http://linux.die.net/man/2/cacheflush http://linux.die.net/man/2/cacheflush There are other CPU architectures than the Nehalem. The Nehalem's IO hub connects

http://linux.die.net/man/2/cacheflush http://linux.die.net/man/2/cacheflush There are other CPU architectures than the Nehalem. The Nehalem's IO hub connects to the caches, not to memory, via the QPI. I/O sees the data as the caches see it. Most architectures, historically, have the IO systems talking to main memory or a memory controller independent of the CPU. Not waiting for memory to be consistent before firing off a DMA was a great way to get "interesting" visual effects. We called that process "flushing the cache".