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ASUS Crosshair II Formula

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Summary of Contents for Crosshair II Formula

Page 1: ...Motherboard Crosshair II Formula ...

Page 2: ...RCHANTABILITY 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...

Page 3: ...2 2 Motherboard overview 2 4 2 2 1 Placement direction 2 4 2 2 2 Screw holes 2 4 2 2 3 Motherboard layout 2 5 2 2 4 Audio card layout 2 5 2 2 5 Layout contents 2 6 2 3 Central Processing Unit CPU 2 8 2 3 1 Installing the CPU 2 8 2 3 2 Installing the heatsink and fan 2 10 2 3 3 Installing the optional fans 2 13 2 4 System memory 2 14 2 4 1 Overview 2 14 2 4 2 Memory configurations 2 15 2 4 3 Instal...

Page 4: ...2 3 2 1 Using the OS shut down function 3 2 3 2 2 Using the dual function power switch 3 2 Chapter 4 BIOS setup 4 1 Managing and updating your BIOS 4 1 4 1 1 ASUS Update utility 4 1 4 1 2 ASUS EZ Flash 2 utility 4 4 4 1 3 Updating the BIOS 4 5 4 1 4 Saving the current BIOS file 4 7 4 1 5 ASUS CrashFree BIOS 2 utility 4 8 4 2 BIOS setup program 4 9 4 2 1 BIOS menu screen 4 10 4 2 2 Menu bar 4 10 4 ...

Page 5: ...ration 4 29 4 5 4 USB Configuration 4 30 4 5 5 IDE Function Setup 4 31 4 5 6 MCP Storage Config 4 31 4 5 7 LCD Poster and Onboard LED Control 4 32 4 6 Power menu 4 34 4 6 1 ACPI Suspend Type 4 34 4 6 2 ACPI APIC support 4 34 4 6 3 APM Configuration 4 35 4 6 4 Hardware Monitor 4 36 4 7 Boot menu 4 40 4 7 1 Boot Device Priority 4 40 4 7 2 Removable Drives 4 41 4 7 3 Hard Disk Drives 4 41 4 7 4 CDROM...

Page 6: ... 5 12 5 3 4 ASUS PC Probe II 5 21 5 3 5 ASUS AI Suite 5 27 5 3 6 ASUS AI Gear 2 5 29 5 3 7 ASUS AI Nap 5 30 5 3 8 ASUS Q Fan Plus 5 31 5 3 9 ASUS AI Booster 2 5 32 5 3 10 CPU Level Up 5 33 5 4 RAID configurations 5 34 5 4 1 RAID definitions 5 34 5 4 2 NVIDIA RAID configurations 5 35 5 5 Creating a RAID driver disk 5 42 5 5 1 Creating a RAID driver disk without entering the OS 5 42 5 5 2 Creating a...

Page 7: ...vii Contents 6 2 NVIDIA Hybrid SLI Technology 6 9 6 2 1 System requirements 6 9 6 2 2 Enabling GeForce Boost and HybridPower 6 10 Appendix Debug code table A 1 Debug code table A 1 ...

Page 8: ...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 receiver Connect the equipment to an outlet on a circuit different from that to which th...

Page 9: ...e power supply is broken do not try to fix it by yourself Contact a qualified service technician or your retailer Operation safety Before installing the motherboard and adding devices on it carefully read all the manuals that came with the package Before using the product make sure all cables are correctly connected and the power cables are not damaged If you detect any damage contact your dealer ...

Page 10: ...e BIOS Setup menus Detailed descriptions of the BIOS parameters are also provided Chapter 5 Software support This chapter describes the contents of the support DVD that comes with the motherboard package Chapter 6 NVIDIA SLI technology support This chapter tells how to install SLI ready PCI Express graphics cards and how to use the SLI and Hybrid SLI features Appendix Debug code table The Appendix...

Page 11: ... key Key1 Key2 Key3 If you must press two or more keys simultaneously the key names are linked with a plus sign Example Ctrl Alt D Command Means that you must type the command exactly as shown then supply the required item or value enclosed in brackets Example At the DOS prompt type the command line format A S DANGER WARNING Information to prevent injury to yourself when trying to complete a task ...

Page 12: ... 512MB Supports HDMI Technology 1080P with a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080 bpp maximum DVI resolution of 1920 x 1200 bpp Supports D Sub with a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1440 bpp 75 Hz Multi VGA output support HDMI DVI D Sub Supports Microsoft DirectX 10 OpenGL 2 0 Pixel Shader 4 0 Support PCIe 2 0 1 0 architecture Expansion Slots 3 x PCIe 2 0 x16 slots support NVIDIA SLI technology dual x16...

Page 13: ... Polymer Capacitors Back Panel I O Ports 1 x HDMI port 1 x VGA port 1 x PS 2 Keyboard purple 1 x S PDIF Out Coaxial Optical 1 x IEEE1394a port 2 x LAN RJ45 ports 6 x USB 2 0 1 1 ports 1 x Clr CMOS switch Internal I O Connectors 3 x USB 2 0 connectors support additional 6 USB 2 0 ports 1 x Floppy disk drive connector 1 x IDE connector for two devices 6 x SATA connectors Use SATA 1 4 connectors for ...

Page 14: ...DMA 133 100 66 cable Floppy disk drive cable Serial ATA cables Serial ATA power cables 2 port USB2 0 IEEE 1394a module ASUS Q Shield Cable ties User s manual Software The hottest 3D game Company of Heroes Opposing Fronts Support DVD Drivers ASUS PC Probe II ASUS Update ASUS AI Suite Futuremark 3DMark 06 Advanced Edition Kaspersky Anti virus software Form Factor ATX Form Factor 12 x 9 6 30 5 cm x 2...

Page 15: ...1 Chapter 1 Product introduction This chapter describes the motherboard features and the new technologies it supports ...

Page 16: ...ASUS Crosshair II Formula Chapter summary 1 1 1 Welcome 1 1 1 2 Package contents 1 1 1 3 Special features 1 2 ...

Page 17: ...ct your retailer 1 2 Package contents Check your motherboard package for the following items Motherboard ASUS Crosshair II Formula I O module USB 2 0 IEEE 1394a module Cables Ultra DMA 133 100 66 cable Floppy disk drive cable Serial ATA cables Serial ATA power cables Accessories LCD Poster SupremeFX II Audio Card HDMI DVI adapter ASUS Q Shield 3 Way SLI bridge ASUS SLI bridge ASUS Optional Fan 3 i...

Page 18: ...ent is critical but risky Acting as the red zone of a tachometer the Voltiminder LED displays the voltage status for CPU SB PCIe bridge and Memory in a intuitive color coded fashion The Voltiminder LED allows quick voltage monitoring for overclockers See pages 2 1 and 2 2 for details Extreme Tweaker Extreme Tweaker is the one stop shop to fine tune your system to optimal performance No matter if y...

Page 19: ...X II delivers an excellent high definition audio experience to the gamers of ROG The SupremeFX II features unique audio innovations for gamers to spot enemies in 3D environment during game play SupremeFX II also provides a special tool to emphasize human voices in games to help make dialogues clearer and audible Noise Filter This feature detects repetitive and stationary noises non voice signals l...

Page 20: ...ritical heat generating components The motherboard uses a special design on the printed circuit board PCB to dissipate heat these critical components generate AI Nap With AI Nap the system can continue running at minimum power and noise when you are temporarily away To wake the system and return to the OS environment simply click the mouse or press a key See page 5 30 for details Optional Fan The ...

Page 21: ...que adapter eliminates the trouble of plugging in one cable at a time making connection quick and accurate See page 2 39 for details ASUS Q Shield The specially designed ASUS Q Shield does without the usual fingers making it convenient and easy to install With better electric conductivity it ideally protects your motherboard against static electricity and shields it against Electronic Magnetic Int...

Page 22: ...upport HyperTransport 3 0 technology provides 2 6 times more bandwidth than HyperTransport 1 0 radically improving system efficiency to create a smoother faster computing environment AMD Socket AM2 Athlon 64 X2 Athlon 64 FX Athlon 64 Sempron CPU support This motherboard supports AMD Socket AM2 single core Athlon 64 Sempron and dual core Athlon 64 X2 Athlon 64 FX processors with 2MB 1MB 512KB L2 ca...

Page 23: ...A 3 Way SLI Scalable Link Interface NVIDIA 3 Way SLI Scalable Link Interface takes advantage of the increased bandwidth of the PCI Express 2 0 bus architecture and features intelligent hardware and software that allows three GPUs to efficiently work together to deliver earth shattering scalable performance For some applications nearly triple performance See Chapter 6 for details HDMI DVI support H...

