Intel Details Nehalem uArch Improvements - 256KB L2, 8MB L3 Confirmed

[onewingedangel]

But increasing l2 size wouldn't negatively affect total l3 - as even if you had more data duplicated, you still have the same total capacity l3. l2 wsn't restricted to 256KB just to reduce duplication (as in such a large design another 1MB cache isn't that much), but rather to keep the l2 as fast as possible.

Nehelams l3 will be about as fast as current l2 caches, and the l2 will be faster that current level 2 caches.

Intel could have gone for 512KB of l2 per core, but this would have meant a slower l2, which would more than negated the increased capacity. If intel can maintain the speed and increase capacity of l2 I'm willing to bet they will on subsequent generations.