A8N-SLI Premium Motherboard E2435 Revised Edition V3 February 2006 Copyright © 2006 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. IN NO 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 NOT 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. ii Contents Notices ...............................................................................................viii Safety information .............................................................................. ix About this guide ................................................................................... x How this guide is organized ...................................................... x Where to find more information .............................................. xi Conventions used in this guide ................................................ xi Typography ......................................................................................... xi A8N-SLI Premium specifications summary ..........................................xii Chapter 1: Product introduction 1.1 1.2 1.3 Welcome! .............................................................................. 1-1 Package contents ................................................................. 1-1 Special features .................................................................... 1-2 1.3.1 1.3.2 1.3.3 2.1 2.2 Product highlights ................................................... 1-2 ASUS Proactive features ........................................ 1-5 Innovative ASUS features ....................................... 1-6 Chapter 2: Hardware information Before you proceed .............................................................. 2-1 Motherboard overview .......................................................... 2-2 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 2.2.4 2.3 2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3 2.4 2.4.1 2.4.2 2.4.3 2.4.4 2.5 2.5.1 2.5.2 Placement direction ................................................ 2-2 Screw holes ............................................................. 2-2 Motherboard layout ................................................ 2-3 Layout Contents ..................................................... 2-4 Overview ................................................................. 2-6 Installling the CPU ................................................... 2-6 Installing the heatsink and fan ................................ 2-8 Overview ............................................................... 2-11 Memory Configurations ......................................... 2-11 Installing a DIMM ................................................... 2-14 Removing a DIMM .................................................. 2-14 Installing an expansion card .................................. 2-15 Configuring an expansion card .............................. 2-15 iii Central Processing Unit (CPU) .............................................. 2-6 System memory.................................................................. 2-11 Expansion slots ................................................................... 2-15 Contents 2.5.3 2.5.4 2.5.5 2.5.6 2.5.7 2.6 2.7 Interrupt assignments ........................................... 2-16 PCI slots ................................................................ 2-16 Two PCI Express x16 slots .................................... 2-17 PCI Express x1 slot ............................................... 2-17 Universal PCIe slot (PCI Express x4 slot) .............. 2-17 Jumpers .............................................................................. 2-18 Connectors ......................................................................... 2-19 2.7.1 2.7.2 Rear panel connectors .......................................... 2-19 Internal connectors ............................................... 2-21 Chapter 3: Powering up 3.1 3.2 Starting up for the first time ................................................ 3-1 Powering off the computer ................................................... 3-2 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.3 3.3.1 3.3.2 4.1 Using the OS shut down function ........................... 3-2 Using the dual function power switch ..................... 3-2 Vocal POST messages............................................. 3-3 Winbond Voice Editor ............................................. 3-5 ASUS POST ReporterTM .......................................................... 3-3 Chapter 4: BIOS setup Managing and updating your BIOS ........................................ 4-1 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3 4.1.4 4.1.5 4.1.6 4.2 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.3 4.2.4 4.2.5 4.2.6 4.2.8 4.2.7 iv Creating a bootable floppy disk .............................. 4-1 Updating the BIOS ................................................... 4-2 Saving the current BIOS file .................................... 4-4 ASUS CrashFree BIOS 2 utility ................................ 4-5 ASUS EZ Flash utility ............................................... 4-7 ASUS Update utility ................................................ 4-8 BIOS menu screen ................................................. 4-12 Menu bar ............................................................... 4-12 Legend bar ............................................................ 4-13 Menu items ........................................................... 4-13 Sub-menu items .................................................... 4-13 Configuration fields ............................................... 4-13 General help .......................................................... 