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:
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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:
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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
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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
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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