Home

+FRONT A8N-SLI.P65

1. File and Folder Tasks nd Bin at Drivers Og Publish this Folder to the Web kal Share this folder mt LinuxDrivers CJ Manual Other Places ASN SLI od Software BIN File 512 KB p My Computer 3 My Documents 5 Shared Documents My Network Places asus FUEN 26 32 Icon ASUSACPI a Gi ee Je AUTORUN Setup Information AWDFLASH Details 1 KB FILELIST KSN4 E Text Document BIN File 5 KB 512 KB TECHSUPP ver tag Text Document TAG File 2 KB 1 KB Technical support Form Displays the ASUS Technical Support Request Form that you have to fill out when requesting technical support A TECHSUPP Notepad B Fie Edit Format View Help ASUSTeK TECHNICAL SUPPORT REQUEST FORM COMPANY NAME CONTACT NAME PHONE AREA FAX AREA EMAIL ADDRESS REVISION BIOS 401A CPU BRAND SPEED MHZ DRAM BRAND SPEED NS SIZE MB CACHE BRAND SPEED ns SIZE KB HARD DISK MODEL NAME SIZE MB CDROM BRAND MODEL NAME BACKUP BRAND MODEL NAME SIZE MB OTHER STORAGE MODEL NAME SIZE MB E ISA SLOT 1 E ISA SLOT 2 E ISA SLOT 3 E ISA SLOT 4 ASUS A8N SLI 5 7 5 8 Filelist Displays the contents of the support CD and a brief description of each in text format DER FILELIST Notepad File Edit Format View Help File list for the included supp
2. 3 Connect speakers or a headphone to the Line Out lime colored port on the rear panel for audio output You may also connect a headphone to the headphone jack on the CD ROM drive front panel 4 Press lt Esc gt to turn ON Instant Music 5 Place an audio CD into the CD ROM drive 6 Press lt F1 gt or the lt Space Bar gt to play the first track on the CD Z If there is no CD in the drive and you press lt F1 gt or lt Space Bar gt the drive tray ejects 7 Refer to the Instant Music function key definitions on the previous page to select other tracks or control the volume 8 Press lt F2 gt or lt Enter gt once to stop playing the CD Press lt F2 gt or lt Enter gt one more time to eject the CD Chapter 5 Software support 5 3 3 AI NET 2 The Marvell Virtual Cable Tester VCT is a cable diagnostic utility that reports LAN cable faults and shorts using the Time Domain Reflectometry TDR technology The VCT detects and reports open and shorted cables impedance mismatches pair swaps pair polarity problems and pair skew problems of up to 100 meters at one meter accuracy The VCT feature reduces networking and support costs through a highly manageable and controlled network system This utility can be incorporated in the network systems sofware for ideal field support as well as development diagnostics Using the Virtual Cable Tester To use the the Marvell Virtual Cable Tester utility 1
3. 4 6 1 Boot Device Priority C o SEE Boot Device Priority Select Menu Removable Item Specific Helpp gt gt 2nd Boot Device Hard Disk 3rd Boot Device CDROM De ae een Ath Boot Device Disabled re eee he device priority 1st xxth Boot Device Removable These items specify the boot device priority sequence from the available devices The number of device items that appears on the screen depends on the number of devices installed in the system Configuration options Removable Hard Disk CDROM Legacy LAN Disabled Chapter 4 BIOS setup 4 6 2 Removable Drives e a Removable Drives Select Menu Floppy Disks Floppy Disks Item Specific Help Use lt 1 gt or lt l gt to select a device then press lt gt to move it up or lt gt to move it down the list Press lt ESC gt to exit this menu 1 Floppy Disks Allows you to assign a removable drive attached to the system 4 6 3 Hard Disk Drives p os see Hard Disk Drives Select Menu 1st Master XXXXXXXXX Item Specific Help 2 eee IRER Add in Cards Use lt gt or lt l gt to select a device then press lt gt to move it up or lt gt to move it down the list Press lt ESC gt to exit this menu 1 1st Master XXXXXXXXX Allows you to assign hard disk drives attached to the system ASUS A8N SLI 4 39 4 6 4 CDROM Drives Item Specific Helpp CDROM Drives Is
4. Power On By PCI Devices Disabled When set to Enabled this parameter allows you to turn on the system through a PCI LAN or modem card This feature requires an ATX power supply that provides at least 1A on the 5VSB lead Configuration options Disabled Enabled Power On By External Modems Disabled This allows either settings of Enabled or Disabled for powering up the computer when the external modem receives a call while the computer is in Soft off mode Configuration options Disabled Enabled VA The computer cannot receive or transmit data until the computer and applications are fully running Thus connection cannot be made on the first try Turning an external modem off and then back on while the computer is off causes an initialization string that turns the system power on ASUS A8N SLI 4 35 Power On By RTC Alarm Disabled Allows you to enable or disable RTC to generate a wake event When this item is set to Enabled the items Date of Month Alarm and Time hh mm ss Alarm items become user configurable with set values Configuration options Disabled Enabled Day of Month Alarm Disabled To set the date of alarm highlight this item and press lt Enter gt to display the Day of Month Alarm pop up menu Key in a value within the specified range then press lt Enter gt Configuration options Min 0 Max 31 Time hh mm ss Alarm Disabled To set the time of alarm 1 Highlight this item
5. Chipset System Bus Memory Expansion slots Scalable Link Interface SLI Storage Socket 939 for AMD Athlon 64FX AMD Athlon 64 processor Supports AMD 64 architecture that enables simultaneous 32 bit and 64 bit architecture Supports AMD Cool n Quiet Technology NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI Supports NVIDIA Scalable Link Interface SLI technology 1600 2000 MT per second Dual channel memory architecture 4 x 184 pin DIMM sockets support ECC non ECC unbufferred 400 333 266 MHz DDR memory modules Supports up to 4 GB system memory 2 x PCI Express x16 slots with Scalable Link Interface SLI support 2 x PCI Express x1 slots 3 x PCI slots SLI mode supports 2 x same model brand SLI ready PCI Express x16 graphics cards Note In SLI mode the PCI Express x16 slots work at the bandwidth of PCI Express x8 The combined bandwidth of these maintain the bandwidth of PCI Express x16 Single card mode supports default 1 x any PCI Express x16 graphics card on the first slot blue 1 x PCI Express x1 card on second slot black ASUS EZ Selector ASUS EZ Plug ASUS SLI Warning LED ASUS PEG Link for dual PCI Express graphics cards ASUS Two slot thermal design NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI chipset supports 2x Ultra DMA 133 100 66 33 4x Serial ATA 3Gb s drives RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 1 0 and JBOD that spans across the Serial ATA and Parallel ATA drives continued on the next page
6. 4 3 1 System Time Xx xx xxxx Allows you to set the system time 4 3 2 System Date Day xx xx xxxx Allows you to set the system date 4 3 3 Language English Allows you to choose the BIOS language version from the options Configuration options Fran ais German English 4 3 4 Legacy Diskette A 1 44M 3 5 in Sets the type of floppy drive installed Configuration options Disabled 360K 5 25 in 1 2M 5 25 in 720K 3 5 in 1 44M 3 5 in 2 88M 3 5 in ASUS A8N SLI 4 15 4 3 5 Primary and Secondary IDE Master Slave While entering Setup the BIOS automatically detects the presence of IDE devices There is a separate sub menu for each IDE device Select a device item then press lt Enter gt to display the IDE device information my lt lt ua Primary IDE Master Select Menu ENET Item Specific Helpp gt gt UDMA Mode Auto Press Enter to Primary IDE Master Auto select Access Mode Auto UDMA Mode Auto Capacity 13579 MB Cylinder Head Sector Transfer Mode The BIOS automatically detects the values opposite the dimmed items Capacity Cylinder Head Sector and Transfer Mode These values are not user configurable These items show N A if no IDE device Is installed in the system PIO Mode Sets the PIO mode for the IDE device Configuration options Auto Mode 0 Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3 Mode 4 UDMA Mode Disables or sets the UDMA mode Configuration options Disabl
7. E1815 First Edition December 2004 Copyright 2004 ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC All Rights Reserved No part of this manual including the products and software described in it may be reproduced transmitted transcribed stored in a retrieval system or translated into any language in any form or by any means except documentation kept by the purchaser for backup purposes without the express written permission of ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC ASUS Product warranty or service will not be extended if 1 the product is repaired modified or altered unless such repair modification of alteration is authorized in writing by ASUS or 2 the serial number of the product is defaced or missing ASUS PROVIDES THIS MANUAL AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE INNO EVENT SHALL ASUS ITS DIRECTORS OFFICERS EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT SPECIAL INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS LOSS OF BUSINESS LOSS OF USE OR DATA INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS AND THE LIKE EVEN IF ASUS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES ARISING FROM ANY DEFECT OR ERROR IN THIS MANUAL OR PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MANUAL ARE FURNISHED FOR INFORMATIONAL USE ONLY AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE AND SHOULD NO
8. Please wait 5 When the correct BIOS file is found EZ Flash performs the BIOS update process and automatically reboots the system when done AN Do not shutdown or reset the system while updating the BIOS to prevent system boot failure ASUS A8N SLI 4 7 4 1 6 ASUS Update utility The ASUS Update is a utility that allows you to manage save and update the motherboard BIOS in Windows environment The ASUS Update utility allows you to e Save the current BIOS file e Download the latest BIOS file from the Internet e Update the BIOS from an updated BIOS file e Update the BIOS directly from the Internet and e View the BIOS version information This utility is available in the support CD that comes with the motherboard package Z ASUS Update requires an Internet connection either through a network or an Internet Service Provider ISP nm Installing ASUS Update To install ASUS Update 1 Place the support CD in the optical drive The Drivers menu appears 2 Click the Utilities tab then click Install ASUS Update VX XX XX See page 5 3 for the Utilities screen menu 3 The ASUS Update utility is copied to your system Z Quit all Windows applications before you update the BIOS using this utility Chapter 4 BIOS setup Updating the BIOS through the Internet To update the BIOS through the Internet 1 Launch the ASUS Update utility from the Windows desktop by clicking Start gt Programs gt ASUS gt
9. environment Refer to the corresponding sections for details on these utilities Save a copy of the original motherboard BIOS file to a bootable floppy disk in case you need to restore the BIOS in the future Copy the original motherboard BIOS using the ASUS Update or AwardBIOS Flash utilities 4 1 1 Creating a bootable floppy disk 1 Do either one of the following to create a bootable floppy disk DOS environment a Insert a 1 44MB floppy disk into the drive b At the DOS prompt type format A S then press lt Enter gt Windows XP environment a Insert a 1 44 MB floppy disk to the floppy disk drive b Click Start from the Windows desktop then select My Computer c Select the 3 1 2 Floppy Drive icon d Click File from the menu then select Format A Format 3 1 2 Floppy Disk window appears e Select Create an MS DOS startup disk from the format options field then click Start Windows 2000 environment To create a set of boot disks for Windows 2000 a Insert a formatted high density 1 44 MB floppy disk into the drive b Insert the Windows 2000 CD to the optical drive ASUS A8N SLI c Click Start then select Run d From the Open field type D bootdisk makeboot a assuming that D is your optical drive e Press lt Enter gt then follow screen instructions to continue 2 Copy the original or the latest motherboard BIOS file to the bootable floppy disk 4 1 2 Updating the BIOS The
10. x6 5 x7 x7 5 x7 5 x8 x8 5 x9 x9 5 x10 x10 5 x11 x11 5 x12 x12 5 x13 x13 5 x14 x14 5 x15 x15 5 x16 x16 5 x17 x17 5 x18 x18 5 x19 x19 5 x20 CPU Voltage Auto Sets the operating CPU voltage Configuration options Auto 1 650V 1 637 5V 1 625V 1 6125V 1 600V 1 5875V 1 575V 1 5625V 1 550V 1 537 5V 1 525V 1 5125V 1 500V 1 4875V 1 475V 1 4625V 1 450V 1 4375V 1 425V 1 4125V 1 400V 1 3875V 1 375V 1 3625V 1 350V 1 337 5V 1 325V 1 3125V 1 300V 1 2875V 1 275V 1 2625V 1 250V 1 2375V 1 225V 1 2125V 1 200V 1 1875V 1 175V 1 1625V 1 150V 1 1375V en FP y y FAP 1 125V 1 1125V 1 100V 1 0875V 1 075V 1 0625V 1 0125V 1 000V 0 9875V 0 9375V 0 925V 0 9125V 0 8625V 0 850V 0 8375V 1 050V 0 975V 0 900V 0 825V 1 0375V 1 025V 0 9625V 0 950V 0 8875V 0 875V 0 8125V 0 800V une m m ee L Lb Lb Ld Chapter 4 BIOS setup fo The following item is user configurable only when the Al Overclocking item is set to Al Overclock Overclock Options Disable Allows you to set the oveclocking options Configuration options Disable Overclock 3 Overclock 5 Overclock 8 Overclock 10 VA The following item is user configurable only when the Al Overclocking item is set to AI N O S N O S Option Disable Sets the N
11. xi xii A8N SLI specifications summary Al Overclocking Special features Internal connectors Al NOS Non Delay Overclocking System ASUS Al Overclocking Intelligent CPU frequency tuner ASUS PEG Link for single dual graphics card Fixed PCI Express PCI SATA frequencies ASUS C P R CPU Parameter Recall Precision Tweaker supports DIMM voltage 9 step DRAM voltage control Core voltage Adjustable CPU voltage at 0 0125 increment PCI Express Frequency Allows 1MHz increment from 100MHz to 200MHz Stepless Frequency Selection SFS allows 1MHz increment from 200 MHz to 400 MHz ASUS EZFlash ASUS Q Fan ASUS CrashFree BIOS 2 ASUS Multi language BIOS ASUS MyLogo2 ASUS Instant Music ASUS EZ Selector ASUS SLI Warning LED ASUS EZ Plug 1 x Floppy disk drive connector 2 x IDE connectors 4 x Serial ATA connectors 1 x ASUS EZ selector card connector 1 x CPU fan connector 1 x Power fan connector 2 x Chassis fan connector 1 x Chipset fan connector 1 x Serial port connector COM port 1 x 24 pin ATX power connector 1 x 4 pin ATX 12 V power connector 1 x 4 pin ASUS EZ Plug connector 3 x USB 2 0 connectors for 6 additional USB 2 0 ports 1 x Internal audio connectors CD AUX 1 x IEEE 1394 connector 1 x GAME MIDI connector 1 x Chassis intrusion connector 1 x Front panel audio connector System panel connector continued on the next page A8N SLI specifications summary NVIDIA nForce 4 b
12. ASUS A8N SLI 5 3 5 4 Microsoft DirectX Installs the Microsoft DirectX 9 0 driver The Microsoft DirectX 9 0 is a multimedia technology that enhances computer graphics and sound DirectX improves the multimedia features of you computer so you can enjoy watching TV and movies capturing videos or playing games in your computer Visit the Microsoft website www microsoft com for updates Anti virus Utility The anti virus application detects and protects your computer from viruses that destroys data ADOBE Acrobat Reader Installs the Adobe Acrobat Reader that allows you to open view and print documents in Portable Document Format PDF ASUS Screen Saver Bring life to your computer screen by installing the ASUS screen saver ASUS AMD Cool n Quiet Software Installs the AMD Cool n Quiet software Chapter 5 Software support 5 2 4 Manuals menu The Manuals menu contains a list of supplementary user manuals Click an item to open the folder of the user manual e Most user manual files are in Portable Document Format PDF Install the Adobe Acrobat Reader from the Utilities menu before opening a user manual file e Some user manuals listed in this menu may not be applicable for this motherboard model Manual Please select items on the right side NVIDIA Firewall Administrator s Guide Allows you to open the NVIDIA ForceWare Networking and Firewall Administrator s Guide
13. Locate the selector card on the motherboard Pre installed ASUS EZ selector card 2 Simultaneously push the retention clips outward to release the card Chapter 6 NVIDIA SLI technology support 3 When released pull the selector card out of the slot 4 Invert the selector card and insert the edge labeled Dual Video Cards 5 Push down the selector card until the retention clips snap into place Make sure to completely insert the selector card into the slot ASUS A8N SLI 6 3 6 2 2 Installing SLI ready graphics cards Install only identical SLI ready graphics cards that are NVIDIA certified Different types of graphics cards will not work together properly To install the graphics cards 1 Prepare two graphics cards Each graphics card should have goldfingers for the SLI connector Goldfingers 2 Remove the metal bracket covers opposite the two PCI Express x16 Slots 6 4 Chapter 6 NVIDIA SLI technology support 3 Insert one graphics card into the blue slot labeled PCIEX16_1 Make sure that the card is properly seated on the slot 4 Insert the second graphics card into the black slot labeled PCIEX16_2 Make sure that the card is properly seated on the slot AN If required connect an auxiliary power source to the PCI Express graphics cards ASUS A8N SLI 6 5 6 6 5 Align and insert the SLI connector to the goldfingers on each graphics card M
14. On Typematic Rate Setting Disabled Allows you to set the keystroke rate Enable this item to configure the Typematic Rate Chars Sec and the Typematic Delay Msec Configuration options Disabled Enabled Va The items Typematic Rate Chars Sec and Typematic Delay Msec becomes user configurable only when the item Typematic Rate Setting is enabled Typematic Rate Chars Sec 6 Allows you to select the rate at which a character repeats when you hold a key Configuration options 6 8 10 12 15 20 24 30 Typematic Delay Msec 250 Allows you to set the delay before keystrokes begin to repeat Configuration options 250 500 750 1000 OS Select for DRAM gt 64MB Non OS2 Set this item to OS2 only when you are running on an OS 2 operating system with an installed RAM of greater than 64 KB Configuration options Non OS2 OS2 Full Screen LOGO Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the full screen logo display feature Configuration options Disabled Enabled VA e Make sure that the above item is set to Enabled if you want to use the ASUS MyLogo2 feature e See section 5 3 1 ASUS MyLogo2 for details Halt On All Errors Allows you to error report type Configuration options All Errors No Errors All But Keyboard All But Diskette All But Disk Key ASUS A8N SLI 4 41 4 6 6 Security em ne aera Boot Settings Configuration Select Menu Clear Ite
