Dell Mini Tower System manual Introduction, System Features

Chapter 1

Introduction

Dell® OptiPlex® GXa mini tower systems are high- speed, expandable personal computers designed around the Intel ® Pentium® II microprocessor. Each system uses

ahigh-performance Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) design that allows you to configure the computer system to your initial requirements and then add Dell- supported upgrades as necessary. These systems also support the Industry-Standard Architecture (ISA) bus for older expansion devices.

This chapter describes the major hardware and software features of your system, provides information about accessing the online documentation, and tells you where to find help if you need it.

System Features

Your system offers the following features:

•An Intel Pentium II microprocessor that runs at an internal speed of 233, 266, or 300 megahertz (MHz) and an external speed of 66 MHz.

The Intel Pentium II microprocessor includes MMX™ technology designed to handle complex multimedia and communications software. This microprocessor incorporates new instructions and data types as well as a technique called Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) that allows the microprocessor to process multiple data elements in parallel, thereby improving overall system performance.

The Pentium II microprocessor has a 16-kilobyte (KB) internal data cache and a 16-KB internal instruction cache, an internal math coprocessor, and other advanced internal logic.

•A keyboard command (<Ctrl><Alt><\>) that lets you switch between the microprocessor’s rated speed and a slower compatibility speed.

NOTE: This keyboard command is not available under the Microsoft® Windows NT ® and IBM ® OS/2® operating systems.

•A secondary cache of 512 KB of static random- access memory (SRAM) included within the single- edge contact (SEC) cartridge, which also contains the microprocessor.

•System memory that can be increased up to

384 megabytes (MB) by installing 16-, 32-, 64-, or 128-MB synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) in the three DIMM sockets on the system board. The system also supports both error checking and correction (ECC) and non-parity DIMMs. See “Adding Memory” in Chapter 6 for details.

•Self-Monitoring Analysis Reporting Technology (SMART) support, which warns you at system start- up if your hard-disk drive has become unreliable. To take advantage of this technology, you must have a SMART-compliant hard-disk drive in your com- puter. All hard-disk drives shipped with OptiPlex GXa systems are SMART-compliant.

•A basic input/output system (BIOS), which resides in flash memory and can be upgraded by diskette if required.

•Full compliance with PCI specification 2.1.

•Full Plug and Play version 1.0a capability, which greatly simplifies the installation of expansion cards. Plug and Play support included in the system BIOS allows you to install Plug and Play expansion cards without setting jumpers or switches or performing other configuration tasks. The ISA Configuration

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