Page 24: ...EEE 1394a support The IEEE 1394a interface provides high speed digital interface for audio video appliances such as digital television digital video camcorders storage peripherals other PC portable devices See pages 2 27 and 2 32 for details High Definition Audio Enjoy high end sound quality on your PC The onboard 8 channel HD audio High Definition Audio previously codenamed Azalia CODEC enables h...

Page 25: ...ter 2 Hardware information This chapter lists the hardware setup procedures that you have to perform when installing system components It includes description of the jumpers and connectors on the motherboard ...

Page 26: ... 2 2 1 Before you proceed 2 1 2 2 Motherboard overview 2 4 2 3 Central Processing Unit CPU 2 8 2 4 System memory 2 14 2 5 Expansion slots 2 19 2 6 Slide switch 2 23 2 7 Aduio card I O shield and LCD Poster Installation 2 24 2 8 Connectors 2 26 ...

Page 27: ...nstall or remove any component ensure that the ATX power supply is switched off or the power cord is detached from the power supply Failure to do so may cause severe damage to the motherboard peripherals and or components Onboard LEDs The motherboard comes with LEDs that indicate the voltage conditions of CPU memory southbridge and bridge PCIe You may adjust the voltages in BIOS There are also an ...

Page 28: ...Voltage Refer to the illustration below for the LED location and the table below for LED definition Normal green High yellow Crazy red DDR2 Voltage 1 80 2 10 2 12 2 50 2 52 Normal green High yellow Crazy red SB Voltage 1 10 1 30 1 32 1 50 1 52 HT Voltage 1 20 1 40 1 42 1 60 1 62 BR Voltage 1 20 1 40 1 42 1 60 1 62 CROSSHAIR II FORMULA RESET CROSSHAIR II FORMULA DDR LED DDR_CRAZY DDR_HIGH DDR_NORMA...

Page 29: ...does not function 5 Power LED The motherboard comes with a power on switch that lights up to indicate that the system is ON in sleep mode or in soft off mode This is a reminder that you should shut down the system and unplug the power cable before removing or plugging in any motherboard component The illustration below shows the location of the onboard power on switch CROSSHAIR II FORMULA RESET CR...

Page 30: ...se you physical injury and damage motherboard components DO NOT overtighten the screws Doing so can damage the motherboard 2 2 1 Placement direction When installing the motherboard make sure that you place it into the chassis in the correct orientation The edge with external ports goes to the rear part of the chassis as indicated in the image below 2 2 2 Screw holes Place nine 9 screws into the ho...

Page 31: ...3 OPT_FAN2 OPT_FAN1 OPT_TEMP2 OPT_TEMP1 CHA_FAN3 USB78 USB1112 IE1394_2 USB910 PRI_IDE CHASSIS CLR_SW HD_LED ROG BIOS PANEL PCIEX1_1 88E1116 VIA VT6308P 88E8056 PCIEX1_2 EATXPWR SB_CRAZY SB_HIGH SB_NORMAL CPU_CRAZY CPU_HIGH CPU_NORMAL BR_CRAZY BR_HIGH BR_NORMAL DDR_CRAZY DDR_HIGH DDR_NORMAL CPU_FAN LAN1_USB12 LAN2_USB34 SOCKET AM2 AM2 Lithium Cell CMOS Power VGA_HDMI E1394 NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI N...

Page 32: ...PDIF Out port 2 26 3 VGA port 2 26 4 LAN 1 2 RJ 45 port 2 26 5 Line In port light blue 2 27 6 Line Out port lime 2 27 7 Microphone port pink 2 27 8 Center Subwoofer port orange 2 27 9 Rear Speaker Out port black 2 27 10 Side Speaker Out port gray 2 27 11 USB 2 0 ports 1 and 2 2 27 12 IEEE 1394a port 2 27 13 USB 2 0 ports 3 and 4 2 27 14 HDMI port 2 28 15 Optical S PDIF Out port 2 28 16 USB 2 0 por...

Page 33: ... 10 1 pin IE1394_2 2 32 6 Thermal sensor cable connectors 2 pin OPT_TEMP1 2 3 2 32 7 CPU chassis and optional fan connectors 4 pin CPU_FAN 3 pin CHA_FAN1 3 3 pin PWR_FAN 3 pin OPT_FAN1 3 2 33 8 Chassis intrusion connector 4 1 pin CHASSIS 2 34 9 Digital audio connector 4 1 pin SPDIF_OUT for ASUS HDMI VGA card 2 34 10 ATX power connectors 24 pin EATXPWR 8 pin EATX12V 2 35 11 ROG connector 2 pin ROG ...

Page 34: ...es with an AM2 AM2 socket designed for AMD Socket AM2 Phenom FX Phenom Athlon Sempron processor or for Socket AM2 Athlon 64 X2 Athlon 64 FX Athlon 64 Sempron processor Socket lever The AM2 AM2 socket has a different pinout from the 940 pin socket designed for the AMD Opteron processor Make sure you use a CPU designed for the AM2 AM2 socket The CPU fits in only one correct orientation DO NOT force ...

Page 35: ...h a small triangle 4 Carefully insert the CPU into the socket until it fits in place 5 When the CPU is in place push down the socket lever to secure the CPU The lever clicks on the side tab to indicate that it is locked 6 Install a CPU heatsink and fan following the instructions that came with the heatsink package Gold triangle Small triangle ...

Page 36: ... bracket Your boxed CPU heatsink and fan assembly should come with installation instructions for the CPU heatsink and the retention mechanism If the instructions in this section do not match the CPU documentation follow the latter The retention module base is already installed on the motherboard upon purchase You do not have to remove the retention module base when installing the CPU or installing...

Page 37: ...acket lock to the retention module base A clicking sound denotes that the retention bracket is in place 4 Push down the retention bracket lock on the retention mechanism to secure the heatsink and fan to the module base Make sure that the fan and heatsink assembly perfectly fits the retention mechanism module base otherwise you cannot snap the retention bracket in place ...

Page 38: ... labeled CPU_FAN Do not forget to connect the CPU fan connector Hardware monitoring errors can occur if you fail to plug this connector This connector is backward compatiable with old 3 pin CPU fan CROSSHAIR II FORMULA RESET CROSSHAIR II FORMULA CPU fan CPU_FAN CPU FAN PWM CPU FAN IN CPU FAN PWR GND CPU_FAN CPU FAN PWM CPU FAN IN CPU FAN PWR GND ...

Page 39: ...ize the system 1 Position the fan above the pipe and heatsink assembly 2 Fit the fan to the grooved edge of the heatsink 3 Carefully push down the fan until it snugly fits the heatsink then connect the fan cable 4 The photo shows the fan installed on the motherboard Plug the optional fan cable to the CHA_FAN1 2 connector on the motherboard Make sure the optional fan is installed correctly to preve...

Page 40: ... DIMM_B2 2 4 System memory 2 4 1 Overview The motherboard comes with four Double Data Rate 2 DDR2 Dual Inline Memory Modules DIMM sockets The figure illustrates the location of the DDR2 DIMM sockets CROSSHAIR II FORMULA RESET CROSSHAIR II FORMULA 240 pin DDR2 DIMM sockets DIMM_A1 DIMM_A2 DIMM_B1 DIMM_B2 ...

Page 41: ...ystem may only recognize less than 3GB because the address space is reserved for other critical functions This limitation appears on Windows XP Vista 32 bit operation system which does not support Physical Address Extension PAE If you install Windows XP Vista 32 bit operation system a total memory of less than 3GB is recommended This motherboard does not support memory modules made up of 128 Mb ch...

Page 42: ...564U64CP8 S5 1024MB Hynix HY5PS12821CFP S5 5 5 5 DS HYMP512U64CP8 S5 1024MB CORSAIR Heat Sink Package 4 DS CM2X1024 6400C4 1024MB ELPIDA E1108AB 8E E ECC 5 SS EBE10EE8ABFA 8E E 2048MB ELPIDA E1108AB 8E E ECC 5 DS EBE21EE8ABFA 8E E 1024MB Crucial Heat Sink Package 4 DS BL12864AA804 16FD 1024MB Crucial Heat Sink Package 4 DS BL12864AL804 16FD3 1024MB Crucial Heat Sink Package 4 DS BL12864AA804 16FD3...

Page 43: ...4MB A DATA AD29608A8A 3EG 5 DS M2OAD5G3I4176I1C52 2048MB A DATA NT5TU128M8BJ 3C N A DS M2ONY5H3J4170I1C5Z 512MB crucial Heat Sink Package 3 SS BL6464AA663 8FD 1024MB crucial Heat Sink Package 3 DS BL12864AA663 16FD 1024MB crucial Heat Sink Package 3 DS BL12864AL664 16FD 1024MB crucial Heat Sink Package 3 DS BL12864AA663 16FD2 512MB Apacer AM4B5708JQJS7E N A SS 78 91G92 9K5 1024MB Apacer AM4B5808CQ...

