Assignment 3                                 

Deadline: 11.02.03 (3 weeks)

Student Name_______________________________     Date handed in__________

Assignment Document Checklist

The table below provides a quick checklist of all the documents that should be handed in for this assignment.

	Documents	Tick
1	Report on motherboard chosen for AMD XP CPU and its configuration
	Report on motherboard chosen for Intel Pentium 4 CPU and its configuration
2	Form Factors Report
3	Operating Systems Report
4	POST Report

Grading Evidence

It is possible to achieve credits for the following from this assignment.

Assignment Feedback

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Assignment 3

Part 1 - CMOS & System Board Configuration

Question 1.1

A friend of yours has bought two CPU's 

and  has asked you to determine...  

1. an appropriate motherboard for each processor

2. details on how to configure each system board (either through the CMOS or using jumper settings) to maximize CPU performance.  You should consider 

   • voltage

   • FSB settings (Front Side Bus)

   • clock multiplier.

For each CPU, you must provide printouts/documentation showing that the motherboard you have selected is compatible with that CPU and configuration settings you have chosen are appropriate.

Part 2 - Form Factors

Question 2.1

Your friend has 1 spare power supply unit (200 watt AT).  You have been asked to determine an appropriate power supply unit for his two new systems described in part 1 and if the spare power supply unit can be used for one of the systems.

1. Explain the different motherboard form factors (AT and ATX)

2. Describe the form factor of the motherboard you decided was appropriate for the AMD XP 2000 CPU, (motherboard dimensions, power supply rating and type, appropriate case.)

3. Describe the form factor of the motherboard you decided was appropriate for the Intel P4 2200 Northwood CPU, (motherboard dimensions, power supply rating and type, appropriate case.)

4. Can the spare power supply unit (200 watt AT) be used with either of the two new systems?  Justify your answer.

Part 3 - Operating Systems

Question 3.1

Your friend is unsure which operating system to install on his new systems.  He has asked you to...

1. Contrast the functions of the following operating systems

   • Windows 98 

   • Windows 2000 server

   • Windows XP

   • Red Hat Linux

Part 4 - Power On Self Test (POST)

Question 4.1

In an Intel x86 compatible computer system program execution start at memory location F000:FFF0h. This address is part of ROM BIOS and contains a jump command to a series of BIOS routines that test and initialize the hardware components.  This is called the POST or Power-On-Self-Test.

1. Explain the need for the POST

2. Describe the test and initialization routines of the POST  ( a table would be appropriate.)

3. Explain the POST error beep codes

4. List and explain the error messages for an Award or AMI BIOS ( a table would be appropriate.)

5. Identify the limitations of POST

Note: www.webopedia.com is a good place to start your research

That's it for this assignment!