15. ka STON DOC aoe EEO 2 2 2 2 3 Motherboard layout EN 2 3 2 2 4 Layout Contents EE 2 4 Central Processing Ga 0 2 6 Peal ONE TE EE 2 6 2 3 2 NG the Pte 2 6 2 3 3 Installing the heatsink and fan eseervvvrrrrrsrrrnnnnnnn 2 8 System memory nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnrrsssssssvssssssvsvsvvevevvrvevsvvrrnnnnnnnn 2 11 TN 2 11 2 4 2 Memory Configurations rrrvevennnnnnnnnvvvvvvennnnnnnnnnnn 2 11 2 4 3 Installing a DIMM ed 2 13 2 4 4 Removing a DIMM nsssssssssssssssosssnnnnnnnnennnnnnrnrrnnnnne 2 13 PN Dr 2 14 2 5 1 Installing an expansion card uusasnnnvvvvvevennnnnnnnnnn 2 14 Contents 2 5 2 Configuring an expansion Card sssscceeeeeeeeeeees 2 14 25 53 ANLEVFUDTASSIONIMENUS urene 2 15 EE OE o a eee eee E eee 2 16 2 5 5 Two PCI Express X16 slots rerrrrrrrvrrrrrerrrrrrrrrrrrn 2 16 2 5 6 PCI Express NE 2 16 EE 110 01 2 17 AE 8 9 91 10 OE 2 18 2 7 1 Rear panel connectors ccccssssssssesseceeeeeeeeeeenees 2 18 2 2 ASTA 1 CONnectorS were casaeenepecencercoaccsesseadenesieenaes 2 20 Chapter 3 Powering up SR TEST Ne 3 1 3 2 Powering off the computer rvvvrrrrrrnrrnnnnnnnnnnvvvvvvnnnnennnnnnnnnnr 3 2 3 2 1 Using the OS shut down function rrvveverrrrnnnrennn 3 2 3 2 2 Using the dual function power Switch cceee 3 2 Chapter 4 BIOS setup 4 1 Managing and updating your BIOS srrrvveernnrnnnnnvvvvvevennnnnnnnvnnn 4 1 4 1 1 Creating a bootable floppy disk rrnnnnnvonvvvvvevernnrn 4
16. 1 4 1 2 Updating the BIOS an 4 2 4 1 3 Saving the current BIOS file rrrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnvvvvvenennn 4 4 4 1 4 ASUS CrashFree BIOS 2 utility snnnnnnnnnnnnvnvnnvnnenee 4 5 4 1 5 ASUS EZ Flash utility civisncesscvsnssicnanhieaveseersecutaannteens 4 7 4 1 6 ASUS Update utility sninucceteaussiacoetsouseaustgusssescettenseeest 4 8 4L BIOS SO LUD Progra sancarnisaccansaontaavdonaisnntansvontanspavoteneeennaete 4 11 4 2 1 BIOS menu SCreen sssssssssnnnnnnnrnnnnnnnrnneeereenererereennns 4 12 Aa MONU DAD eenean en AEE 4 12 4 2 3 Legend bar seimetsvcnsnissenncises mnsecateenniniaieneeccanes 4 13 4 2 4 Menu items ssssssesosouunnnnnnnnnnrnnrreennnnnnnnnnrnnrnrerennnnnne 4 13 4 2 5 Sub menu Items ccsessssssssssssssesssssssssssssssssensenens 4 13 4 2 6 Configuration Ne 4 13 4 2 8 General help EE 4 14 Bilal POP UP LO OE 4 14 A MN ea E EO E 4 15 Aol VE O a E Ea 4 15 A32 System Dat EE i 4 15 Contents 4 4 4 9 4 6 4 Ao ENUT gee ee ee eer 4 15 4 3 4 Legacy Diskette A sccssouce ssecwontenenossoosaussunsseenenesevecae 4 15 4 3 5 Primary and Secondary IDE Master Slave 4 16 4 3 6 First Second Third Fourth SATA Master 4 18 4 3 7 HDD SMART Monitoring snnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnenne 4 19 4 3 8 Installed Memory rrnrnnnannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnvnvenvvrvevenene 4 19 FEL 4 20 221 GPUACONMOUP ATOM esseistinen re 4 20 BA PP eee 4 23 4 4 3 Onboard Devices Configuration scccceee
17. 5 4 1 Installing hard disks The motherboard supports Ultra DMA 133 100 66 and Serial ATA hard disk drives For optimal performance install identical drives of the same model and capacity when creating a disk array Installing Parallel ATA hard disks To install IDE hard disks for a RAID configuration 1 Set the jumpers of each hard disk as Master Master or Slave Slave 2 Install the hard disks into the drive bays 3 Connect the HDD signal cables 4 Connect a 4 pin power cable to the power connector on each drive Installing Serial ATA SATA hard disks To install the SATA hard disks for a RAID configuration 1 Install the SATA hard disks into the drive bays 2 Connect the SATA signal cables 3 Connect a SATA power cable to the power connector on each drive N Refer to the RAID controllers user manual in the motherboard support CD for detailed information on RAID configurations See section 5 2 4 Manuals menu 5 24 Chapter 5 Software support 5 4 2 NVIDIA RAID configurations The motherboard includes a high performance IDE RAID controller integrated in the NVIDIA SLI southbridge chipset It supports RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 1 0 and JBOD with four independent Serial ATA channels Setting the BIOS RAID items After installing the hard disk drives make sure to set the necessary RAID items in the BIOS before setting your RAID configuration To set the BIOS RAID items 1 Boot the system and press lt Del gt d
18. ASUSUpdate gt ASUSUpdate The ASUS Update main window appears Internet i e Internet Explorer W Windows cak g Windows Update ments gt E E mail Outlook Express iii M Accessories fi ASUS Fl F AiBooster gt W Paint ASUS Utility A fm AsusUpdate gt 8 ASUSUpdate Windows Media Playe Games 81 mytogo Marvell GB Uninstall ASUSUpdate A asusupdate Startup TY Voice Editor Internet Explorer N MSN Explorer SB Outlook Express 2 Ai Booster v2 00 18 ter Voice Editor MSN Explorer pa Remote Assistance windows Media Player Ene G Windows Messenger A Log Off o Shut Down ASUS Select S238 2302 SY py er tne Update Server j Before Continue please make sure that your system is connected to the Internet You can then choose a web site by yourself or click AutoSelect 1 Update Save BIOS from to file 2 Update BIOS from the Internet Update system BIOS using specified BIOS image file on ASUS Web Site 3 Download BIOS from the Internet Download specified BIOS image file via Internet for later usage button ASUS Update will choose the best site based on network traffic automatically for you 4 Check BIOS Information Fi Update BIOS from the Internet 2 Save current BIOS to a file A Update BIOS from a file k Update BIOS from the Internet S Download BIOS from the Internet Check BIOS Information Opti
19. Basic Input Output System BIOS can be updated using the AwardBIOS Flash Utility Follow these instructions to update the BIOS using this utility 1 Download the latest BIOS file from the ASUS web site Rename the file to A8N SLI BIN and save it to a floppy disk AN Save only the updated BIOS file in the floppy disk to avoid loading the wrong BIOS file 2 Copy the AwardBIOS Flash Utility awdflash exe from the Software folder of the support CD to the floppy disk with the latest BIOS file 3 Boot the system in DOS mode using the bootable floppy disk you created earlier 4 When the A gt appears replace the bootable floppy disk with the floppy disk containing the new BIOS file and the Award BIOS Flash Utility 5 At the prompt type awdflash then press lt Enter gt The Award BIOS Flash Utility screen appears Please input File Name 4 2 Chapter 4 BIOS setup 6 Type the BIOS file name in the File Name to Program field then press lt Enter gt 1001 bin Do You Want To Save Bios Y N 7 Press lt N gt when the utility prompts you to save the current BIOS file The following screen appears 8 The utility verifies the BIOS file in the floppy disk and starts flashing the BIOS file 1001 bin OFEOO OK a Write OK um No Update ie Write Fail VA Do not turn off or reset the system during the flashing process a 9 The utility displays a Flashing Complete message indicating that you have su
20. Configuration options Disabled 3F8 IRQ4 3E8 IRQ4 2E8 IRQ3 Parallel Port Address 378 IRQ7 Allows you to select the Parallel Port base addresses Configuration options Disabled 378 IRQ7 278 IRQ5 3BC IRQ7 Parallel Port Mode ECP EPP Allows you to select the Parallel Port mode Configuration options Normal Bi directional EPP ECP ECP Mode Use DMA 3 Allows selection of ECP Mode Configuration options 1 3 Game Port Address 201 Allows you to select the Game Port address or to disable the port Configuration options Disabled 201 209 Midi Port Address 330 Allows you to select the Game Port address or to disable the port Configuration options Disabled 330 300 Midi Port IRQ 10 Allows you to set the Midi port IRQ address Configuration options 5 10 4 28 Chapter 4 BIOS setup 4 4 4 JumperFree Configuration o aa JumperFree Configuration Select Menu ENE Item Specific Help x Overclock Options Disable x N O S Option Disable x CPU Frequency 200 00 x PCI Express Clock 100Mhz x DDR Voltage Auto x CPU Multiplier Auto x CPU Voltage Auto Overclock Profile Auto Allows selection of CPU overclocking options to achieve desired CPU internal frequency Select either one of the preset overclocking configuration options Manual Allows you to individually set overclocking parameters Auto Loads the optimal settings for the system Standard Loads the standa
21. Down or minus Scrolls backward through the values for the highlighted field Page Up or plus Scrolls forward through the values for the highlighted field lt Enter gt Brings up a selection menu for the highlighted field lt F10 gt Saves changes and exit 4 2 4 Menu items The highlighted item on the menu bar displays the specific items for that menu For example selecting Main shows the Main menu items The other items Advanced Power Boot and Exit on the menu bar have their respective menu items 4 2 5 Sub menu items A solid triangle before each item on any menu screen means that the iteam has a sub menu To display the sub menu select the item and press lt Enter gt 4 2 6 Configuration fields These fields show the values for the menu items If an item is user configurable you can change the value of the field opposite the item You cannot select an item that is not user configurable A configurable field is enclosed in brackets and is highlighted when selected To change the value of a field select it then press lt Enter gt to display a list of options Refer to 4 2 7 Pop up window ASUS A8N SLI 4 13 4 2 Pop up window Select a menu item then press lt Enter gt to display a pop up window with the configuration options for that item Main EERE System Time System Date Language Legacy Diskette IN First SATA Maste Third SATA Maste gt gt gt gt gt gt gt gt HD
22. In OF PWR_FAN WARN_LED EZ PLUG PCIEX16 1 A8N SLI on oo on oo Q Q gt lt a LL PCIEX1 1 nForce4 SLI PCIEX1 2 L ti CHIP FAN PCIEX16 2 yte ET 4 DUS PCI1 USB78 USB56 USB910 sfefufalfie 1394 2 KON bhi CEEE GEREM ASUS A8N SLI 64 bit 184 pin module keen 64 bit 184 pin module eaaa aR EATXPWR DDR DIMM_B2 DDR DIMM Bi SATA4 SATA3 SATA2 SATA1 CHA1 FAN CHASSIS li ECER GAME Felel felslelel PANEL Jcomt eiel 30 5cm 12 0in 23 2 4 2 2 4 Layout Contents Slots Page 1 DDR DIMM slots 2 11 2 PCI slots 2 16 3 PCI Express x16 slot 2 16 4 PCI Express x1 slot 2 16 Jumpers Page 1 Clear RTC RAM 3 pin CLRTC1 2 17 14 Coaxial S PDIF out port 2 19 15 PS 2 keyboard port purple 2 19 Chapter 2 Hardware information Internal connectors Page 15 Optical audio connector 4 pin CD 2 25 16 Auxiliary audio connector 4 pin AUX 2 25 18 Chassis intrusion connector 4 1 pin CHASSIS 2 26 17 GAME MIDI connector 16 1 pin GAME 2 25 19 IEEE 1394a connector 10 1 pin IE1394_1 2 26 20 Front panel audio connector 10 1 pin FP_AUDIO 2 27 21 ASUS EZ selector card connector 144 pin SLI CON 2 27 22 System panel connectors 20 1 pin PANEL System Power LED Green 3 pin PLED Hard Disk activity Red 2 pin IDE_LED System warning speaker Orange 4 pin SPEAKER Power Soft off button Yellow 2 pin PWRSW
23. Launch the VCT utility from the Windows desktop by clicking Start gt All Programs gt Marvell gt Virtual Cable Tester 2 Click Virtual Cable ml VCT Tester AE Tester from the menu to display the screen MS 1 1 SKA below Virtual Cable Tester VCT Test Status Version 1 02 Pair Distance Status 4 P 2 20m Open cable f RE pf v Yo i ea DR ied 3 4 21m Open cable g JEG 5 5 6 21m Open cable N 7 8 20m Open cable av 3 Click the Run button to perform a cable test N e The VCT only runs on systems with Windows XP or Windows 2000 operating systems e The Run button on the Virtual Cable Tester main window is disabled if no problem is detected on the LAN cable s connected to the LAN port s e If you want the system to check the LAN cable before entering the OS enable the POST Check LAN cable item in the BIOS See section 4 4 5 LAN Cable Status for details ASUS A8N SLI 5 13 5 3 4 Audio configurations The Realtek ALC850 AC 97 audio CODEC provides 8 channel audio capability to deliver the ultimate audio experience on your PC The software provides Jack Sensing function Line In Line Out Mic In S PDIF out Support and interrupt capability The ALC850 also includes the Realtek proprietary UAJ Universal Audio Jack technology for three ports Line In Line Out and Mic In eliminating cable connection errors and giving users plug and pla
24. O W e r er button The EM ee pompt Mote his changing the settings below will modify following dialog box appears Fewer schemes 5 From the Power schemes EE combo list box select Minimal p O W e r M a n a g e m e n t Settings for Minimal Power Management power scheme Turn off monitor Alter 15 mins 6 Click OK to effect settings a Turn off hard disks Never Make sure to install the Cool n Quiet driver and application before using this feature Pees ASUS A8N SLI 3 39 5 6 2 Launching the Cool n Quiet software The motherboard support CD includes the Cool n Quiet software that enables you to view your system s real time CPU Frequency and voltage AN Make sure to install the Cool n Quiet software from the motherboard support CD Refer to section 5 2 3 Utilities menu for details To launch the Cool n Quiet program 1 If you are using Windows 2000 click the Start button Select Programs gt ASUS gt Cool amp Quiet gt Cool amp Quiet 2 If you are using Windows XP click the Start button Select All Programs gt ASUS gt Cool amp Quiet gt Cool amp Quiet 3 The Cool n Quiet technology screen appears and displays the current CPU Frequency and CPU Voltage Cools erti 5 34 Chapter 5 Software support This chapter tells how to install SLI ready PCI Express graphics cards NVIDIA SLI technology suppo
25. RAID Mode then press lt Enter gt The following submenu appears Use the up or down arrow keys to i select a RAID mode then press TEETE lt Enter gt Stripe Mirroring Spanning Chapter 5 Software support 2 Press lt TAB gt select the Striping Block then press lt Enter gt The following submenu appears If you selected Striping or Stripe Mirroring use the up or down arrow keys to select the stripe size for your RAID O array then press lt Enter gt The available values range from 8 KB to 128 KB The default selection is 128 KB The strip value should be chosen based on the planned drive usage e 8 16 KB low disk usage e 64 KB typical disk usage e 128 KB performance disk usage LN TIP For server systems use of a lower array block size is recommended For multimedia computer systems used mainly for audio and video editing a higher array block size is recommended for optimum performance 3 Press lt TAB gt to select the Free Disks area Use the left or right arrow keys to assign the array disks 4 Press lt F gt to create RAID set The following message box appears Clear disk data Y YES N 5 Press lt Y gt to clear the selected disks or lt N gt to proceed without clearing the disks The following screen appears A Take caution in using this option All data on the RAID drives will be lost ASUS A8N SLI 5 27 NVIDIA RAID Utility Oct 5 2004 Array List Boot Id Status Ven
26. SCSI devices starting with the last device on the chain c System power 6 After applying power the system power LED on the system front panel case lights up For systems with ATX power supplies the system LED lights up when you press the ATX power button If your monitor complies with green standards or if it has a power standby feature the monitor LED may light up or switch between orange and green after the system LED turns on The system then runs the power on self tests or POST While the tests are running the BIOS beeps see BIOS beep codes table below or additional messages appear on the screen If you do not see anything within 30 seconds from the time you turned on the power the system may have failed a power on test Check the jumper settings and connections or call your retailer for assistance 7 At power on hold down the lt Delete gt key to enter the BIOS Setup Follow the instructions in Chapter 4 ASUS A8N SLI 3 2 3 2 Powering off the computer 3 2 1 Using the OS shut down function If you are using Windows 2000 1 Click the Start button then click Shut Down 2 Make sure that the Shut Down option button is selected then click the OK button to shut down the computer 3 The power supply should turn off after Windows shuts down If you are using Windows XP 1 Click the Start button then select Turn Off Computer 2 Click the Turn Off button to shut down the computer 3 The power
27. SLI Fan connectors 12V Rotation CHA1 FAN ER 2 22 Chapter 2 Hardware information 5 Serial port connector 10 1 pin COM1 This connector is for a serial COM port Connect the serial port module cable to this connector then install the module to a slot opening at the back of the system chassis COM1 HA PIN 1 A8N SLI COM port connector 6 USB connectors 10 1 pin USB56 USB78 USB910 These connectors are for USB 2 0 ports Connect the USB GAME module cable to any of these connectors then install the module to a slot opening at the back of the system chassis These USB connectors comply with USB 2 0 specification that supports up to 480 Mbps connection speed A8N SLI ot USB 2 0 connectors 359 Never connect a 1394 cable to the USB connectors Doing so will damage the motherboard ASUS A8N SLI 2 23 8 ATX power connectors 24 pin EATXPWR1 4 pin ATX12V1 4 pin EZ_PLUG These connectors are for an ATX power supply plugs The power supply plugs are designed to fit these connectors in only one orientation Find the proper orientation and push down firmly until the connectors completely fit AN e Do not forget to connect the 4 pin ATX 12 V power plug otherwise the system will not boot e When using two graphics cards do not forget to connect the 4 pin ATX 12 V power plug to the EZ Plug otherwise the system will be unstable See page 6 6 for details e Use of a power supply unit PSU with
28. Sets the minimum RAS active time Configuration options Auto 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 ASUS A8N SLI 4 21 4 22 Row precharge Time Trp Auto Sets the Row precharge time Precharge to Active or Auto Refresh of the same bank Configuration options Auto 2 3 4 5 6 Master ECC Enable Disabled Enables or disables the master ECC function Configuration options Disabled Enabled Hyper Transport Frequency Auto Sets the Hyper Transport frequency Configuration options Auto 1x 2x 3x 4x 5x Auto AMD K8 Cool n Quiet control Disabled Enables or disables the AMD Cool n Quiet technology Configuration options Disabled Enabled Chapter 4 BIOS setup 4 4 2 PCIPnP Ky OEE Frequency Voltage control Select Menu No Item Specific Help p Init Display First PCI Slot Resources Controlled By Auto x IR Resources PCI VGA Palette Snoop Disabled Plug amp Play O S No When set to No the BIOS configures all the devices in the system When set to Yes and if you install a Plug and Play operating system the operating system configures the Plug and Play devices not required for boot Configuration options No Yes Resources Controlled By Auto When set to Auto the BIOS automatically configures all the boot and Plug and Play compatible devices Set to Manual if you want to assign the IRQ DMA and memory base address fields Configur
29. Sockets Channel A DIMM_A1 and DIMM_A2 Channel B DIMM_B1 and DIMM_B2 2 4 2 Memory Configurations You may install 256 MB 512 MB and 1 GB unbuffered ECC or non ECC DDR DIMMs into the DIMM sockets using the memory configurations in this section W For dual channel configuration the total size of memory module s installed per channel must be the same for better performance DIMM_A1 DIMM_A2 DIMM_B1 DIMM_B2 When using one DDR DIMM module install into DIMM_B1 slot only When using two DDR DIMM modules install into DIMM_A1 and DIMM_B1 slots only Always install DIMMs with the same CAS latency For optimum compatibility it is recommended that you obtain memory modules from the same vendor Refer to the DDR400 Qualified Vendors List on the next page for details Due to chipset resource allocation the system may detect less than 4 GB of system memory when you installed four 1 GB DDR memory modules Due to CPU limitation DIMM modules with 128 Mb memory chips or double sided x16 memory chips are not supported in this motherboard ASUS A8N SLI 2 11 DDR400 Qualified Vendors List DIMM support Size Vendor Model Brand Side s Component 256MB KINGSTON KVR400X64C3A 256 Hynix SS HY5DU56822BT D43 256MB KINGSTON KVR400X72C3A 256 Mosel 59 V58C2256804SAT5 ECC 256MB KINGSTON KVR400X64C3A 256 Infineon 55 HYB25D256800BT 5B S 256MB KINGSTON KVR400X64C3A 256 KINGSTON S D3208DL2T 5 1024MB KINGSTON HYB25D512800BE 5B N