Page 44: ...he retaining clips snap back in place and the DIMM is properly seated 2 4 4 Removing a DIMM To remove a DIMM 1 Simultaneously press the retaining clips outward to unlock the DIMM 2 Remove the DIMM from the socket Support the DIMM lightly with your fingers when pressing the retaining clips The DIMM might get damaged when it flips out with extra force Unlocked retaining clip DDR2 DIMM notch 1 2 3 1 ...

Page 45: ...ure the card to the chassis with the screw you removed earlier 6 Replace the system cover 2 5 2 Configuring an expansion card After installing the expansion card configure it by adjusting the software settings 1 Turn on the system and change the necessary BIOS settings if any See Chapter 4 for information on BIOS setup 2 Assign an IRQ to the card Refer to the tables on the next page 3 Install the ...

Page 46: ...Q Holder for PCI Steering 10 5 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering 11 6 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering 12 7 Reserved 13 8 Numeric Data Processor 14 9 Primary IDE Channel IRQ assignments for this motherboard A B C D E F G H PCIE x16_1 shared shared shared shared PCIE x16_2 shared shared shared shared PCIE x16_3 shared shared shared shared USB 1 0 controller 1 shared USB 1 0 controller 2 shared USB 1 0 control...

Page 47: ... other compatible cards to the black PCIe x1 slot Install a PCIe x1 device to a PCIe x1 slot prior to a PCIe x16 slot 2 5 6 PCI Express x16 slots This motherboard has three PCI Express x16 slots that support PCI Express x16 graphic cards complying with the PCI Express specifications With three graphics cards installed the motherboard can enable multi display All of the three PCI Express x16 slots ...

Page 48: ... your display to the onboard VGA port or the HDMI DVI port at the rear panel Refer to 2 8 1 Rear panel connectors for details Connect a rear chassis fan to the motherboard connector labeled OPT_FAN1 2 when using multiple graphics cards for better thermal environment See page 2 32 for details We recommend that you provide sufficient power when running NVIDIA SLI mode See page 2 34 for details Prima...

Page 49: ...f the jumper cap on CLRTC_SW is moved to the Disable position but the shutdwon function in S0 mode DOS mode still works Make sure to re enter your previous BIOS settings after you clear the CMOS You do not need to clear the RTC when the system hangs due to CPU overclocking With the C P R CPU Parameter Recall feature shut down and reboot the system so the BIOS can automatically reset CPU parameter ...

Page 50: ...ion 2 7 1 Audio card Installation 1 Take out the Audio card from the package 2 Locate the audio slot on the motherboard 3 Align the card connector with the slot and press firmly until the card sits on the slot completely 4 The photo below shows the audio card installed on the motherboard ...

Page 51: ...nto the onboard connector labeled LCD_CON 2 7 2 I O shield and LCD Poster Installation 1 Install the I O shield to the chassis by snapping it in place from inside 2 Orient the motherboard and install it to the chassis Make sure that the motherboard external ports fit the I O openings 5 Place the LCD Poster on the chassis or to wherever you like ...

Page 52: ...N through a network hub Refer to the table below for the LAN port LED indications 32 bit OS LAN port LED indications Blinking Activity Link Speed LED Description OFF OFF Soft off Mode YELLOW OFF During Power ON OFF YELLOW ORANGE 100 Mbps connection YELLOW GREEN 1 Gbps connection 64 bit OS LAN port LED indications Activity Link Speed LED Description OFF OFF Soft off Mode YELLOW OFF During Power ON ...

Page 53: ...Refer to the audio configuration table on the next page for the function of the audio ports in 2 4 6 or 8 channel configuration Audio 2 4 6 or 8 channel configuration Port Headset 2 channel 4 channel 6 channel 8 channel Light Blue Line In Line In Line In Line In Lime Line Out Front Speaker Out Front Speaker Out Front Speaker Out Pink Mic In Mic In Mic In Mic In Orange Center Subwoofer Center Subwo...

Page 54: ...ts are available for connecting USB 2 0 devices 17 Clear CMOS switch Press the clear CMOS switch to clear setup information when the system hangs due to overclocking Before enabling the HybridPower function ensure that you have connected your display to the onboard VGA port or the HDMI DVI port at the rear panel Playback of HD DVD and Blu Ray Discs The speed and bandwidth of the CPU Memory DVD pla...

Page 55: ...or Single device Cable Select or Master Black Two devices Cable Select Master Black Slave Gray Master Master Black or gray Slave Slave CROSSHAIR II FORMULA RESET PRI_IDE NOTE Orient the red markings on the IDE ribbon cable to PIN 1 PIN1 CROSSHAIR II FORMULA IDE connector 2 8 2 Internal connectors 1 IDE connector 40 1 pin PRI_IDE The onboard IDE connector is for the Ultra DMA 133 100 66 signal cabl...

Page 56: ...use at least four hard disk drives Use two to four Serial ATA hard disk drives for each RAID 0 or RAID 1 set Before creating a RAID set refer to 5 4 2 NVIDIA RAID configurations or the manual bundled in the motherboard support DVD You must install the Windows XP Service Pack 1 before using Serial ATA hard disk drives The Serial ATA RAID feature RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 5 RAID 10 is available only if you...

Page 57: ...disk drive connector 34 1 pin FLOPPY This connector is for the provided floppy disk drive FDD signal cable Insert one end of the cable to this connector then connect the other end to the signal connector at the back of the floppy disk drive Pin 5 on the connector is removed to prevent incorrect cable connection when using a FDD cable with a covered Pin 5 CROSSHAIR II FORMULA RESET FLOPPY NOTE Orie...

Page 58: ...connectors are for temperature monitoring Connect the thermal sensor cables to these connectors and place the other ends to the devices which you want to monitor temperature The optional fan1 2 3 can work with the temperature sensors for a better cooling effect The thermal sensor cable is purchased separately Enable OPT1 2 3 Cable Overheat Protection in BIOS if you connect thermal sensor cables to...

Page 59: ... These are not jumpers DO NOT place jumper caps on the fan connectors Only the CPU_FAN CHA_FAN1 3 and OPT_FAN1 3 connectors support the ASUS Q Fan Plus feature If you install multiple VGA cards we recommend that you plug the chassis fan cable to the motherboard connector labled OPT_FAN1 2 for better thermal environment CROSSHAIR II FORMULA RESET PWR_FAN Rotation 12V GND CHA_FAN1 Rotation 12V GND C...

Page 60: ...d are shorted with a jumper cap Remove the jumper caps only when you intend to use the chassis intrusion detection feature 9 Digital audio connector 4 1 pin SPDIF_OUT for ASUS HDMI VGA card This connector is for an additional Sony Philips Digital Interface S PDIF port s If you are using an ASUS HDMI equipped graphics card connect the HDMI card to this connector with a S PDIF Out cable The ASUS HDM...

Page 61: ...ore high end PCI Express x16 cards use a PSU with 1000 W power or above to ensure the system stability If you want to use 3 Way SLI configuration visit the NVIDIA website www nvidia com for the qualified PSU vendor list 10 ATX power connectors 24 pin EATXPWR 8 pin EATX12V These connectors are for ATX power supply plugs The power supply plugs are designed to fit these connectors in only one orienta...

Page 62: ...98 80 52 SATA HDD IDE CDROM IDE HDD USB Total PSU Quantity 6 1 1 4 Po_max w Power 10 45 10 12 68 2 5 698 127 Total Power 62 7 10 12 68 10 Normal Loading CPU Athlon 64 X2 5000 Memory 1 GB 4 VGA 8800 Ultra 2 SATA HDD 4 IDE CDROM 1 IDE HDD 0 USB 4 12V_8Pin 12V_24pin 5V_24pin 3V_24pin 12V_VGA1 12V_VGA2 12V_VGA3 Voltage V 12 14 12 21 5 225 3 455 12 2 12 2 Current A 6 74 8 92 6 22 6 87 6 52 6 82 Power W...

Page 63: ...ULA RESET CROSSHAIR II FORMULA ROG connector Light Loading CPU Sempron 1100 Memory 1 GB 2 VGA 8800 Ultra 1 SATA HDD 2 IDE CDROM 1 IDE HDD 0 USB 4 12V_8Pin 12V_24pin 5V_24pin 3V_24pin 12V_VGA1 12V_VGA2 12V_VGA3 Voltage V 12 19 12 21 5 22 3 456 12 16 Current A 3 19 5 55 5 04 5 36 6 5 Power W 38 886 67 766 26 309 18 524 79 04 0 0 SATA HDD IDE CDROM IDE HDD USB Total PSU Quantity 2 1 0 4 Po_max w Powe...

