AOpen AX4CMAXII User Manual

AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

AX4C Max II

DOC. NO.: AX4CMAXII-OL-E0403C

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WWhhaatt’’ss iinn tthhiiss mmaannuuaall

AX4C Max II ................................................................................................................................... 1

What’s in this manual...................................................................................................................................................... 2

You Must Notice..............................................................................................................................................................9

Before You Start ........................................................................................................................................................... 10

Overview....................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Feature Highlight ..........................................................................................................................................................12

Quick Installation Procedure ......................................................................................................................................... 17

Motherboard Map ......................................................................................................................................................... 18

Block Diagram .............................................................................................................................................................. 19

Hardware Installation ...............................................................................................................20

About “Manufacturer Upgrade Optional” and “User Upgrade Optional”… ..................................................................... 21

JP14 Clear CMOS Data ................................................................................................................................................ 22

CPU Installation............................................................................................................................................................23

CPU Jumper-less Design..............................................................................................................................................25

CPU Core Voltage Auto Detectable............................................................................................................................... 27

CPU and System Fan Connector (with H/W Monitoring) ............................................................................................... 29

JP28 Keyboard/Mouse Wake-up Enable/Disable Jumper ............................................................................................. 30

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DIMM Sockets (128-Bit DDR Dual Channel) ................................................................................................................. 31

Front Panel Connector..................................................................................................................................................34

ATX Power Connector................................................................................................................................................... 35

AC Power Auto Recovery ............................................................................................................................................. 36

STBY LED and BOOT LED ........................................................................................................................................... 37

IDE and Floppy Connector............................................................................................................................................ 38

ATA/133 Supported....................................................................................................................................................... 41

Serial ATA Supported (with RAID function) ...................................................................................................................42

Connecting Serial ATA Disk ..........................................................................................................................................43

IrDA Connector ............................................................................................................................................................. 46

S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) Connector ........................................................................................................47

Super 5.1 Channel Audio Effect .................................................................................................................................... 48

AGP 8X Slot.................................................................................................................................................................. 49

AGP Protection Technology and AGP LED.................................................................................................................... 50

Self-Powered PCI Slot .................................................................................................................................................. 51

WOM (Zero Voltage Wake on Modem) Connector ........................................................................................................ 52

WOL (Wake on LAN) .................................................................................................................................................... 55

PC99 Color Coded Back Panel ..................................................................................................................................... 57

Support Gigabit LAN onboard ....................................................................................................................................... 58

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Support Eight USB2.0 Connectors................................................................................................................................59

Onboard IEEE 1394 Controller ..................................................................................................................................... 60

Chassis Intrusion Connector .........................................................................................................................................61

CD Audio Connector ..................................................................................................................................................... 62

AUX-IN Connector ........................................................................................................................................................ 63

Front Audio Connector .................................................................................................................................................. 64

Die-Hard BIOS II (User Upgrade Optional) ...................................................................................................................65

External Controller for DIE-HARD BIOS (User Upgrade Optional) ................................................................................ 66

JP2 Dr. Voice Output Select Jumper.............................................................................................................................68

Dr. LED Connector........................................................................................................................................................ 69

Battery-less and Long Life Design ................................................................................................................................71

CPU Over-current Protection ........................................................................................................................................ 72

AOConfig Utility ............................................................................................................................................................ 73

Resetable Fuse............................................................................................................................................................. 75

3300µF Low ESR Capacitor.......................................................................................................................................... 76

V4 Power Engine .......................................................................................................................................................... 77

Open JukeBox Player ...................................................................................................................................................79

Vivid BIOS technology .................................................................................................................................................. 83

Hyper Threading Technology ........................................................................................................................................84

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RAID Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 86

What’s RAID? ............................................................................................................................................................... 86

What are the RAID levels?............................................................................................................................................ 87

HDD Capacity of RAID Levels ...................................................................................................................................... 90

Serial ATA RAID for Intel ICH5R ................................................................................................................................... 91

Serial ATA RAID for Promise PDC20378....................................................................................................................... 94

Driver and Utility .....................................................................................................................111

Auto-run Menu from Bonus CD Disc ............................................................................................................................111

Installing Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility ................................................................................................... 112

BroadCOM BCM5705 Gigabit LAN Driver ................................................................................................................... 113

Installing Onboard Sound Driver ................................................................................................................................. 124

The noise is gone!! ---- SilentTek ................................................................................................................................ 131

EzClock ......................................................................................................................................................................134

PHOENIX-AWARD BIOS ........................................................................................................... 138

About Phoenix-Award BIOS Function Description… ................................................................................................... 139

How To Use Phoenix-Award™ BIOS Setup Program .................................................................................................. 140

How To Enter BIOS Setup........................................................................................................................................... 141

WinBIOS Utility ........................................................................................................................................................... 142

BIOS Upgrade under Windows environment............................................................................................................... 144

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Glossary ..................................................................................................................................146

AC97 CODEC ............................................................................................................................................................. 146

ACPI (Advanced Configuration & Power Interface) ..................................................................................................... 146

ACR (Advanced Communication Riser) ......................................................................................................................146

AGP (Accelerated Graphic Port) ................................................................................................................................. 147

AMR (Audio/Modem Riser) .........................................................................................................................................147

ATA (AT Attachment)...................................................................................................................................................147

BIOS (Basic Input/Output System).............................................................................................................................. 148

Bluetooth .................................................................................................................................................................... 148

CNR (Communication and Networking Riser) ............................................................................................................. 149

DDR (Double Data Rate) RAM.................................................................................................................................... 149

ECC (Error Checking and Correction)......................................................................................................................... 150

EEPROM (Electronic Erasable Programmable ROM) ................................................................................................. 150

EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM) .................................................................................................................... 150

EV6 Bus...................................................................................................................................................................... 150

FCC DoC (Declaration of Conformity)......................................................................................................................... 151

FC-PGA (Flip Chip-Pin Grid Array) ............................................................................................................................. 151

FC-PGA2 (Flip Chip-Pin Grid Array) ........................................................................................................................... 151

Flash ROM.................................................................................................................................................................. 151

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Hyper Threading ......................................................................................................................................................... 151

IEEE 1394 .................................................................................................................................................................. 152