30. Temperature M B Temperature CPU FAN Speed CHA1 FAN Speed CHIP FAN Speed x CPU Target Temperature Q Fan Controller Disabled Allows you to enable or disable the Q Fan controller Configuration options Disabled Enabled VCORE Voltage 12V Voltage 3 3V Voltage 5VCC Voltage The onboard hardware monitor automatically detects the voltage output through the onboard voltage regulators These items are not user configurable CPU Temperature M B Temperature The onboard hardware monitor automatically detects and displays the motherboard and CPU temperatures These items are not user configurable CPU Fan Speed CHA1 Fan Speed CHIP Fan Speed The onboard hardware monitor automatically detects and displays the Chassis CPU and Chip fan speeds in rotations per minute RPM If the fan is not connected to the motherboard the field shows 0 These items are not user configurable CPU Target Temperature Allows you to set the temperature threshold before the CPU fan rotates at full soeed Configuration options 51 C 54 C 57 C 60 C 63 C 66 C 69 C 72 C 75 C 78 C 81 C ASUS A8N SLI 4 37 4 6 Boot menu The Boot menu items allow you to change the system boot options Select an item then press lt Enter gt to display the sub menu Main Advanced Power Boot Device Priority Select Menu Removable Drives Hard Disk Drives Item Specific Help CDROM Drives Boot Settings Configuration Security
31. a higher power output is recommended when configuring a system with more power consuming devices The system may become unstable or may not boot up if the power is inadequate e Make sure that your PSU can provide at least the minimum power required by your system See the table below for details Power supply requirements Components Loading Peripherals Heavy Normal Light Athlon 64 FX 55 6800 Ultra x2 Optical drive DVD CD RW ATX12V EATXPWR 12V DC GND 3 Volts E 3 Volts 12 Volts E 3 Volts Ground amp Ground 12V DG GND psON B 5 Volts Ground Ground EZ PLUG Ground E 5 Volts 5V Ground E Ground EZ DET 5 Volts E Power OK GND 5 Volts 5V Standby 12V 5 Volts FE 12 Volts 5 Volts E 12 Volts A8N SLI ATX power connectors Ground E 3 Volts 2 24 Chapter 2 Hardware information 9 Internal audio connectors 4 pin CD AUX These connectors allow you to receive stereo audio input from sound sources such as a CD ROM TV tuner or MPEG card CD black AUX white Right Audio Channel 4 Ground Ground Left Audio Channel Ground Ground Right Audio Channel Left Audio Channel A8N SLI Internal audio connectors Z The function of these connectors are disabled under 8 channel mode e 10 GAME MIDI port connector 16 1 pin GAME This connector is for a GAME MIDI port Con
32. displays current connector sensing status OO N Make sure to exit all audio applications before starting this function gt LE c t a oe ee ee cee cee cee XZ REALTEK th ee at et th oe at ad A j gt a tn Connected device Connected device Connected device f r Oo Line Out Connector Line In Connector l Mic In Connector 5 When finished the utility prompts the Realtek EZ connection dialog box showing your current audio connections The text at the bottom of the box explains your audio connection status An X mark denotes an incorrect connection ASUS A8N SLI 5 17 5 18 Realtek 2 Channel Mode e audio devices may not be connected properly Please refer to the correct connection and check below connectors Front Speaker Line In 6 If there are detected problems make sure that your audio cables are connected to the proper audio jack and repeat connector sensing 7 Click the X button to exit EZ connection dialog box 8 Click the Exit X button on the upper right hand corner of the window to exit audio control panel HRTF Demo This option shows a demo of the Head Related Transfer Functions HRTF To start the HRTF demo 1 From the Realtek Audio Control Panel click the HRTF Demo button 2 Click the option buttons to change the sound moving path or EAX settings 3 Click the Play button to start or the Stop button to stop Clic
33. for PC multimedia systems It also provides Jack Sensing function S PDIF out support interrupt capability and includes the Realtek proprietary UAJ Universal Audio Jack technology See pages 2 18 2 19 and 5 14 for details ASUS A8N SLI 1 3 3 Innovative ASUS features ASUS EZ Plug Eyfi This patented ASUS technology is a 4 pin auxiliary 12V connector that is designed to maintain the voltage integrity of your system This plug guarantees adequate supply of power to the motherboard and other installed peripherals See page 6 6 for illustration ASUS Two slot thermal design The motherboard is designed with two PCI Express x1 slots placed between the PCI Express x16 slots allowing an increase in airflow between the two PCI Express x16 graphics cards This special design permits more room for ventilation thus lowering the overall system temperature ASUS EZ Selector The ASUS EZ selector card is an easy to use switch between SLI mode Dual Video Cards and Normal mode Single card This promotes flexibility for users who wants to use a single graphics card now and upgrade later to SLI mode See page 6 2 for details CrashFree BIOS 2 ersten This feature allows you to restore the original BIOS data from the support CD in case when the BIOS codes and data are corrupted This protection eliminates the need to buy a replacement ROM chip See details on page 4 5 Mss ASUS Q Fan technology The ASUS Q Fan technology smartly ad
34. hard disk capacity This item is not configurable Cylinder Shows the number of the hard disk cylinders This item is not configurable 4 18 Chapter 4 BIOS setup Head Shows the number of the hard disk read write heads This item is not configurable Precomp Shows the number of precomp per track This item is not configurable Landing Zone Shows the number of landing zone per track This item is not configurable Sector Shows the number of sectors per track This item is not configurable Z After entering the IDE hard disk drive information into BIOS use a disk utility such as FDISK to partition and format new IDE hard disk drives This is necessary so that you can write or read data from the hard disk Make sure to set the partition of the Primary IDE hard disk drives to active 4 3 7 HDD SMART Monitoring Allows you to enable or disable the HDD Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology SMART feature Configuration options Disabled Enabled 4 3 8 Installed Memory Shows the size of installed memory ASUS A8N SLI 4 4 Advanced menu The Advanced menu items allow you to change the settings for the CPU and other system devices AN Take caution when changing the settings of the Advanced menu items Incorrect field values can cause the system to malfunction Main Advanced Power Boot Exit CPU Configuration Select Menu PCIPnP Onboard Device Configuration Item Specific Helpp gt Jumper
35. supply should turn off after Windows shuts down 3 2 2 Using the dual function power switch While the system is ON pressing the power switch for less than four seconds puts the system to sleep mode or to soft off mode depending on the BIOS setting Pressing the power switch for more than four seconds lets the system enter the soft off mode regardless of the BIOS setting Refer to section 4 5 Power Menu in Chapter 4 for details Chapter 3 Powering up This chapter tells how to change the system settings through the BIOS Setup menus Detailed descriptions of the BIOS parameters are also provided BIOS setup 4 1 4 2 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 6 4 Managing and updating your BIOS rrrvevrrrnrnnnnnnvvvvvrrnnnnsnnnvnsn 4 1 BIOS set p program taiasisnwnnpevetiseeeesenseuviosiuenvenniaunsin 4 11 MT 4 15 Advanced MenU EE 4 20 Power Ene 4 34 BOO MENU oere E E EE E E Ei 4 38 RE 4 43 ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe 4 1 Managing and updating your BIOS The following utilities allow you to manage and update the motherboard Basic Input Output System BIOS setup 1 Award BIOS Flash Utility Updates the BIOS in DOS mode using a bootable floppy disk 2 ASUS CrashFree BIOS 2 Updates the BIOS using a bootable floppy disk or the motherboard support CD when the BIOS file fails or gets corrupted 3 ASUS EZ Flash Updates the BIOS in DOS using a floppy disk or the motherboard support CD 4 ASUS Update Updates the BIOS in Windows
36. the IDE hard disk drive information into BIOS use a disk utility such as FDISK to partition and format new IDE hard disk drives This is necessary so that you can write or read data from the hard disk Make sure to set the partition of the Primary IDE hard disk drives to active ASUS A8N SLI 4 17 4 3 6 First Second Third Fourth SATA Master While entering Setup the BIOS automatically detects the presence of Serial ATA devices There is a separate sub menu for each SATA device Select a device item then press lt Enter gt to display the SATA device information Primary IDE Master Select Menu Auto Item Specific Help Access Mode Auto Press Enter to Capacity XXXXX MB select Cylinder Head Precomp Landing Zone Sector The BIOS automatically detects the values opposite the dimmed items Capacity Cylinder Head Precomp Landing Zone and Sector These values are not user configurable These items show 0 if no SATA device is installed in the system Extended Drive Selects the type of fixed disk connected to the system Configuration options None Auto Access Mode Sets the sector addressing mode Configuration options Large Auto AN Before attempting to configure a hard disk drive make sure you have the correct configuration information supplied by the drive manufacturer Incorrect settings may cause the system to fail to recognize the installed hard disk Capacity Displays the auto detected
37. where it may become wet Place the product on a stable surface If you encounter technical problems with the product contact a qualified service technician or your retailer About this guide This user guide contains the information you need when installing and configuring the motherboard How this guide is organized This manual contains the following parts e Chapter 1 Product introduction This chapter describes the features of the motherboard and the new technology it supports e Chapter 2 Hardware information This chapter lists the hardware setup procedures that you have to perform when installing system components It includes description of the switches jumpers and connectors on the motherboard e Chapter 3 Powering up This chapter describes the power up sequence the vocal POST messages and ways of shutting down the system e Chapter 4 BIOS setup This chapter tells how to change system settings through the BIOS Setup menus Detailed descriptions of the BIOS parameters are also provided e Chapter 5 Software support This chapter describes the contents of the support CD that comes with the motherboard package e Chapter 6 NVIDIA SLI technology support This chapter tells how to install SLI ready PCI Express graphics cards Where to find more information Refer to the following sources for additional information and for product and software updates 1 ASUS websites The ASUS website provides updated info
38. which include system setup information such as system passwords To erase the RTC RAM ve Turn OFF the computer and unplug the power cord Remove the onboard battery Move the jumper cap from pins 1 2 default to pins 2 3 Keep the cap on pins 2 3 for about 5 10 seconds then move the cap back to pins 1 2 Re install the battery Plug the power cord and turn ON the computer Hold down the lt Del gt key during the boot process and enter BIOS setup to re enter data jumper default position Removing the cap will cause system boot failure AN Except when clearing the RTC RAM never remove the cap on CLRTC Normal Clear CMOS Default A8N SLI Clear RTC RAM VA You do not need to clear the RTC when the system hangs due to overclocking For system failure due to overclocking use the C P R CPU Parameter Recall feature Shut down and reboot the system so the BIOS can automatically reset parameter settings to default values ASUS A8N SLI 2 17 2 7 Connectors 2 7 1 Rear panel connectors 2 18 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 PS 2 mouse port green This port is for a PS 2 mouse Parallel port This 25 pin port connects a parallel printer a scanner or other devices LAN RJ 45 port Supported by the NVIDIA nForce 4 Gigabit MAC with external Marvell PHY this port allows Gigabit connection to a Local Area Network LAN through a network hub Refer to the table below for the LAN port LED indications LAN port
39. 0000004 XXX XXGB 1 0 Master 1 9 9 0 9 9 0 0 0 9 0 9 9 9 0 0 9 4 XXX XXGB R Rebuild D Delete C Clear Disk ENTER Return A new set of navigation keys is displayed on the bottom of the screen 2 Press lt C gt to clear disk The following confirmation message appears Clear disk data Y YES N 5 Press lt Y gt to clear the disk data or press lt N gt to cancel 4 Take caution in using this option All data on the RAID drives will be lost ASUS A8N SLI 5 31 5 5 Creating a RAID driver disk A floppy disk with the RAID driver is required when installing Windows 2000 XP operating system on a hard disk drive that is included in a RAID set To create a RAID driver disk 1 Place the motherboard support CD into the CD ROM drive 2 When the Drivers menu appears click Make NVIDIA RAID Driver to create an NVIDIA RAID driver disk Or Browse the contents of the support CD and locate go to Drivers Chipset WINXP_2K Driver_Disk for the NVIDIA RAID driver disk utility VA Refer to section 5 2 2 Drivers menu for details es 4 Insert floppy disk to floppy disk drive 5 Follow succeeding screen information to complete process 6 Write protect the floppy disk to avoid computer virus infection To install the RAID driver 1 During the OS installation the system prompts you to press the F6 key to install third party SCSI or RAID driver 2 Press lt F6 gt then insert the floppy
40. A DS KVR400X64C3A 1G 512MB SAMSUNG M381L6423ETM CCC SAMSUNG DS K4H560838E TCCC ECC 256MB SAMSUNG M368L3223FTN CCC SAMSUNG 55 K4H560838F TCCC e o o 512MB SAMSUNG M368L6523BTM CCC SAMSUNG 39 K4H510838B TCCC e o o 512MB MICRON MT16VDDT6464AG 40BCB MICRON DS MT46V32M8TG 5BC 512MB Infineon HYS64D64320HU 5 C Infineon HYB25D256800CE 5C eo o e e S 512MB CORSAIR VS512MB400 VALUE seLecT DS VS32M8 5 256MB Hynix HYMD232645D8J D43 Hynix 55 HY5DU56822DT D43 Side s SS Single Sided DS Double Sided DIMM Support A supports one module inserted into either the blue slots in a Single channel memory configuration B supports on pair of modules inserted into either the blue slots or the black slots as one pair of Dual channel memory configuration C support for 4 modules inserted into the blue and black slots as two pairs of Dual channel memory configuration Z Visit the ASUS website www asus com for the latest DDR 400 Qualified Vendors List 2 12 Chapter 2 Hardware information 2 4 3 Installing a DIMM Make sure to unplug the power supply before adding or removing DIMMs or other system components Failure to do so may cause severe damage to both the motherboard and the components 1 Unlock a DIMM socket by DDR DIMM notch pressing the retaining clips outward 2 Align a DIMM on the socket such that the notch on the DIMM matches the break on the socket Unlocked retaining clip A DDR DIMM is ke
41. ACPI APIC support Enabled z gt APM Configuration Item Specific Help Hardware Monitor Select the ACPI state used for System Suspend 4 5 1 ACPI Suspend Type 1 amp S3 Allows you to select the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface ACPI state to be used for system suspend Configuration options S1 POS S3 STR S1 amp S3 4 5 2 ACPI APIC Support Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface ACPI support in the Application Specific Integrated Circuit ASIC When set to Enabled the ACPI APIC table pointer is included in the RSDT pointer list Configuration options Disabled Enabled Chapter 4 BIOS setup 4 5 3 APM Configuration EEE APM Configuration Select Menu Disabled Item Specific Help PWR Button lt 4 secs Instant Off Power On By PCI Devices Disabled Power On By External Modems Disabled Paess EK Eo Power On by RTC Alarm Disabled select whether or not x Date of Month 0 to restart the system x Resume Time hh mm ss 0 0 0 after AC power loss Power Up By PS 2 Mouse Disabled Power Up By PS 2 Keyboard Disabled Restore on AC Power Loss Disabled Allows you to enable or disable the Restore on AC Power Loss function Configuration options Disabled Enabled PWR Button lt 4 secs Instant Off Allows you to set the event after the power button is pressed for more than 4 seconds Configuration options Suspend Instant Off
42. CI cards on shared slots ensure that the drivers support Share IRQ or that the cards do not need IRQ assignments Otherwise conflicts will arise between the two PCI groups making the system unstable and the card inoperable ASUS A8N SLI 2 15 2 5 4 PCI slots The PCI slots support cards such as a LAN card SCSI card USB card and other cards that comply with PCI specifications The figure shows a LAN card installed on a PCI slot This motherboard supports one PCI Express x16 graphics card or two SLI ready PCI Express x16 graphic cards that comply with the PCI Express specifications The figure shows a graphics card installed on the PCI Express x16 slot See Chapter 6 for details on the SLI technology feature P In Normal mode only the PCI Express blue slot can be used for PCI Express x16 graphics cards The PCI Express black slot functions as a PCI Express x1 slot 2 5 6 PCI Express x1 slot This motherboard supports PCI Express x1 network cards SCSI cards and other cards that comply with the PCI Express specifications The figure shows a network card installed on the PCI Express x1 slot Chapter 2 Hardware information 2 6 Jumpers Clear RTC RAM CLRTC This jumper allows you to clear the Real Time Clock RTC RAM in CMOS You can clear the CMOS memory of date time and system setup parameters by erasing the CMOS RTC RAM data The onboard button cell battery powers the RAM data in CMOS
