Asus A8N5X 15

This chapter describes the motherboard

features and the new technologies1 it supports.

Product introduction

ASUS A8N5X

1 - 1

Contents

Page E2138 First Edition July Chapter 1: Product introduction Chapter 2: BIOS setup Chapter 3: Software support Page Federal Communications Commission Statement Canadian Department of Communications Statement Electrical safety Operation safety How this guide is organized Where to find more information Conventions used in this guide A8N5X specifications summary Page Page Page Page 1.1Welcome Thank you for buying an ASUS® A8N5X motherboard 1.2Package contents Motherboard I/O modules 1.3.1Product highlights AMD Dual-CoreArchitecture Latest processor technology Built-inNVFirewall™ AMD Cool ‘n’ Quiet!™ Technology Dual Channel DDR memory support Serial ATA technology RAID solution PCI Express™ interface S/PDIF digital sound ready 1.3.2ASUS Proactive features AI NOS™ (Non-DelayOverclocking System) Precision Tweaker PEG Link mode AI NET 1.3.3Innovative ASUS features CrashFree BIOS ASUS Q-Fantechnology ASUS Multi-languageBIOS ASUS MyLogo2™ Onboard LEDs 1.5.1Placement direction 1.5.2Screw holes 1.5.3Motherboard layout 1.6.1Overview 1.6.2Installling the CPU 1.6.3Installing the heatsink and fan Page 1.7.1Overview 1.7.2Memory Configurations DDR400 Qualified Vendors List 1.7.3Installing a DIMM 1.7.4Removing a DIMM 1.8.1Installing an expansion card 1.8.2Configuring an expansion card 1.8.3Interrupt assignments Standard interrupt assignments IRQ assignments for this motherboard 1.8.4PCI slots 1.8.5PCI Express x16 slot 1.8.6PCI Express x1 slot 1.8.7Universal PCIe slot (PCI Express x4 slot) 1.9 Jumpers 1 . Clear RTC RAM (CLRTC) 1.10.1 Rear panel connectors LAN port LED indications Audio 2, 4, 6, or 8-channelconfiguration 1.10.2 Internal connectors 3 . Serial ATA connectors (7-pinSATA1, SATA2, SATA3, SATA4) Page 5 . Serial port connector (10-1pin COM1) 6 . USB connectors (10-1pin USB56, USB78, USB910) 8 . ATX power connectors (24-pinEATXPWR1, 4-pinATX12V1) 9 . Internal audio connectors (4-pinCD, AUX) 10 . GAME/MIDI port connector (16-1pin GAME) 11 . Chassis intrusion connector (4-1pin CHASSIS) 12 . Front panel audio connector (10-1pin FP_AUDIO) 13 . System panel connector (20-pinPANEL) •System power LED (Green 3-pinPLED) •Hard disk drive activity (Red 2-pinIDE_LED) System warning speaker (Orange •Power/Soft-offbutton (Yellow 2-pinPWRSW) Page Page 2.1.1Creating a bootable floppy disk 2.1.2Updating the BIOS Page 2.1.3Saving the current BIOS file 2.1.4ASUS CrashFree BIOS 2 utility Recovering the BIOS from the support CD Recovering the BIOS from a floppy disk 2.1.5ASUS EZ Flash utility 2.1.6ASUS Update utility Installing ASUS Update Updating the BIOS through the Internet Updating the BIOS through a BIOS file 2.2BIOS setup program 2.2.1BIOS menu screen 2.2.2Menu bar 2.2.3Legend bar 2.2.4Menu items 2.2.5Sub-menuitems 2.2.6Configuration fields 2.2.7Pop-upwindow 2.2.8General help 2.3.1System Time [xx:xx:xxxx] 2.3.2System Date [Day xx/xx/xxxx] 2.3.3Language [English] 2.3.4Legacy Diskette A [1.44M, 3.5 in.] 2.3.5Primary and Secondary IDE Master/Slave PIO Mode UDMA Mode IDE Primary Master/Slave [Auto]; IDE Secondary Master/ Slave [Auto] Access Mode [Auto] Transfer Mode 2.3.6First, Second, Third, Fourth SATA Master Extended Drive Access Mode Precomp Landing Zone 2.3.7HDD SMART Monitoring 2.3.8Installed Memory 2.4.1CPU Configuration DRAM Configuration