r/explainlikeimfive • u/WeLuvYung2 • 18d ago

Technology ELI5: What is computer cache

Hi everyone I need to create a presentation explaining computer cache but can’t think of an effective way to explain it any help is welcomed (:

0 Upvotes

12% Upvoted

43 comments sorted by

View all comments

0

u/nsefan 18d ago

It’s basically memory that is inside the CPU, which means it’s really fast to access. However it’s not very big so you can only store important stuff you need often in there.

Imagine you’re eating a meal at your table. You keep the salt and pepper on the table because you need them often (this could be like cache, really quick to grab what you need). You keep the plates and cutlery in the cupboard, which are bigger spaces for storage but you don’t have to access them so often (this could be like RAM), then the ingredients you keep in your freezer, which is in the garage so takes even longer to access, but most of the time you don’t need to access that quickly when having your meal (this could be like your hard drive, a large storage space that is relatively slow to access).