43. Chipset drivers for the NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI chipset Make NVIDIA RAID Driver Disk Creates the NVIDIA driver disk for Serial ATA and RAID features Realtek ALC850 Driver Installs the Realtek ALC850 audio controller and application AMD Cool n Quiet Driver Installs the AMD Cool n Quiet Technology driver USB 2 0 Driver Installs the Universal Serial Bus 2 0 USB 2 0 driver The screen display and drivers option may not be the same for different operating system versions el Chapter 5 Software support 5 2 3 Utilities menu The Utilities menu shows the applications and other software that the motherboard supports S6 ASUS ABN SLI motherboard support CD for Windows XP Home Professional Utilities lease select items on the right NVIDIA Chipset nTune Utility Installs the NVIDIA nTune utility that allows easy and safe system tuning for optimum performance ASUS PC Probe This smart utility monitors the fan speed CPU temperature and system voltages and alerts you of any detected problems This utility helps you keep your computer in healthy operating condition ASUS Update Allows you to download the latest version of the BIOS from the ASUS website Z Before using the ASUS Update make sure that you have an Internet L connection so you can connect to the ASUS website ASUS Al Booster The ASUS Al Booster application allows you to overclock the CPU speed in a Windows environment
44. D SMART Monito Installed Memory Power Boot Exit 15030036 Wed Nov 5 2004 English Select Menu Item Specific Help Primary IDE Mast Primary IDE Slave Secondary IDE Maf Secondary IDE S1E Second SATA Slav Fourth SATA Slav Legacy Diskette A Disabled 360K 5 25 in 1 2M 525 in T20K 3 5 in 1 44M 3 5 in 2 88M 3 5 in TV Move ENTER Accept ESC Abort tifies the capacity physical size of ette drive A Pop up menu 4 2 8 General help At the top right corner of the menu screen is a brief description of the selected item 4 14 Chapter 4 BIOS setup 4 3 Main menu When you enter the BIOS Setup program the Main menu screen appears giving you an overview of the basic system information Refer to section 4 2 1 BIOS menu screen for information on the menu screen items and how to navigate through them et Main Advanced Power Boot Exit System Time Mm 30 36 Select Menu System Date Wed Nov 5 2004 Language English Item Specific Help Legacy Diskette A 1 44M 3 5 in Change the day month year and century Primary IDE Master ST321122A Primary IDE Slave ASUS CDS520 A Secondary IDE Master None Secondary IDE Slave None First SATA Master None Second SATA Slave None Third SATA Master None Fourth SATA Slave None HDD SMART Monitoring Disabled gt gt gt gt gt gt gt gt Installed Memory 256MB
45. Folders G Dial Up Networki ely 3 Floppy A 3 Winnt E OfficeScan N 0 download MMi al ve TI Tn he Te l gt 8 Adjust the boot image to your desired size by selecting a value on the Ratio box 512 384 Pixels 256 Colors Mode Ratio r Message Original BIOS file will be saved as 28 BAK in the isame folder ae od va0001 9 When the screen returns to the ASUS Update utility flash the original BIOS to load the new boot logo 10 After flashing the BIOS restart the computer to display the new boot logo during POST 5 10 Chapter 5 Software support 5 3 2 ASUS Instant Music The motherboard is equipped with a BIOS based audio playback feature called Instant Music The onboard audio AC 97 CODEC supports this feature which requires an optical drive CD ROM DVD ROM or CD RW N e Instant Music only supports CDs in audio format e Instant Music does not work if you installed and enabled an add on sound card e Instant Music only supports PS 2 keyboard To enable ASUS Instant Music 1 Connect the analog audio cable from the optical drive CD ROM DVD ROM or CD RW drive to the 4 pin CD In connector labeled CD on the motherboard See section 2 7 Connectors for the location Z Make sure to connect the CD ROM audio cable otherwise you cannot L control the audio volume using the Instant Music function keys 2 Turn on the system an
46. Free Configuration LAN Cable Status Press Enter to Set PEG Link Mode Instant Music SLI mode 4 4 1 CPU Configuration o a CPU Configuration Select Menu CPU Type AMD Athlon tm 64 FX 55 Processor Item Specific Help CPU Speed 3400MHz Cache RAM 512K DRAM timing and Hyper Transport Frequency Auto control AMD K8 Cool n Quiet control Disabled 4 20 Chapter 4 BIOS setup DRAM Configuration The items in this sub menu show the DRAM related information auto detected by the BIOS ay Eee DRAM Configuration Select Menu Auto Item Specific Help 1T 2T Memory Timing Auto CAS latency Tcl Auto Place an artificial RAS to CAS delay Tred Auto ee Min RAS active nas ae ee ken GUGELS Laurie ag Row precharge Time Trp Auto the system Memory is Master ECC Enabled Disabled prevented from running faster than this frequency Max Memclock MHz Auto Sets the maximum operating memory clock Configuration options Auto DDR200 DDR266 DDR333 DDR400 DDR400 DDR433 DDR466 DDR500 DDR533 DDR550 DDR600 11 2T Memory Timing Auto Sets the memory timing Configuration options Auto 1T 2T CAS latency Tcl Auto Sets the CAS latency Configuration options Auto 2 0 2 5 3 0 RAS to CAS delay Trcd Auto Sets the RAS to CAS delay to Rd Wr command on the same bank Configuration options Auto 2 3 4 5 6 7 Min RAS active time Tras Auto
47. IOS Setup Select System to require the password before entering the system Configuration options Setup System 4 7 Exit menu The Exit menu items allow you to load the optimal or failsafe default values for the BIOS items and save or discard your changes to the BIOS items Main Advanced Power Boot Exit Select Menu Exit amp Discard Changes Load Setup Default Item Specific Help Discard Changes This option save data to CMOS and exiting the setup menu V Pressing lt Esc gt does not immediately exit this menu Select one of the e options from this menu or lt F10 gt from the legend bar to exit ASUS A8N SLI 4 43 4 44 Exit amp Save Changes Once you are finished making your selections choose this option from the Exit menu to ensure the values you selected are saved to the CMOS RAM An onboard backup battery sustains the CMOS RAM so it stays on even when the PC is turned off When you select this option a confirmation window appears Select Yes to save changes and exit If you attempt to exit the Setup program without saving your changes the program prompts you with a message asking if you want to save your changes before exiting Press lt Enter gt to save the changes while exiting Exit amp Discard Changes Select this option only if you do not want to save the changes that you made to the Setup program If you made changes to fields other than System Date System Time and Password the BIOS a
48. LED indications ACT LINK LED SPEED LED Status Description Status Description AGT LINK SPEED LED LE LAN port 10 Mbps connection GREEN ORANGE 100 Mbps connection BLINKING GREEN 1 Gbps connection Rear Speaker Out port gray This port connects the rear speakers on a 4 channel 6 channel or 8 channel audio configuration Side Speaker Out port black This port connects the side speakers in an 8 channel audio configuration Line In port light blue This port connects the tape CD DVD player or other audio sources Line Out port lime This port connects a headphone or a speaker In 4 channel 6 channel and 8 channel configuration the function of this port becomes Front Speaker Out Microphone port pink This port connects a microphone Center Subwoofer port yellow orange This port connects the center subwoofer speakers Chapter 2 Hardware information Refer to the audio configuration table below for the function of the audio ports in 2 4 6 or 8 channel configuration Audio 2 4 6 or 8 channel configuration Port Headset 4 channel 6 channel 8 channel 2 channel Light Blue Front Speaker Out Front Speaker Out Front Speaker Out Gay Rear Speaker Out Rear Speaker Out Rear Speaker Out Bek 1 Sie Speer Out Yelow Ornge Cemer Submoofer Coner Subwooter 10 USB 2 0 ports 3 and 4 These two 4 pin Universal Serial Bus USB ports are available for connectin
49. NVIDIA RAID User s Guide Allows you to open the NVIDIA RAID User s Guide Sil3 114 User s Manual Allows you to open the Silicon Image SATARaid Serial ATA RAID Management Software user s manual NVIDIA nTune Manual Allows you to open the NVIDIA nTune user s manual NvRAID Disk Alert User s Guide Allows you to open the NVIDIA NvRAID user s manual ASUS A8N SLI 5 5 5 2 5 ASUS Contact information Click the Contact tab to display the ASUS contact information You can also find this information on the inside front cover of this user guide Contact Marketing Marketing Technical Support Technical Support Marketing Technical Support H 1 Hl 5 2 6 Other information The icons on the top right corner of the screen give additional information on the motherboard and the contents of the support CD Click an icon to display the specified information Motherboard Info Displays the general specifications of the motherboard 6 ASUS ABN SLI motherboard support CD for Windows XP Home Professional Drivers Utilities Manuals Contact Drivers mMainboarc Pre SN S joenix Technologies LTD Ye penix Released Date 11 30 2004 ROM Size 512 KBytes 00 MHz D MHz Chapter 5 Software support Browse this CD Displays the support CD contents in graphical format NVIDIA nForce4 D File Edit View Favorites Tools Help Q ac J 3 p Search Er Folders Ez
50. Reset switch Blue 2 pin RESET ASUS A8N SLI 2 5 2 6 2 3 Central Processing Unit CPU 2 3 1 Overview The motherboard comes with a surface mount 939 pin Zero Insertion Force ZIF socket designed for the AMD Athlon 64FX or AMD Athlon 64 processor The 128 bit wide data paths of these processors can run applications faster than processors with only 32 bit or 64 bit wide data paths Take note of the marked corner with gold triangle on the CPU This mark should match a specific corner on the socket to ensure correct installation Gold triangle 2 3 2 Installling the CPU To install a CPU 1 Locate the CPU socket on the motherboard gt gt gt gt IX 29 SDd on n gt v ro gt 3 a a A A8N SLI CPU Socket 939 LN Before installing the CPU make sure that the socket box is facing towards you and the load lever is on your left Chapter 2 Hardware information 2 Unlock the socket by pressing the lever sideways then lift it up to a 90 100 angle Socket Lever 4 We Ne AN Make sure that the socket lever is lifted up to 90 100 angle otherwise the CPU does not fit in completely 3 Position the CPU above the socket such that the CPU corner with the gold triangle matches the socket corner with a small triangle 4 Carefully insert the CPU into the socket until it fits in place The CPU fits only in one correct orientation DO NOT force the CPU into the
51. T BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY ASUS ASUS ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS OR INACCURACIES THAT MAY APPEAR IN THIS MANUAL INCLUDING THE PRODUCTS AND SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN IT Products and corporate names appearing in this manual may or may not be registered trademarks or copyrights of their respective companies and are used only for identification or explanation and to the owners benefit without intent to infringe Contents NE cairo ceset rnin cio teavnesanoaenni E E E se cneneenais vil SEE MIOMA ON orien dere nse EAE Ee EENAA viii FOOUC JG OE IX How this guide iS organized rrnnnvvrnnnnnnnnnnnnvvnnvennnnnnnnnnnennnnnn IX Where to find more information vsrvrvvvnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnen IX Conventions used in this guide rrrrnnnorvrerensnnnnnnvnvvverennnnnnnnnnn X POCO aR NY EM NE X A8N SLI specifications SUMMary rrrrrrrvvvvvvvrvrvvnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn XI Chapter 1 Product introduction 1 1 1 2 1 3 VIT 1 1 Per 1 1 Special features EE 1 2 Rol Product MONNING aerrrnne 1 2 1 3 2 ASUS Proactive features nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnvnnnnnnnnnennenee 1 5 1 3 3 Innovative ASUS features cccccceeessssssssseeeeeeees 1 6 Chapter 2 Hardware information 2 1 2 2 ae 2 4 tae Before YOU proceed ccccceeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseseeseseaeaesaeasegess 2 1 Motherboard OVerVieW scccccsccecceesessssssssssseeeeeeeseeeeeeteeseeas 2 2 2 2 1 GE 0 Te 2 2
52. a from one drive to a second drive If one drive fails the disk array management software directs all applications to the surviving drive as it contains a complete copy of the data in the other drive This RAID configuration provides data protection and increases fault tolerance to the entire system Use two new drives or use an existing drive and a new drive for this setup The new drive must be of the same size or larger than the existing drive RAID 0 1 is data striping and data mirroring combined without parity redundancy data having to be calculated and written With the RAID 0 1 configuration you get all the benefits of both RAID 0 and RAID 1 configurations Use four new hard disk drives or use an existing drive and three new drives for this setup JBOD Spanning stands for Just a Bunch of Disks and refers to hard disk drives that are not yet configured as a RAID set This configuration stores the same data redundantly on multiple disks that appear as a single disk on the operating system Spanning does not deliver any advantage over using separate disks independently and does not provide fault tolerance or other RAID performance benefits AN If you want to boot the system from a hard disk drive included in a RAID set copy first the RAID driver from the support CD to a floppy disk before you install an operating system to a selected hard disk drive Refer to section 5 5 Creating a RAID driver disk for details ASUS A8N SLI JE
53. afety information Electrical safety To prevent electrical shock hazard disconnect the power cable from the electrical outlet before relocating the system When adding or removing devices to or from the system ensure that the power cables for the devices are unplugged before the signal cables are connected If possible disconnect all power cables from the existing system before you add a device Before connecting or removing signal cables from the motherboard ensure that all power cables are unplugged Seek professional assistance before using an adapter or extension cord These devices could interrupt the grounding circuit Make sure that your power supply is set to the correct voltage in your area If you are not sure about the voltage of the electrical outlet you are using contact your local power company If the power supply is broken do not try to fix it by yourself Contact a qualified service technician or your retailer Operation safety Before installing the motherboard and adding devices on it carefully read all the manuals that came with the package Before using the product make sure all cables are correctly connected and the power cables are not damaged If you detect any damage contact your dealer immediately To avoid short circuits keep paper clips screws and staples away from connectors slots sockets and circuitry Avoid dust humidity and temperature extremes Do not place the product in any area
54. ake sure that the connector is firmly in place SLI connector 6 Connect a 4 pin ATX power cable to the EZ Plug labeled EZ_PLUG on your motherboard LN Make sure to connect a 4 pin ATX power cable to the EZ Plug otherwise the system will be unstable ASUS EZ Plug The onboard red warning LED lights up if you do not plug a 4 pin ATX power cable to the EZ Plug Chapter 6 NVIDIA SLI technology support 7 Remove any of the two bracket covers between the graphics cards 8 Align and insert the retention bracket into the slot then secure It with a screw N Make sure that the retention bracket firmly supports the two graphics cards Retention bracket 9 Connect a VGA cable or a DVI I cable to the graphics card installed on the blue PCI Express slot ASUS A8N SLI 6 7 6 8 6 2 3 Setting the SLI mode in BIOS By default the SLI mode item in the BIOS is set to Auto This allows the BIOS to automatically detect the SLI selector card setting on the motherboard e We recommend that you keep the SLI mode item setting to Auto ie e When not set to Auto make sure that the SLI mode BIOS setting is the same as the EZ selector card setting e See section 4 4 8 SLI mode on page 4 33 for details 6 2 4 Installing the device drivers Refer to the documentation that came with your graphics card package to install the device drivers Make sure that your PCI Express graphics card d
55. and press lt Enter gt to display a pop up menu for the hour field Key in a value Min 0 Max 23 then press lt Enter gt Press lt TAB gt to move to the minutes field then press lt Enter gt Key in a minute value Min 0 Max 59 then press lt Enter gt Press lt TAB gt to move to the seconds field then press lt Enter gt Key in a value Min 0 Max 59 then press lt Enter gt 2s ll Power Up By PS 2 Mouse Disabled When set to Enabled this parameter allows you to use the PS 2 mouse to turn on the system This feature requires an ATX power supply that provides at least 1A on the 5VSB lead Configuration options Disabled Enabled Power On By PS 2 Keyboard Disabled Allows you to disable the Power On by PS 2 keyboard function or set specific keys on the PS 2 keyboard to turn on the system This feature requires an ATX power supply that provides at least 1A on the 5VSB lead Configuration options Disabled Space Bar Ctrl ESC Power Key Chapter 4 BIOS setup 4 5 4 Hardware Monitor The items in this sub menu displays the hardware monitor values automatically detected by the BIOS It also allows you to change CPU Q Fan feature related parameters Select an item then press lt Enter gt to display the configuration options So r Hardware Monitor Select Menu IDisabled Item Specific Help 1 50V Vcore Voltage 3 3V Voltage 5V Voltage Press Enter to 12V Voltage l enable or disable CPU
56. ary Master If enabled power up by PS 2 keyboard function will be disabled Instant Music Disabled Allows you to enable or disable the ASUS Instant Music feature Configuration options Disabled Enabled Enabling Instant Music automatically disables the PS 2 keyboard power up feature a Instant Music CD ROM Drive Primary Master Allows you to select the CD ROM drive that you wish to use for the Instant Music CD playback Configuration options Primary Master Primary Slave Secondary Master Secondary Slave 4 4 8 SLI mode Allows you to select the Scalable Link Interface SLI mode When set to Auto the BIOS detects the setting of the ASUS EZ Selector card Set to Normal when using one PCI Express graphics card or set to SLI mode when using two SLl ready graphics cards Configuration options Auto Normal SLI Z e We recommend to keep the setting of this item to Auto an e When not set to Auto make sure that the setting is the same as the ASUS EZ selector card setting e See section 6 2 1 Setting the ASUS EZ selector card on page 6 2 for details ASUS A8N SLI 4 33 4 5 Power menu The Power menu items allow you to change the settings for the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface ACPI and the Advanced Power Management APM Select an item then press lt Enter gt to display the configuration options Main Advanced Power Boot Exit ACPI Suspend Type S1 amp S3 Select Menu
57. assified as a personal firewall or desktop firewall that works at the device level to protect your system from malicious computer code by controlling the connections to and from your computer and alerting you for attempted intrusions The following sections describe how to use the NVIDIA Firewall Launching the NVFirewall summary After you install the NVFirewall application from the motherboard support CD it is automatically activated with a Medium security profile as its default setting The setup summary of NVFirewall is displayed in the summary menu To launch the NVFirewall summary menu 1 Click the NVIDIA Firewall icon from ow EE the Windows taskbar NVIDIA Firewall icon 2 Double click the icon to display MUNNET the NVFirewall Summary AAK Ei Base menu VEN Firewall Click to select firewall profile Click to view profile details Click to view the firewall log view he Frewal Log Click to view the firewall stats I View the Firewall Statistics 5 20 Chapter 5 Software support Setting security profiles The NVFirewall application allows several security profiles to match your system security needs The following describes the NVFirewall security profiles Low allows safe incoming connections and deny those that are known to be dangerous connections This profile also enables some anti hacking features Medium blocks most incoming connections Incoming c
