Intel Refers to its 3D V-Cache Analog as "BFC"

Intel is preparing an analog to AMD's 3D V-Cache technology for its upcoming Core Ultra Series 4 "Nova Lake" desktop processors. Technical documentation leaks had previously referred to the feature as "b LLC," short for "big last-level cache," and it now appears Intel will use "BFC" as the brand extension for processor models featuring the enlarged cache.

The new chips will keep the Core Ultra naming scheme introduced with the current Core Ultra Series 2 "Arrow Lake" generation, but add four-digit model numbers that loosely resemble those of the 4th Gen Core "Haswell" series. Existing brand extensions carry their own meaning: "K" and "KF" denote an upwards unlocked base frequency multiplier, while "BFC" indicates the presence of b LLC. What BFC stands for remains unconfirmed, though speculation has centered on a phrase such as "big fusion cache."

The underlying idea mirrors AMD's approach. Enlarging the L3 cache can significantly improve gaming performance because it keeps more fast-moving game data, such as textures, closer to the processor than DRAM, with far lower latency. AMD stacks a slab of L3 cache on top of its CCD, over the on-die L3 cache, to create a contiguously addressable cache block. Intel may take a different route, placing a cache tile beside the Compute tile and extending the compute complex's ringbus to reach it.

英特尔正在为其即将推出的酷睿Ultra系列4“Nova Lake”台式机处理器准备一项与AMD的3D V-Cache技术类似的方案。此前的技术文档泄露中将该功能称为“b LLC”，即“big last-level cache”（大型末级缓存）的缩写，现在看来英特尔将使用“BFC”作为配备扩大缓存的处理器型号的品牌后缀。

新款芯片将延续当前酷睿Ultra系列2“Arrow Lake”世代引入的酷睿Ultra命名方案，但会增加四位数的型号编号，与第四代酷睿“Haswell”系列的编号略有相似。现有的品牌后缀各有其含义：“K”和“KF”表示基础频率倍频向上解锁；而“BFC”则表示该处理器具备b LLC。BFC的具体含义尚未得到证实，目前的推测多集中在“big fusion cache”（大型融合缓存）之类的短语上。

这一思路与AMD的做法如出一辙。扩大L3缓存可以显著提升游戏性能，因为它能将移动速度很快的游戏数据（如纹理）保存在比DRAM更靠近处理器的位置，延迟也低得多。AMD在其CCD上方、片上L3缓存之上堆叠了一层L3缓存，从而形成可连续寻址的缓存区块。英特尔或许会采用不同的方式，将一个缓存模块放置在Compute模块旁边，并扩展计算单元的环形总线以连接该模块。

关键实体：公司：英特尔、AMD