Preface
Copyright
This  publication,  including  all  photographs,  illustrations  and  software,  is  protected  under
international  copyright  laws,  with  all  rights  reserved.  Neither  this  manual,  nor  any  of  the
material  contained  herein,  may  be  reproduced  without  written  consent  of  the  author.
Version  3.1
Disclaimer
The  information  in  this  document  is  subject  to  change  without  notice.  The  manufacturer
makes  no  representations  or  warranties  with  respect  to  the  contents  hereof  and  specifically
disclaims  any  implied  warranties  of  merchantability  or  fitness  for  any  particular  purpose.
The  manufacturer  reserves  the  right  to  revise  this  publication  and  to  make  changes  from
time  to  time  in  the  content  hereof  without  obligation  of  the  manufacturer  to  notify  any
person  of  such  revision  or  changes.
Trademark Recognition
Microsoft,  MS-DOS  and  Windows  are  registered  trademarks  of  Microsoft  Corp.
MMX,  Pentium,  Pentium-II,  Pentium-III,  Celeron  are  registered  trademarks  of  Intel  Cor-
poration.
Other  product  names  used  in  this  manual  are  the  properties  of  their  respective  owners  and
are  acknowledged.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
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  reason-
able  protection  against  harmful  interference  in  a  residential  installation.  This  equipment
generates,  uses,  and  can  radiate  radio  frequency  energy  and,  if  not  installed  and  used  in
accordance  with  the  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:
•
•
•
•
Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna
Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver
Connect the equipment onto an outlet on a circuit different from that to which
the  receiver  is  connected
Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help
Shielded  interconnect  cables  and  a  shielded AC  power  cable  must  be  employed  with  this
equipment  to  ensure  compliance  with  the  pertinent  RF  emission  limits  governing  this
device.  Changes  or  modifications  not  expressly  approved  by  the  system’s  manufacturer
could  void  the  user’s  authority  to  operate  the  equipment.
Preface
ii
Declaration of Conformity
This  device  complies  with  part  15  of  the  FCC  rules.  Operation  is  subject  to  the  following
conditions:
•
•
This device may not cause harmful interference, and
This  device  must  accept  any  interference  received,  including  interference
that may cause undesired operation
Canadian Department of Communications
This  class  B  digital  apparatus  meets  all  requirements  of  the  Canadian  Interference-causing
Equipment  Regulations.
Cet  appareil  numérique  de  la  classe  B  respecte  toutes  les  exigences  du  Réglement  sur  le
matériel brouilieur du Canada.
About the Manual
The  manual  consists  of  the  following:
Chapter 1
Introducing the Motherboard
Chapter 2
Installing the Motherboard
Chapter 3
Using BIOS
Describes features of the motherboard.
Go to  page  1
Describes  installation  of  motherboard
components.
Go to  page 7
Provides information on using the BIOS
Setup Utility.
Go to  page  25
Chapter 4
Using the Motherboard Software
Describes  the  motherboard  software
Go to  page  37
Preface
iii
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Preface
                              i
Chapter 1
Introducing the Motherboard
              1
                1
Introduction.................................................................................................1
Feature..........................................................................................................2
Motherboard Components........................................................................4
     7 7 7 7 7
Chapter 2
Installing the Motherboard                                                                                      7
Safety Precautions......................................................................................7
Choosing a Computer Case.......................................................................7
Installing the Motherboard in a Case......................................................7
Checking Jumper Settings.........................................................................8
Setting Jumpers..............................................................................8
Checking Jumper Settings..............................................................9
Jumper Settings..............................................................................9
Connecting Case Components...............................................................10
Front Panel Header.....................................................................12
 Installing Hardware...................................................................................13
Installing the Processor...............................................................14
Installing Memory Modules.........................................................15
Installing a Hard Disk Drive/CD-ROM/SATA Hard Drive........17
Installing a Floppy Diskette Drive...............................................18
Installing Add-on Cards..............................................................19
Connecting Optional Devices......................................................21
Connecting I/O Devices..........................................................................23
Chapter 3
Using BIOS
     25 25 25 25 25
    25
About the Setup Utility............................................................................25
The Standard Configuration........................................................25
Entering the Setup Utility..............................................................25
Updating the BIOS.......................................................................27
Using BIOS................................................................................................27
Standard CMOS Setup.................................................................28
Features Setup.............................................................................30
iv
Power Management Setup...........................................................31
PCI/Plug and Play  Setup.............................................................32
BIOS Security Features................................................................33
CPU PnP Setup............................................................................34
Hardware Monitor.......................................................................35
Load Best Performance Settings..................................................36
Load Optimal Defaults................................................................36
Save Changes and Exit................................................................36
Discard Changes and Exit...........................................................36
Chapter 4
Using the Motherboard Software
     37 37 37 37 37
    37
About the Software CD-ROM................................................................37
Auto-installing under Windows 2000/XP.............................................37
Running Setup..............................................................................38
Manual Installation..................................................................................40
Utility Software Reference.......................................................................40
Multi-Language  Translation
1
Chapter 1
Introducing the Motherboard
Introduction
Thank  you  for  choosing  the  915PL-A2  motherboard.  This  motherboard  is  a  high  perfor-
mance,  enhanced  function  motherboard  that  supports  LGA775  Socket  for  latest  Intel
Pentium  4/Celeron  Processors.