58. ation options Auto Manual Resources is grayed out and not user configurable Refer to the section VA When the item Resources Controlled By is set to Auto the item IRQ IRQ Resources for information on how to enable this item ASUS A8N SLI 4 23 IRQ Resources This sub menu is activated only when the Resources Controlled By item is set to Manual C aaaea animara PTOS CMOS setip utility o IRQ Resources Select Menu IPCI Device Item Specific Helpb assigned to PCI Device assigned to PCI Device Legacy ISA for devices assigned to PCI Device ar to Jar ee Sep Lee VEE JANE assigned to PCI Device original PC AT bus assigned to PCI Device specification PCI ISA assigned to PCI Device PnP for devices assigned to PCI Device compliant with the assigned to PCI Device Plug and Play standard whether designed for PCI or ISA bus architecture IRQ xx assigned to When set to PCI Device the specific IRQ is free for use of PCI PnP devices When set to Reserved the IRQ is reserved for legacy ISA devices Configuration options PCI Device Reserved PCI VGA Palette Snoop Disabled When set to Enabled the pallete snooping feature informs the PCI devices that an ISA graphics device is installed in the system so that the latter can function correctly Configuration options Disabled Enabled 4 4 3 Onboard Devices Configuration PE Onboard Device Configuration Select Menu Item Specific Hel
59. ble to this connector The IDE LED lights up or flashes when data is read from or written to the HDD System warning speaker Orange 4 pin SPEAKER This 4 pin connector is for the chassis mounted system warning speaker The speaker allows you to hear system beeps and warnings Power Soft off button Yellow 2 pin PWRSW This connector is for the system power button Pressing the power button turns the system ON or puts the system in SLEEP or SOFT OFF mode depending on the BIOS settings Pressing the power switch for more than four seconds while the system is ON turns the system OFF Reset button Blue 2 pin RESET This 2 pin connector is for the chassis mounted reset button for system reboot without turning off the system power Chapter 2 Hardware information This chapter describes the power up sequence the vocal POST messages and ways of shutting down the system Powering up 3 1 Starting up for the first tiMe cccceessssssssesserseeeeeeeeeessesens 3 1 3 2 Powering off the computer nsicerrecsonanarenanemueaunventensies 3 2 ASUS A8N SLI 3 1 Starting up for the first time 1 After making all the connections replace the system case cover 2 Be sure that all switches are off 3 Connect the power cord to the power connector at the back of the system chassis 4 Connect the power cord to a power outlet that is equipped with a surge protector 5 Turn on the devices in the following order a Monitor b External
60. ccessfully flashed the BIOS file Remove the floppy disk Flashing Complete Press lt F1 gt to Continue then press lt F1 gt to restart the system a Write OK um No Update ie Write Fail ASUS A8N SLI 4 3 4 4 4 1 3 Saving the current BIOS file You can use the AwardBIOS Flash Utility to save the current BIOS file You can load the current BIOS file when the BIOS file gets corrupted during the flashing process AN Make sure that the floppy disk has enough disk space to save the file To save the current BIOS file using the AwardBIOS Flash Utility 1 Follow steps 1 to 6 of the previous section 2 Press lt Y gt when the utility prompts you to save the current BIOS file The following screen Fr appears 3 Type a filename for the current BIOS file in the Save current BIOS as field then press lt Enter gt Checksum DAD6H Please Wait 4 The utility saves the current BIOS file to the floppy disk then returns to the BIOS flashing Process 1001 bin Please Wait Chapter 4 BIOS setup 4 1 4 ASUS CrashFree BIOS 2 utility The ASUS CrashFree BIOS 2 is an auto recovery tool that allows you to restore the BIOS file when it fails or gets corrupted during the updating process You can update a corrupted BIOS file using the motherboard support CD or the floppy disk that contains the updated BIOS file N Prepare the motherboard support CD or the floppy disk containing the updated motherboa
61. ctor 10 1 pin FP_AUDIO This connector is for a chassis mounted front panel audio I O module that supports legacy AC 97 audio standard Connect one end of the front panel audio I O module cable to this connector FP AUDIO BLINE OUT L Line out L NC BLINE OUT R Line out R 5VA MICPWR AGND MIC2 A8N SLI Front panel audio connector 14 ASUS EZ selector card connector 144 pin SLI_CON This connector is for the ASUS EZ selector card that allows you to set the SLI mode to either Single Video card or Dual Video cards See Chapter 6 for details A8N SLI EZ selector card connector LN Make sure that the goldfingers of the EZ selector card is inserted completely into the slot Goldfinger ASUS A8N SLI 2 27 2 28 15 System panel connector 20 pin PANEL This connector supports several chassis mounted functions PLED PLED und re X O Q 09 A8N SLI System panel connector Requires an ATX power supply V The sytem panel connector is color coded for easy connection Refer to the connector description below for details System power LED Green 3 pin PLED This 3 pin connector is for the system power LED Connect the chassis power LED cable to this connector The system power LED lights up when you turn on the system power and blinks when the system is in sleep mode Hard disk drive activity Red 2 pin IDE_LED This 2 pin connector is for the HDD Activity LED Connect the HDD Activity LED ca
62. d enter the BIOS by pressing the lt Del gt key during the Power On Self Tests POST 3 From the BIOS screen select Advanced then Instant Music Configuration 4 Inthelnstant Music Configuration menu select the item Instant Music and set it to Enabled See section 4 4 7 Instant Music 5 Thelnstant Music CD ROM Drive item appears if you enabled Instant Music Highlight the item then press lt Enter gt to display the CD ROM options 6 Save your changes and exit BIOS Setup Z e The Scroll Lock LED is fixed to ON after enabling Instant Music e The Caps Lock LED turns ON when you pause the CD playback e When set to Instant Music mode the system wake up features LAN keyboard mouse USB are deactivated In this case power up the system using the power switch e If the system looses connection or does not detect any optical drive the Instant Music feature turns OFF disabled automatically A beep indicates this condition ASUS A8N SLI 5 11 To use ASUS Instant Music 1 Ensure that the power cord is plugged to a grounded power source so that the system has standby power 2 Use either one of the two sets of special function keys on your keyboard to play audio CDs These keys only function as indicated if you enabled the Instant Music item in BIOS Instant Music function keys Set 1 ERR re yer 1 EFEITOS E TITTTTTTTT EEF E a lo ll lu ll lo a E eI tC Ne eee 11 HOEL o Tee
63. ding array or press lt Esc gt to cancel 5 After the rebuild process the Array list menu appears ASUS A8N SLI 5 29 Deleting a RAID array To delete a RAID array 1 From the Array List menu use the up or down arrow keys to select a RAID array then press lt Enter gt The RAID Array details appear Array 1 NVIDIA MIRROR XXX XXG Array Detail RAID Mode Mirroring Striping Width 1 Striping Block 64K Adapt Channel M S Index Disk Model Name Capacity 2 1 Master 0 p000 0 00 0 000 00000 04 XXX XXGB 1 0 Master 1 p000 0 00 0 000 0000004 XXX XXGB R Rebuild D Delete C Clear Disk ENTER Return A new set of navigation keys is displayed on the bottom of the screen 2 Press lt D gt to delete a RAID array The following confirmation message appears Delete this array Y YES N No 3 Press lt Y gt to delete array or press lt N gt to cancel 4 Take caution in using this option All data on the RAID drives will be lost 4 If you selected Yes the Define a New Array menu appears 5 30 Chapter 5 Software support Clearing a disk data To clear disk data 1 From the Array List menu use the up or down arrow keys to select a RAID array then press lt Enter gt The RAID Array details appear Array 1 NVIDIA MIRROR XXX XXG Array Detail RAID Mode Mirroring Striping Width 1 Striping Block 64K Adapt Channel M S Index Disk Model Name Capacity 2 1 Master 0 p000 000 0 000
64. disk with RAID driver into the floppy disk drive 3 Follow the succeeding screen instructions to complete the installation Chapter 5 Software support 5 6 Cool n Quiet Technology The motherboard supports the AMD Cool n Quiet Technology that dynamically and automatically change the CPU speed voltage and amount of power depending on the task the CPU performs 5 6 1 Enabling Cool n Quiet Technology To enable Cool n Quiet Technology 1 Turn on the system and enter BIOS by pressing the lt Del gt key during the Power On Self Tests POST 2 Inthe Advanced gt CPU Configuration gt AMD CPU Cool amp Quiet Configuration menu select the item Cool N Quiet and set it to Enabled See section 4 4 Advanced Menu in the user guide 3 Inthe Power menu select the item ACPI 2 0 Support and set it to Yes See section 4 5 Power Menu in the user guide 4 Save your changes and exit BIOS Setup 5 Reboot your computer and set your Power Option Properties depending on your operating system Windows 2000 XP 1 From the Windows 2000 XP operating system click the Start button Select Settings then Control Panel 2 Make sure the Control Panel is set to Classic View 3 Double click the Display icon in the Control Panel then select the Fisiiedaslaussaslaadsless Screen Saver tab aal o UPS ef Select the power scheme with the most appropriate settings for 4 CI ick the P
65. dor Array Model Name Ctrl X Exit TW Select B Set Boot N New Array ENTER Detail A new set of navigation keys is displayed on the bottom of the screen 6 Press lt Ctrl X gt to save settings and exit Rebuilding a RAID array To rebuild a RAID array 1 From the Array List menu use the up or down arrow keys to select a RAID array then press lt Enter gt The RAID Array details appear Array 1 NVIDIA MIRROR XXX XxXG Array Detail RAID Mode Mirroring Striping Width 1 Striping Block 64K Adapt Channel M S Index Disk Model Name Capacity 2 1 Master 0 p000 0 00 0 000 0000004 XXX XXGB 1 0 Master 1 p000 0 00 0 000 0000004 XXX XXGB R Rebuild D Delete C Clear Disk ENTER Return 5 28 Chapter 5 Software support A new set of navigation keys is displayed on the bottom of the screen 2 Press lt R gt to rebuild a RAID array The following screen appears Array 1 NVIDIA MIRROR XXX XXG Select Disk Inside Array RAID Mode Mirroring Striping Width 1 Striping Block 64K Adapt Channel M S Index Disk Model Name Capacity 1 Master 0 p000 0 00 0 000 00000 04 XXX XXGB 0 Master 1 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 9 9 0 0 0 0 9 9 9 4 XXX XXGB 2 1 TV Select F6 Back F7 Finish 3 Use the up or down arrow keys to select a RAID array to rebuild then press lt F gt The following confirmation message appears Rebuild array ENTER OK ESC Cancel 4 Press lt Enter gt to start rebuil
66. e Update BIOS am ae R Download BIOS from the Internet Q Check BIOS Information a Look in 8 3 Floppy a m Er File name P54D2 Files of type Bios Files awd bin ami rom Cancel A Chapter 4 BIOS setup 4 2 BIOS setup program This motherboard supports a programmable Low Pin Count LPC chip that you can update using the provided utility described in section 4 1 Managing and updating your BIOS Use the BIOS Setup program when you are installing a motherboard reconfiguring your system or prompted to Run Setup This section explains how to configure your system using this utility Even if you are not prompted to use the Setup program you can change the configuration of your computer in the future For example you can enable the security password feature or change the power management settings This requires you to reconfigure your system using the BIOS Setup program so that the computer can recognize these changes and record them in the CMOS RAM of the LPC chip The LPC chip on the motherboard stores the Setup utility When you start up the computer the system provides you with the opportunity to run this program Press lt Del gt during the Power On Self Test POST to enter the Setup utility otherwise POST continues with its test routines If you wish to enter Setup after POST restart the system by pressing lt Ctrl Alt Delete gt or by pressing the reset button on th
67. e hard disk drive and a gray connector for an Ultra DMA 133 100 66 IDE master device hard disk drive If you install two hard disk drives you must configure the second drive as a slave device by setting its jumper accordingly Refer to the hard disk documentation for the jumper settings e The Pin 20 on the IDE connector is removed to match the covered hole on the Ultra DMA cable connector This prevents incorrect insertion when you connect the IDE cable e Use the 80 conductor IDE cable for UltraDMA133 100 66 IDE devices NOTE Orient the red markings usually zigzag on the IDE LLI M A ribbon cable to PIN 1 SEC_IDE PIN 1 A8N SLI IDE connectors 2 20 Chapter 2 Hardware information 3 Serial ATA connectors 7 pin SATA1 SATA2 SATA3 SATA4 Supported by the NVIDIA nForce 4 chipset these connectors are for the Serial ATA signal cables for Serial ATA hard disk drives that allows up to 3Gb s of data transfer rate If you installed Serial ATA hard disk drives you can create a RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 1 0 or JBOD configuration that span across the Parallel ATA drives Refer to Chapter 5 for details on how to set up RAID configurations connect Serial ATA boot or data hard disk drives to these connectors If you intent to create a Serial ATA RAID set using these connectors enable the RAID function of each port from the NVRAID Configuration sub menu item in the BIOS See section 4 4 3 Onboard Devices Config
68. e system chassis You can also restart by turning the system off and then back on Do this last option only if the first two failed The Setup program is designed to make it as easy to use as possible Being a menu driven program it lets you scroll through the various sub menus and make your selections from the available options using the navigation keys NN e The default BIOS settings for this motherboard apply for most conditions to ensure optimum performance If the system becomes unstable after changing any BIOS settings load the default settings to ensure system compatibility and stability Select the Load Default Settings item under the Exit Menu See section 4 7 Exit Menu e The BIOS setup screens shown in this section are for reference purposes only and may not exactly match what you see on your screen e Visit the ASUS website www asus com to download the latest BIOS file for this motherboard and ASUS A8N SLI 4 11 4 12 4 2 1 BIOS menu screen Menu items Menu bar Configuration fields General help Main Advanced Power Boot Exit ee I E U 3 1036 Select Menu Wed Nov 5 2004 English Item Specific Help System Time System Date Language Legacy Diskette A 1 44M 3 5 in Change the day month year and century ST321122A ASUS CDS520 A None None None None None None Disabled Primary IDE Master Primary IDE Slave Secondary IDE Master Secondary IDE Slave Fi
69. ed Auto IDE Primary Master Slave Auto IDE Secondary Master Slave Auto Select Auto to automatically detect an IDE hard disk drive If automatic detection is successful the BIOS automatically fills in the correct values for the remaining fields on this sub menu If the hard disk was already formatted on a previous system the setup BIOS may detect incorrect parameters Select Manual to manually enter the IDE hard disk drive parameters If no drive is installed select None Configuration options None Auto Manual 4 16 Chapter 4 BIOS setup Access Mode Auto The default Auto allows automatic detection of an IDE hard disk drive Select CHS for this item if you set the IDE Primary Master Slave to Manual Configuration options CHS LBA Large Auto AN Before attempting to configure a hard disk drive make sure you have the correct configuration information supplied by the drive manufacturer Incorrect settings may cause the system to fail to recognize the installed hard disk Capacity Displays the auto detected hard disk capacity This item is not configurable Cylinder Shows the number of the hard disk cylinders This item is not configurable Head Shows the number of the hard disk read write heads This item is not configurable Sector Shows the number of sectors per track This item is not configurable Transfer Mode Shows the Transfer mode This item is not configurable Z After entering
70. ee 4 24 4 4 4 JumperFree Configuration cccccssssssssssseseeeeeees 4 29 4 4 5 LAN Cable Status sccsvsctestecesnstacscreecsstaescstuesecusdonens 4 31 4 4 6 PEG Link Ne 4 32 4 4 7 AMS UIC 0 GE 4 33 4 4 8 SUT 4 33 POW ET FCM cciinccteaussnenmesnvevenisnevsateomrsneeaeayrsnncivnmnseedaieds donuts 4 34 4 5 1 ACPI Suspend Type mmmmmmerevvvvvvrvvvvvvvvvvvrseversvrsvsrnnnn 4 34 4 5 2 PN Men 4 34 205 FP 4 35 4 5 4 Hardware Monitor rrmrererrvvrvrvvvvvvrvvvervvvvvsvssvsrsnnnnn 4 37 BO OG ga sg ON 4 38 4 6 1 Boot DB ENN 4 38 4 6 2 Removable Drives Lane 4 39 265 Hard Disk Drives Je 4 39 204 CDROM Es 4 40 4 6 5 Boot Settings Configuration rrvvernnnnnnnnvvvvvvensvnnnnr 4 40 200 SU Leem 4 42 E XIE MENU Ga einn 4 43 Chapter 5 Software support 5 1 Dur Installing an operating SYSTEM rnnrnnnnnnnnnnnnnvvvevnrensrnnnrrnnnnn 5 1 Support CD information EE EO 5 1 5 2 1 Running the support CD 5 1 eL Driver MENU re 5 2 5 VENN 5 3 vi Contents 5 3 5 4 5 5 5 6 6 1 6 2 5 2 4 Manuals Menu EE 5 5 5 2 5 ASUS Contact information sssssssssnnnesnnsennnnnnnnnne 5 6 de Oer M NN 5 6 BOP Wale Orma UOT eere 5 9 sal AVS MYLO N a T 5 9 5 3 2 ASUS Instant MUSIC Lauen 5 11 De ANET ae 5 13 Using the Virtual Cable Tester nsnnnnnrvvvveeennr 5 13 5 3 4 Audio configurations nnrrvvvernnnnnnnnnnvvveennnnnnnnnnnnn 5 14 5 3 5 Using the NVIDIA Firewall nnneeeerrrnnrrrrnrnnnnnn 5 20 RAID configurati
71. g USB 2 0 devices 11 USB 2 0 ports 1 and 2 These two 4 pin Universal Serial Bus USB ports are available for connecting USB 2 0 devices 12 IEEE 1394a port This 6 pin IEEE 1394 port provides high speed connectivity for audio video devices storage peripherals PCs or portable devices 13 Optical S PDIF Out port This port connects an external audio output device via an optical S PDIF cable 14 Coaxial S PDIF Out port This port connects an external audio output device via a coaxial S PDIF cable 15 PS 2 keyboard port purple This port is for a PS 2 keyboard ASUS A8N SLI 2 7 2 Internal connectors 1 Floppy disk drive connector 34 1 pin FLOPPY This connector is for the provided floppy disk drive FDD signal cable Insert one end of the cable to this connector then connect the other end to the signal connector at the back of the floppy disk drive Z The Pin 5 on the connector is removed to prevent incorrect cable connection when using an FDD cable with a covered Pin 5 FLOPPY NOTE Orient the red markings on the floppy ribbon cable to PIN 1 PIN 1 A8N SLI Floppy disk drive connector 2 IDE connectors 40 1 pin PRI_IDE SEC_IDE These connectors are for Ultra DMA 133 100 66 signal cables The Ultra DMA 133 100 66 signal cable has three connectors a blue connector for the primary IDE connector on the motherboard a black connector for an Ultra DMA 133 100 66 IDE slave device optical driv
