Manually optimizing for efficient cache usage

From: Bytes Grip (spamtrap_at_crayne.org)
Date: 02/18/05 

Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 23:24:31 +0000 (UTC)

Hello.

I'm programming in Windows 2000 on a P4 with 512KB of L2 cache.

I have a very big data structure (approx. 500MB) which I store in main
memory (RAM).

I have read about the way the P4's L2 cache works and came up with a
way to arrange my data structure to ensure very efficient cache usage.
(No compiler can do this for me, because this cannot be deduced at
compile-time)

The problem is that I'm assuming I have a sequential block of 500MB
allocated for my needs. Windows lets me allocate such a large buffer,
but I'm afraid it is actually split in memory.

To my questions:

1. Which memory address determines the cache-set to which a certain
line belongs, the virtual address or the absolute addresses?

2. Can I somehow get myself 500MB of real sequential memory in Windows
2000?

3. Is there any other advice you can give me?

Thanks in advance,
Bytesgrip.

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