Parity Bit ..................................................................................................................................................................... 152

PCI (Peripheral Component Interface) Bus ................................................................................................................. 153

PDF Format ................................................................................................................................................................ 153

PnP (Plug and Play).................................................................................................................................................... 153

POST (Power-On Self Test) ........................................................................................................................................ 153

PSB (Processor System Bus) Clock ........................................................................................................................... 154

RDRAM (Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory) ............................................................................................... 154

RIMM (Rambus Inline Memory Module) ...................................................................................................................... 154

SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM).................................................................................................................................... 154

SATA (Serial ATA) ....................................................................................................................................................... 155

SMBus (System Management Bus) ............................................................................................................................ 155

SPD (Serial Presence Detect)..................................................................................................................................... 155

USB 2.0 (Universal Serial Bus)...................................................................................................................................155

VCM (Virtual Channel Memory) .................................................................................................................................. 156

Wireless LAN – 802.11b ............................................................................................................................................. 156

ZIP file ........................................................................................................................................................................ 157

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Troubleshooting ......................................................................................................................158

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Technical Support ...................................................................................................................162

Product Registration ............................................................................................................... 165

How to Contact Us .................................................................................................................. 166

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YYoouu MMuusstt NNoottiiccee

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat is trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.

AMD, the AMD logo, Athlon and Duron are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Intel, the Intel logo, Intel Celeron, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium 4 are trademarks of Intel Corporation.

Microsoft, Windows, and Windows logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

All product and brand names used on this manual are used for identification purposes only and may be the registered trademarks of their respective owners.

All of the specifications and information contained in this manual are subject to change without notice. AOpen reserves the right to revise this publication and to make reasonable changes. AOpen assumes no responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this manual, including the products and software described in it.

This documentation is protected by copyright law. All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without prior written permission from AOpen Corporation. Copyright

©

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BBeeffoorree YYoouu SSttaarrtt

This Online Manual will introduce to the user how this product is installed. All useful information will be described in later

chapters. Please keep this manual carefully for future upgrades or system configuration changes. This Online Manual is saved

PDF format

PDF format, we recommend using Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 for online viewing, it is included in Bonus CD disc or you can

in

get free download from

Although this Online Manual is optimized for screen viewing, it is still capable for hardcopy printing, you can print it by A4 paper

size and set 2 pages per A4 sheet on your printer. To do so, choose File > Page Setup and follow the instruction of your printer

driver.

Thanks for the help of saving our earth.

Beeffoorree YYoouu SSttaarrtt

Adobe web site.

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OOvveerrvviieeww

Thank you for choosing AOpen AX4C Max II motherboard. The AX4C Max II is Intel® Socket 478 motherboard (M/B) based on

the ATX form factor featuring the

Max II motherboard supports Intel

performance, it supports 1.5V AGP 8X interface and pipelined spilt-transaction long burst transfer up to 2.1GB/sec. According

to different customer’s requirements, the Intel 875P (Canterwood) chipset memory interface supports

DRAM devices with densities of 128, 256, 512MB and 1GB DDR RAM DIMM modules and the maximum memory size can be

up to 4 GB. The onboard IDE controller supports

up to 133MB/s. With integrated Serial ATA in chipset, it aims to provide you an even faster transfer rate of 150 Mbytes/second

(supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 with Promise Chip). On the strength of Broadcom Gigabit

PCI LAN Chip, which is an highly-integrated Platform LAN Connect device,

it provides Gigabits for office and home use. Besides, the AX4C

Max has an

performance and magic surround stereo sound to let people enjoy

working with it. More than that, this motherboard supports

function with a fancy speed of up to 480Mbps, and

controller to provides data transfer rate up to 400Mbps. Now,

let’s enjoy all features from AOpen AX4C Max II motherboard.

Intel® 875P (Canterwood) chipset. As high performance chipset built in the M/B, the AX4C

®

Socket 478 Pentium® 4 and 800/533 MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) clock. In the AGP

Ultra DMA 33/66/100 and Promise (PDC20378) 133 mode with transfer rate

AC97 CODEC chipset onboard, providing high

USB 2.0

IEEE 1394

DDR400/DDR333 DDR

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FFeeaattuurree HHiigghhlliigghhtt

CPU

Supports Intel® Socket 478 Pentium® 4 1.6GHz~3.06GHz+ with 800/533MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) designed for Socket 478

technology.

Chipset

With the Intel® 875P (Canterwood) chipset, Intel delivers a discrete graphics solution with all the performance, innovative

features and proven reliability of the Intel

(Canterwood) chipset offers an ideal, leading-edge AGP graphics solution for Intel

the smart integration in the Intel 875P (Canterwood) chipset's I/O Controller Hub features USB controllers supporting eight USB

ports and integrated Serial ATA function that offers faster transfer rate of 150Mbps, plus RAID functions of RAID 0, 1, 0+1 (with

Promise Chip). With support for 5.1 channels of AC’97 audio and the ability to make the most of soft audio/modem technology,

the 875P (Canterwood) chipset delivers an ideal solution for innovative new form factors.

®

875P (Canterwood) chipset. With its highly scalable design, the new 875P

®

Pentium® 4 processor platforms. Additionally,

Expansion Slots

Including six 32-bit/33MHz PCI, in which PCI 6 is named as Self-Powered PCI, which is reserved especially for high

power-consuming PCI cards, and one AGP 8X slot. The

it supports 1.5V AGP interface with 8x Data Transfer capability and pipelined spilt-transaction long burst transfer up to

2.1GB/sec.

PCI local bus throughput can be up to 132MB/s. For AGP performance,

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Memory

Providing ECC four 184-pin DDR RAM DIMM sockets that support up to 4GB of DDR400/333 compliant DDR RAM. You may

install 128, 256, 512MB or 1GB DDR RAM DIMM modules into each socket.

LAN Port

Broadcom Gigabit PCI LAN Chip, which is an highly-integrated Platform LAN Connect device, it provides Gigabits or

10/100Mbps Ethernet for office and home use.

Ultra DMA 33/66/100, Promise 133 IDE

Coming with an on-board PCI Bus Master IDE controller with two connectors that supports four IDE devices in two channels

supports

Besides, this motherboard comes with Promise controller that supportsATA133 mode.

