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Powering Up the System for the First Time
The big moment has arrived. We’re
set to test our new system. We push the power button and... nothing
happens. Hmpf. We take off the front bezel to be sure it hits the power
switch. We test the switch directly without the bezel. The system doesn’t
respond. At a point like this, it’s smart to check the basics.
For example, does the wall socket have power? You could purchase a fancy
gizmo to test an outlet, but a hair dryer, radio, or a lamp works just
as well.
Examining the back of the PC case,
we see that there is a switch with two positions, 0 and 1. Zero often
means off, and one often means on in the computer world. We turn the
switch from 0 to 1 and push the power button again. The system boots
up. Older AT power supplies seldom had power switches at the back and
if you’re used to an AT system, it’s easy to miss the switch
at the back of the case.
The system powers up. We see the
CPU fan is spinning, and BIOS recognizes that it’s the first time
the system has been started. It asks us to confirm the CPU speed setting.
Our system is built on an Athlon 2000+ chip, and the menu offers 1.67
GHz and 2.08 GHz as options. Neither of those corresponds to 2.0 GHz
which is what we might expect a 2000+ chip to run at. We usually don’t
want to run a chip faster than it’s rated, so the higher value
is out.
AMD has an “effective”
measure of CPU performance. That’s what the plus sign means after
the 2000. 2000+ means it’s comparable to a 2.0 GHz Pentium. The
2000+ Athlon actually runs at 1.67 GHz. However, the Athlon is more
efficient because it can do more during each clock cycle than can a
Pentium. So, the correct setting is 1.67 GHz.
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How to Build Your Own PC (http://www.PCGuide.com/byop/) on PCGuide.com
Version 1.0 - Version Date: May 4, 2005
Adapted with permission from a work created by Charlie Palmer.
PCGuide.com Version © Copyright 2005 Charles M. Kozierok. All Rights Reserved.
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