Page 64: ...er allows you to hear system beeps and warnings ATX power button soft off button 2 pin PWRSW This connector is for the system power button Pressing the power button turns the system on or puts the system in sleep or soft off mode depending on the BIOS settings Pressing the power switch for more than four seconds while the system is ON turns the system OFF Reset button 2 pin RESET This 2 pin connec...

Page 65: ...nect the front panel cables to the ASUS Q Connector Refer to the labels on the Q Connector to know the detailed pin definitions then match them to the respective front panel cable labels 2 Install the ASUS Q Connector to the system panel connector making sure the orientation matches the labels on the motherboard 3 The front panel functions are now enabled The figure shows the Q Connector properly ...

Page 66: ...is ideal for overclockers and gamers who continually change settings to enhance system performance 1 Power on switch Press the power on switch to wake power up the system 2 Reset switch Press the reset switch to reboot the system CROSSHAIR II FORMULA RESET CROSSHAIR II FORMULA Power on switch CROSSHAIR II FORMULA RESET CROSSHAIR II FORMULA Reset switch RESET ...

Page 67: ...3 Chapter 3 Powering up This chapter describes the power up sequence the vocal POST messages and ways of shutting down the system ...

Page 68: ...ASUS Crosshair II Formula Chapter summary 3 3 1 Starting up for the first time 3 1 3 2 Turning off the computer 3 2 ...

Page 69: ...the system power LED on the system front panel case lights up For systems with ATX power supplies the system LED lights up when you press the ATX power button If your monitor complies with green standards or if it has a power standby feature the monitor LED may light up or switch between orange and green after the system LED turns on The system then runs the power on self tests or POST If you do n...

Page 70: ...Turn Off Computer 2 Click the Turn Off button to shut down the computer 3 The power supply should turn off after Windows shuts down 3 2 2 Using the dual function power switch While the system is ON pressing the power switch for less than four seconds puts the system to sleep mode or to soft off mode depending on the BIOS setting Pressing the power switch for more than four seconds lets the system ...

Page 71: ...4 Chapter 4 BIOS setup This chapter tells how to change the system settings through the BIOS Setup menus Detailed descriptions of the BIOS parameters are also provided ...

Page 72: ...air II Formula 4 1 Managing and updating your BIOS 4 1 4 2 BIOS setup program 4 9 4 3 Extreme Tweaker menu 4 13 4 4 Main menu 4 22 4 5 Advanced menu 4 27 4 6 Power menu 4 34 4 7 Boot menu 4 40 4 8 Tools menu 4 45 4 9 Exit menu 4 48 ...

Page 73: ... BIOS in the future Copy the original motherboard BIOS using the ASUS Update or Award BIOS Flash utilities Installing ASUS Update To install ASUS Update 1 Place the support DVD in the optical drive The Drivers menu appears 2 Click the Utilities tab then click Install ASUS Update VX XX XX 3 The ASUS Update utility is copied to your system 4 1 1 ASUS Update utility The ASUS Update is a utility that ...

Page 74: ...rk traffic or click Auto Select Click Next Updating the BIOS through the Internet To update the BIOS through the Internet 1 Launch the ASUS Update utility from the Windows desktop by clicking Start Programs ASUS ASUSUpdate ASUSUpdate The ASUS Update main window appears 2 Select Update BIOS from the Internet option from the drop down menu then click Next ...

Page 75: ...from a file option from the drop down menu then click Next 4 From the FTP site select the BIOS version that you wish to download Click Next 5 Follow the screen instructions to complete the update process The ASUS Update utility is capable of updating itself through the Internet Always update the utility to avail all its features 3 Locate the BIOS file from the Open window then click Open 4 Follow ...

Page 76: ...sing Alt F2 during the Power On Self Tests POST 2 Enter BIOS setup program Go to the Tools menu to select EZ Flash2 and press Enter to enable it You can switch between drives by pressing Tab before the correct file is found Then press Enter ASUSTek EZ Flash 2 BIOS ROM Utility B327 FLASH TYPE MXIC MX25L8005 8Mb SPI BOARD CROSSHAIR II FORMULA VER 0114 DATE 02 27 2008 Current ROM Update ROM BOARD Unk...

Page 77: ...OM or a USB flash disk you created earlier 4 Under the DOS mode use X X stands for the name of the disk assignment to switch to the folder of CD ROM or USB flash disk you saved the BIOS file and AwardBIOS Flash Utility 5 At the prompt type awdflash then press Enter The Award BIOS Flash Utility screen appears AwardBIOS Flash Utility for ASUS V1 18 C Phoenix Technologies Ltd All Rights Reserved Mess...

Page 78: ...e the disk then press F1 to restart the system AwardBIOS Flash Utility for ASUS V1 18 C Phoenix Technologies Ltd All Rights Reserved F1 Reset For MCP72XE CROSSHAIRII 00 DATE 02 15 2008 Flash Type MXIC MX25L8005 SPI File Name to Program 0109 bin Flashing Complete Press F1 to Continue Write OK No Update Write Fail AwardBIOS Flash Utility for ASUS V1 18 C Phoenix Technologies Ltd All Rights Reserved ...

Page 79: ...flashing process AwardBIOS Flash Utility for ASUS V1 18 C Phoenix Technologies Ltd All Rights Reserved Message For MCP72XE CROSSHAIRII 00 DATE 02 15 2008 Flash Type MXIC MX25L8005 SPI File Name to Program 0109 bin Save current BIOS as AwardBIOS Flash Utility for ASUS V1 18 C Phoenix Technologies Ltd All Rights Reserved Message Please Wait For MCP72XE CROSSHAIRII 00 DATE 02 15 2008 Flash Type MXIC ...

Page 80: ... Restart the system after the utility completes the updating process Only the USB flash disk with FAT 32 16 12 format and single partition can support ASUS CrashFree BIOS 2 The device size should be smaller than 8GB DO NOT shut down or reset the system while updating the BIOS Doing so can cause system boot failure Award BootBlock BIOS v1 0 Copyright c 2000 Award Software Inc BIOS ROM checksum erro...

Page 81: ... this program Press Del during the Power On Self Test POST to enter the Setup utility otherwise POST continues with its test routines If you wish to enter Setup after POST restart the system by pressing Ctrl Alt Delete or by pressing the reset button on the system chassis You can also restart by turning the system off and then back on Do this last option only if the first two failed The Setup prog...

Page 82: ...Usable Memory 191MB System Information 4 2 2 Menu bar The menu bar on top of the screen has the following main items Main For changing the basic system configuration Extreme Tweaker For changing the overclocking settings Advanced For changing the advanced system settings Power For changing the advanced power management APM configuration Boot For changing the system boot configuration Tools For con...

Page 83: ...highlighted when selected To change the value of a field select it then press Enter to display a list of options Refer to 4 2 7 Pop up window 4 2 3 Legend bar At the bottom of the Setup screen is a legend bar The keys in the legend bar allow you to navigate through the various setup menus The following table lists the keys found in the legend bar with their corresponding functions Navigation Key F...

Page 84: ...ect Item Change Value F5 Setup Defaults ESC Exit Select Menu Enter Select SubMenu F10 Save and Exit System Time 15 30 36 System Date Thu Feb 21 2008 Language English Legacy Diskette A Primary IDE Master None Primary IDE Slave None SATA 1 None SATA 2 None SATA 3 None SATA 4 None HDD SMART Monitoring Disabled Installed Memory 1024MB Usable Memory 1023MB System Information Legacy Diskette A Disabled ...

Page 85: ...Disabled x SLI Ready Memory CPUOC CPUOC o Vcore Voltage Auto VDDNB Voltage Auto DDR2 Voltage Auto SB Voltage Auto HT Voltage Auto VDDA Voltage Auto BR Voltage Auto Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Extreme Tweaker Main Advanced Power Boot Tools Exit 4 3 1 Configuring System Performance Settings CPU Level Up Auto Allows you to select a CPU level and the related parameters will be automatically a...

Page 86: ... vary with your CPU model Configuration options Auto 5x 5 5x 6x 6 5x 9 5x 10x 10 5x K8 NB HT Speed Auto The configuration options may vary with your CPU model Configuration options Auto 200 MHz 400 MHz 600 MHz 800 MHz 1 GHz AI Tuning Auto Allows selection of CPU overclocking options to achieve desired CPU internal frequency Select any one of the preset overclocking configuration options Manual All...