The  motherboard  incorporates  the  915PL  Northbridge  (NB)  and  ICH6  Southbridge  (SB)
chipsets. The  Northbridge  on  this  motherboard  supports  a  Front  Side  Bus  (FSB)  frequency
of  800/533  MHz  using  a  scalable  FSB  Vcc_CPU.    The  momory  controller  supports  DDR
memory DIMM frequencies of 333MHz and 400 MHz.  It supports two DDR Sockets with
up to maximum memory of 2 GB. DDR Maximum memory bandwidth of 3.2 GB/s in single-
channel is supported, or 6.4 GB/s in dual-channel interleaved mode assuming DDR 400MHz.
High  resolution  graphics  via  two  PCI  Express  slots,  intended  for  Graphics  Interface,  are
fully  compliant  to  the  PCI  Express  Base  Specification  revision  1.0a.
The  ICH6  Southbridge  supports  three  PCI  slots  which  are  PCI  2.3  compliant.    In  addition,
one  PCI  Express  x1  slot  is  supported,  fully  compliant  to  the  PCI  Express  Base  Specifica-
tion,  Revision  1.0a.  It  implements  an  EHCI  compliant  interface  that  provides  480Mb/s
bandwidth  for  eight  USB  2.0  ports,  integrates Azalia  codec  supporting Azilia  standard  that
features  an  8-channel  High  Definition Audio  output.    One  onboard  IDE  connector  supports
2 IDE devices in ATA-100/66 mode. The Southbridge integrates a Serial ATA host controller
that is SATA v1.0 compliant, supporting four SATA ports with maximum transfer rate up to
150  MB/s  each  and  LAN  controller  supporting  10/100Mbit/s  ethernet.
The  915PL-A2  motherboard  is  equipped  with  advanced  full  set  of  I/O  ports  in  the  rear
panel,  including  PS/2  mouse  and  keyboard  connectors,  COM1,  LPT1,  four  USB  ports,  one
optional  LAN  port,  and  audio  jacks  for  microphone,  line-in  and  8-ch  line  out.
Introducing the Motherboard
2
Feature
Processor
The  915PL-A2  uses  an  LGA775  type  of  Pentium  4  that  carries  the  following  features:
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Accommodates Intel P4/Celeron processors
Supports a system bus (FSB) of 800/533MHz
Supports “Hyper-Threading” technology CPU
“Hyper-Threading”  technology  enables  the  operating  system  into  thinking  it’s  hooked
up  to  two  processors,  allowing  two  threads  to  be  run  in  parallel,  both  on  separate
“logical”  processors  within  the  same  physical  processor.
Chipset
The  915PL  Northbridge  (NB)  and  ICH6  Southbridge  (SB)  chipsets  are  based  on  an
innovative  and  scalable  architecture  with  proven  reliability  and  performance.
  915PL  (NB)
Supports 32-bit host bus addressing, allowing the CPU to
access the entire 4 GB of the memory address space.
Has  a  12-deep  In-Order  Queue  to  support  up  to  twelve
outstanding piplined address requests on the host bus.
Supports one PCI Express x16 for Graphics Interface, fully
compliant to the PCI Express base Sepcification revision
1.0a
Supports 256-Mb, 512-Mb and 1-Gb DDR technologies for
x8 and x16 devices
•
•
•
•
915PL  chipset  can  only  support  256-Mb,  512-Mb  and  1-Gb  DDR  technologies
for  x8  and  x16  device,  NOT  support  128-Mb  DDR  technology.  That  is,  256  MB
Double  Side  Memory  Module  &  128  MB  Single  Side  Memory  Module  are  NOT
support.
ICH6  (SB)
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Enhanced DMA Controller, interrupt controller, and timer func-
tions
Compliant with PCI Express Base Specification, Revision
1.0a
Compliant with PCI 2.3 specificaiton
Compliant with Serial ATA 1.0a specification
Integrated USB 2.0 Host Controller supporting up to eight
USB 2.0 ports
Integrated LAN controller
Compliant with Azalia specification supporting 8 channels
of audio outputs
Integrated IDE controller supports Ultra ATA100/66/33
Memory
•
•
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Supports DDR 400/333 MHz DDR SDRAM DIMMs
Accommodates  two  unbuffered  DIMMs
Up to 1 GB per DIMM with maximum memory size up to 2 GB
Introducing the Motherboard