72. go The boot logo is the image that appears on screen during the Power On Self Tests POST The ASUS MyLogo2 is automatically installed when you install the ASUS Update utility from the support CD See section 5 2 3 Utilities menu for details N e Before using the ASUS MyLogo2 use the Award BIOS Flash utility to make a copy of your original BIOS file or obtain the latest BIOS version from the ASUS website See section 4 1 2 Updating the BIOS e Make sure that the BIOS item Full Screen Logo is set to Enabled if you wish to use ASUS MyLogo2 See section 4 6 5 Boot Settings Configuration e You can create your own boot logo image in GIF JPG or BMP file formats To launch the ASUS MyLogo2 1 Launch the ASUS Update utility Refer to section 4 1 5 ASUS Update utility for details 2 Select Options from the drop down menu then click Next 3 Check the option Launch MyLogo to replace system boot logo before flashing BIOS then click Next 4 Select Update BIOS from a file from the drop down menu then click Next 5 When prompted locate the new BIOS file then click Next The ASUS MyLogo2 window appears 6 From the left window pane select the folder that contains the image bate f you intend to use as your boot poea logo ASUS A8N SLI 5 9 7 When the logo images appear on the right window pane select an image to enlarge by clicking on it 4 EG Web
73. ink Interface SLI technology allows two graphics processing units GPUs in a single system This technology takes advantage of the PCI Express bus architecture and features intelligent hardware and software solutions that allows multiple GPUs to work together and achieve exceptional graphics performance See Chapter 6 for details Built in NVFirewall and NVActiveArmor nS AetiveArmor The NVIDIA Firewall NVFirewall is an easy to use high performance desktop firewall application that protects your system from intruders Integrated into the NVIDIA nForce4 SLI chipset with the NVIDIA Gigabit Ethernet it provides advanced anti computer hacking technologies remote management capabilities and a user friendly setup wizard that improves overall system security Enhancing your network security is the NVIDIA ActiveArmor NV ActiveArmor engine that provides advanced data packet inspection This innovative technology ensures that only safe data packets are passed on the network Additionally it boosts overall system performance by offloading the CPU from the rigorous task of filtering data packets See page 5 20 for details AMD Cool n Quiet Technology es The motherboard supports the AMD Cool n Quiet Technology that dynamically and automatically changes the CPU speed voltage and amount of power depending on the task the CPU performs See pages 4 22 5 33 Chapter 1 Product introduc
74. justs the fan speeds according to the system loading to ensure quiet cool and efficient operation See page 4 37 for details ASUS Multi language BIOS femi The multi language BIOS allows you to select the language of your choice from the available options The localized BIOS menus allow you to configure easier and faster See page 4 15 for details Chapter 1 Product introduction ASUS MyLogo2 This new feature present in the motherboard allows you to personalize and add style to your system with customizable boot logos See page 5 9 for details ASUS Instant Lite This unique feature allows you to playback audio files even without booting the system to Windows Just press the ASUS Instant Music Lite special function keys and enjoy the music See pages 4 33 SSE ite ASUS A8N SLI 1 8 Chapter 1 Product introduction This chapter lists the hardware setup procedures that you have to perform when installing system components It includes description of the jumpers and connectors on the motherboard Hardwafe information 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 4 ae 2 6 2 Before you proceed EE 2 1 Motherboard OVervien nsrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnsnnvrnvevvvrenreveveeeene 2 2 Central Processing Unit CPU rrrannrvvrrnnrnnnvvverrnrsnvrversnrnnnnen 2 6 TN ipani ioiii 2 11 ExDAnSION SOTS EE 2 14 UTC 0S oar E N 2 17 Co 11100 JE 2 18 ASUS A8N SLI 2 1 Before you proceed Take note of the following precaution
75. k the Exit X button on the upper right hand corner of the window to exit _ fe amp amp 5 ee REALTEK Sound Loopy Music Horizontal C Vertical C Manual Horizontal O C Manual Vertical Chapter 5 Software support General settings This option shows the audio settings and allows you to change the language setting or toggle the SoundEffect icon display on the Windows taskbar To display the general settings 1 2 From the Realtek Audio Control Panel click the General button Click the option button to enable or disable the icon display on the Windows taskbar Click the Language combo list box to change language display Click the Exit X button on the upper right hand corner of the window to exit Audio Driver Version 5 10 0 5421 DirectX Version DirectX 9 0 Audio Controller INTEL ICHS ACO Codec Rear panel audio ports function variation The functions of the Line Out lime Line In blue Mic pink Rear Speaker Out gray Side Speaker Out black and Center Subwoofer yellow orange ports on the rear panel change when you select the 4 channel 6 channel or 8 channel audio configuration See the 8 6 4 or 2 channel speaker configuration on page 2 19 ASUS A8N SLI 5 19 5 3 5 Using the NVIDIA Firewall The motherboard supports the NVIDIA Firewall NVFirewall application that protects your computer from intruders The NVFirewall is cl
76. livers a host of new features and latest technologies making it another standout in the long line of ASUS quality motherboards Before you start installing the motherboard and hardware devices on it check the items in your package with the list below 1 2 Package contents Check your motherboard package for the following items Motherboard ASUS A8N SLI motherboard with SLI selector card I O modules IEEE1394 1 port module USB 2 0 2 port module USB 2 0 GAME port module Cables 4 x Serial ATA signal cables 2 x Serial ATA power cables dual plugs Ultra DMA 133 cable 40 conductor IDE cable Floppy disk drive cable COM cable Accessories I O shield SLI connector Retention bracket Application CDs ASUS motherboard support CD Documentation User guide Z If any of the above items is damaged or missing contact your retailer ASUS A8N SLI 1 1 1 2 1 3 Special features 1 3 1 Product highlights AMD Latest processor technology AMD Gp Athlon Athlon The AMD Athlon 64FX and Athlon 64 desktop processors are based on AMD s 64 bit and 32 bit architecture which represents the landmark introduction of the industry s first x86 64 technology These processors provide a dramatic leap forward in compatibility performance investment protection and reduced total cost of ownership and development See page 2 6 Scalable Link Interface SLI technology Phx The NVIDIA nForce 4 Scalable L
77. m Specific Help User Password Clear Password Check Setup Supervisor password controls full access lt Enter gt to change password Supervisor Password User Password These fields allow you to set passwords To set a password Select an item then press lt Enter gt 2 Type ina password using a combination of a maximum of eight 8 alpha numeric characters then press lt Enter gt 3 When prompted confirm the password by typing the exact characters again then press lt Enter gt The password field setting is changed to Set To clear the password 1 Select the password field and press lt Enter gt twice The following message appears 2 Press any key to continue The password field setting is changed to Clear 4 42 Chapter 4 BIOS setup A note about passwords The Supervisor password is required to enter the BIOS Setup program preventing unauthorized access The User password is required to boot the system preventing unauthorized use Forgot your password If you forget your password you can clear it by erasing the CMOS Real Time Clock RTC RAM The RAM data containing the password information is powered by the onboard button cell battery If you need to erase the CMOS RAM refer to section 2 6 Jumpers for instructions Password Check This field requires you to enter the password before entering the BIOS setup or the system Select Setup to require the password before entering the B
78. nect the USB GAME module cable to this connector then install the module to a slot opening at the back of the system chassis The GAME MIDI port connects a joystick or game pad for playing games and MIDI devices for playing or editing audio files 35829583 A8N SLI Game connector tnrd dss ASUS A8N SLI 2 25 11 Chassis intrusion connector 4 1 pin CHASSIS This connector is for a chassis mounted intrusion detection sensor or switch Connect one end of the chassis intrusion sensor or switch cable to this connector The chassis intrusion sensor or switch sends a high level signal to this connector when a chassis component is removed or replaced The signal is then generated as a chassis intrusion event By default the pins labeled Chassis Signal and Ground are shorted with a jumper cap Remove the jumper caps only when you intend to use the chassis intrusion detection feature See related BIOS item in page 4 42 Chassis Signal 5VSB_MB GND CHASSIS UB Default A8N SLI Chassis alarm lead 12 IEEE 1394 connector 10 1 pin IE1394_2 This connector is for the IEEE 1394a module Connect the IEEE 1394 module cable to this connector then install the module to a slot opening at the back of the system chassis A8N SLI IEEE 1394 connector Never connect a USB cable to the IEEE 1394 connectors Doing so will damage the motherboard 2 26 Chapter 2 Hardware information 13 Front panel audio conne
79. ns 1 A 2 From the Realtek Audio Control Panel click the SPDIF button Click the option buttons to change your S PDIF out settings Click the Exit X button on the upper right hand corner of the window to exit ASUS A8N SLI 5 15 5 16 s ee ee cee cee oe y S a 0 h LG gt A H A No output Output digital only j KA Output digital and analog f Speaker Configuration This option allows you to set your speaker configuration To set the speaker configuration 1 From the Realtek Audio Control Panel click the Speaker Configuration button 2 Select from the combo list box your current speaker setup then click Auto Test to test your settings 3 Click the UAJ Automatic button to enable or disable the Universal Audio Jack UAJ technology feature 4 Click the Exit X button on the upper right hand corner of the window to exit ul amp g a ie Chapter 5 Software support Al Audio feature The Al Audio feature works through the connector sensing option that allows you to check if your audio devices are connected properly To start the connector sensing 1 From the Realtek Audio Control Panel click the Connector Sensing button 2 Click the Bracket button to display connected audio devices Click the Option button to change sensing options 4 Click the Start button to start connection sensing A progress bar
80. off the firewall To turn off the NVFirewall 1 From the NVIDIA Firewall eee summary menu click the FN E Current Firewall Profile fo VF i EWG ill S combo list box then select Off The following confirmation box appears 2 Click Turn Firewall OFF By turning OFF NVIDIA Firewall your computer may become vulnerable to viruses attacks and intruders What would you like toustent ave Firewall ON Tum Firewall OFF ActiveArmor Information When you turn off NVIDIA Firewall ActiveArmor will also be turned off automatically For more information about ActiveArmor configuration please use the ActiveArmor port or application configuration page in etwork Access Manager web interface 5 22 Chapter 5 Software support 5 4 RAID configurations The motherboard comes with the NVIDIA SLI Southbridge RAID controller that allow you to configure IDE and Serial ATA hard disk drives as RAID sets The motherboard supports the following RAID configurations RAID 0 Data striping optimizes two identical hard disk drives to read and write data in parallel interleaved stacks Two hard disks perform the same work as a single drive but at a sustained data transfer rate double that of a single disk alone thus improving data access and storage Use of two new identical hard disk drives is required for this setup RAID 1 Data mirroring copies and maintains an identical image of dat
81. on Delay Overclocking System mode Configuration options Disable Overclock 3 Overclock 5 Overclock 8 Overclock 10 4 4 5 LAN Cable Status The items in this menu displays the status of the Local Area Network LAN cable 2 aa re JumperFree Configuration Select Menu Disabled Item Specific Help eee Enable Disable Speech Open IC Controller Open Open 1 KB Open Open Open Open Pai 1 2 3 6 4 5 7 8 1 2 3 6 4 5 1 8 POST Check LAN cable Disabled Enables or disables checking of the LAN cable during the Power On Self Test POST Configuration options Disabled Enabled ASUS A8N SLI 4 31 4 4 6 PEG Link Mode og ee JumperFree Configuration Select Menu Auto Item Specific Helpp gt gt PEG Root Control Auto PEG Buffer Length Auto Enhance performance on PCIE serial graphics card PEG Link Mode Auto Allows you to enhance the performance of your PCI Express graphics card Configuration options Auto Slow Normal Fast Faster PEG Root Control Auto Allows you to enable or disable the PCI Express graphics root control Configuration options Auto Enabled Disabled PEG Buffer Length Auto Allows you to set the PCI Express graphics buffer length Configuration options Auto Long Short Chapter 4 BIOS setup 4 4 7 Instant Music See aE JumperFree Configuration Select Menu IDisabled Item Specific Help x Instant Music CD ROM Drive Prim
82. one end of the retention bracket to the retention module base av ry NER X Ue am ut V R je P p 4 Ze we at Alan Noy SI 3 Align the other end of the retention bracket near the retention bracket lock to the retention module base A clicking sound denotes that the retention bracket is in place N Make sure that the fan and heatsink assembly perfectly fits the retention mechanism module base otherwise you cannot snap the retention bracket in place 4 Push down the retention bracket lock on the retention mechanism to secure the heatsink and fan to the module base Lett EE e 1 Hl ey i 4 P 1 gt D HI ae Xe ae GERT ELLA ENN gt r h Bo IN een J i 3 NE cz Sree eS met mase 4 5 q HD gt p S X s ASUS A8N SLI 2 9 3 When the fan and heatsink assembly is in place connect the CPU fan cable to the connector on the motherboard labeled CPU_FAN CPU_FAN A8N SLI CPU fan connector LN Do not forget to connect the CPU fan connector Hardware monitoring errors can occur if you fail to plug this connector Chapter 2 Hardware information 2 4 2 4 1 System memory Overview The motherboard comes with four 184 pin Double Data Rate DDR Dual Inline Memory Modules DIMM sockets The following figure illustrates the location of the sockets DIMM A1 DIMM A2 DIMM Bi DIMM B2 A8N SLI 184 pin DDR DIMM sockets Channel
83. onnections to some ports must be set to allow file transfers using some online messaging applications This profile also enables some anti hacking features High allows the least traffic through Only outbound connections are allowed This profile also includes the stealth mode feature that makes your system invisible to intruders This also enables some anti hacking features Lockdown blocks all incoming and outgoing connections Anti hacking only this profile enables all anti hacking features but disables the firewall This security profile is useful if you want to use a third party firewall application Custom 1 2 3 these are reserved for customized profiles Off deactivates the firewall To set a security profile 1 From the NVFirewall summary menu click the Current Firewall Profile combo list box then select a security profile The following confirmation box appears NYIDIA Firewall Summary Curent Firewall Protile je Fire Antihacking Only Custom 1 4 Custom 2 Click Change Profile to apply settings or Don t Change g aekuuemmetndmsete Profile to return to previous menu Dont Change Profile l Dort show me this message again ASUS A8N SLI 5 21 Turning the NVFirewall off Take caution when using this option your computer becomes vulnerable to viruses hackers or intruders after you turn
84. ons 2 Select Update BIOS from 3 Select the ASUS FTP site the Internet option from the nearest you to avoid network drop down menu then click traffic or click Auto Select Next Click Next ASUS A8N SLI 4 9 From the FTP site select the BIOS version that you wish to download Click Next Follow the screen instructions to complete the update process The ASUS Update utility is capable of updating itself through the Internet Always update the utility to avail all its features y EP Fc Please select the version you want Please choose BIOS file from combo box Please choose Please choose Updating the BIOS through a BIOS file To update the BIOS through a BIOS file 1 4 10 Launch the ASUS Update utility from the Windows desktop by clicking Start gt Programs gt ASUS gt ASUSUpdate gt ASUSUpdate The ASUS Update main window appears Select Update BIOS from a file option from the drop down menu then click Next Locate the BIOS file from the Open window then click Save Follow the screen instructions to complete the update process 1 Update Save BIOS from to a file 2 Update BIOS from the Interne Update system BIOS using a ed BIOS image file on ASUS Web Site 3 Download BIOS from the Internet Download specified BIOS image file via Internet for later usage 4 Check BIOS Information B Update BIOS from a file ai z H
85. ons EE EN 5 23 5 4 1 Installing hard disks cccccccessssssssseeeeeeesssseeees 5 24 5 4 2 NVIDIA RAID configurations ccccceeeeeeeeeeees 5 25 Creating a RAID driver Uke 5 32 Cool n Quiet NNN 5 33 5 6 1 Enabling Cool n Quiet Technology 00 5 33 5 6 2 Launching the Cool n Quiet software 5 34 Chapter 6 SLI technology support OVErvieW eccccccccccecceceeeeeeeeeeeeeseseesseessssssesssssssssssessseseesesensess 6 1 Dual graphics card setup susen 6 2 6 2 1 Setting the ASUS EZ selector card ccccceeeeeees 6 2 6 2 2 Installing SLI ready graphics cards rrrvvrrnnnnnnnnnne 6 4 6 2 3 Setting the SLI mode in BIOS i erererannnnnnvorrrnnnnnvvenn 6 8 6 2 4 Installing the device drivers r rrrannnnnnnrrrnnnrnannnnnnnn 6 8 6 2 5 Enabling the multi GPU feature in Windows 6 8 Notices Federal Communications Commission Statement This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules Operation is subject to the following two conditions e This device may not cause harmful interference and e This device must accept any interference received including interference that may cause undesired operation This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential ins