Hyper Transport Frequency [Auto] AMD K8 Cool’n’Quiet control [Auto] 2.4.2PCIPnP Plug & Play O/S [No] Resources Controlled By [Auto] IRQ Resources PCI/VGA Palette Snoop [Disabled] 2.4.3Onboard Devices Configuration IDE Function Setup OnChip IDE Channel0 [Enabled] OnChip IDE Channel1 [Enabled] IDE DMA transfer access [Enabled] Serial Port 1, 2 [Enabled] SATA DMA access [Enabled] Serial Port 3, 4 [Enabled] SATA DMA transfer [Enabled] IDE Primary, Secondary Master/Slave RAID [Disabled] First, Second, Third, Fourth SATA Master RAID [Disabled] USB Configuration USB Controller [Enabled] USB 2.0 Controller [Enabled] Serial Port1 Address [3F8/IRQ4] Parallel Port Address [378/IRQ7] Parallel Port Mode [ECP+EPP] ECP Mode Use DMA [3] Game Port Address [201] 2.4.4JumperFree Configuration Overclock Profile [Auto] CPU Frequency [XXX] (value is auto-detected) PCI Express Clock [100MHz] DDR Voltage [Auto] CPU Multiplier [Auto] CPU Voltage [Auto] Overclock Options [Disable] 2.4.5LAN Cable Status POST Check LAN cable [Disabled] 2.4.6PEG Link Mode PEG Link Mode [Disabled] PEG Root Control [Auto] 2.4.7Instant Music Instant Music [Disabled] Instant Music CD-ROMDrive [Primary Master] 2.5.1ACPI Suspend Type [S1&S3] 2.5.2ACPI APIC Support [Enabled] 2.5.3APM Configuration Restore on AC Power Loss [Disabled] PWR Button < 4 secs [Instant-Off] Power On By PCI Devices [Disabled] Power On By External Modems [Disabled] Power On By RTC Alarm [Disabled] Day of Month Alarm [Disabled] Time (hh:mm:ss) Alarm [Disabled] Power Up By PS/2 Mouse [Disabled] Power On By PS/2 Keyboard [Disabled] 2.5.4Hardware Monitor Q-FanController [Disabled] VCORE Voltage, +12V Voltage, 3.3V Voltage, 5VCC Voltage CPU Temperature, M/B Temperature CPU Fan Speed 2.6.1Boot Device Priority 1st ~ xxth Boot Device [Removable] 2.6.2Removable Drives 1. Floppy Disks 2.6.3Hard Disk Drives 1. 1st Master: 2.6.4CDROM Drives 2.6.5Boot Settings Configuration Case Open Warning [Enabled] Quick Boot [Enabled] Boot Up Floppy Seek [Enabled] Bootup Num-Lock[On] 2.6.6Security Supervisor Password User Password Password Check Exit & Save Changes Exit & Discard Changes Load Setup Defaults Discard Changes Software3 support 3.2.1Running the support CD 3.2.2Drivers menu Nvidia Chipset Driver Program Make NVIDIA PATA RAID Driver Disk Make NVIDIA SATA RAID Driver Disk Realtek ALC850 Driver 3.2.3Utilities menu ASUS PC Probe ASUS Update ASUS AI Booster Microsoft DirectX 3.2.4Manuals menu NVIDIA Firewall Administrator’s Guide NVIDIA RAID User’s Guide Sil3114 User’s Manual NVIDIA nTune Manual 3.2.5ASUS Contact information 3.3.1ASUS MyLogo2™ Ratio 3.3.2AI NET Using the Virtual Cable Tester™ 3.3.3Audio configurations Sound Effect options S/PDIF option Speaker Configuration AI Audio feature HRTF Demo General settings Rear panel audio ports function variation 3.3.4Using the NVIDIA® Firewall™ Launching the NVFirewall™ summary Setting security profiles Turning the NVFirewall™ off 3.4RAID configurations RAID RAID 0+1 JBOD Just a Bunch of Disks 3.4.1Installing hard disks Installing Parallel ATA hard disks Installing Serial ATA (SATA) hard disks 3.4.2NVIDIA® RAID configurations Setting the BIOS RAID items Entering the NVIDIA® RAID utility Creating a RAID Volume Page Rebuilding a RAID array Page Deleting a RAID array Clearing a disk data Creating a RAID driver disk 3.6.1Enabling Cool ‘n’ Quiet!™ Technology Windows® 2000/XP 3.6.2Launching the Cool ‘n’ Quiet!™ software