Page 87: ...rcd Auto Configuration options Auto 3 4 5 6 Trp Auto Configuration options Auto 3 4 5 6 Tras Auto Configuration options Auto 5 6 18 1T 2T Memory Timing Auto Configuration options Auto 1T 2T Select Menu Item Specific Help Setting platform Memclock or limit value Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Extreme Tweaker F1 Help Select Item Change Value F5 Setup Defaults ESC Exit Select Menu Enter Select ...

Page 88: ...you set AI Clock Skew to Manual Channel A Channel B Clock Skew Normal Configuration options Advance 900ps Advance 750ps Advance 600ps Advance 450ps Advance 300ps Advance 150ps Normal Delay 150ps Delay 300ps Delay 450ps Delay 600ps Delay 750ps Delay 900ps Advance Memory Settings CPU On die Termination Auto Configuration options Auto 300 ohm 150 ohm 75 ohm Trc Auto Configuration options Auto 11 12 2...

Page 89: ...Delay Auto Configuration options Auto No Delay 1 64 MEMCLK delay 2 64 MEMCLK delay 3 64 MEMCLK delay 30 64 MEMCLK delay 31 64 MEMCLK delay CKE Setup Time Auto Configuration options Auto 1 2 MEMCLK 1 MEMCLK CS ODT Fine Delay Auto Configuration options Auto No Delay 1 64 MEMCLK delay 2 64 MEMCLK delay 3 64 MEMCLK delay 30 64 MEMCLK delay 31 64 MEMCLK delay CS ODT Setup Time Auto Configuration option...

Page 90: ... 8000V 0 8125V 1 9750V 1 9875V 2 0000V Write Data Timing Control Auto Configuration options Auto No Delay 1 96 MEMCLK delay 2 96 MEMCLK delay 3 96 MEMCLK delay 46 96 MEMCLK delay 47 96 MEMCLK delay DQS Receiver Enable Timing Auto Configuration options Auto 0 ps 50 ps 100 ps 150 ps 8650 ps 8700 ps Output Driver Control CKE Drive Strength Auto Configuration options Auto 1 00x 1 25x 1 50x 2 00x CS OD...

Page 91: ...LED Selection item to SB Voltage the onboard Southbridge LED displays Southbridge voltage condition Refer to page 2 2 for Southbridge LED definition Configuration options Auto 1 10V 1 12V 1 14V 1 16V 2 98V 3 00V HT Voltage Auto Allows you to select the HT voltage The text color in the configuration field corresponds to the onboard Southbridge LED color both of which indicate voltage condition When...

Page 92: ...er Overclocking CPU Type AMD Phenom tm 8400 Triple Core Processor CPU Speed 2100MHz Cache RAM L2 512K x3 Cache RAM L3 2048K AMD Virtualization Enabled AMD Live Disabled AMD Cool n Quiet Function Disabled Cache Mapping Cycle Auto CPU Instruction Fetch Auto CPU DownCore Control Disabled AMD Virtualization Enabled Enabling this functions allows hardware capabilities to run several 386 virtual machine...

Page 93: ...Spectrum Disabled Configuration options Disabled Down Spread SATA Spread Spectrum Down Spread Configuration options Disabled Down Spread Select Menu Item Specific Help Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Extreme Tweaker Spread Spectrum Control CPU Spread Spectrum Disabled PCIE Spread Spectrum Disabled SATA Spread Spectrum Down Spread ...

Page 94: ...French Deutsch Chinese Trad Chinese Simp Japanese 4 4 4 Legacy Diskette A 1 44M 3 5 in Sets the type of floppy drive installed Configuration options Disabled 720K 3 5 in 1 44M 3 5 in Select Menu Item Specific Help Change the internal time Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Extreme Tweaker Main Advanced Power Boot Tools Exit F1 Help Select Item Change Value F5 Setup Defaults ESC Exit Select Menu ...

Page 95: ...ary IDE Master Slave Auto Select Auto to automatically detect an IDE hard disk drive If automatic detection is successful the BIOS automatically fills in the correct values for the remaining fields on this sub menu If the hard disk was already formatted on a previous system the setup BIOS may detect incorrect parameters Select Manual to manually enter the IDE hard disk drive parameters If no drive...

Page 96: ...ic detection of an IDE hard disk drive Select CHS for this item if you set the IDE Primary Master Slave to Manual Configuration options CHS LBA Large Auto Before attempting to configure a hard disk drive make sure you have the correct configuration information supplied by the drive manufacturer Incorrect settings may cause the system to fail to recognize the installed hard disk After entering the ...

Page 97: ...to configure a hard disk drive make sure you have the correct configuration information supplied by the drive manufacturer Incorrect settings may cause the system to fail to recognize the installed hard disk Capacity Displays the auto detected hard disk capacity This item is not configurable Cylinder Shows the number of the hard disk cylinders This item is not configurable Head Shows the number of...

Page 98: ...e the HDD Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology SMART feature Configuration options Disabled Enabled 4 4 8 Installed Memory xxx MB Shows the size of installed memory 4 4 9 Usable Memory xxx MB Shows the size of usable memory 4 4 10 System Information This menu gives you an overview of the general system specifications The BIOS automatically detects the items in this menu Select Menu It...

Page 99: ...er Boot Tools Exit F1 Help Select Item Change Value F5 Setup Defaults ESC Exit Select Menu Enter Select SubMenu F10 Save and Exit AI NET 2 PCIPnP Onboard Device Configuration USB Configuration IDE Function Setup MCP Storage Config LCD Poster and Onboard LED Control Select Menu Item Specific Help Enable or Disable LAN cable check during POST Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Advanced F1 Help Sel...

Page 100: ...igure non boot devices Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Advanced PCIPnP Plug Play O S No Resources Controlled By Auto x IRQ Resources PCI Express relative items Maximum payload Size 4096 IRQ xx assigned to When set to PCI Device the specific IRQ is free for use of PCI PnP devices When set to Reserved the IRQ is reserved for legacy ISA devices Configuration options PCI Device Reserved Maximum P...

Page 101: ... Hybrid SLI mode Configuration options Enabled Disabled iGPU Frame Buffer Control Auto Configuration options Auto Manual The following item becomes configurable when you set iGPU Frame Buffer Control to Manual Frame Buffer Size 64M Configuration options 64M 128M 256M 512M Onboard GPU Auto Set this item to Auto to disable onboard GPU and frame buffer if you install external graphics cards Configura...

Page 102: ... USB Controller Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the onchip USB controller Configuration options Disabled Enabled USB 2 0 Controller Enabled Allows you to enable or disable the USB 2 0 controller Configuration options Disabled Enabled USB Legacy Support Enabled Allows you to enable or disable support for USB devices on legacy operating systems OS Configuration options Disabled Enabled Selec...

Page 103: ...n options Disabled Enabled Select Menu Item Specific Help Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Advanced IDE Function Setup OnChip IDE Channel0 Enabled IDE DMA transfer access Enabled SATA Controller Enabled IDE Prefetch Mode Enabled 4 5 6 MCP Storage Config This sub menu allows you to change Serial ATA settings Select an item then press Enter to edit SATA Operation Mode IDE Sets the configuration ...

Page 104: ...t setting IDE If you want the Serial ATA hard disk drives to use the Advanced Host Controller Interface AHCI set this item to AHCI Use SATA 1 4 connectors for IDE mode SATA 5 6 connectors support AHCI mode and RAID mode only Make sure to install the AHCI driver or RAID driver in the bundled support DVD before connecting devices to SATA 5 6 connectors Otherwise the devices will not work 4 5 7 LCD P...

Page 105: ...led LCD Poster Mode Current Time Allows you to select the LCD Poster mode Configuration options Current Time User String The following item becomes configurable when you set LCD Poster Mode to User String LCD Poster String Allows you to enter a string that will be displayed on the LCD Poster Highlight this item and press Enter to enter your string with the keypad ...

Page 106: ... S3 STR S1 S3 4 6 2 ACPI APIC support Enabled This item is enabled by default It enables the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface ACPI support in the Application Specific Integrated Circuit ASIC The ACPI APIC table pointer is included in the RSDT pointer list Select Menu Item Specific Help Select the ACPI state used for System Suspend Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Extreme Tweaker Main...

Page 107: ... Alarm and Time hh mm ss Alarm items become user configurable with set values Configuration options Disabled Enabled Date of Month Alarm XX To set the date of alarm highlight this item and press Enter to display the Date of Month Alarm pop up menu Key in a value within the specified range then press Enter Value 0 means everyday Configuration options Min 0 Max 31 Select Menu Item Specific Help Pres...

Page 108: ...res an ATX power supply that provides at least 1A on the 5VSB lead Configuration options Disabled Space Bar Ctrl ESC Power Key 4 6 4 Hardware Monitor The items in this sub menu displays the hardware monitor values automatically detected by the BIOS It also allows you to change CPU Q Fan feature related parameters Select an item then press Enter to display the configuration options Select Menu Item...

Page 109: ... set Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Power F1 Help Select Item Change Value F5 Setup Defaults ESC Exit Select Menu Enter Select SubMenu F10 Save and Exit Voltage Monitor Vcore Voltage 1 32V VDDNB Voltage 1 52V DDR2 Voltage 1 96V SB Voltage 1 26V HT Voltage 1 50V VDDA Voltage 2 46V BR Voltage 1 21V DDR Term Voltage 0 99V 3 3V Voltage 2 89V 5V Voltage 4 66V 12V Voltage 11 64V Select Menu Item S...

Page 110: ...T_FAN1 Speed 0 RPM OPT_FAN2 Speed 0 RPM OPT_FAN3 Speed 0 RPM PWR FAN Speed 0 RPM CHA_FAN3 Speed 0 RPM Select Menu Item Specific Help Select Fan Control mode Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Power F1 Help Select Item Change Value F5 Setup Defaults ESC Exit Select Menu Enter Select SubMenu F10 Save and Exit Fan Speed Control CPU FAN Control Duty Cycle Mode CPU FAN Duty Cycle 100 CHA_FAN3 Control...

Page 111: ...Allows you to select the fan control mode Configuration options Duty Cycle Mode Q FAN Mode OPT FAN1 2 3 Duty Cycle 100 Allows you to set the fan duty cycle This item becomes configurable when you set the OPT FAN1 2 3 Control item to Duty Cycle Mode Configuration options 60 70 80 90 100 OPT Fan1 2 3 Target Temperature 40ºC 104ºF Allows the Q Fan to sense the temperature of fans connected to OPT Fan...

Page 112: ... Help Select Item Change Value F5 Setup Defaults ESC Exit Select Menu Enter Select SubMenu F10 Save and Exit Boot Device Priority Removable Drives Hard Disk Drives CDROM Drives Boot Settings Configuration Security Select Menu Item Specific Help Select Your Boot Device Priority Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Main Extreme Tweaker Advanced Power Boot Tools Exit Boot Device Priority 1st Boot Dev...

Page 113: ...xit this menu Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Main Extreme Tweaker Advanced Power Boot Tools Exit Removable Drives 1 Floppy Disks Select Menu Item Specific Help Use or to select a device then press to move it up or to move it down the list Press ESC to exit this menu Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Main Extreme Tweaker Advanced Power Boot Tools Exit Hard Disk Drives 1 SATA 1 XXXXXXXXX Se...

Page 114: ... keystroke rate Enable this item to configure the Typematic Rate Chars Sec and the Typematic Delay Msec Configuration options Disabled Enabled The following two items Typematic Rate Chars Sec and Typematic Delay Msec become configurable when the Typematic Rate Setting is enabled Typematic Rate Chars Sec 6 Allows you to select the rate at which a character repeats when you hold a key Configuration ...

Page 115: ...ons Disabled Enabled Make sure that the above item is set to Enabled if you want to use the ASUS MyLogo 3 feature BIOS Wallpaper 00 Allows you to select the transparency of the BIOS wallpaper Configuration options 00 25 50 75 Halt On All Errors Allows you to set the error report type Configuration options All Errors No Errors All But Keyboard All But Diskette All But Disk Key 4 7 6 Security Select...

Page 116: ...ld setting is changed to Clear A note about passwords The Supervisor password is required to enter the BIOS Setup program preventing unauthorized access The User password is required to boot the system preventing unauthorized use Forgot your password If you forget your password you can clear it by erasing the CMOS Real Time Clock RTC RAM The RAM data containing the password information is powered ...

Page 117: ... F5 Setup Defaults ESC Exit Select Menu Enter Select SubMenu F10 Save and Exit ASUS O C Profile ASUS EZ Flash 2 Select Menu Item Specific Help Press Enter to select Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Main Extreme Tweaker Advanced Power Boot Tools Exit ASUS BIOS Profile Load BIOS Profile Save BIOS Profile Select Menu Item Specific Help Load BIOS Profile from Profile 1 Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup...

Page 118: ...ile can be loaded Save BIOS Profile Save to Profle 1 2 Allows you to save the current BIOS file to the BIOS Flash Press Enter to save the file Save to File Allows you to save the current BIOS file to the hard disk floppy disk USB flash disk with FAT32 16 12 format Follow the instructions below to save the BIOS file 1 Insert the storage devices with enough space 2 Turn on the system 3 Enter the BIO...

Page 119: ...14 DATE 02 27 2008 Current CMOS Update CMOS BOARD Unknown VER Unknown DATE Unknown PATH A A Note Enter Select S Save ESC Exit Tab Switch Up Down Home End Move CMOS backup is done Press any key to Exit The BIOS file will be saved as xxx CMO ASUSTek EZ Flash 2 BIOS ROM Utility B327 FLASH TYPE MXIC MX25L8005 8Mb SPI BOARD crosshair II FORMULA VER 0114 DATE 02 27 2008 Current ROM Update ROM BOARD Unkn...

Page 120: ... exiting Exit Discard Changes Select this option only if you do not want to save the changes that you made to the Setup program If you made changes to fields other than System Date System Time and Password the BIOS asks for a confirmation before exiting Load Setup Default This option allows you to load the default values for each of the parameters on the Setup menus When you select this option or ...

Page 121: ...5 Chapter 5 Software support This chapter describes the contents of the support DVD that comes with the motherboard package ...

Page 122: ... Crosshair II Formula Chapter summary 5 5 1 Installing an operating system 5 1 5 2 Support DVD information 5 1 5 3 Software information 5 9 5 4 RAID configurations 5 34 5 5 Creating a RAID driver disk 5 42 ...

Page 123: ... you can install to avail all motherboard features 5 2 1 Running the support DVD Place the support DVD to the optical drive The DVD automatically displays the Drivers menu if Autorun is enabled in your computer Motherboard settings and hardware options vary Use the setup procedures presented in this chapter for reference only Refer to your OS documentation for detailed information Make sure that y...

Page 124: ...n wizard AMD Cool n Quiet Driver Installs the AMD Cool n Quiet technology driver NVIDIA Chipset Driver Program Installs the NVIDIA chipset drivers for the NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI chipset SoundMAX ADI Audio Driver Installs the SoundMAX ADI audio driver and application NVIDIA HDMI Audio Driver Installs the NVIDIA HDMI audio driver Marvell Yukon Gigabit Ethernet Driver Installs the Marvell Yukon Gigab...

Page 125: ...ious screen ASUS InstAll Installation Wizard for Utilities Installs all of the utilities through the Installation Wizard Marvell Yukon VCT Application Installs the Marvell Yukon VCT application ASUS PC Probe II This smart utility monitors the fan speed CPU temperature and system voltages and alerts you of any detected problems This utility helps you keep your computer in healthy operating conditio...

Page 126: ...edia technology that enhances computer graphics and sound DirectX improves the multimedia features of you computer so you can enjoy watching TV and movies capturing videos or playing games in your computer Visit the Microsoft website www microsoft com for updates Anti Virus Utility The anti virus application scans identifies and removes computer viruses View the online help for detailed informatio...

Page 127: ...contains items to create the NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI SATA RAID AHCI driver disk NVIDIA 32 64 bit XP Vista SATA RAID AHCI Driver Allows you to create a NVIDIA 32 64 bit XP Vista SATA RAID AHCI driver disk Click to display the next screen Click to display the previous screen ...

Page 128: ...the user manual Most user manual files are in Portable Document Format PDF Install the Adobe Acrobat Reader from the Utilities menu before opening a user manual file 5 2 6 Video menu Click the Video tab to display a list of video clips Click the Extreme OC Clip item to watch how an overclocking guru breaks 3DMark world record with an ROG motherboard ...

Page 129: ...therboard and the contents of the support DVD Click an icon to display the specified information Motherboard Info Displays the general specifications of the motherboard 5 2 7 ASUS Contact information Click the Contact tab to display the ASUS contact information You can also find this information on the inside front cover of this user guide ...

Page 130: ... the support DVD and a brief description of each in text format Technical support form Displays the ASUS Technical Support Request Form that you have to fill out when requesting technical support Browse this DVD Displays the support DVD contents in graphical format ...

