Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Advanced Micro Devices - Moderated (AMD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: wanna_bmw who wrote (80867)	5/28/2002 10:13:35 PM
From: Yousef	Respond to of 275872

BMW, Re: "Flushing has been defined in the dictionary as forcing temporarily buffered data to be written to more permanent memory ..." My "AMD" dictionary states: "Flushing (vt) - What Jerry does with investors money". <ggg> Make It So, Yousef

To: wanna_bmw who wrote (80867)	5/29/2002 12:19:23 AM
From: Dan3	Respond to of 275872

Re: if data is getting written back because it has been modified, then the state of the cache line still* gets marked invalidated* Not if the cache controller is any good - there is no data better, and less needful of a main memory read, than that which was just written into memory. What kind of crummy cache controller would waste 120+ cycles of a modern CPU's time to re-read from main memory the data it had written from its cache nanoseconds earlier? Oh, that's right, you're mostly familiar with Intel's designs, aren't you? Wanna_bmw, just admit it, you were confused by the word "flush", which sounds like it means "dispose of" while in the contect of disk controllers, CPU caches, and other computer memory applications it means "save" - quite counter-intuitive It's confusing, and it confused you, it could happen to anybody. We all make mistakes, I've even made a few of my own. :-)

To: wanna_bmw who wrote (80867)	5/29/2002 12:42:44 PM
From: THE WATSONYOUTH	Respond to of 275872

John Petzinger, Re: "Please admit that you were simply WRONG when you implied that a cache-line "invalidation" ALWAYS results in that cacheline being FLUSHED and WRITTEN INTO MEMORY. It just AIN'T SO." Forget to turn the CAPS LOCK off? If you claim to know what I implied, then you are making dense ASSumptions, just like your friend Ali. Get it right. You quoted me right below, so why do you lie like you do above? "Flushing" and "invalidating" are the same thing, as long as a line is owned by a caching device (processor or I/O hub), but is not in modified state. If the line has been modified, it will get written back to main memory. Don't mince the words. Flushing has been defined in the dictionary as forcing temporarily buffered data to be written to more permanent memory, and if data is getting written back because it has been modified, then the state of the cache line still gets marked invalidated. Therefore, I don't see a huge difference if the data has not been modified, and does not get written back, because as you so obtusely point out, it doesn't need to if the data hasn't been changed. Has the snooping process changed at all? Does the cache line no longer need to be forced invalid? No, and no. As I see it, the line has been flushed from cache, since there is no longer a reference to it. I argue with Ali because he nit-picks people's wording, and makes a big deal about it, and all the while, he misses the real point of the argument. You look like you're doing the same thing with the way I justify Ace's use of the word "flush". If all you or Ali wanted to say was that Ace's misused the word from the generally accepted definition, then that's all you had to say. Instead, Ali goes on a long diatribe about unprofessional journalism, and challenges my career experience when I attempt to defend it. I've already said that Ace's misses a few key points, but I don't believe it makes a difference to their target audience. That's my contribution, and if you don't agree, then fine - take it or leave it, as anyone is welcome to do on this forum. But if you want to change the argument into the proper definition of the word "flush", and insult me in the process, then I don't care to continue. As I suggested to your bud, consider taking an anger management class, and learn some manners besides. I don't deserve to have my comments attacked the way you have done. wbmw Sorry....but your 45 minutes per day for responses has been grossly exceeded. Now ....please shut up for at least 24 hours to get back on schedule. THE WATSONYOUTH