Win32_CacheMemory WMI class Associativity values

Question

I'm querying the Win32_CacheMemory class via WMI.  I'm getting an Associativity value of 9 for my L3 cache.  All the online documentation I can find define only values 1 to 8.

What values other than 1 to 8 are possible and what do they mean?

Here's a screenshot from the WMI Code Creator tool on my system:

Answer 1

For this, I think you will need the CPU company's support.

As I searched on the internet, I found it also has more associativity values than the document list out.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/64-ia-32-architectures-software-developer-instruction-set-reference-manual-325383.html?wapkw=set+associative 

I have not found the 9 value in Intel page.

For more research on CPU, please use their forum.

If there's any concern, please feel free to let me know.

Best wishes,

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Mike Zhang[MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us

Answer 2

Are the values returned from WMI for Associativity an industry standard?  I just thought they were just ordinal numbers that listed the known associativity types.

Answer 3

Base on my understanding after read it from Intel web page, I think so, but I'm not CPU struct aspect expert, so I recommend you use the CPU companies forums to ask for explanation.

Best wishes,

---

Mike Zhang[MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us

Answer 4

I posted on Intel's forum, but did not get a clear answer.

They suggested checking the Intel Software Developer's Manual.  I did so, but it does not look like the values that WMI returns match Intel's values (returned from CPUID instruction)...

L2 associativity field encodings:
00H - Disabled
01H - Direct mapped
02H - 2-way
04H - 4-way
06H - 8-way
08H - 16-way
0FH - Fully associative

WMI values:

1 - Other

2 - Unknown

3 - Direct Mapped

4 - 2-way Set-Associative

5 - 4-way Set-Associative

6 - Fully Associative

7 - 8-way Set Associative

8 - 16-way Set-Associative

Answer 5

 I also have not find the reason why the value's definitions are different from Intel documents, I will try to consult others senior engineer to see if they can help us to explain this.

Best wishes,

---

Mike Zhang[MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us

Answer 6

After consult others senior engineers, I got this: http://dmtf.org/standards/smbios

They told me that the value is defined in the SMBIOS specification, you can open it in the above page.

You can find the table: "7.8.5  Cache Information — Associativity" 

And it seems the "9" is "09h - 12-way Set-Associative":

wmic path Win32_CacheMemory get Associativity

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Mike Zhang[MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us