set-associative cache

A cache in which each memory line can go in any of a few slots that form a group, so two busy lines with the same index no longer have to throw each other out.

An N-way set-associative cache groups its lines into sets of N; the index selects a set, the tags of all N ways are compared in parallel, and a block may be placed in any way of its set. Typical L1 data caches are 8- to 12-way.