Ultra DMA 33/66/100, PIO Modes 3 and 4 and Bus Master IDE DMA Mode 5, and supports Enhanced IDE devices.

On-board AC’97 Sound

Implementing AC97 sound chip, this on-board audio includes a complete audio recording and playback system.

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1MHz Stepping Frequency Adjustment

Provides “1MHz Stepping Frequency Adjustment” function in the BIOS. This magic function allows you adjust FSB frequency

from 100~400 by 1MHz stepping adjustment, and lets your system can get maximum performance.

Watch Dog ABS

Includes AOpen “Watch Dog ABS” function, which could auto-reset default settings in 4.8 seconds when you fail to system

overclocking.

Die-Hard BIOS II (User Upgrade Optional)

The Die-Hard BIOS technology is a very effective hardware protection method that doesn’t involve any software or BIOS coding.

Hence, it is 100% virus free. This motherboard comes with BIOS 1 and BIOS 2 (User Upgrade Optional) that allow you to rescue

BIOS 1 with BIOS 2.

S/PDIF Connectors

S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) is a newest audio transfer format, which provides impressive quality through optical fiber

and allows you to enjoy digital audio instead of analog audio.

IEEE 1394 ports

This motherboard comes with IEEE 1394a controller onboard, which provides data transfer rate up to 400Mbps. to connect with

the devices that need high data transferring performance, such as digital camera, scanner or others IEEE 1394 devices.

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Eight USB Connectors (2.0)

Provide four ports, eight USB connectors for USB interface devices, such as mouse, keyboard, modem, scanner, etc. Compared

to traditional USB 1.0/1.1 with the speed of 12Mbps, USB 2.0 has a fancy speed up to 480Mbps, which is 40 times faster than

the traditional one.

Dr. LED (User Upgrade Optional)

The Dr. LED has 8 LEDs on this AX4C Max II M/B to easily show what kind of problems you may encounter.

Power Management/Plug and Play

Support the power management function that confirms to the power-saving standards of the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) Energy Star program. It also offers

making the system much user-friendlier.

Plug-and-Play, which helps save users from configuration problems, thus

Hardware Monitoring Management

Support CPU, system fans status, temperature and voltage monitoring and alert, through the on-board hardware monitor

module.

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Enhanced ACPI

Fully implement the ACPI standard for Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP series compatibility, and supports Soft-Off, STR (Suspend to

RAM, S3), STD (Suspend to Disk, S4) features.

Super Multi-I/O

Provide two high-speed UART compatible serial ports and one parallel port with EPP and ECP capabilities. UART can also be

directed from COM1or COM2 to the Infrared Module for the wireless connections.

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QQuuiicckk IInnssttaallllaattiioonn PPrroocceedduurree

This page gives you a quick procedure on how to install your system. Follow each step accordingly.

1. Installing CPU and Fan

2. Installing System Memory (DIMM)

3. Connecting Front Panel Cable

4. Connecting IDE and Floppy Cable

5. Connecting ATX Power Cable

6. Connecting Back Panel Cable

7. Power-on and Load BIOS Setup Default

8. Setting CPU Frequency

9. Reboot

10. Installing Operating System (such as Windows 98)

11. Installing Driver and Utility

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Broadcom Gigabit PCI LAN Chi

Onboard AC’97 CODEC

S/PDIF Connector

Die-Hard BIOS (BIOS1 & 2)

(User Upgrade Optional)

GAME Connector

Front Audio Connector

AUX-IN Connector

32-bit PCI Expansion Slot x6

(Slot 6: Self-Powered PCI card that

supports high power-consuming PCI cards)

JP24 DieHard BIOS Rescue Jumper

JP2 Dr. Voice Output Select Jumper

CD-IN Connector

WOL Connector

WOM Connector

IEEE 1394 Connectors x 2

n

2

USB (2.0) Connector

Serial ATA Ports x 4

SYSFAN3 Connector

Dr. LED Connector

(User Upgrade Optional)

Front Panel Connector

JP14 CMOS Clear Jumper

STBY LED

(RAID 0, 1, 0+1)

IrDA Connector

Chassis Intrusion Connector

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Motherboard Map

PC99 Colored Back Panel

Resetable Fuse

JP28 Keyboard/Mouse Wakeup Enable/Disable Jumper

4-pin 12V. ATX Power Connector

AGP LED V4 Power Engine

CPUFAN1 Connec Monitoring Function

18 19

SYSFAN2 Connector

AGP Slot (For 1.5V AGP card only)

478-pin CPU socket with Voltage and Frequency Auto-detection support Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU

Intel® 875P (Canterwood) and

ICH5R chipsets

BOOT LED

184-pin DIMMx4 support DDR400/333 (Max. to 4GB)

ATA 33/66/100

IDE Connector x2

ATX Power Connector

Promise ATA133 IDE Connector x1

FDD Connector

tor with H/W

AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

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BBlloocckk DDiiaaggrraamm

Socket 478

Intel

Pentium 4

CPU

AGP 8x Sl ot

Floppy Disk Drive x2

800/533MHz

System Bus

LAN connect Component

DDR400/333 DDR RAM Up to

DIMM Socket x4

4GB

Intel 875P

USB 2.0

Connector x8

PCI Bus

Broadcom Gigabit LAN

1stUSB Port

2ndUSB Port

3rdUSB Port

4thUSB Port

32-bit PCI Slot x6

Promise

PDC20378

ATA

33/66100

Serial ATA

Third Channel

ATA 133

Primary

Channel

Secondary

Channel

Intel ICH5R

Low

Pin Count Super

I/O

Self-

Powered

PCI slot

AC97

CODEC

IEEE 1394

Firmware Hub

4Mbit Flash EEPROM

Parallel Port

Serial Port x2

SATA Drive x2

IDE Drive x6

SATA Drive x2

IEEE 1394 x 2

AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

HHaarrddwwaarree IInnssttaallllaattiioonn

This chapter describes jumpers, connectors and hardware devices of this motherboard. This chapter describes jumpers, connectors and hardware devices of this motherboard.

Note: Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can damage your processor, disk drives, expansion boards, and

other components. Always observe the following precautions before you install a system component.

