Cache memory! Please help!!

[sham]

1. why do we need cache memory for?

2. how much cache memory do i need from a driving school point of views with only a single computer?

3. is the cache memory come with the motherboard or not? if so, how can i add some more?

4. how does upgrading a system compare to buying a new computer sysytem? is upgrading a cost-effective option for the driving school? give me some example for your answers please?

5. what type of hardware and sofeware do u think, the driving school might need in order to ru the business?

6. do you think the driving school should upgrade to a multimeadia system? if so, how would this help them?

[grandslammer]

Cache is high-speed memory used to "hold" frequently used commands. Much faster than ram, this improves the efficiency of the processor.

There are two (well basically!) types of cache.

a. on-chip cache-right on the processor chip. Some, like AMD's k6/3 run at full processor speed. This is great for non-overclocked chips. Celerons have 128kb on chip cache, PII's have 256, not sure about PIII's or Athlons.

b. on-board cache-on the motherboard. slower than on-chip cache, but still faster than ram. still helps improve speed of system. Hard to find a motherboard any more that has less than 512kb of cache. Some have as much as 2mb. My own has 1MB.

Upgrading - well that depends on what you have to begin with. The "newer" the system, the easier to upgrade. Kind of an abstract question here, but remember- I don't really think you'll need a state-of-the-art PIII 850 or anything like that. Matter of fact, I think an AMD k6/2-500, a 40x or better cd rom, say 8 or 10 gb hd, isa 56k modem or a pci network card (for cable modem..), say a tnt series video card (TNT, TNT2, Ultra...), 64 - 128 MB pc100 ram, a nice printer, speakers, perhaps a flatbed scanner, and at least a 17", possibly a 19" monitor would do well for you, and would not be that expensive. But, if you have a computer to start with, let me know what you have and we'll talk about possibly upgrading it.

As far as multimedia, really any computer any more is what they used to call multimedia. But the one above would be good for nearly anything you'd want to do. Of course you can get much more exotic than that, but that's a good reference to start from.

Anyway, good Luck In Your Endeavors, and let me know what you do

Mike
www.bigfoot.com/~MikePrettyman (http://www.bigfoot.com/~MikePrettyman)


[This message has been edited by grandslammer (edited 03-29-2000).]

[krusty]

Hello Sham.

What exactly do you mean by "the driving school might need in order to ru the
business?"?

If you mean bookings/billing/banking for a small business, then any off the shelf computer will do the job nicely. Don't panic too about cache etc. Get Something with a K62 400 or better or any Intel processor faster than about 400 mHz(a celeron would be just fine). Integrated video would do. 5 - 10 G Hard disk would be more than ample. Perhaps a zip disk or LS 120 to backup your files. A 17inch monitor would be plenty.You may get all you need(hardware) for not much more than $1000 US. Tell us exactly what it is you want the computer to do & you will get a better answer.

[arn]

Don't some hard drives have a cache chip on board?

arn

[krusty]

What is all the worry about cache all of a sudden?? A processor can have cache(in fact 2 levels of it), a motherboard can have cache, a hard disk can have cache.

Any of the systems described above will have varying forms of cache. My point is that to run a small business with a basic accounting/booking system you don't need to get too worried about it. You won't notice any significant difference. All current systems will have enough to keep you more than happy. In fact a system with an old celeron 300 & no cache would probably still do a pretty good job!

K.

[BEOR999]

HMMM can I have some Cash http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif