Dell OptiPlex GXi Reference And Installation Manual

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Contents

Dell OptiPlex GXi Reference And Installation Manual Manual pdf 25 page image

Introduction 1-1Chapter 1IntroductionDell® OptiPlex® GXi midsize systems are high-speed,expandable personal computers designed around Intel®Pentium® microprocessors. Each system uses a high-per-formance Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)design that allows you to configure the computer systemto your initial requirements and then add Dell-supportedupgrades as necessary. These systems also support theIndustry-Standard Architecture (ISA) bus for olderexpansion devices.This chapter describes the major hardware and softwarefeatures of your system, provides information aboutaccessing the online documentation, and tells you whereto find help if you need it.System FeaturesYour system offers the following features:• An Intel Pentium microprocessor. The followingmicroprocessor options are available:— An Intel Pentium microprocessor with an inter-nal speed of 133 megahertz (MHz) and anexternal speed of 66 MHz— An Intel Pentium microprocessor with an inter-nal speed of 166 MHz and an external speed of66 MHz— An Intel Pentium microprocessor with an inter-nal speed of 200 MHz and an external speed of66 MHzThe Pentium microprocessor has an 8-kilobyte (KB)internal data cache and an 8-KB internal instructioncache, an internal math coprocessor, and otheradvanced internal logic.• The <CTRL><ALT >< \> key combination lets youswitch between the microprocessor’s rated speed anda slower compatibility speed.NOTE: The <CTRL>< ALT >< \> key combination isnot available under the Microsoft® Windows NT ®and IBM ® O/S2® operating systems.• A cache with 256- or 512-KB of pipeline-burst staticrandom-access memory (SRAM). Cache memoryenhances the speed of many microprocessor opera-tions by storing the most recently accessed contentsof system memory.• System memory that can be increased up to512 megabytes (MB) by installing 8-, 16-, 32-, 64-, or128-MB extended-data out (EDO) dual in-line memorymodules (DIMMs) in the four DIMM sockets on the sys-tem board. The system also supports both error correctioncode (ECC) and non-ECC DIMMs. See “Adding Mem-ory” 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. Totake advantage of this technology, you must have aSMART-compliant hard-disk drive in your com-puter. All hard-disk drives shipped with OptiPlexGXi systems are SMART-compliant.• Full compliance with PCI specification 2.1.• Full Plug and Play version 1.0a capability, whichgreatly simplifies the installation of expansion cards.Plug and Play support included in the system’s basicinput/output system (BIOS) allows you to installPlug and Play expansion cards without setting jump-ers or switches or performing other configuration