1. Do not remove a component from its protective packaging until you are ready to install it.

2. Wear a wrist ground strap and attach it to a metal part of the system unit before handling a

component. If a wrist strap is not available, maintain contact with the system unit throughout any

procedure requiring ESD protection.

Haarrddwwaarree IInnssttaallllaattiioonn

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A

Abboouutt ““MMaannuuffaaccttuurreerr UUppggrraaddee OOppttiioonnaall”” aanndd ““UUsseerr UUpp

A

bboouutt ““MMaannuuffaaccttuurreerr UUppggrraaddee OOppttiioonnaall”” aanndd ““UUsseerr UUppg

O

ppttiioonnaall””……

OOppttiioonnaall””……

When you read this online manual and start to assemble your computer system, you may find some of functions are called

“Manufacturer Upgrade Optional”, and some are called “User Upgrade Optional”. Though all AOpen motherboards include many

amazing and powerful features, in some situations, these powerful features are not used to every user. Hence, we changed

some key features as “Manufacturer Upgrade Optional” for you to choose. Some optional functions that can be upgraded by

users, we call them “User Upgrade Optional”. As for those optional functions that can’t be upgraded by ourselves, we call them

“Manufacturer Upgrade Optional”. If needed, you can contact our local distributors or resellers for purchasing “User Upgrade

Optional” components, and again you can visit AOpen official web site:

http://english.aopen.com.tw/

http://english.aopen.com.tw/ for more detail information.

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

grraaddee

g

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(default)

1

Clear CMOS

Tip: When should I Clear CMOS?

1. Boot fail because of overclocking…

2. Forget password…

3. Troubleshooting…

JJPP1144 CClleeaarr CCMMOOSS DDaattaa

You can clear CMOS to restore system default setting. To clear the CMOS, follow the procedure below.

1. Turn off the system and unplug the AC power.

2. Remove ATX power cable from connector PWR2.

3. Locate JP14 and short pins 2-3 for a few seconds.

4. Return JP14 to its normal setting by shorting pins 1 & pin2.

5. Connect ATX power cable back to connector PWR2.

Pin 1

1

Normal Operation

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CCPPUU IInnssttaallllaattiioonn

This motherboard supports Intel® Pentium 4 Socket 478 series CPU. Be careful of CPU orientation when you plug it into CPU

socket.

1. Pull up the CPU socket lever and

up to 90-degree angle.

CPPUU IInnssttaallllaattiioonn

2. Locate Pin 1 in the socket and look for a cut edge on the CPU upper interface. Match Pin 1 and cut edge, then insert the CPU into the socket.

Note: These pictures are for example only, it may not exactly be the same motherboard. Note: These pictures are for example only, it may not exactly be the same motherboard.

CPU socket

Lever

CPU pin 1 and

cut edge

CPU cut edge

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3. Press down the CPU socket lever and finish CPU installation.

Note: This picture is for example only, it may not exactly be the same motherboard. Note: This picture is for example only, it may not exactly be the same motherboard.

CPU cut edge

Note: If you do not match the CPU

socket Pin 1 and CPU cut edge well, it

ma

damage the CPU.

Note: This socket supports

Micro-FC-PGA2 package CPU, which

is the latest CPU package developed

by Intel. Other forms of CPU package

are impossible to be fitted in.

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CCPPUU JJuummppeerr--lleessss DDeessiiggnn

CPU VID signal and SMbusCPU VID signal and SMbus clock generator provide CPU voltage auto-detection and allows the user to set the CPU frequency

through the

designs are eliminated. There will be no worry of wrong CPU voltage detection.

BIOS setup, therefore no jumpers or switches are used. The disadvantages of the Pentium based jumper-less

Intel® Socket 478

Pentium 4 CPU

CPU VID signal

Power Regulator

(Automatically generates CPU voltage)

CPPUU JJuummppeerr--lleessss DDeessiiggnn

CPU voltage

Clock Generator

CPU Freq. Ratio

BIOS

Controlled

Circuit

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AAOOppeenn ““WWaattcchh DDoogg AABBSS””

the “Watch Dog ABS” will reset the system to reboot in five seconds. Then, BIOS will detect the CPU’s default frequency and

POST again. With this special feature, you can easily overclock your system to get higher system performance, and without

removing the cover of system housing to set the jumper to clear CMOS data when your system hanged.

AOpen

Watch Dog ABS

Enable/Disable Signal

AOOppeenn ““WWaattcchh DDoogg AABBSS””

With this motherboard, AOpen provides a very special, useful feature for overclockers.

POST

When you power-on the system, the BIOS will check last system

succeeded, the BIOS will enable “Watch Dog ABS” function immediately, and set the CPU

FSB frequency by user’s setting that stored in the BIOS. If system failed in BIOS POST,

from BIOS

BIOS

Reset Signal

Clock Generator

Countdown about

5 seconds if fails

in POST

CPU

POST status. If it

CPU ID Signal

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CCPPUU CCoorree VVoollttaaggee AAuuttoo DDeetteeccttaabbllee

This motherboard supports CPU VID function. The CPU core voltage will be automatically detected and the range is from 1.1V

to 1.925V. It is not necessary to set CPU Core Voltage.

SSeettttiinngg CCPPUU FFrreeqquueennccyy

BIOS Setup > Frequency/Voltage Control > CPU Clock Setting

This motherboard is CPU jumper-less design, you can set CPU frequency through the BIOS setup, and no jumpers or switches

are needed.

CPU Ratio 8x, 9x, 10x,…22x, 23x…39x

CPU FSB 133~200MHz

1MHz Stepping CPU Overclocking

Home

100~400MHz

Tip: If your system hangs or fails to boot because

of overclocking, simply use <Home> key to

restore the default setting or you can wait the

AOpen “Watch Dog ABS” reset the system after

five seconds and system will auto-detect

hardware again.

CPPUU CCoorree VVoollttaaggee AAuuttoo DDeetteeccttaabbllee

Tip: The North Bridge of Canterwood

does supports “Turbo mode”, which is

used to lower latency paths from FSB

to system memory that enhances the

system performance, when it is set at

FSB800 and DDR400 mode.

