Intel Pentium III Processor/840, Manual, Page: 18 / 151

2-6 Intel
®
Pentium
®
III Processor/840 Development Kit Manual
Getting Started
time capabilities of any reference platform. Performance measurements and related configuration
information is tracked and saved for comparison purposes. Hardware selection for RTX-based
applications can easily be performed by System Integrators, OEMs, and Developers. Users who
often need to test one or more computers to evaluate the real-time performance that can be
delivered for an RTX application will benefit from the easy to use controls. Platform Evaluator,
while making the test cases easy to perform, also summarizes the test results and logs them to a
simple text file. Real-time response can vary dramatically between what may appear to be similar
hardware platforms.
Platform Evaluator is a standard tool for comparing hardware and software configurations in a
simple and accurate manner which:
•
Measures and displays timing statistics:
— Timer response latencies
— Thread context switch times
— Critical Win32 call execution times
•
Evaluates Win32 API performance
•
Offers basic loads for evaluating the suitability of device drivers
•
Graphically and numerically displays performance results
•
Collects hardware and Windows system configuration information
2.4 Before You Begin
Before you set up and configure your evaluation board, you may want to gather some additional
hardware.
VGA Monitor You can use any standard VGA or multi-resolution monitor. The setup
instructions in this chapter assume that you are using a standard VGA
monitor.
Power Supply You must use a WTX-type PC power supply. One has been provided with
your development kit for added convenience.
Keyboard You need a keyboard with a PS/2-style connector or adapter.
Mouse Optional. You can use a mouse with a PS/2-style connector or adapter.
Floppy Drives You can connect up to two floppy drives to the evaluation board. You
must provide the floppy drives and cables; they are not included in the
evaluation kit.
Hard Drives and/or
CD-ROM You can connect up to four IDE drives to the evaluation board. Two
devices (master and slave) can be attached to each IDE connector. Only
one hard drive is included in your kit so you will need to provide the
cables for any additional drives.
You can have all of these storage devices attached to the board at the same
time.
Video Adapter You can use the video adapter supplied with your kit, or another adapter.
The evaluation board supports AGP and PCI video cards.