Solved: No L2 cache

[kdd9]

Hello again. I was exploring with my aida32 program today and at the bottom of the CPU section it said, "No CPU L2 cache found. This may cause performance penalty ." This is kind of out of my realm, so I need to ask for advice on this. Is this something that I need to do something about? If so, what do you recommend?
Thanks.
BTW, my comp seems to be running okay, but I'm always open for improvement.


kdd9

 

[kdd9]

I forgot to include system info:

Gateway select 400 pc (1999)
192MB RAM
6GB HD
400MHz processor
Windows 98SE

Please let me know if you need any more info from me.
Thanks again

kdd9

 

[Elvandil]

Do you know what processor?

Try the PCWizard and click on the processor icon.

PCWizard--->

 

[kdd9]

Yes, it's AMD K6-2, 400MHz
100MHz external bus

kdd9

 

[Elf-stone]

My last machine had an AMD K6-2 and the L-2 Cache doesn't show on Everest. Check in BIOS and it should show 512 KB I think under External Cache.

 

[kdd9]

Under "BIOS Properties", it says, "Size = 256KB"

 

[Elvandil]

What does PCWizard say? The setting in the registry for the L2 value is normally "autodetect", buy occasionally the true value needs to be entered manually. But I've never heard of that processor being a problem before (not that it can't be).

 

[kdd9]

Elvandil, when I click on your link, I get the PC Wizard page, but then when I click on the "download" link there, nothing happens. Is there somewhere else that I can DL it from that you know of?

 

[kdd9]

Nevermind. I got it. I will install and report back.

 

[kdd9]

PC Wizard 2005 Version 1.65
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Owner: Keith D. Dautel
Organisation: Gateway
User:
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 98 4.10.2222 A
Report Date: Tuesday 05 July 2005 at 12:59

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


<<< System Summary >>>

> Mainboard : Unspecified

> Chipset : ALI M1541 Aladdin V/V+ AGP System Controller

> Processor : AMD K6-2 (model 8) @ 401 MHz

> Physical Memory : 192 MB

> Video Card : ATI Technologies Inc Rage 3D Pro AGP 2x (BGA Package)

> Monitor Type : Nissei Sangyo

> Network Card : ADMtek AN983 FastNIC PCI 10/100 Fast Ethernet Adapter

> Operating System : Microsoft Windows 98 4.10.2222 A

> DirectX : Version 9.0c

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***** End of report *****


THEN UNDER "PROCESSOR":

General Information :
Internal Specification : AMD-K6(tm) 3D processor
Codename : Chomper
Revision : CXT
Technology : 0.25µ
CPU ID : 5.8.C
CPU IDEx : 6.8.C

Features :
VME - Virtual Mode Ext. : Yes
DE - Debugging Extension : Yes
PSE - Page Size Extension : Yes
TSC - Time Stamp Counter : Yes
MSR - Model Specific Registers : Yes
PAE - Physical Address Extension : No
MCE - Machine Check Exception : Yes
APIC - Local APIC Built-in : No
SEP - Fast System Call : No
MTRR - Memory Type Range Reg. : No
PGE - Page Global Enable : Yes
MCA - Machine Check Architecture : No
PAT - Page Attribute Table : No
PSE36 - 36-bit Page Size Extension : No
PSN - Unique Serial Number : No
DS - Debug Trace & EMON Store : No
ACPI - Software Clock Control : No
SS - Self Snoop : No
TM - Thermal Monitor : No
HTT - Hyper-Threading : No
SBF - Signal Break on FERR : No
MON - Monitor/Mwait : No
DSCPL - CPL qualified Debug Store : No
TM2 - Thermal Monitor 2 : No
CID - Context ID : No
EST - Enhanced SpeedStep Tec... No
NX Bit - No-execute Page Protec... No
VMX - Vanderpool Technology : No

Miscellaneous :
FPU - Co-processor Built-in : Yes
CX8 - CMPXCHG8B : Yes
CX16 - CMPXCHG16B : No
CMOV - Conditionnal Move Inst. : No
CLF - Cache Line Flush : No
FXSR - Fast Float Save & Restore : No
DAZ - Denormals Are Zero : No
MMX Technology : Yes
SSE Technology : No
SSE2 Technology : No
SSE3 Technology : No
X86-64 Technology : No
AMD MMX Technology : No
3DNow! Technology : Yes
Extended 3DNow! Technology : No
SMP - MP Capability : No

Power Status :
Voltage Control : No
Frequency Control : No
Thermal Sensor Built-in : No

Mainboard Upgradebility :
Socket/Slot : U3
Upgrade interface : ZIF Socket
Supported Speed : 500 MHz (or more)
Supported Voltage : Unspecified
_______________________________________________________________________

AND THEN UNDER "Cache L1":

General Information :
Write Mode : Write-Back
Place : Internal

Cache Information :
Data Cache : 32 KB (2-way, 32 bytes line size)
Code Cache : 32 KB (2-way, 32 bytes line size)
_______________________________________________________________________

 

[Elvandil]

Run regedit and look here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\
Memory Management

Is there a "SecondLevelDataCache" listed? If so, what value?

The AMD-K6 has one of the earliest implementations of on-die L2 caches. It's possible that it's not being dtetcted even though it's being used.

If the above key is absent, create a new DWORD, "SecondLevelDataCache", and give it a value of 512. This is usually only useful if the L2 is not onboard the CPU, but it may help.

 

[kdd9]

Okay, I've done that. Thanks for the help. Anything else I should do?

 

[Elvandil]

Not really. Check to see if those apps (PCWizard and Aida) now say you have a cache, but chances are it was being used all along anyway.

Check your BIOS setup carefully to see if there is a place to enable/disable the L2. That's about all I can think of, especially if your machine is running OK.

 

[Rollin' Rog]

I've been down this path before with those AMD models -- for years thinking the L2 cache could be "disabled" for some problems. Then I found out -- that atleast some models don't have them.

Maybe I can find the thread ....

Well, it's post 61 here, but the original reference I found for this is no longer serving us:

http://forums.techguy.org:80/showthread.php?t=148963&page=3&pp=30&highlight=cache

I think this explains it: Amd didn't introduce the l2 cache on this line until the k6 2+ and the k6 III

By the time the global CPU shortage was over, AMD had developed revised versions of the K6 family: the K6-2+ and the K6-III+. Essentially, both parts were K6-IIIs (the 2+ with a 128 KiB cache, the III+ with the full 256 KiB) made on a new production process

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K6-III

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K6-2

 

[kdd9]

aida32 still says the same thing, but I guess that's to be expected. Anyway, you guys have helped me to resolve the issue. I realize now that it is nothing to worry about. I really do appreciate your responses!

kdd9