Where is cache located on the motherboard?

When taking about the computers data cache, i.e. L1, L2, and L3 cache, this cache is usually located on the computer processor chip and not the motherboard. The L1 cache or system cache is the fastest cache and is always located on the computer processor. The next fastest cache, L2 cache and then L3 cache are also almost always on the processor chip and not the motherboard. Some earlier computers (e.g. 486 computers) may have had either of these types of cache on the motherboard and even had L2 cache expansion boards that could be added to the computer.

Tip: The L2 and L3 cache is on the processor chip, and is not actually built into the CPU.

In the below picture of the Intel Core i7-3960X Processor die, is an example of a processor chip containing six cores (CPUs) and the shared L3 Cache.