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Core Frequency = CPU FSB Clock * CPU Ratio

PCI Clock = CPU FSB Clock / Clock Ratio

AGP Clock = PCI Clock x 2

Northwood CPU

Pentium 4 2.26G 2260MHz 133MHz 533MHz 17x

Pentium 4 2.4G 2400MHz 133MHz 533MHz 18x

Pentium 4 2.53G 2530MHz 133MHz 533MHz 19x

Pentium 4 2.66G 2660MHz 133MHz 533MHz 20x

Pentium 4 2.80G 2800MHz 133MHz 533MHz 21x

Pentium 4 3.0G 3000MHz 200MHz 800MHz 15x

Pentium 4 3.06G 3060MHz 133MHz 533MHz 23x

Note: With CPU speed changing rapidly, there might be fastest CPU on the market by

the time you received this installation guide. This table is kindly for your references only.

CPU Core Frequency

FSB Clock System Bus Ratio

Note: Since the latest processor,

Northwood, would detect the clock

ratio automatically, you may not be

able to adjust the clock ratio in

BIOS manually.

Warning: Intel® 875P

(Canterwood) chipset supports

maximum 800/533MHz

(200/133MHz*4) system bus and

66MHz AGP clock; higher clock

setting may cause serious system

damage.

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CCPPUU aanndd SSyysstteemm FFaann CCoonnnneeccttoorr ((wwiitthh HH//WW MMoonniittoorriinngg))

Plug in the CPU fan cable to the 3-pin CPUFAN1 connector. If you have chassis fan, you can also plug it on SYSFAN2 or

SYSFAN3 connector.

SENSOR

+12V

GND

CPUFAN1 Fan Connector

SYSFAN2 Connector

Note: Some CPU fans do not have

sensor pin, so that cannot support

hardware monitoring function.

GND +12V SENSOR

SYSFAN3 Connector

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

JJPP2288 KKeeyybbooaarrdd//MMoouussee WWaakkee--uupp EEnnaabbllee//DDiissaabbllee JJuummppeerr

This motherboard provides keyboard / mouse wake-up function. You can use JP28 to enable or disable this function, which

could resume your system from suspend mode with keyboard or mouse installed. The factory default setting is set to

“Disable”(1-2), and you may enable this function by setting the jumper to 2-3.

KB/Mouse Wake-up

Pin 1

Disable

(Default)

Pin 1

JP28

Enable

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DDIIMMMM SSoocckkeettss ((112288--BBiitt DDDDRR DDuuaall CChhaannnneell))

This motherboard has four 184-pin DDR DIMM sockets that allow you to install DDR400 or DDR333 memory up to 4 GB. ECC

DDR RAM is supported. Newly implemented function, the Voltage of memory on this motherboard is adjustable from 2.5V to

2.85V (such as 2.5V, 2.55V, 2.6V, 2.65V, 2.7V, 2.75V, 2.8V, 2.85V) for over clocking purpose, but default value here is 2.55V.

In the past, we used to have 64-bit memory bandwidth for memory access. No matter how many memory modules have been

installed, though capacity added, the speed of access remains the same. With 128-bit dual channel introduced, it doubles the

memory bandwidth up to 5.4GB in advanced 128-bit mode. This motherboard supports DDR400/333 with Maximum capacity up

to 4GB.

DIMM1 DIMM2 DIMM3 DIMM4

128-bit DDR Dual Channel Memory

module

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Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

MMaaxxiimmuumm tthhee ppeerrffoorrmmaannccee ooff DDuuaall CChhaannnneell

Dual Channel memory configuration provides higher performance than single channel configuration. To get the highest

performance of Dual Channel, the DIMM modules you’re using must meet the following conditions:

● Same DRAM technology (128Mb, 256Mb, or 512Mb) ● Same DRAM technology (128Mb, 256Mb, or 512Mb)

● Same Density (128MB, 256MB, 512MB, etc.) ● Same DRAM bus width (x8 or x16) ● Same Density (128MB, 256MB, 512MB, etc.) ● Same DRAM bus width (x8 or x16)

● Matched DIMM configuration in each channel ● Both either single-sided or dual-sided ● Matched DIMM configuration in each channel ● Both either single-sided or dual-sided

Note: Memory interface speed will be set to the lowest speed of memory populated. Note: Memory interface speed will be set to the lowest speed of memory populated.

Optimize performance for dual channel is obtained with matched DIMM population. Table below shows DIMMs with same

Organization and Density, but are non-matching as bus width, technology and/or external banks are different. Mixing these

DIMMs will put platform into single channel mode.

Non-Matched

128MB DIMMs

Non-Matched

256MB DIMMs

Organization Density Composition Technology External

16Mx64 128MB 16Mx8 *8 pcs 128MB 1

16Mx64 128MB 16Mx16 *4 pcs 256MB 1

32Mx64 256MB 16Mx8 *16 pcs 128MB 2

32Mx64 256MB 32Mx8 *8 pcs 256MB 1

Maaxxiimmuumm tthhee ppeerrffoorrmmaannccee ooff DDuuaall CChhaannnneell

Different

Bus Width

Different

Technology

Different

Technology

Different # of

DRAM Banks

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HHooww ttoo IInnssttaallll MMeemmoorryy MMoodduulleess

Please follow the procedure as shown below to finish memory installation. Please follow the procedure as shown below to finish memory installation.

1. Make sure the DIMM module’s pin face down and match the socket’s size as depicted below. 1. Make sure the DIMM module’s pin face down and match the socket’s size as depicted below.

2. Insert the module straight down to the DIMM slot with both hands and press down firmly until the DIMM module is securely

in place.

3. Repeat step 2 to finish additional DIMM modules installation. 3. Repeat step 2 to finish additional DIMM modules installation.

Ta b

Hooww ttoo IInnssttaallll MMeemmoorryy MMoodduulleess

52 pins 40 pins

Note: The tabs of the DIMM slot

will close-up to hold the DIMM in

place when the DIMM touches

the slot’s bottom.

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FFrroonntt PPaanneell CCoonnnneeccttoorr

Pin1

Attach the power LED, speaker, power and reset switch connectors to the

corresponding pins. If you enable “Suspend Mode” item in BIOS Setup, the ACPI

& Power LED will keep flashing while the system is in suspend mode.

Locate the power switch cable from your ATX housing. It is 2-pin female

connector from the housing front panel. Plug this connector to the soft-power

switch connector marked SPWR.

