I recently built a new rig around an AMD Sempron 3000+. This is the only Sempron in the range to boast 512kb of L2 cache. Whilst rooting around in the registry during a bout of boredom, I noticed that Windows had not allocated any L2 cache. The value was set to 0. Upon investigation, I found out that when Windows is installing it addresses the CPU to find out how much cache there is available. However if it cannot decipher the type of processor it will allocate 0kb of L2 cache. This cripples the ability of any CPU. Because the Sempron is relatively new, Windows was unable to determine the correct amount of L2 cache. I'm told it also happens with some of the newer A64's. The way to remedy this is as follows: 1. Launch the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe). 2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management. 3. Double-click SecondLevelDataCache DWORD value. 4. Using the options below, change the value in the Value Data text box to a number that matches the size of your Level 2 cache. Then click OK. Level 2 cache Value Data setting 256 KB 100 (second value is hexadecimal) 512 KB 200 (second value is hexadecimal) 1024 KB 400 (second value is hexadecimal) Make sure you know how much cache is on your chip and set the value accordingly. 5. Click OK and close the Registry Editor. You may need to restart the system or log out of Windows XP for the change to take effect I re-benched my system after the change with 3DMark 2001SE and gained 947 points This is well worth checking. The extra performance is what you payed for. Windows may be hampering the speed of your system. Try it out. :good:
