According to fresh information AMD will increase the amount of cache from the current generation of hexa-core processors. The top model of AMD’s Orochi family will get 8 cores and a total of 16MB cache, 77% more than current circuit even though the number of cores is only up by 33%.
According to X-bit Labs AMD will supply its processors with 2MB L2 cache for each Bulldozer module. With four modules and a shared L3 cache of 8MB the eight cores will boast 16MB cache.
The major difference from Intel, that also increase the amount of cache in its processors, is that AMD continues with large L2 caches. With two cores per module each Bulldozer core gets 1MB dedicated cache, which is twice as much as the current generation, or for that matter Nehalem and Sandy Bridge sporting 256KB L2 cache per core.
Sandy Bridge is rumored to get up to 20MB L2 cache withits octo-core models and the question is which solution that will provide the best result. It is clear at least that AMD will only go for more cores and multi-threading performance but also better performance with single-threaded applications, partially through more cache. This should fit well with Orochi since it is expected to appear in both servers and high-end workstations.