Suspend Type ACPI LED

Power on Suspend (S1) or Suspend to RAM (S3) Blinking between green and red.

Suspend to Disk (S4) The LED will be turned off

NC NC

+5V IDE LED IDE LED

+5V

GND

NC

1

SPWR GND ACPI LE D GND ACPILED NC ACPI_B GND RESET GND

IDE LED

Speaker

1

SPWR

ACPI & PWR LED

ACPI LED (BLUE)

Reset

SPEAKER

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AATTXX PPoowweerr CCoonnnneeccttoorr

This motherboard comes with a 20-pin and 4-pin ATX power connector. Make sure you plug in the right direction. We strongly

recommend you to connect the 4-pin 12V ATX connector before connecting the 20-pin ATX power connector and use standard

power supply specially designed for Pentium 4 system.

4-Pin 12V ATX Power Connector

20-Pin Power Connector

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AACC PPoowweerr AAuuttoo RReeccoovveerryy

A traditional ATX system should remain at power off stage when AC power resumes from power failure. This design is

inconvenient for a network server or workstation, without an UPS, that needs to keep power-on. This motherboard implements

an AC Power Auto Recovery function to solve this problem.

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SSTTBBYY LLEEDD aanndd BBOOOOTT LLEEDD

Both STBY LED and BOOT LED are AOpen’s considerate designs that aim at providing you friendly system information. The

STBY LED will light up when power is provided to the motherboard. This is a convenient indication for you to check the system

power status in many circumstances such as power on/off, stand-by mode and RAM power status during Suspend to RAM

mode.

BOOT LED will keep blinking when you power the system on and when your system is under

POST diagnoses everything alright and finishes the booting, the LED will stay on otherwise it will remain flashing to warn you

that mistakes have occurred during POST.

STBY LED

POST (Power-On Self Test). After

BOOT LED

Warning: Do not install or remove the

DIMM module or others devices when

the STBY LED lights on.

37

(

)

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

IIDDEE aanndd FFllooppppyy CCoonnnneeccttoorr

Connect 34-pin floppy cable and 40-pin IDE cable to floppy connector FDD and IDE connector. The blue connector is IDE1 for

clear identification. Be careful of the pin1 orientation. Wrong orientation may cause system damage.

Primary

Slave (2nd)

Pin 1

ATA1 33

IDE Connector

Pin 1

Secondary

Slave

Pin 1

4th

ATA 33/66/100 IDE Connector

FDD Connector

Primary

Master

Secondary

Master

1st)

IDE 1 (Primary)

IDE 2 (Secondary)

3rd)

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

IDE1 is also known as the primary channel, IDE2 and IDE3 are known as the secondary and third channel. Each channel

supports two IDE devices that make a total of six devices. In order to work together, the two devices on each channel must be

set differently to Master and Slave mode. Either one can be the hard disk or the CDROM. The setting as master or slave mode

depends on the jumper on your IDE device, so please refer to your hard disk and CDROM manual accordingly.

Wa

rning: The specification of the IDE cable is a maximum

of 46

Tip:

3. For better signal quality, it is recommended to set the far end

4. To achieve the best performance of Ultra DMA 66/100/133 hard

cm (18 inches); make sure your cable does not exceed

this length.

side device to master mode and follow the suggested sequence

to install your new device. Please refer to above diagram

disks, a special 80-wires IDE cable for Ultra DMA 66/100/133

is required.

Tip for ATA133 IDE:

1. It is not recommend using CD-ROM

for ATA133 IDE.

2. Please set it to Master when there is

only ONE device connected.

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

By the strength of Promise PDC29378, you will find an extra IDE 3 onboard for the scalability of hard disks capacity. All you

have to do is to simply set the following configuration to make full advantage of it.

1. Please press Ctrl-F to get into the Promise PDC29378 BIOS during POST.

2. Select Auto Setup for the system to recognize your hard disk, and done.

The Auto Setup will select the best mode for your hard disk. But of course, you may set your preferred Mode to Stripe or Mirror

according to the numbers of your hard disks as well.

Auto Setup

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

Mode

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

AATTAA//113333 SSuuppppoorrtteedd

This motherboard supports ATA 66 , ATA100 or ATA1 33 IDE devices. Following table lists the transfer rate of IDE PIO and DMA modes. The IDE bus is 16-bit, which means every transfer is two bytes. As the hard drive industry introduces faster and higher capacity hard drives, the current Ultra ATA/100 interface causes a data bottleneck between the drive and the host computer. To avoid this problem, hard disk manufacturers have introduced the new Ultra ATA-133 interface technology. Compared to traditional ATA/100, ATA/133 has up to 33 percent increase in interface speed with transfer rate of 133MB/s. ATA/133 performance is ideal for new operating systems, such as Window XP, that demand more storage space and faster data transfer rates from more responsive computing experiences. To make good use of this new technology and enjoy its best performance, we recommend you to pair your system with a hard disk equipped with ATA/133 technology so that your system's need for speeding on this motherboard can be satisfied.

Mode Clock Period Clock Count Cycle TimeData Transfer Rate

PIO mode 0 30ns 20 600ns (1/600ns) x 2byte = 3.3MB/s

PIO mode 1 30ns 13 383ns (1/383ns) x 2byte = 5.2MB/s

PIO mode 2 30ns 8 240ns (1/240ns) x 2byte = 8.3MB/s

PIO mode 3 30ns 6 180ns (1/180ns) x 2byte = 11.1MB/s

PIO mode 4 30ns 4 120ns (1/120ns) x 2byte = 16.6MB/s

DMA mode 0 30ns 16 480ns (1/480ns) x 2byte = 4.16MB/s

DMA mode 1 30ns 5 150ns (1/150ns) x 2byte = 13.3MB/s

DMA mode 2 30ns 4 120ns (1/120ns) x 2byte = 16.6MB/s

ATA33 30ns 4 120ns (1/120ns) x 2byte x 2 = 33MB/s

ATA66 30ns 2 60ns (1/60ns) x 2byte x 2 = 66MB/s

ATA100 20ns 2 40ns (1/40ns) x 2byte x 2 = 100MB/s

ATA133 15ns 2 30ns (1/30ns) x 2byte x 2 = 133MB/s

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SSeerriiaall AATTAA SSuuppppoorrtteedd ((wwiitthh RRAAIIDD ffuunnccttiioonn))

The traditional parallel ATA specification has defined the standard storage interface for PCs with its

original speed of just 3 Mbytes/second since the protocol was introduced in the 1980s. And the latest

generation of the interface, Ultra ATA-133, has been developed further with a burst data transfer rate

of 133 Mbytes/second. However, while ATA has enjoyed an illustrious track record, the specification is

now showing its age and imposes some serious design issues on today’s developers, including a 5-volt signaling requirement,

high pin count, and serious cabling headaches.

