Dell Alienware Aurora Owners Manual
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21CHAPTER 2: GETTING TO KNOW YOUR DESKTOP Top View Features Accessing the Top Panel Connectors Press the top panel downwards to access the top panel connectors.1 1Top panel
22CHAPTER 2: GETTING TO KNOW YOUR DESKTOP Top Panel Connectors 5 2 1 34 1 Headphone connector — Connects to headphones. NOTE: To connect to a powered speaker or sound system, use the audio out connector or one of the S/PDIF connectors (available on Aurora and Aurora ALX only) at the back of your computer. 2 Microphone connector — Connects to a microphone for voice or audio input into a sound or telephony program. 3 IEEE 1394 connector — Connects to high speed serial multimedia devices such as digital video cameras. 4 Power button — Turns the computer on or off when pressed. The color of the button rim indicates the power status. Off — the computer is either turned off, in hibernate mode, or is not • receiving power. Solid white — the computer is on.• Blinking white — the computer is in sleep or standby mode.• The color indicating the power status can be changed using the AlienFX® software. For information on AlienFX, see “AlienFX” on page 24. 5 USB 2.0 connectors (2) — Connect to USB devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, printer, external drive, or MP3 player.
23CHAPTER 4: USING YOUR DESKTOP CHAPTER 4: USING YOUR DESKTOP CHAPTER 4: USING YOUR DESKTOP
24CHAPTER 4: USING YOUR DESKTOP Alienware Command Center The Alienware® Command Center gives you access to Alienware’s exclusive software and is a continuously upgradable control panel. As Alienware releases new programs, they download directly into the Command Center allowing you to build a library of system management, optimization, and customization tools. To access the Command Center, click Start → All Programs→ Alienware→ Command Center→ Command Center. AlienFX AlienFX® lets you customize the lighting behavior on your computer. You can assign lighting behaviors to events like receiving new e-mail, computer going into the sleep mode, and opening a new application. AlienFusion AlienFusion gives you access to your Alienware computer’s power management controls to help increase energy efficiency. Thermal Controls If you have vents present on top of your computer, use thermal controls to control the thermal and venting capabilities of your computer by changing the fan speed and behavior of the vents. Working With RAID A redundant array of independent disks (RAID) is a disk storage configuration that increases performance or data redundancy. There are four basic RAID levels discussed in this section. RAID level 0 is recommended for higher performance (faster throughput). • RAID level 1 is recommended for users who need a high level of data • integrity. RAID level 5 is recommended for higher performance and fault tolerance.• RAID level 10 is recommended for higher performance and data integrity.• NOTE: RAID requires multiple hard drives. The number of hard drives required varies depending on the RAID configuration.
25CHAPTER 4: USING YOUR DESKTOP RAID Level 0 CAUTION: RAID level 0 provides no redundancy. Therefore, a failure of one drive results in the loss of all data. Perform regular backups to protect your data. RAID level 0 uses data striping to provide a high data access rate. Data striping writes consecutive segments, or stripes, of data sequentially across the physical drive(s) to create a large virtual drive. This allows one of the drives to read data while the other drive is searching for and reading the next block. RAID 0 uses the full storage capacities of both drives. For example, two 2 GB hard drives combine to provide 4 GB of hard drive space on which to store data. NOTE: In a RAID 0 configuration, the size of the configuration is equal to the size of the smallest drive multiplied by the number of drives in the configuration. RAID Level 1 RAID level 1 uses data mirroring to enhance data integrity. When data is written to the primary drive, the data is also duplicated, or mirrored, on the secondary drive in the configuration. RAID 1 sacrifices high data-access rates for data redundancy. If a drive failure occurs, read and write operations are directed to the remaining drive. A replacement drive can then be rebuilt using the data from the remaining drive. NOTE: In a RAID 1 configuration, the size of the configuration is equal to the size of the smallest drive in the configuration.
26CHAPTER 4: USING YOUR DESKTOP RAID Level 5 RAID level 5 uses data parity. RAID level 5 stripes both data and parity information across three or more drives. It provides data striping at the byte level and also stripe error correction information (rotating parity array). This results in excellent performance and good fault tolerance. If a drive failure occurs, subsequent read and write operations are directed to the other surviving drives. A replacement drive can then be rebuilt using the data from the surviving drives. Since data is duplicated on the primary and additional drives, four 120 GB collectively have a maximum of 360 GB on which to store data. A1B1 C1 DpA2 B2 Cp D1A3 Bp C2 D2Ap B3 C3 D3 RAID Level 10 A RAID 10 array combines the high data access rate of a RAID level 0 array and the data protection (redundancy) of a RAID level 1 mirror by striping data across two drives and mirroring that striped data on a set of two drives. RAID 1+0 If a drive failure occurs, subsequent read and write operations are directed to the other surviving drives. A replacement drive can then be rebuilt using the data from the surviving drives. Also, because data is duplicated on the primary and additional drives, four 120 GB collectively have a maximum of 240 GB on which to store data.
