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
TTTTTABLE OF CONTENTS
ABLE OF CONTENTS
ABLE OF CONTENTS
ABLE OF CONTENTS
ABLE OF CONTENTS
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:
•
•
•
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.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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
•
•
•
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