86. ort software for nvidia nForce4 Series motherboard Drivers AMD Cool n Quiet ASUS Cool amp Quiet Driver v1 0 1 7 for windows 2000 ASUS Cool amp Quiet Driver VI 1 0 14 for windows XP ASUS Cool amp Quiet Driver VI 1 0 0 for windows 2003 Audio ALC850 Realtek AC 97 Driver V5 10 00 5750 for windows 2000 XP WHOL 2003 V5721 64bit Realtek AC 97 Driver V5 10 00 5646 for windows 64bit xP 2003 Chipset WINXP 2K nvidia Chipset CK804 driver version v6 31 for Windows XPC WHAL XP 20 Win 64 nvidia Chipset CK804 64 bit driver version 6 09 Novell nvidia DOS NDIS Ethernet and ODI driver v4 52 Lan Marvell Marvell Yukon Gigabit Ethernet Driver V7 21 1 3 for windows 2000 XP 2 win2003_64bit Marvell Yukon Gigabit Ethernet Adapter v6 27 beta OL for Windows 64bi SATA SIL3LL4 RAID Driver Silicon Image Serial ATA Raid v1 1 Jus raidS GUI v1 0 0 1 for win 0 0 p 64bit Silicon Image Serial ATA Raid V1 1 0 1 for Windows 64bit xP 2003 Novell Silicon 3114 Novell RAID driver v2 14 Manual user guide PDF file Software Acrobat Adobe Acrobat Reader V5 0 Chapter 5 Software support 5 3 Software information Most of the applications in the support CD have wizards that will conveniently guide you through the installation View the online help or readme file that came with the software application for more information 5 3 1 ASUS MyLogo2 The ASUS MyLogo2 utility lets you customize the boot lo
87. per minute RPM is monitored for timely failure detection The ASIC monitors the voltage levels to ensure stable supply of current for critical components See section 4 5 4 Hardware Monitor on page 4 37 Chapter 1 Product introduction 1 3 2 ASUS Proactive features Al NOS Non Delay Overclocking System ASUS Non delay Overclocking System NOS is a technology that auto detects the CPU loading and dynamically overclocks the CPU speed only when needed See page 4 29 for details Designed for overclocking aficionados this feature allows you to fine tune the CPU and memory voltage and gradually increase the Front Side Bus FSB and PCI Express frequency to achieve maximum system performance PEG Link mode This feature allows you to adjust the PCI Express graphics frequency for optimized graphics performance Al NET 2 Al NET 2 is a BIOS based diagnostic tool that detects and reports Ethernet cable faults and shorts With this utility you can easily monitor the condition of the Ethernet cable s connected to the LAN RJ 45 port s During the bootup process Al NET 2 immediately diagnoses the LAN cable s and reports shorts and faults up to 100 meters at 1 meter accuracy See pages 4 31 and 5 13 for details Al Audio technology fy Filming m The motherboard supports 8 channel audio through the onboard ALC850 CODEC with 16 bit DAC a stereo 16 bit ADC and an AC97 2 3 compatible multi channel audio designed
88. pp NVRAID Configuration USB Configuration Onboard NV LAN Enabled Onboard LAN Boot ROM Disabled AC97 Audio Enabled PCI IEEE 1394a Enabled Serial Portl Address 3F8 IRQ4 Parallel Port Address 378 IRQ7 Parallel Port Mode ECP EPP ECP MOde Use DMA 3 Game Port Address 201 Midi Port Address Disabled x Midi Port IRQ 10 4 24 Chapter 4 BIOS setup IDE Function Setup This sub menu contains IDE function related items Select an item then press lt Enter gt to edit o OO OOO Eee Onboard Device Configuration Select Menu Item Specific Helppp gt OnChip IDE Channell Enabled IDE DMA transfer access Enabled SATA Port 1 2 Enabled SATA DMA transfer Enabled SATA Port 3 4 Enabled SATA2 DMA transfer Enabled IDE Prefetch Mode Enabled OnChip IDE ChannelO Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the onchip IDE channel O controller Configuration options Disabled Enabled OnChip IDE Channel1 Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the onchip IDE channel 1 controller Configuration options Disabled Enabled IDE DMA transfer access Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the IDE DMA transfer access Configuration options Disabled Enabled SATA Port 1 2 Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the SATA 1 and 2 ports Configuration options Disabled Enabled SATA DMA access Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the SATA DMA transfer access Configuration o
89. ptions Disabled Enabled SATA Port 3 4 Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the SATA 3 and 4 ports Configuration options Disabled Enabled ASUS A8N SLI 4 25 SATA2 DMA transfer Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the SATA2 DMA transfer access Configuration options Disabled Enabled IDE Prefetch Mode Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the IDE prefetch mode Configuration options Disabled Enabled NVRAID Configuration This sub menu contains NVRAID function related items Select an item then press lt Enter gt to edit yy gt gt nn NVRAID Configuration Select Menu Item Specific Help x IDE Primary Master RAID Disabled x IDE Primary Slave RAID Disabled x IDE Secondary Master RAID Disabled x IDE Secondary Slave RAID Disabled x First SATA Master RAID Disabled x Second SATA Master RAID Disabled x Third SATA Master RAID Disabled x Fourth SATA Master RAID Disabled RAID Enabled Disabled Enables or disables the onboard RAID controller When Enabled the succeeding items becomes user configurable Configuration options Enabled Disabled IDE Primary Secondary Master Slave RAID Disabled Enables or disables the RAID function of the primary or secondary master or slave IDE Configuration options Enabled Disabled First Second Third Fourth SATA Master RAID Disabled Enables or disables the RAID function of the first second third or fourth SATA master drive Configu
90. r the original or updated BIOS file The utility then updates the corrupted BIOS file Award BootBlock BIOS v1 0 Copyright c 2000 Award Software Inc BIOS ROM checksum error Detecting IDE ATAPI device Found CDROM try to Boot from it Fail Detecting floppy drive A media AN DO NOT shut down or reset the system while updating the BIOS Doing 4 so can cause system boot failure Restart the system after the utility completes the updating process Z The recovered BIOS may not be the latest BIOS version for this FP motherboard Visit the ASUS website www asus com to download the latest BIOS file Chapter 4 BIOS setup 4 1 5 ASUS EZ Flash utility The ASUS EZ Flash feature allows you to update the BIOS without having to go through the long process of booting from a floppy disk and using a DOS based utility The EZ Flash utility is built in the BIOS chip so it is accessible by pressing lt Alt gt lt F2 gt during the Power On Self Tests POST To update the BIOS using EZ Flash 1 Visit the ASUS website www asus com to download the latest BIOS file for the motherboard 2 Save the BIOS file to a floppy disk then restart the system 3 Press lt Alt gt lt F2 gt during POST to display the following Insert Disk then press Enter or ESC to continue POST 4 Insert the floppy disk that contains the BIOS file to the floppy disk drive then press lt Enter gt The following screen appears
91. ration options Enabled Disabled Chapter 4 BIOS setup USB Configuration The items in this menu allows you to change the USB related features Select an item then press lt Enter gt to display the configuration options ay gt ant USB Configuration Select Menu Enabled Item Specific Help USB2 0 Controller Enabled USB Legacy support Enabled USB Controller Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the onchip USB controller Configuration options Disabled Enabled USB 2 0 Controller Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the USB 2 0 controller Configuration options Disabled Enabled USB Legacy Support Enabled Allows you to enable or disable support for USB devices on legacy operating systems OS Configuration options Disabled Enabled Onboard NV LAN Enabled Enables or disables the onboard NVIDIA Gigabit LAN controller Configuration options Enabled Disabled OnBoard LAN Boot ROM Disabled Allows you to enable or disable the onboard LAN boot ROM Configuration options Disabled Enabled AC97 Audio Enabled Allows you to disable or enabled the onboard AC97 audio controller Configuration options Disabled Enabled ASUS A8N SLI 4 27 PCI IEEE 1394a Enabled Allows you to disable or enabled the onboard PCI IEEE 1394 controller Configuration options Disabled Enabled Serial Port Address 3F8 IRQ4 Allows you to select the Serial Port base address
92. rd BIOS before using this utility Recovering the BIOS from the support CD To recover the BIOS from the support CD 1 Turn on the system 2 Insert the motherboard support CD to the optical drive 3 The utility displays the following message and automatically checks the CD for the BIOS file Award BootBlock BIOS v1 0 Copyright c 2000 Award Software Inc BIOS ROM checksum error Detecting IDE ATAPI device When found the utility reads the BIOS file and starts flashing the corrupted BIOS file Award BootBlock BIOS v1 0 Copyright c 2000 Award Software Inc BIOS ROM checksum error Detecting IDE ATAPI device Found CDROM try to Boot from it Pass AN DO NOT shut down or reset the system while updating the BIOS Doing 50 can cause system boot failure 4 Restart the system after the utility completes the updating process ASUS A8N SLI 4 5 Recovering the BIOS from a floppy disk To recover the BIOS from the support CD 1 Remove any CD from the optical drive then turn on the system Insert the floppy disk with the original or updated BIOS file to the floppy disk drive The utility displays the following message and automatically checks the floppy disk for the original or updated BIOS file Award BootBlock BIOS v1 0 Copyright c 2000 Award Software Inc BIOS ROM checksum error Detecting IDE ATAPI device When no CD is found the utility automatically checks the floppy drive fo
93. rd settings for the system Al Overclock Loads overclocking profiles with optimal parameters for stability when overclocking Al N O S The ASUS Al Non delay Overclocking System feature intelligently determines the system load and automatically boost the performance for the most demanding tasks ASUS A8N SLI 4 29 A The following items are user configurable only when the Overclock Profile item is set to Manual CPU Frequency XXX value is auto detected Indicates the frequency sent by the clock generator to the system bus and PCI bus The bus frequency external frequency multiplied by the bus multiple equals the CPU speed The value of this item is auto detected by BIOS The values range from 200 to 400 Refer to the following table for the correct Front Side Bus and CPU External Frequency settings AN Selecting a very high CPU frequency may cause the system to become unstable If this happens revert to the default setting PCI Express Clock 100MHz Allows you to set the PCI Express clock Key in a decimal value between 100 200 MHz Configuration options 100Mhz 101Mhz 145Mhz DDR Voltage Auto Sets the operating DDR voltage Configuration options Auto 2 60V 2 65V 2 70V 2 75V 2 80V 2 85V 2 90V 2 95V 3 00V CPU Multiplier Auto Sets the operating CPU multiplier The configuration options vary depending on the type of CPU installed Configuration options Auto x4 x4 5 x5 x5 5 x6
94. river supports the NVIDIA SLI technology Download the latest driver from the NVIDIA website www nvidia com 6 2 5 Enabling the multi GPU feature in Windows After installing your graphics cards and the device drivers enable the Multi Graphics Processing Unit GPU feature in the NVIDIA nView properties To enable the multi GPU feature 1 Click the NVIDIA Settings icon on your Windows taskbar 2 From the pop up menu select nView Desktop Manager enma then click nView Properties Li Screen Refresh Rate Mi Color Quality Wf Performance amp Quality Settings J Custom Color Settings 82 Rotation Settings a Color Correction nview Desktop Manager NYIDIA Display rofessional we About NYIDIA settings Exit 10 53 PM Chapter 6 NVIDIA SLI technology support 3 From the nView Desktop Manager PE window select the Desktop m Management tab 4 Click Properties to display the nview Desktop Manager Enable D S p ay P ro pe rt es d a og box n 9 To turn on all the nView Desktop Manager features click niew Desktop Manager wizard To easily set up commonly used Desktop Manager features al click Setup Wizard Display properties To view or modify display properties not specific to nView click Properties gt From the Display Properties a ss dialog box select the Settings Themes Desktop Screen Saver Appearaice Settings tab then click Ad
95. rmation on ASUS hardware and software products Refer to the ASUS contact information 2 Optional documentation Your product package may include optional documentation such as warranty flyers that may have been added by your dealer These documents are not part of the standard package Conventions used in this guide To make sure that you perform certain tasks properly take note of the following symbols used throughout this manual DANGER WARNING Information to prevent injury to yourself when trying to complete a task q CAUTION Information to prevent damage to the components when trying to complete a task N IMPORTANT Instructions that you MUST follow to complete a task Z NOTE Tips and additional information to help you complete a task Typography Bold text Italics lt Key gt lt Key1 Key2 Key3 gt Command Indicates a menu or an item to select Used to emphasize a word or a phrase Keys enclosed in the less than and greater than sign means that you must press the enclosed key Example lt Enter gt means that you must press the Enter or Return key If you must press two or more keys simultaneously the key names are linked with a plus sign Example lt Ctrl Alt D gt Means that you must type the command exactly as shown then supply the required item or value enclosed in brackets Example At the DOS prompt type the command line awdflash A8NSLI ROM A8N SLI specifications summary
96. rst SATA Master Second SATA Slave Third SATA Master Fourth SATA Slave HDD SMART Monitoring 256MB Installed Memory Sub menu items Legend bar 4 2 2 Menu bar The menu bar on top of the screen has the following main items Main For changing the basic system configuration Advanced For changing the advanced system settings Power For changing the advanced power management APM configuration Boot For changing the system boot configuration Exit For selecting the exit options and loading default settings To select an item on the menu bar press the right or left arrow key on the keyboard until the desired item is highlighted purposes only and may not exactly match what you see on your Z e The BIOS setup screens shown in this chapter are for reference screen e Visit the ASUS website www asus com to download the latest BIOS information Chapter 4 BIOS setup 4 2 3 Legend bar At the bottom of the Setup screen is a legend bar The keys in the legend bar allow you to navigate through the various setup menus The following table lists the keys found in the legend bar with their corresponding functions Navigation Key Function lt F1 gt Displays the General Help screen lt F5 gt Loads setup default values lt Esc gt Exits the BIOS setup or returns to the main menu from a sub menu Left or Right arrow Selects the menu item to the left or right Up or Down arrow Moves the highlight up or down between fields Page
97. rt JE ENE 6 1 6 2 Dual graphics cards setup saansnnsmaneeenmdsmiedin 6 2 ASUS A8N SLI 6 1 Overview The motherboard supports the NVIDIA SLI Scalable Link Interface technology that allows you to install two identical PCI Express x16 graphics cards Follow the installation procedures in this section Requirements e You should have two identical SLI ready graphics cards that are NVIDIA certified e Visit the ASUS website www asus com for a list of qualified SLI ready graphics cards for this motherboard e Make sure that your graphics card driver supports the NVIDIA SLI technology Download the latest driver from the NVIDIA website www nvidia com e Make sure that your power supply unit PSU can provide at least the minimum power required by your system See 8 ATX power connectors on page 2 24 for details AN e The NVIDIA SLI technology supports Windows XP operating system only e Visit the NVIDIA website for the supported 3D applications and the latest graphics card drivers ASUS A8N SLI 6 2 Dual graphics card setup 6 2 1 Setting the ASUS EZ selector card Your motherboard package comes with a pre installed ASUS EZ selector card By default the card is set for peg oap alaus mal a single graphics card To use two graphics cards on oe E O ETIES this motherboard you must first set the selector card to Dual Video Cards ASUS EZ selector card To set the selector card 1
98. s before you install motherboard components or change any motherboard settings Make sure that your power supply unit PSU can provide at least the minimum power required by your system See 8 ATX power connectors on page 2 24 for details Unplug the power cord from the wall socket before touching any component Use a grounded wrist strap or touch a safely grounded object or to a metal object such as the power supply case before handling components to avoid damaging them due to static electricity Hold components by the edges to avoid touching the ICs on them Whenever you uninstall any component place it on a grounded antistatic pad or in the bag that came with the component Before you install or remove any component ensure that the ATX power supply is switched off or the power cord is detached from the power supply Failure to do so may cause severe damage to the motherboard peripherals and or components Onboard LEDs The motherboard comes with a green standby power LED that lights up to indicate that the system is ON in sleep mode or in soft off mode This is a reminder that you should shut down the system and unplug the power cable before removing or plugging in any motherboard component The red warning LED lights up when you installed two graphics card but did not connect the ASUS EZ Plug The illustration below shows the location of the onboard LEDs SLI WARN LED ON OFF When use 2 Graphics When u
99. se 2 Graphics but do not plug EZ PLUG but do plug EZ PLUG Standby po ff A8N SLI Onboard LED Power ASUS A8N SLI 2 1 2 2 2 2 Motherboard overview Before you install the motherboard study the configuration of your chassis to ensure that the motherboard fits into it A Make sure to unplug the power cord before installing or removing the motherboard Failure to do so can cause you physical injury and damage motherboard components 2 2 1 Placement direction When installing the motherboard make sure that you place it into the chassis in the correct orientation The edge with external ports goes to the rear part of the chassis as indicated in the image below 2 2 2 Screw holes Place nine 9 screws into the holes indicated by circles to secure the motherboard to the chassis AN Do not overtighten the screws Doing so can damage the motherboard OA 0 E Place this side towards me C the rear of the chassis in av m SD J opg am on tO 9 Chapter 2 Hardware information 2 2 3 Motherboard layout 24 5cm 9 61n PS 2KBMS k e T Mouse CHA2_FAN CPU_FAN B Keyboard ATX12V PARALLEL PORT Socket 939 64 bit 184 pin module h oeii 64 bit 184 pin module DDR DIMM A2 LAN1 USB34 Top Rear Speaker Out sine 6 D Center Side Speaker Out Below Center Subwoofer DDR DIMM A1 E x lt Marvell 88E1111 Top Line In Center Line Out Bottom Mic