The Serial ATA specification is designed to overcome these design limitations while enabling the storage interface to scale with

the growing media rate demands of PC platforms. Serial ATA is to replace parallel ATA with the compatibility with existing

operating systems and drivers, adding performance headroom for years to come. It reduces voltage and pins count

requirements and can be implemented with thin and easy to route cables.

SATA port 2 (ICH5R)

SATA port 1 (ICH5R)

SATA port 3 (PDC20378) SATA port 4 (PDC20378)

Serial ATA Ports

Motherboard SATA 1 & 2 SATA 3 & 4

AX4C Max II RAID 0, 1 RAID 0, 1, 0+1

(With ATA133)

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CCoonnnneeccttiinngg SSeerriiaall AATTAA DDiisskk

To connect a Serial ATA disk, you have to have a 7-pin serial ATA cable. Connect two ends of the serial ATA cable to the serial

ATA header on the motherboard and the disk. Like every other traditional disk, you also have to connect a power cable. Please

be noted that it is a jumper free implement; you don’t need to set jumpers to define a master or slave disk. When connecting

two serial ATA disks, the system will automatically take the one connected to “Serial ATA 1” header as a master disk. Please be

noted that it doesn’t support Hot-Plug in function.

Coonnnneeccttiinngg SSeerriiaall AATTAA DDiisskk

Comparison between Parallel ATA and Serial ATA

Parallel ATA Serial ATA

Bandwidth 100/133 MB/Secs 150/300/600 MB/Secs

Vol ts 5V 250mV

Pins 40 7

Length Limitation 18 inch (45.72cm) 1 meter (100cm)

Cable Wide Thin

Ventilation Bad Good

Peer-to-Peer No Yes

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AAddjjuussttiinngg YYoouurr HHaarrdd DDiisskk

Except its original 2 sets of parallel IDE, this motherboard does come with the support for the latest Serial ATA hard disk. If you

are unable to find your newly installed Serial ATA hard disks on your operating system after you have had installed them on, the

problem mainly lies in the BIOS setting. You may simply adjust BIOS settings to have them work properly.

After having properly installed your hard disks, you may directly get into the BIOS setting screen for adjustment. You may simply

press “Integrated Peripherals Æ OnChip IDE Device Æ On-Chip Serial ATA” to choose your preferable mode. If you have no

intention of changing its setting, the default would be Auto.

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

If you intend to change the default setting, simply press Enter for a list of selection:

1. Disabled: You may choose this item if you’re sure that only traditional IDE hard

disks had been installed on your system. Disabling this item may also cancel

the detection to Serial ATA hard disk during POST, which theoretically, could

speed up your boot-up timing for a little bit; however, please remember to

re-adjust the settings here if you intend to use Serial ATA hard disk later.

2. Auto: This is the default setting upon receipt of the motherboard. Basically, if

your system functions properly, it’s not necessary to change it. The system will

automatically recognize the first hard disk on IDE1 as the first boot device.

Note: Please be informed that when you are using Windows98/ME with six hard

disks fully installed, Auto mode is not able to function properly, it’s just because Windows98/Me is not able to energize

Enhanced Mode to detect all hard disks.

3. Combined Mode: If you have had installed traditional IDE hard disks and Serial ATA hard disks at the same time, then you

may choose this Combined Mode. Under this mode, you may randomly choose either IDE hard disks or Serial ATA had disk

as your first boot device. But please be aware that Serial ATA will exist with IDE in a mapping way, which also means it will

occupy one of the IDE Channel and left you with one IDE Channel only.

4. Enhanced Mode: If you are using the latest operating system (say, WindowsXP, Windows.NET Server), it is highly

recommended to select Enhanced Mode. The system would be able to detect all six devices (traditional IDE x4, Serial ATA

x 2) completely and functions perfectly under this mode. But please be noted that it is defaulted with using traditional IDE

as the first boot device.

Note: From our practical lab tests, we found no obvious problem or mistakes happened under Windows2000 operating

system, but, however, it is not within the regulation recommended by Intel.

5. SATA Only: You may select this SATA Only mode if you have had installed Serial ATA hard disks only. It also allows you to

select booting sequence from Port0(SerialATA1) or Port1(SerialATA2).

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

IIrrDDAA CCoonnnneeccttoorr

The IrDA connector can be configured to support wireless infrared module, with this module and application software such as

Laplink or Windows 95 Direct Cable Connection, the user can transfer files to or from laptops, notebooks, PDA devices and

printers. This connector supports HPSIR (115.2Kbps, 2 meters) and ASK-IR (56Kbps).

Install the infrared module onto the IrDA connector and enable the infrared function from BIOS Setup, UART Mode, make sure

to have the correct orientation when you plug in the IrDA connector.

Pin 1

NC

+5V

IR_TX

IIrrDDAA CCoonnnneeccttoorr

KEY GND IR_RX

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nnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

SS//PPDDIIFF ((SSoonnyy//PPhhiilliippss DDiiggiittaall IInntteerrffaaccee)) CCoonnnneeccttoorr

S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) is a newest audio transfer file format, which provides impressive audio quality through

optical fiber and allows you to enjoy digital audio instead of analog audio. Normally there are two S/PDIF outputs as shown, one

for RCA connector, the most common one used for consumer audio products, and the other for optical connector with better

audio quality. Through a specific audio cable, you can connect the S/PDIF connector to other end of the S/PDIF audio module,

which bears S/PDIF digital output. However, you must have a S/PDIF supported speaker/amplifier/decoder with S/PDIF digital

input to connect to the S/PDIF digital output to make the most out of this function.