Page 131: ...y for details 2 Select Options from the drop down menu then click Next 3 Check the option Launch MyLogo to replace system boot logo before flashing BIOS then click Next 4 Select Update BIOS from a file from the drop down menu then click Next 5 When prompted locate the new BIOS file then click Next The ASUS MyLogo window appears 6 From the left window pane select the folder that contains the image ...

Page 132: ...l BIOS to load the new boot logo 10 After flashing the BIOS restart the computer to display the new boot logo during POST 8 Adjust the boot image to your desired size by selecting a value on the Ratio box 7 When the logo images appear on the right window pane select an image to enlarge by clicking on it ...

Page 133: ...d in the network systems sofware for ideal field support as well as development diagnostics Using the Virtual Cable Tester To use the the Marvell Virtual Cable Tester utility 1 Launch the VCT utility from the Windows desktop by clicking Start All Programs Marvell Virtual Cable Tester 2 Click Virtual Cable Tester from the menu to display the screen below The VCT only runs on systems with Windows XP...

Page 134: ...he software implements high quality audio synthesis rendering 3D sound positioning and advanced voice input technologies Follow the installation wizard to install the ADI AD1988 Audio Driver from the support DVD that comes with the motherboard package to activate the SoundMAX audio utility If the SoundMAX audio utility is correctly installed you will find the SoundMAX SoundMAX BlackHawk icon on th...

Page 135: ...on After you click the power button the utility will compensate for the fidelity lost in the compression process and make the audio output quasi original when reverting the compressed audio streams back to the uncompressed condition Sound Field Expansion AI Audio 2 also expands the stereophonic sound field to a multi channel one with realistic front and rear environment Surround Virtualization Act...

Page 136: ...larity Dynamics Brilliance and Deep Bass of each preset Click Save to save the changes to the current preset Or click Reset to discard the changes and restore the preset to the factory defaults Surround settings Allows you to change the settings of the stereo speakers Move the sliders to change the listener position or adjust the center channel volume Press the Test Speakers button to perform spea...

Page 137: ...el You can adjust the speaker delay of Microphone or Line In by moving the slider rightward or leftward Port settings Click the tab to display the rear panel ports for Microphone or Line In ANDREA settings Allows you to select an enhanced microphone input features including No Filtering Speakerphone Voice Recording and Directional Beam Record testing Click the tab to perform test recording and pla...

Page 138: ...Software support Speakers Allows you to adjust the Speaker Trim and Speaker Delay Bass Allows you to do the Bass management Preferences Displays the preference options for this utility version information AudioESP etc ...

Page 139: ...m the taskbar double click on the SoundMAX icon to display the SoundMAX Control Panel Audio Setup Wizard By clicking the icon from the SoundMAX control panel you can easily configure your audio settings Simply follow the succeeding screen instructions and begin enjoying High Definition Audio ...

Page 140: ... audio devices you have installed Adjust speaker volume This screen helps you adjust speaker volume Click the Test button to hear the changes you have made Adjust microphone volume This screen helps you adjust microphone volume You will be asked to read pre written text to allow the AudioWizard to adjust the volume as you speak ...

Page 141: ...audio settings General options Click the General tab to choose your playback and recording devices enable disable the AudioESP feature and enable disable digital output Listening Environment options Click the Listening Environment tab to set up your speaker acoustic environment and enable disable the Virtual Theater Surround function ...

Page 142: ...5 20 Chapter 5 Software support Microphone options Click the Microphone tab allows you to optimize your microphone input settings ...

Page 143: ...tup exe file from the ASUS PC Probe II folder Double click the setup exe file to start installation 2 Click the Utilities tab then click ASUS PC Probe II 3 Follow the screen instructions to complete installation Launching PC Probe II You can launch the PC Probe II right after installation or anytime from the Windows desktop To launch the PC Probe II from the Windows desktop click Start All Program...

Page 144: ... usage window Shows Hides the Preference section Minimizes the application Closes the application Sensor alert When a system sensor detects a problem the main window right handle turns red as the illustrations below show When displayed the monitor panel for that sensor also turns red Refer to the Monitor panels section for details Preferences You can customize the application using the Preference ...

Page 145: ...nels The hardware monitor panels display the current value of a system sensor such as fan rotation CPU temperature and voltages The hardware monitor panels come in two display modes hexagonal large and rectangular small When you check the Enable Monitoring Panel option from the Preference section the monitor panels appear on your computer s desktop Large display Small display Click to increase val...

Page 146: ...ser displays various Windows management information Click an item from the left panel to display on the right panel Click the plus sign before WMI Information to display the available information You can enlarge or reduce the browser size by dragging the bottom right corner of the browser DMI browser Click to display the DMI Desktop Management Interface browser This browser displays various deskto...

Page 147: ... and memory usage Click to display the Usage browser CPU usage The CPU tab displays real time CPU usage in line graph representation If the CPU has an enabled Hyper Threading two separate line graphs display the operation of the two logical processors Hard disk drive space usage The Hard Disk tab displays the used and available hard disk drive space The left panel of the tab lists all logical driv...

Page 148: ... adjust the sensor threshold values The Config window has two tabs Sensor Threshold and Preference The Sensor Threshold tab enables you to activate the sensors or to adjust the sensor threshold values The Preference tab allows you to customize sensor alerts or change the temperature scale Loads the default threshold values for each sensor Applies your changes Cancels or ignores your changes Loads ...

Page 149: ...uite right after installation or anytime from the Windows desktop To launch AI Suite from the Windows desktop click Start All Programs ASUS AI Suite AI Suite v1 xx xx The AI Suite main window appears After launching the application the AI Suite icon appears in the Windows taskbar Click this icon to close or restore the application Using AI Suite Click the AI Gear 2 AI Booster 2 CPU Level Up Q Fan ...

Page 150: ...f the main window to open the monitor window Click on right corner of the expanded window to switch the temperature from degrees Centigrade to degrees Fahrenheit Displays the CPU system temperature CPU memory PCIE voltage and CPU chassis fan speed Displays the FSB CPU frequency ...

Page 151: ...e processor frequency and vCore voltage to minimize system noise and power consumption After installing AI Suite from the bundled support DVD you can launch AI Gear 2 by double clicking the AI Suite icon on your Windows taskbar and then click the AI Gear 2 button on the AI Suite main window Shift the gear to the performance setting that you like Maximum Performance Medium Performance High Performa...

Page 152: ...D launch the utility by double clicking the AI Suite icon on the Windows taskbar and click the AI Nap button on the AI Suite main window Click Yes on the confirmation screen To exit AI Nap mode press the system power or mouse button then click Yes on the confirmation screen To switch the power button functions from AI Nap to shutting down just right click the AI Suite icon on the OS taskbar select...

Page 153: ...e Q Fan Plus button on the AI Suite main window Click the Fan Name drop down list button to display the fans and select a fan from the list Drop down list button Select a fan control mode Click Apply at the bottom to save the setup Click the Fan Control drop down list button to select a fan control mode Duty Cycle Mode You can determine the duty cycle percentage for each fan Q FAN Mode T he fans w...

Page 154: ... the BIOS After installing AI Suite from the bundled Support DVD launch the utility by double clicking the AI Suite icon on the Windows taskbar and click the AI Booster 2 button on the AI Suite main window The options on the taskbar allow you to apply the default settings or adjust system overclocking performance and CPU frequency ratio You can also create an overclocking profile ...

Page 155: ...ings to create a real professional level of overclocking configurations After installing AI Suite from the bundled Support DVD launch the utility by double clicking the AI Suite icon on the Windows OS taskbar and click the CPU Level Up button on the AI Suite main window The options on the taskbar allow you to select the CPU level and adjust CPU frequency ratio You can also create an overclocking p...

Page 156: ...out parity redundancy data having to be calculated and written With the RAID 0 1 configuration you get all the benefits of both RAID 0 and RAID 1 configurations Use four new hard disk drives or use an existing drive and three new drives for this setup RAID 5 stripes both data and parity information across three or more hard disk drives Among the advantages of RAID 5 configuration include better HD...

Page 157: ...erformance SATA RAID controller integrated in the NVIDIA southbridge chipset It supports RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 0 1 RAID 5 and JBOD for six independent Serial ATA channels Installing Serial ATA SATA hard disks The motherboard supports Ultra DMA 133 100 66 and Serial ATA hard disk drives For optimal performance install identical drives of the same model and capacity when creating a disk array To instal...

Page 158: ...ess F10 to display the main menu of the utility The RAID BIOS setup screens shown in this section are for reference only and may not exactly match the items on your screen F6 Back F7 Finish TAB Navigate Select ENTER Popup At the bottom of the screen are the navigation keys These keys allow you to move through and select menu options NVIDIA RAID Utility Oct 5 2004 Define a New Array RAID Mode Strip...

