PCI Master Read Caching

Common Options : Enabled, Disabled

Quick Review

This is an AMD-specific BIOS feature. It determines if the processor's L2 cache will be used to cache PCI bus master reads.

If this feature is enabled, the processor's L2 cache will be used to cache PCI bus master reads. This boosts the performance of PCI bus masters. On the other hand, it reduces the processor's performance since it uses up some of the precious L2 cache.

This is why motherboard manufacturers like ASUS recommend that only systems using AMD Athlon processors should enable this feature. Duron users should disable this feature because its small L2 cache will not be able to cache the PCI reads without causing a massive hit to memory bandwidth.

Although the final word is still in the air, I recommend disabling this feature. The use of precious L2 cache to cache PCI bus masters is not worth the potential benefit in PCI bus performance.

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