ABSTRACT
People who know a little bit about computer systems tend to compar e machines based on pr ocessor speed or performance indices alone. As we saw in the previous chapter, this can be misleading because it considers only part of the picture. The design and implementation of a computer’s memory system can have just as gr eat, if not greater, impact on system performance as the design and implementation of the pr ocessor. Anyone who has tried to run multiple applications simultaneously under a modern operating system knows this. In this chapter , we will examine important aspects of the design of memory systems that allow modern computers to function at peak performance without slowing down the CPU.
