The Be FAQs

The Be FAQs
The BeBox

Why doesn't the BeBox have an L2 cache?

The BeBox:
General

FAQ Number:
FAQ-0092

Last Modified:
2/3/98

Keywords:
BeOS, BeBox, design, philosophy, logic, mother, board, cache, L2, performance

Since we're not emulating anything, we're very pleased with the performance of the 2 PowerPC 603e processors without L2 caches. We use the Motorola 105 "Eagle" support chip, which allows for either one processor and an L2 cache or two processors without L2 caches. So, our two-processor PowerPC BeBox has no provision for an L2 cache.

Our operating system's performance,however, is certainly sufficient with the 603e's internal caches -- perhaps because we aren't emulating any 68k code -- and because of the design tailored to the PowerPC architecture.

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The Be FAQs

Why doesn't the BeBox have an L2 cache?