Overview
Intel® Application Accelerator Help

Overview

The Intel® Application Accelerator is a desktop-based software package designed specifically to increase the performance of applications and computer systems running Intel® Pentium® III or Pentium® 4 processor.  This is achieved by use of several methods:

1.	Intel® Application Accelerator Driver - This technology increases the performance of the Input/Output subsystem transfer rate, greatly enhancing the system speed.

2.	Intel® Advanced Pre-Fetch Module - With this technology, available for Pentium® 4 processor-based systems running Microsoft* Windows* 2000 Professional and Windows XP only, an overall additional performance enhancement is realized for Windows 2000 and Windows XP - based applications.

Software installation is flexible and fully automated for Microsoft* Windows* 98, Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Windows NT* 4.0, Windows 2000 Professional, and Windows XP Home Edition and Professional operating systems.

*  other brands and names may be claimed as the property of others.


System Requirements
Intel® Application Accelerator Help

System Requirements:

In order to use the Intel® Application Accelerator, the following system requirements must be met:

Desktop-based or mobile-based computer system

Intel® Pentium® III or Pentium® 4 processor

Intel 800-Series chipset family

Minimum 32 MB physical memory

IDE hard drive

Microsoft* Windows* 98, Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Windows NT*4.0 (Service Pack 3.0 and higher), Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Home Edition, or Windows XP Professional.

Operating Systems not supported:

Any Version of Microsoft Windows 3.1

Any Version of Microsoft Windows 95

Any Version (including service pack) of Microsoft Windows NT 3.51

Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, and Windows 2000 Data center Server

Microsoft Windows XP Server, Windows XP Advanced Server, and Windows XP Data center Server

Linux*

UNIX*

BeOS*

MacOS*

OS/2* (any version)

MS-DOS*

*  other brands and names may be claimed as the property of others.


General Features
Intel® Application Accelerator Help

General Features:

Intel® Application Accelerator has the following features available in property pages:

Device Information - This property page, available for all matching system configurations, displays information generated and passed-down from the Intel® Application Accelerator Driver component.  Various parameters are seen giving information about the computer’s IDE drive(s), transfer rates, and controller versions.

Report - This property page, available for all matching system criteria, displays a report for support purposes about information relevant to the IDE controller, the IDE channel, and the IDE drive(s).  This report also has the ability to be printed, saved as a text file, and viewed in an external viewer.

Support - This property page, available for all matching system criteria, displays support information, such as support websites and various string text for information, as well as any other information relevant to support of the product.

*  other brands and names may be claimed as the property of others.


Component Overview:  Intel Application Accelerator Driver
Intel® Application Accelerator Help

Component Overview:  Intel® Application Accelerator Driver

The Intel® Application Accelerator Driver component is a Windows* Hardware Quality Labs <http://www.microsoft.com/hwtest/default.asp> (WHQL) certified component designed specifically with the intention to increase the disk to system subsystem speed.

The Intel® Application Accelerator has the ability to query the storage component via an IOCTL interface and to obtain detailed Ultra ATA Controller and device information, which is displayed in the Device Information Property Page, which can be saved to a file and displayed in the Report Property Page.

In addition, a refresh function can be used to refresh the Device Information Property Page when devices are swapped under mobile configurations.  The refresh function can be activated by pressing the “F5” function key or by clicking on the “View” menu, and then selecting “Refresh F5”.

*  other brands and names may be claimed as the property of others.


Component Overview:  Displaying Controller and Device Information
Intel® Application Accelerator Help

Component Overview:  Displaying Controller and Device Information

When opened, the Devices window in the Device Information property page contains entries for the Intel® Ultra ATA controller and all connected ATA/ATAPI devices.  Selecting a particular controller or device in the Devices window causes the application to display the corresponding configuration parameters in the Device Information window.  Parameters shown with an oscilloscope icon are read-only; parameters shown with a wrench icon are read-write.  The various parameters are described below on the next screen:

Controller Parameters:

Name	Description
Storage Kit Installed	Intel® Application Accelerator product version
Driver Version	Device driver version
VxD Build (1)	VSD device driver product name
VxD Version (1)	VSD device driver version
PIO Mode Support	PIO modes supported by controller
DMA SW Mode Support	Single-word DMA modes supported by controller
DMA MW Mode Support	Multi-word DMA modes supported by controller
UDMA Mode Support	Ultra DMA modes supported by controller

Device Parameters:

Name	Description
Firmware	Device firmware revision
Serial #	Device serial number
PIO Mode Support	PIO modes supported by device
DMA SW Mode Support	Single-word DMA modes supported by device
DMA MW Mode Support	Multi-word DMA modes supported by device
UDMA Mode Support	Ultra DMA modes supported by device
Disk Size (2)	Total size of disk
Current Transfer Mode	Device's current, configured transfer mode
Transfer Mode Limit	Used to limit Current Transfer Mode, applies to any device connected to that cable position
Cable Type (Host)	Reports if system BIOS recognizes the device is connected via a 40- or 80-conductor ATA cable
Auto-Acoustic Management	Controls the noise level associated with the disk
Advanced Power Management	Controls the disks ability to manage its own power levels
(1) This parameter only appears in Microsoft* Windows* 98, Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), and Windows Millennium Edition (Me).

(2) This parameter only appears on devices that meet the ATA specification.


User Modifiable Parameters
Intel® Application Accelerator Help

User Modifiable Parameters

Located within the Parameters window on the Device Information property page are certain parameters that are modifiable.   To change a selected parameter, select the device you wish to modify in the Devices window.  The corresponding available parameters will be displayed in the Parameters window, to the right.

Left double-click on the gray wrench icon associated with the modifiable parameter.  The “Edit Value” dialog box will appear.  Click on the scroll down arrow and select the option desired.

If 'Transfer Mode Limit' is modified, then system will need to be rebooted.

Modifiable Parameters:

Transfer Mode Limit

PIO-0, PIO-2, PIO-3, PIO-4

Programmed Input/Output (PIO) – Transfer rate for older devices

DMA MW-1, DMA MW-2

DMA Multi-Word (MW) – Transfer rate for older devices

UDMA-0, UDMA-1, UDMA-2, UDMA-3, UDMA-4, UDMA-5

Ultra DMA (UDMA) – Transfer rate for current devices. UDMA-5 is equivalent to ATA-100

No Limit

Enables fastest transfer mode supported by the device

Auto-Acoustic Management (1)

Maximum Performance

Best drive performance with Auto-Acoustic Management enabled

Manufacturer Default, [value]

Manufacturer's recommended settings for optimal noise level. Device manufacturer may not provide a default value

Minimum Acoustic Output

Minimum audible noise level

Disabled

Best drive performance without Auto-Acoustic Management enabled. This selection is faster than the selection 'Maximum Performance'

Advanced Power Management

Maximum Performance

Best drive performance with Advanced Power Management enabled

Minimum Power Consumption without Standby

As described

Minimum Power Consumption with Standby

As described

Disabled

Best drive performance without Advanced Power Management enabled. This selection is faster than the selection 'Maximum Performance'

(1) Decreasing the device's noise level is accomplished by decreasing seek rates, which may cause a slight performance degradation.