Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!netnews.upenn.edu!eecae!upba!dsndata!unocss!mlewis From: mlewis@unocss.UUCP (Marcus S. Lewis) Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: cache speed Keywords: 80386 Message-ID: <1473@unocss.UUCP> Date: 16 Aug 89 22:33:05 GMT Organization: U. of Nebraska at Omaha Lines: 24 Dumb question time. (I hate when I'M asking the dumb questions) A co-worker is building a "no compromise" performance-oriented '386 MSDOS machine. Aside from that obvious contradiction, I have a real question and comp.arch is the only place I expect to get an answer. How fast do the cache chips have to be on a 33MHz 386? For main memory, I have always believed in the "reciprocal of the clock speed" rule for chip speed, but the caches offered on the systems under consideration are 15-20 ns chips. Now, I am informed by this same performance- oriented person that the cache is all dual ported and thus has to run twice as fast. I have seen a lot of discussion on multi-ported memory here, with never a mention of what is required to pull this off. I think what I want is a very brief tutorial on what it means to multi- port memory. I know WHY, but I don't know HOW. "Thank you for your support" Marc -- Na khuya mne podpis'? | Internet: cs057@zeus.unl.edu | UUCP: uunet!btni!unocss!mlewis Go for it! | Bitnet: CS057@UNOMA1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------