Method and apparatus for accelerating retrieval of data from a memory system with cache by reducing latency

A memory controller controls a buffer which stores the most recently used addresses and associated data, but the data stored in the buffer is only a portion of a row of data (termed row head data) stored in main memory. In a memory access initiated by the CPU, both the buffer and main memory are accessed simultaneously. If the buffer contains the address requested, the buffer immediately begins to provide the associated row head data in a burst to the cache memory. Meanwhile, the same row address is activated in the main memory bank corresponding to the requested address found in the buffer. After the buffer provides the row head data, the remainder of the burst of requested data is provided by the main memory to the CPU.