27CHAPTER 4: USING YOUR DESKTOP Optimizing Performance Your computer has been configured to operate optimally across a wide range of applications. Depending on the configuration you purchased, the computer may have been overclocked at the factory to achieve maximum performance in resource intensive applications including gaming and multimedia development. CAUTION: Technical support verifies the full functionality of the computer at the factory configured settings. Alienware does not provide technical support for any hardware or software issues arising from operating the computer beyond the factory configured settings. Performance Tuning Using System Setup CAUTION: It is not recommended to operate the processor or other system components beyond the preset settings in the BIOS. Doing so may cause system instability, reduced component operating life, or permanent component damage. For computers with the Intel® Core™i7 Extreme Edition processor, the BIOS has preset overclocking levels that allow you to easily overclock your computer. For more information, see “Configuring the BIOS” on page 28. Using Software Your computer is preinstalled with the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (available on Aurora and Aurora ALX only), that allows you to optimize your computer’s performance. For more information on the options available, see the help file of the utility.
28CHAPTER 4: USING YOUR DESKTOP Configuring the BIOS System Setup The System Setup options allow you to: Change the system configuration information after you add, change, or • remove any hardware in your desktop. Set or change a user-selectable option.• View the amount of memory installed.• Set the type of hard drive installed.• Before you use System Setup, it is recommended that you write down the current System Setup information for future reference. CAUTION: Do not change the settings in System Setup unless you are an expert computer user. Certain changes can cause your computer to work incorrectly. Entering System Setup Turn on (or restart) your desktop.1. NOTE: Keyboard failure may result when a key on the keyboard is held down for extended periods of time. To avoid possible keyboard failure, press and release in even intervals until the System Setup screen appears. While the desktop is booting, press immediately before the operating 2. system logo appears to access the BIOS Setup Utility. NOTE: If an error occurs during POST (Power On Self Test), press when the prompt appears to enter the BIOS Setup Utility. NOTE: If you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue to wait until you see the Microsoft® Windows® desktop, then shut down your desktop and try again. System Setup Screens The BIOS Setup Utility displays current or changeable configuration information for your desktop. Key functions appear at the bottom of the BIOS Setup Utility screen and lists keys and their functions within the active field.
29CHAPTER 4: USING YOUR DESKTOP System Setup Options NOTE: The items listed in this section may or may not appear exactly as listed depending on your computer model and installed devices. NOTE: For the updated system setup information, see the Service Manual at support.dell.com/manuals. System Information Product NameDisplays the product name. BIOS VersionDisplays the BIOS version number and date information. Service TagDisplays the service tag of the computer. Asset TagDisplays the asset tag of the computer. Memory InstalledDisplays the amount of memory installed on the computer. Memory AvailableDisplays the amount of memory available on the computer. Memory TechnologyDisplays the type of memory technology used. Memory SpeedDisplays the memory speed. CPU ID/u Code IDDisplays the processor type. CPU Speed Displays the processor speed. System Information Current (QPI) SpeedDisplays the QPI speed. Cache L2Displays the processor L2 cache size. Cache L3 (available on Aurora and Aurora ALX only) Displays the processor L3 cache size. Standard CMOS Features System Time (hh:mm:ss) Displays the current time. System Date (mm:dd:yy) Displays current date. SATA 1Displays the SATA 1 drive integrated in the computer. SATA 2Displays the SATA 2 drive integrated in the computer SATA 3Displays the SATA 3 drive integrated in the computer. SATA 4Displays the SATA 4 drive integrated in the computer. SATA 5Displays the SATA 5 drive integrated in the computer SATA 6Displays the SATA 6 drive integrated in the computer.
30CHAPTER 4: USING YOUR DESKTOP Standard CMOS Features Wait for ‘F1’ If ErrorsIf enabled, the system will HALT during boot to display system errors. Advanced BIOS Features NumLock StatusSelect power-on state for num-lock. ACPI APIC supportInclude ACPI APIC table pointer to RSDT pointer list. OptionROM Display ScreenAllows you to enable or disable the RAID Option ROM screen during POST. Boot Configuration Features 1st Boot DeviceDisplays the first boot device. 2nd Boot DeviceDisplays the second boot device. Hard Disk DrivesSets the hard drive boot priority. The items displayed are dynamically updated according to the hard drives detected. CD/DVD DrivesSets the CD/DVD drive boot priority. CPU Configuration XD Bit Capability Enable XD Bit Capability to allow the processor to distinguish between the bits of code that can be executed and the ones that cannot be executed. Intel® Speedstep™ tech If enabled, the processor clock speed and core voltage are adjusted dynamically based on the processor load. Intel® C State TechIf enabled, C State: Processor idle is set to C2/C3/C4. Intel® HT Technology (available on Aurora-R2 only)If disabled only one thread per enabled core is active.