Page 159: ...e lost 2 Press TAB select the Striping Block then press Enter The following submenu appears If you selected Striping or Stripe Mirroring use the up or down arrow keys to select the stripe size for your RAID 0 array then press Enter The available values range from 8 KB to 128 KB The default selection is 128 KB The strip value should be chosen based on the planned drive usage 8 16 KB low disk usage ...

Page 160: ...y Oct 5 2004 Array List Boot Id Status Vendor Array Model Name No 4 Healthy NVIDIA MIRROR XXX XXG A new set of navigation keys is displayed on the bottom of the screen 6 Press Ctrl X to save settings and exit R Rebuild D Delete C Clear Disk ENTER Return Array 1 NVIDIA MIRROR XXX XXG Array Detail RAID Mode Mirroring Striping Width 1 Striping Block 64K Adapt Channel M S Index Disk Model Name Capacit...

Page 161: ...F7 Finish Array 1 NVIDIA MIRROR XXX XXG Select Disk Inside Array RAID Mode Mirroring Striping Width 1 Striping Block 64K Adapt Channel M S Index Disk Model Name Capacity 2 1 Master 0 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXX XXGB 1 0 Master 1 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXX XXGB Rebuild array ENTER OK ESC Cancel 4 Press Enter to start rebuilding array or press Esc to cancel 5 After the rebuild process the Array list menu appea...

Page 162: ...iping Width 1 Striping Block 64K Adapt Channel M S Index Disk Model Name Capacity 2 1 Master 0 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXX XXGB 1 0 Master 1 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXX XXGB A new set of navigation keys is displayed on the bottom of the screen 2 Press D to delete a RAID array The following confirmation message appears Delete this array Y YES N No 4 If you selected Yes the Define a New Array menu appears Take ...

Page 163: ...Detail RAID Mode Mirroring Striping Width 1 Striping Block 64K Adapt Channel M S Index Disk Model Name Capacity 2 1 Master 0 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXX XXGB 1 0 Master 1 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXX XXGB A new set of navigation keys is displayed on the bottom of the screen 2 Press C to clear disk The following confirmation message appears Take caution in using this option All data on the RAID drives will be l...

Page 164: ...river disk 8 Insert a formatted floppy disk into the floppy drive then press Enter 9 Follow succeeding screen instructions to complete the process 5 5 2 Creating a RAID SATA driver disk in Windows To create a RAID driver disk in Windows 1 Start Windows 2 Place the motherboard support DVD into the optical drive 3 Go to the Make Disk menu then click NVIDIA 32 64 bit XP Vista SATA RAID Driver to crea...

Page 165: ...loppy disk USB device with RAID driver into the floppy disk drive USB port 2 Follow the succeeding screen instructions to complete the installation Due to chipset limitation the Serial ATA ports supported by the NVIDIA chipset does not support Serial Optical Disk Drives Serial ODD under DOS ...

Page 166: ...5 44 Chapter 5 Software support ...

Page 167: ...6 This chapter tells how to install SLI ready PCI Express graphics cards and how to use the SLI and Hybrid SLI features pter 6 NVIDIA technology support ...

Page 168: ...ASUS Crosshair II Formula Chapter summary 6 1 NVIDIA SLI technology 6 1 6 2 NVIDIA Hybrid SLI technology 6 9 ...

Page 169: ...ed In 3 way SLI mode you should have three identical SLI ready graphics cards that are NVIDIA certified Make sure that your graphics card driver supports the NVIDIA SLI technology Download the latest driver from the NVIDIA website www nvidia com Make sure that your power supply unit PSU can provide the minimum power required by your system See page 2 35 for details The NVIDIA 3 way SLI technology ...

Page 170: ... certified Different types of graphics cards will not work together properly The following pictures are for reference only The graphics cards and the motherboard layout may vary with models but the installation steps remain the same To install the graphics cards 1 Prepare three graphics cards Each graphics card should have goldfingers for the 3 way SLI connector Goldfingers ...

Page 171: ... into the PCIEX16_2 slot white and the third into the PCIEX16_3 slot blue Make sure that the cards are properly seated on the slots 3 Align and firmly insert the 3 way SLI bridge connector to the goldfingers on each graphics card Make sure that the connector is firmly in place 3 way SLI bridge connector ...

Page 172: ...pport 4 Connect auxiliary power source from the power supply to the three graphics cards separately 5 Connect a VGA or a DVI cable to the graphics card s We recommend that you install an additional chassis fan for better thermal environment ...

Page 173: ...s are properly seated on the slots 2 Align and insert the SLI connector to the goldfingers on each graphics card Make sure that the connector is firmly in place 3 Connect auxiliary power source from the power supply to the two graphics cards separately 4 Connect a VGA or a DVI cable to the graphics card s We recommend that you install an additional chassis fan for better thermal environment ...

Page 174: ...e documentation that came with your graphics card package to install the device drivers 6 1 4 Enabling the NVIDIA SLI technology in Windows After installing your graphics cards and the device drivers enable the SLI feature through NVIDIA Control Panel under the Windows Vista operating system Launching the NVIDIA Control Panel You can launch the NVIDIA Control Panel by the following two methods A R...

Page 175: ...II Formula 6 7 B2 From the Personalization window select Display Settings B3 From the Display Settings dialog box click Advanced Settings B4 Select the NVIDIA GeForce tab and then click Start the NVIDIA Control Panel ...

Page 176: ...and set the display for viewing SLI rendered content When done click Apply When installing three graphics gards 1 From the NVIDIA Control Panel window select Set SLI Configuration and then click Enable 3 way NVIDIA SLI When done click Apply 2 Click the 3D Settings tab and enable the Show SLI Visual Indicators item When you launch a 3D demonstration a green bar will appear on the left of the screen...

Page 177: ...rid SLI mode is disabled and the multi display mode is enabled In the multi display mode up to four displays can be connected two displays driven by the mGPU and two displays by the dGPU HybridPower requires displays to be connected to the mGPU HybridPower cannot be enabled when displays are driven through the dGPU HybridPower and GeForce Boost are supported by certain set of dGPUs Go to www nvidi...

Page 178: ... Select Menu Item Specific Help Phoenix AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Advanced Onboard Device Configuration Hybrid Support Enabled iGPU Frame Buffer Control Auto x Frame Buffer Size 128M Onboard GPU Auto Primary Display Adapter PCI E HD Audio Enabled Front Panel Support Type HD Audio HDMI Audio Auto 3 Save your changes and Exit Setup 4 Turn off the system disconnect your display from the dGPU and c...

Page 179: ... being done by the dGPU The mGPU is being used only to drive the display 3 Click the Hybrid SLI icon and select Save Power 4 The icon will change state from to to indicate that the system is in Power Saving mode which means that the dGPU is turned off and the mGPU is both rendering and displaying 5 When the Power Saving mode is enabled the dGPU does not show in the Windows Device Manager Power Sav...

Page 180: ...6 12 Chapter 6 NVIDIA SLI technology support ...

Page 181: ...A Appendix Debug code table The Appendix includes the debug code table for the LCD Poster ...

Page 182: ...ASUS Crosshair II Formula Chapter summary A A 1 Debug Code Table A 1 ...

Page 183: ...chips R W FSEG Test F000h segment shadow to see whether it is R W able or not If test fails keep beeping the speaker DET FLASH Auto detect flash type to load appropriate flash R W codes into the run time area in F000 for ESCD DMI support TESTCMOS Use walking 1 s algorithm to check out interface in CMOS circuitry Also set real time clock power status and then check for override PRG CHIP Program chi...

Page 184: ...INSTAL Initialize PS 2 Mouse CHK ACPI Prepare memory size information for function call INT 15h ax E820h EN CACHE Turn on L2 cache SET CHIP Program chipset registers according to items described in Setup Auto configuration table AUTO CFG Assign resources to devices INIT FDC 1 Initialize floppy controller 2 Set up floppy related fields in 40 hardware DET IDE Detect install all IDE devices HDD LS120...

Page 185: ... of memory 5 Invoke ISA adapter ROMs 6 Assign IRQs to PCI devices 7 Initialize APM 8 Clear noise of IRQs INIT ROM Initialize device option ROMs NUM LOCK 1 Program daylight saving 2 Update keyboard LED typematic rate UPDT DMI 1 Build MP table 2 Build update ESCD 3 Set CMOS century to 20h or 19h 4 Load CMOS time into DOS timer tick 5 Build MSIRQ routing table INT 19H Boot attempt INT 19h ...

Page 186: ...A 4 Appendix Debug Code Table ...

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