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  1.0
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  27
Chapter 4
Using the Motherboard Software
Describes  the  motherboard  software
Go to  page  39
Chapter 5
VIA VT8237 SATA RAID
Setup Guide
Describes  the  information  about  SATA
RAID Setup
Go to  page  43
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 Connector.................................................................12
 Installing Hardware...................................................................................13
Installing the Processor...............................................................13
Installing Memory Modules.........................................................15
Installing a Hard Disk Drive/CD-ROM/SATA Hard Drive........17
Installing a Floppy Diskette Drive...............................................19
Installing Add-on Cards..............................................................20
Connecting Optional Devices......................................................23
Connecting I/O Devices..........................................................................26
Chapter 3
Using BIOS
     27 27 27 27 27
    27
About the Setup Utility............................................................................27
The Standard Configuration........................................................27
Entering the Setup Utility..............................................................27
Updating the BIOS.......................................................................29
Using BIOS................................................................................................29
Standard CMOS Setup.................................................................30
Advanced Setup............................................................................30
Features Setup.............................................................................32
iv
Power Management Setup...........................................................33
PCI/Plug and Play  Setup.............................................................34
BIOS Security Features................................................................35
CPU PnP Setup............................................................................36
Hardware Monitor.......................................................................37
Load Best Performance Settings..................................................38
Load Optimal Defaults................................................................38
Save Changes and Exit................................................................38
Discard Changes and Exit...........................................................38
Chapter 4
Using the Motherboard Software
     39 39 39 39 39
    39
About the Software CD-ROM................................................................39
Auto-installing under Windows 98/ME/2000/XP................................39
Running Setup..............................................................................40
Manual Installation..................................................................................42
Utility Software Reference.......................................................................42
Chapter 5
VIA VT8237 SATA RAID Setup Guide
     43 43 43 43 43
    43
VIA RAID Configurations.......................................................................43
Installing RAID Software & Drives.......................................................51
Using VIA RAID Tool.............................................................................52
Multi-Language  Translation
1
Chapter 1
Introducing the Motherboard
Introduction
Thank  you  for  choosing  the  PT880PRO-A  motherboard.  This  motherboard  is  a  high
performance,  enhanced  function  motherboard  that  supports  LGA775  Pentium  4/Celeron
processors  for  high-end  business  or  personal  desktop  markets.
The  motherboard  incorporates  the  PT880Pro  Northbridge  (NB)  and  VT8237  Southbridge
(SB) chipsets. The Northbridge supports a Front Side Bus (FSB) frequency of 800/533 MHz
FSB  and  Hyper-Threading  technology.   The  momory  controller  supports  DDR  memory
DIMM  frequencies  of  400/333/266  MHz  or  DDR2  memory  DIMM  frequencies  of  533/400
MHz. It supports four 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 8.5 GB/s in dual-channel
interleaved  mode  assuming  DDR2  533  MHz. Aside  from  the  onboard AGP  slot,  one  PCI
Express  Lite  slot,  intended  for  Graphics  Interface,  is  fully  compliant  to  the  PCI  Express
Base  Specification  revision  1.0a.
The  VT8237  Southbridge  is  a  highly  integrated  peripheral  controller,  it  includes  an  inte-
grated  keyboard  controller  with  PS2  mouse  support,  two-channel  Serial ATA/RAID  hard
disk  controller,  master  mode  enhanced  Parallel  IDE  controller  with  full  scatter/gather
capability  and  extension  to  UltraDMA-133/100/66  for  133/100/66  MB/sec  transfer  rate,
integrated  USB  2.0  interface,  supporting  up  to  eight  functional  ports,  and  OnNow/ACPI
compliant  advanced  configuration  and  power  management  interface.    The  VT8237  inte-
grated networking MAC controller with standard MII interface to an external PHY for 100/
10/1Mb  Base-T  Ethernet.
The  PT880PRO-A  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  line  out.
Introducing the Motherboard
2
Feature
Processor
PT880PRO-A  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 PT880Pro Northbridge (NB) and VT8237 Southbridge (SB) chipset is based on an
innovative  and  scalable  architecture  with  proven  reliability  and  performance.
  PT880Pro
    (NB)
•
High  performance  Northbridge  with  800MHz  FSB  for  P4/
Celeron processors plus PCI Express and AGP bus
Ultra V-link 1066 MB/sec high bandwidth North/South Bridge
interconnect
Supports for AGP 8X/4X, AGP v3.0 compliant
Supports one PCI Express Lite slot for Graphics Interface
Advanced  high-performance  128-bit,  Dual-Channel,  DDR
SDRAM controller
•
•
•
•
VT8237(SB)
PT880Pro chipset can only support mixed 2048/1024/512/256/
128/64Mb x8/16 DDR2 SDRAMs or mixed 1024/512/256/128/
64Mb  x8/16  DDR  SDRAMs.
•
•
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Supports  16-bit  66  MHz  V-Link  Host  interface  with  total
bandwidth of 1066 MB/s
Compliant with PCI 2.2 specification at 33 MHz, supporting
up to 6 PCI masters
Integrated Serial ATA Host Controllers, supporting data trans-
fer rates up to 1.5Gb/s
Integrated Dual channel UltraDMA 133/100/66 Master Mode
EIDE Controller
USB 2.0 Controller, supporting up to 8 USB 2.0 ports
Network Controller, supporting enterprise class 100/10 Mb
Fast Ethernet MAC
Integrated keyboard Controller with PS2 mouse support
Memory
•
•
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Supports DDR 400/333/266 MHz or DDR2 533/400 DDR SDRAM DIMMs
Accommodates four unbuffered DIMMs
Up to 1 GB per DIMM with maximum memory size up to 2 GB
Users  please  note  that  DDR  &  DDR2  can’t  both  be  applied  at  the  same  time  on
this  motherboard.  Users  can  use  either  DDR  or  DDR2  memory  modules  only!
Introducing the Motherboard