Larger caches help processors run more efficiently.
The central processing unit (CPU) is the brain of a computer. Even what a user may perceive as a simple action on a computer requires the processor to work through many different equations for it to work. In crunching these numbers for even the most basic computer functionality, the processor has the aid of a memory cache.
Purpose
When processors receive a set of instructions from a program, they crunch the numbers necessary to execute the function itself. While processors are designed to be efficient at performing these types of calculations, it would be redundant and waste processor time if a processor had to crunch the numbers for the same calculation over and over again. For this reason, modern processors have memory caches where processors can store recent function data.
Cache Performance
When processors can store calculation data in a cache, the processor doesn't have to go through the entire process of re-crunching the numbers for a particular function. Rather, the processor can simply retrieve the relevant data from its cache and move onto the next set of instructions it has to deal with more quickly than if it had to actually perform the same set of calculations once again. The larger the cache, the more data it can re-reference rather than re-solve.
Memory Size
Processors calculate data in binary units, usually with the base unit of a byte consisting of eight bits. Computer storage uses metric terms to describe data storage, with a kilobyte representing a grouping of 1,000 bytes and a megabyte constituting 1 million bytes (or 1,000 KB). Consequently, a cache of 1 MB can hold 1 million bytes for a processor, a 2 MB cache can hold 2 million bytes for a processor.
Fabrication
While having a cache of 2 MB will improve a processor's performance by twice as much as a cache of 1 MB, it is not something a user can upgrade as he would his computer's RAM. Processors are fabricated through sophisticated processes tht require the entire unit to be put together at once. Consequently, the size of a processor's cache is a permanent aspect of the processor. If a user decides she wants a larger cache after she buys a processor, it means she needs to buy an entirely new CPU.
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