
 
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