4-14 Pop-up window ...................................................... 4-14 BIOS setup program ............................................................ 4-11 Contents 4.3 Main menu........................................................................... 4-15 4.3.1 4.3.2 4.3.3 4.3.4 4.3.5 4.3.5 4.3.7 4.3.8 4.4 4.4.1 4.4.2 4.4.3 4.4.4 4.4.5 4.4.6 4.4.7 4.4.8 4.4.9 4.5 4.5.1 4.5.2 4.5.3 4.5.4 4.6 4.6.1 4.6.3 4.6.2 4.6.4 4.6.5 4.6.6 4.7 5.1 System Time ........................................................ 4-15 System Date ........................................................ 4-15 Language ............................................................. 4-15 Legacy Diskette A ............................................... 4-15 Primary and Secondary IDE Master/Slave ............. 4-16 First, Second, Third, Fourth SATA Master ............ 4-18 HDD SMART Monitoring ......................................... 4-19 Installed Memory ................................................... 4-19 CPU Configuration ................................................. 4-20 PCIPnP ................................................................... 4-23 Onboard Devices Configuration............................. 4-24 SLI Configuration................................................... 4-29 JumperFree Configuration ..................................... 4-30 LAN Cable Status .................................................. 4-32 PEG Link Mode....................................................... 4-33 Speech Configuration ............................................ 4-34 Instant Music ......................................................... 4-34 ACPI Suspend Type ............................................... 4-35 ACPI APIC Support ................................................ 4-35 APM Configuration ................................................ 4-36 Hardware Monitor.................................................. 4-38 Boot Device Priority .............................................. 4-40 Hard Disk Drives .................................................... 4-41 Removable Drives.................................................. 4-41 CDROM Drives ....................................................... 4-42 Boot Settings Configuration ................................ 4-42 Security ................................................................. 4-44 Advanced menu .................................................................. 4-20 Power menu ........................................................................ 4-35 Boot menu .......................................................................... 4-40 Exit menu ............................................................................ 4-46 Installing an operating system .............................................. 5-1 Chapter 5: Software support v Contents 5.2 Support CD information ........................................................ 5-1 5.2.1 5.2.2 5.2.3 5.2.4 5.2.5 5.2.6 5.4 5.4.1 5.4.2 5.4.3 5.4.4 5.5 5.5.1 5.5.2 5.5.3 5.6 5.7 Running the support CD .......................................... 5-1 Drivers menu ........................................................... 5-2 Utilities menu .......................................................... 5-3 Manuals menu ......................................................... 5-5 ASUS Contact information ...................................... 5-6 Other information ................................................... 5-6 ASUS MyLogo2TM ..................................................... 5-9 AI NET 2 ................................................................ 5-11 Using the Virtual Cable TesterTM ........................... 5-11 Audio configurations ............................................. 5-12 Using the NVIDIA® FirewallTM.................................. 5-18 Installing hard disks ............................................... 5-22 NVIDIA® RAID configurations ................................. 5-23 Silicon Image RAID configurations ......................... 5-30 Software information ............................................................ 5-9 RAID configurations ............................................................ 5-21 Creating a RAID driver disk ................................................. 5-40 Cool n Quiet!TM Technology ............................................... 5-41 5.7.1 5.7.2 Enabling Cool n Quiet!TM Technology ................... 5-41 Launching the Cool n Quiet!TM software .............. 5-42 Managing your nForceTM system ............................ 5-43 Clock control ......................................................... 5-44 Voltage/Fan control .............................................. 5-44 Information ........................................................... 5-45 Other options ........................................................ 5-45 Launching the ASUS AI Selector ........................... 5-46 Using the SLI mode ............................................... 5-47 5.8 Using the NVIDIA® nTuneTM utility ....................................... 5-43 5.8.1 5.8.2 5.8.3 5.8.4 5.8.5 5.9 Using the ASUS AI Selector utility ...................................... 5-46 5.9.1 5.9.2 Chapter 6: SLITM technology support 6.1 Overview ............................................................................... 6-1 6.1.1 6.1.2 Requirements .......................................................... 6-1 ASUS Certified SLI Graphics cards .......................... 6-1 vi 6.2 Dual graphics card setup ...................................................... 6-3 6.2.1 6.2.2 6.2.3 6.2.4 Installing SLI-ready graphics cards .......................... 6-3 Setting the SLI mode in BIOS ........................... ...