Introduction 1-1

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Dell Dimension® XPS D
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computer systems are high-speed personal computers
that include an Intel® Pentium® II microprocessor with MMX™ technology. These sys-
tems combine high-performance Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) design
with accelerated graphics port (AGP) and Industry-Standard Architecture (ISA) design,
allowing a wide range of configurations and upgrade possibilities.
This chapter provides information about the following topics:
Major hardware and software features of your computer
Available upgrades for your computer
Preventative maintenance procedures to protect your investme nt and e xtend the
life of your computer.

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Your Dell® computer offers the following hardware features:
An Intel Pentium II microprocessor that runs at an internal speed of 233, 266,
300, or 333 megahertz (MHz) and an external speed of 66MHz.
The Intel Pentium II microprocessor in your computer includes MMX technology
designed to handle complex multimedia and co mm unications software, thereby
improving overall system performance.
Cache memory that enhances the speed of many microprocessor operations by
storing the most-recently accessed contents of system memory:
— A level 1 (L1) cache consisting of 32 kilobytes (KB) of high-speed static
random-access memory (SRAM) that resides in the processor core.
— A level 2 (L2) cache consisting of 512 KB of burst SRAM on a separate chip
on the processor card. The L2 cache runs at half the processo r’s internal
clock speed.
A 66-MHz AGP video card that uses its own dedicated graphics bus and signifi-
cantly enhances 3D graphics performance, or a high-speed, high-resolution
33-MHz PCI video card.