100. sks for a confirmation before exiting Load Setup Defaults This option allows you to load the default values for each of the parameters on the Setup menus When you select this option or if you press lt F5 gt a confirmation window appears Select Yes to load default values Select Exit amp Save Changes or make other changes before Saving the values to the non volatile RAM Discard Changes This option allows you to discard the selections you made and restore the previously saved values After selecting this option a confirmation appears Select Yes to discard any changes and load the previously saved values Chapter 4 BIOS setup This chapter describes the contents of the support CD that comes with the motherboard package Software support Sel Sul de 5 4 5 5 5 6 Installing an operating SYSTEM ssssssssesennrrnnnnsnsenrrrrennnnne 5 1 Support CD information tscsarsseserevqeescdvesgessnssesseesseesateesisees 5 1 SoftWare IMPOR GION sessirnir ronnen eNEAN EAEN EEEE RE 5 9 FAN siiciscncsouenecttkrisniaryoicsinratsgeeeinceuinnns 5 23 Creating RAID driver ASK uuansmnsonnsansmnnitsajenennin god Cool n Quiet Technology ae 5 33 ASUS A8N SLI 5 1 Installing an operating system This motherboard supports Windows 2000 XP operating systems OS Always install the latest OS version and corresponding updates to maximize the features of your hardware V e Motherboard settings and hardware op
101. socket to prevent bending the pins and damaging the CPU 5 When the CPU is in place push down the socket lever to secure the CPU The lever clicks on the side tab to indicate that it is locked ASUS A8N SLI Z 7 2 8 2 3 3 Installing the heatsink and fan The AMD Athlon 64FX or AMD Athlon 64 processor require a specially designed heatsink and fan assembly to ensure optimum thermal condition and performance N Make sure that you use only qualified heatsink and fan assembly Follow these steps to install the CPU heatsink and fan 1 Place the heatsink on top of the installed CPU making sure that the heatsink fits properly on the retention module base e The retention module base is already installed on the motherboard upon purchase e You do not have to remove the retention module base when installing the CPU or installing other motherboard components e f you purchased a separate CPU heatsink and fan assembly make sure that a Thermal Interface Material is properly applied to the CPU heatsink or CPU before you install the heatsink and fan assembly CPU Fan CPU Heatsink Retention Module Base Retention bracket Retention bracket lock Your boxed CPU heatsink and fan assembly should come with installation instructions for the CPU heatsink and the retention mechanism If the instructions in this section do not match the CPU documentation follow the latter Chapter 2 Hardware information 2 Attach
102. t Slave XXXXXXXXX Use lt gt or lt l gt to select a device then press lt gt to move it up or lt gt to move it down the list Press lt ESC gt to exit this menu 1 1st Slave XXXXXXXXX Allows you to assign optical drives attached to the system 4 6 5 Boot Settings Configuration o a O Boot Settings Configuration Select Menu IEnabled Enabled Item Specific Help Quick Boot Boot Up Floppy Seek Bootup Num Lock Typematic Rate Setting Typematic Rate Chars Sec Typematic Delay Msec OS Select For DRAM gt 64MB Full Screen LOGO Pas Press Enter to On 7 Disabled enable or disable 6 250 Non OS2 Enabled Halt On All Errors Case Open Warning Enabled Enables or disables the chassis open status feature Setting to Enabled clears the chassis open status Refer to section 2 7 Internal connectors for setting details Configuration options Disabled Enabled Quick Boot Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the system quick boot feature When Enabled the system skips certain tests while booting Configuration options Disabled Enabled 4 40 Chapter 4 BIOS setup Boot Up Floppy Seek Disabled Enables or disables the chassis open status feature Setting to Enabled clears the chassis open status Configuration options Disabled Enabled Bootup Num Lock On Allows you to select the power on state for the NumLock Configuration options Off
103. tallation This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with manufacturer s instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures e Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna e Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver e Connect the equipment to an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected e Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for help The use of shielded cables for connection of the monitor to the graphics card is required to assure compliance with FCC regulations Changes or modifications to this unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user s authority to operate this equipment Canadian Department of Communications Statement This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class B limits for radio noise emissions from digital apparatus set out in the Radio Interference Regulations of the Canadian Department of Communications This class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES 003 Vil Vill S
104. the card is completely seated on the slot Secure the card to the chassis with the screw you removed earlier Replace the system cover 2 5 2 Configuring an expansion card After installing the expansion card configure the it by adjusting the software settings 1 2 14 Turn on the system and change the necessary BIOS settings if any See Chapter 4 for information on BIOS setup Assign an IRQ to the card Refer to the tables on the next page Install the software drivers for the expansion card Chapter 2 Hardware information 2 5 3 Interrupt assignments Standard interrupt assignments Priority Standard Function System Timer Keyboard Controller Re direct to IRQ 9 Communications Port COM1 IRQ holder for PCI steering Floppy Disk Controller Printer Port LPT1 AIN 1 pol OO Po OD R System CMOS Real Time Clock IRQ holder for PCI steering IRQ holder for PCI steering IRQ holder for PCI steering PS 2 Compatible Mouse Port Numeric Data Processor Primary IDE Channel Secondary IDE Channel O N ho NI a AAI G Go CO CO GT O These IRQs are usually available for ISA or PCI devices IRQ assignments for this motherboard PCI slot 1 PCI slot 2 shared PCI slot 3 shared Onboard USB 1 0 controller Onboard USB 2 0 controller Onboard LAN1 Onboard PCI SATA RAID SI Onboard 1394a shared LN When using P
105. tion HyperTransport Technology is a high speed low latency point to point link designed to increase the communication speed between integrated circuits in computers networking and telecommunicatons equipment up to 48 times faster than other existing technologies Dual Channel Dual Channel DDR memory support MARATA Employing the Double Data Rate DDR memory technology the motherboard supports up to 4GB of system memory using DDR400 333 266 DIMMs The ultra fast 400MHz memory bus delivers the required bandwidth for the latest 3D graphics multimedia and Internet applications See page 2 11 SERIAL Serial ATA 3Gb s technology The motherboard supports the next generation Serial ATA 3Gb s technology through the Serial ATA interfaces and the NVIDIA SLI chipset The SATA 3Gb s specification provides twice the bandwidth of the current Serial ATA products Additionally Serial ATA allows thinner more flexible cables with lower pin count and reduced voltage requirement See pages 2 21 RAID solution The NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI RAID controller onboard provides the motherboard with RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 1 0 and JBOD configuration for four SATA and two PATA connectors See page 5 23 for details a p PCI Express interface BEZs The motherboard fully supports PCI Express the latest I O interconnect technology that speeds up the PCI bus PCI Express features point to point serial interconnections between devices and allo
106. tions vary Use the setup procedures presented in this chapter for reference only Refer to your OS documentation for detailed information pm er e Make sure that you install Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 or the Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later versions before installing the drivers for better compatibility and system stability 5 2 Support CD information The support CD that came with the motherboard package contains the drivers software applications and utilities that you can install to avail all motherboard features VA The contents of the support CD are subject to change at any time without notice Visit the ASUS website www asus com for updates 5 2 1 Running the support CD Place the support CD to the optical drive The CD automatically displays the Drivers menu if Autorun is enabled in your computer Click an icon to Drivers display support CD motherboard Please select items on the right i n fo rmat i on side Click an item to install If Autorun is NOT enabled in your computer browse the contents of the support CD to locate the file ASSETUP EXE from the BIN folder Double click the ASSETUP EXE to run the CD N ASUS A8N SLI 5 1 5 2 5 2 2 Drivers menu The drivers menu shows the available device drivers if the system detects installed devices Install the necessary drivers to activate the devices Drivers lease select items on the right Nvidia Chipset Driver Program Installs the NVIDIA
107. uilt in Gigabit MAC with external Marvell PHY supports NV ActiveArmor NV Firewall Al NET2 Al Audio Realtek ALC850 8 channel CODEC 1 x Coaxial S PDIF out port 1 x Optical S PDIF out port Supports Universal Audio Jack UAJ Technology Supports Audio Sensing and Enumeration Technology IEEE 1394 T1 1394a controller supports 2 x IEEE 1394 connector USB Supports up to 10 USB 2 0 ports Rear panel 1 x Parallel port 1 x IEEE 1394 port 1 x LAN RJ 45 port 4 x USB 2 0 ports 1 x Optical S PDIF out port 1 x Coaxial S PDIF out port 1 x PS 2 keyboard port 1 x PS 2 mouse port 8 channel audio ports BIOS features 4 Mb Flash ROM Phoenix Award BIOS PnP DMI2 0 WfM2 0 SM BIOS 2 3 Power ATX power supply with 24 pin and 4 pin 12 V plugs Requirement ATX 12 V 2 0 compliant Form Factor ATX form factor 12 in x 9 6 in 30 5 cm x 24 4 cm Support CD Device drivers contents ASUS PC Probe ASUS Live Update utility ASUS Cool n Quiet utility Anti virus utility OEM version NVIDIA nTune utility Specifications are subject to change without notice xiii XIV This chapter describes the motherboard features and the new technologies it supports Product Introduction Vvs 1 1 Wee PACKS 0 1105 eera E EEEa RSE 1 1 l3 SDC Cla MOA CNS S ice ctaetond extetsncananaineneons aeir ninen aoan 1 2 ASUS A8N SLI 1 1 Welcome Thank you for buying an ASUS A8N SLI motherboard The motherboard de
108. uration on pages 4 24 and 4 26 for details Z These connectors are set to SATA by default In SATA mode you can lt lt 0 ZHHzZN zZ ZOOZOO Z SATA4 Tes Te SATA3 okkokko akkokko ZOOZOOZ 292002 SATA2 Te Tue SATA1 A8N SLI SATA connectors AN Important notes on Serial ATA e The actual data transfer rate depends on the speed of Serial ATA hard disks installed e See Appendix for instructions on how to install the Serial ATA extension module ASUS A8N SLI 2 21 4 CPU Chassis Chipset and Power fan connectors 3 pin CPU_FAN 3 pin CHA2_FAN 3 pin CHIP_FAN 3 pin PWR_FAN 3 pin CHA1_FAN The fan connectors support cooling fans of 350mA 2000mA 24 W max or a total of 1A 3 48A 41 76 W max at 12V Connect the fan cables to the fan connectors on the motherboard making sure that the black wire of each cable matches the ground pin of the connector of sufficient air flow inside the system may damage the motherboard components These are not jumpers DO NOT place jumper caps on the fan connectors A e Do not forget to connect the fan cables to the fan connectors Lack e The ASUS Q Fan function is supported using the CPU Fan CPU_FAN and Chassis Fan 1 CHA1_FAN connectors only e The chipset fan is synchronized with the CPU fan GND 12V Rotation CPU_FAN 4 GND 12V Rotation CHA2_FAN PWR_FAN jg GND Rotation CHIP FAN zi JD O QD r AND 4 s NO lt A8N
109. ure Settings I Joad balancing will be shown in DirectX and OpenGL applications Refresh Rate Overrides i Screen Resolutions amp Refresh Rates To leam more click here amp Desktop Management Menu Editing Slider Click the Enable SLI multi GPU check box Click OK when done Chapter 6 NVIDIA SLI technology support
110. uring the Power On Self Test POST to enter the BIOS Setup Utility 2 From the Advanced gt Onboard Devices Configuration gt NVRAID Configuration menu item in the BIOS set the RAID Enabled item to Enabled The succeeding items become user configurable 3 Select and enable the IDE or SATA drive s that you want to configure as RAID See section 4 4 3 Onboard Devices Configuration for details 4 Save your changes and Exit Setup For detailed descriptions on the NVIDIA RAID configuration refer to the NVIDIA RAID User s Manual found in your motherboard support se CD ASUS A8N SLI 5 26 Entering the NVIDIA RAID utility To enter the NVIDIA RAID utility 1 Boot up your computer 2 During POST press lt F10 gt to display the main menu of the utility NN The RAID BIOS setup screens shown in this section are for reference only and may not exactly match the items on your screen NVIDIA RAID Utility Oct 5 2004 Define a New Array vha OL COE Striping Striping Block Optimal Free Disks Array Disks Disk Model Name Loc Disk Model Name XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Del F6 Back F7 Finish TAB Navigate TN Select ENTER Popup At the bottom of the screen are the navigation keys These keys allow you to move through and select menu options Creating a RAID Volume To create a RAID volume 1 From the NVIDIA RAID utility Define a New Array menu select
111. vanced Display Plug and Play Monitor on NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT Screen resolution Color quality Troubleshoot 6 Select the NVIDIA GeForce tab olor Management General Adapter m Display If your screen resolution makes screen items too small to view comfortably you can increase the DPI to compensate To change font sizes only click Cancel and go to the Appearance tab DPI setting Normal size 96 DPI Normal size 96 dpi Compatibility Some programs might not operate properly unless you restart the computer after changing display settings After change display settings Restart the computer before applying the new display settings Apply the new display settings without restarting Ask me before applying the new display settings Some games and other programs must be run in 256 color mode Learn more about running programs in 256 color mode ASUS A8N SLI 6 10 6 l 8 Click the slider to display the following Plug and Play Monitor and NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT PX SC ree n th e n se ect th e S L General z Adapter r Monitor Troubleshoot a Color Management a GeForce 6600 GT multi GPU item PERES 6600 GT eakluality Settings Sires NVIDIA Scalable Link Interface SLI erram for iondicart improvements in rendering performance Video seta Settings peta hit 9 Ny Show GPU load balancing NYRotate 4 s Pye EE ia Temperat
112. ws higher clockspeeds by carrying data in packets This high speed interface is software compatible with existing PCI specifications See page 2 16 for details S PDIF digital sound ready 4S PDIF The motherboard supports the S PDIF Out function through the S PDIF interfaces on the rear panel The S PDIF technology turns your computer into a high end entertainment system with digital connectivity to powerful audio and speaker systems See page 2 19 for details ASUS A8N SLI 1 3 1 4 IEEE 1394a support KO The IEEE 1394a interface provides high speed and flexible PC connectivity to a wide range of peripherals and devices compliant to the IEEE 1394a standard The IEEE 1394a interface allows up to 400 Mbps transfer rates through simple low cost high bandwidth asynchronous real time data interfacing between computers peripherals and consumer electronic devices such as camcorders VCRs printers TVs and digital cameras See pages 2 19 and 2 26 for details USB 2 0 technology ar The motherboard implements the Universal Serial Bus USB 2 0 specification dramatically increasing the connection speed from the 12 Mbps bandwidth on USB 1 1 to a fast 480 Mbps on USB 2 0 USB 2 0 is backward compatible with USB 1 1 See page 2 19 and 2 23 for details Temperature fan and voltage monitoring The CPU temperature is monitored by the ASIC integrated in the Winbond Super I O to prevent overheating and damage The system fan rotations
113. y convenience Follow the installation wizard to install the Realtek ALC850 Audio Driver and Application from the support CD that came with the motherboard package If the Realtek audio software is correctly installed you will find the SoundEffect icon on the taskbar From the taskbar double click on the Giel ve 80 AM SoundEffect icon to display the Realtek Audio Control Panel Realtek SoundEffect icon 2 amp a E s vb ta ti at The Jack sensing and UAJ technology features are supported on the Line In Line Out and Mic jacks only Sound Effect options The Realtek ALC850 Audio CODEC allows you to set your listening environment adjust the equalizer set the karaoke or select pre programmed equalizer settings for your listening pleasure 5 14 Chapter 5 Software support To set the sound effect options Is From the Realtek Audio Control Panel click the Sound Effect button Click the shortcut buttons to change the acoustic environment adjust the equalizer or set the karaoke to your desired settings The audio settings take effect immediately after you click on the buttons Click the Exit X button on the upper right hand corner of the window to exit S PDIF option The Sony Philips Digital Interface S PDIF options allows you to change your S PDIF output settings To set the S PDIF optio
114. yed with a notch so that it fits in only one direction DO NOT force a DIMM into a socket to avoid damaging the DIMM 3 Firmly insert the DIMM into the socket until the retaining clips pp T i snap back in place and the DIMM T a is properly seated Locked Retaining Clip 2 2 4 4 Removing a DIMM Follow these steps to remove a DIMM 1 Simultaneously press the retaining clips outward to unlock the DIMM eek gt Ed XN DDR DIMM notch Support the DIMM lightly with your fingers when pressing the retaining clips The DIMM might get damaged when it flips out with extra force 2 Remove the DIMM from the socket ASUS A8N SLI 2 13 2 5 Expansion slots In the future you may need to install expansion cards The following sub sections describe the slots and the expansion cards that they support expansion cards Failure to do so may cause you physical injury and Make sure to unplug the power cord before adding or removing damage motherboard components 2 5 1 Installing an expansion card To install an expansion card 1 J 6 Before installing the expansion card read the documentation that came with it and make the necessary hardware settings for the card Remove the system unit cover if your motherboard is already installed in a chassis Remove the bracket opposite the slot that you intend to use Keep the screw for later use Align the card connector with the slot and press firmly until

+FRONT A8N-SLI.P65

Contents

Download Pdf Manuals

Related Search

Related Contents