The cache machines

A new process for managing the fast-access memory inside a CPU has led to as much as a twofold speedup and to energy-use reductions of up to 72 percent. According to its designers, realizing such stunning gains requires a big shift in what part of the computer controls this crucial memory: Right now that control is hard-wired into the CPU's circuitry, but the substantial speedup came when the designers let the operating system handle things instead.