(RCA)

F OUT

S/PDI

S/PDIF IN

S/PDIF OUT

S/PDIF IN

(Optical)

S/PDIF Module

(User Upgrade Optional)

S/PDIF

Cable

Pin 1

S/PDIF

Connector

+5V

1

NC

S/PDIFOUT

GND

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SSuuppeerr 55..11 CChhaannnneell AAuuddiioo EEffffeecctt

This motherboard comes with an ALC650 CODEC, which supports high quality of 5.1 Channel audio effects, bringing you a

brand new audio experience. On the strength of the innovative design of ALC650, you're able to use standard line-jacks for

surround audio output without connecting any external module. To apply this function, you have to install the audio driver in the

Bonus Pack CD as well as an audio application supporting 5.1 Channel. Picture bellow represents the standard location of all

speakers in 5.1Channel sound track. Please connect the plug of your front speakers to the green “Speaker out” port, rear

speakers’ plug to the blue “Line in” port and both of the center and subwoofer speakers to the red “MIC in” port.

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AAGGPP 88XX SSlloott

With Intel 875P (Canterwood) chipset implemented, this motherboard supports AGP function of 8X, it supports 1.5V AGP card

only (adjustable by 0.033 steps, such as 1.5V, 1.55V, 1.6V, 1.65V, 1.7V, 1.75V, 1.8V and 1.85V), please do not insert 3.3V AGP

card, otherwise, it could cause serious damage to the motherboard. Other than that, you could even adjust frequency between

variations from 64MHz to 100MHz through BIOS.

Additionally, AOpen provide sets of AGP/PCI frequencies for overclockers to manually overclock AGP/PCI frequency while

taking care of the system stability at the same time (but will be automatically disabled when connecting any Serial ATA device).

49

AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

AAGGPP PPrrootteeccttiioonn TTeecchhnnoollooggyy aanndd AAGGPP LLEEDD

WWiitthh tthhee oouuttssttaannddiinngg RR&&DD aabbiilliittyy ooff AAOOppeenn aanndd iittss s

pprrootteecctt yyoouurr mmootthheerrbbooaarrdd

s mmootthheerrbbooaarrdd wwiillll aauuttoommaattiiccaallllyy ddeetteecctt tthhee vvoollttaaggee

tthhiis

tthhaatt iiff yyoouu iinnssttaallll aa AAGGPP cca

o

ssssiibbllee ddaammaaggee ooff tthhee eexxcceeeeddiinngg vvoollttaaggee.. YYoouu mmaayy ccoon

ppo

ffrroomm bbeeiinngg ddaammaaggeedd bbyy oovveerr--vvoollttaaggiinngg ooff AAGGPP ccaarrdd..

a

rrdd wwiitthh 33..33VV,, wwhhiicchh iiss nnoott ssuuppppoorrtteedd,, tthhee AAGGPP LLEEDD o

sppeecciiaallllyy ddeevveellooppeedd cciirrccuuiitt,, tthhiiss mmooddeell iimmpplleemmeennttss

ooff AAGGPP ccaarrdd aanndd pprreevveenntt yyoouurr cchhiippsseettss ffrroomm bbeeiinngg b

nttaacctt yyoouurr AAGGPP ccaarrdd vveennddoorr ffoorr ffuurrtthheerr ssuuppppoorrtt..

aa bblleenndd nneeww tteecchhnnoollooggyy ttoo

WWhheenn AAGGPP PPrrootteeccttiioonn TTeecchhnnoollooggyy iiss iimmpplleemmeenntteedd,,

buurrnntt oouutt.. PPlleeaassee nnoottee

onn tthhee mmootthheerrbbooaarrdd wwiillll lliigghhtt uupp ttoo wwaarrnn yyoouu tthhee

AGP LED

Warning: It is strongly recommended not

to install a 3.3V AGP card, which is not

supported. When you do so, the AGP LED

on the motherboard will light up to warn you

the possible damage.

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SSeellff--PPoowweerreedd PPCCII SSlloott

Spotted easily among other PCI slots onboard, this Self-Powered PCI slot comes in a special BLUE color to illustrate its

uniqueness and usefulness.

As independent as it is, Self-Powered PCI comes in a separate set of 3.3 volt power circuitry which supplies needed current and

making it virtually free from the “loading issue” of traditional PCI slot. In addition, traces around this specially designed slot

power delivery are upgraded in terms of their trace thickness, making its signals much more robust than their fellow PCI slots

onboard.

When building machines with PCI cards which requires higher power, such as SCSI and RAID cards, the card installed on this

slot will never be affected under heavy loading conditions such as all onboard PCI slots being fully populated. Self-Powered PCI

keeps supplying you best performance and stability.

Last but not least, if your computer comes with an ordinary SPS (Switching Power Supply), Self-Powered PCI Slot demonstrates

superior compatibility and reliability.

Independent 3.3 volt

power circuitry

Self-Powered PCI slot

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

WWOOMM ((ZZeerroo VVoollttaaggee WWaakkee oonn MMooddeemm)) CCoonnnneeccttoorr

This motherboard implements special circuit to support Wake On Modem, both internal modem card and external box modem

are supported. Since internal modem card consumes no power when system power is off, it is recommended to use an internal

modem. To use internal modem, connect 4-pin cable from RING connector of modem card to the WOM connector on the

motherboard.

WOM Connector

+5VSB

NC

RI-

GND

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

WWOOMM bbyy EExxtteerrnnaall BBooxx MMooddeem

Traditional Green PC suspend mode does not really turn off the system power supply, it uses external box modem to trigger MB

COM port and resume back to active.

Note: This picture is for example only; it may not exactly be the same motherboard.

Pin 1

m

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

Serial Port

(Modem Side)

Serial Port

(Motherboard Side)

53

)

AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

WWOOMM bbyy IInntteerrnnaall MMooddeemm CCaarrd

With the help of the ATX soft power On/Off, it is possible to have a system totally power off, and wakeup to automatically answer

a phone call as an answering machine or to send/receive a fax. You may identify whether or not your system is in true power off

mode by checking to see if the fan of your power supply is off. Both an external box modem and an internal modem card can be

used to support Modem Wake Up, but if you use an external modem, you have to leave your box modem on.

WOM Connector

(Motherboard Side)

Note: This picture is for example only; it may not exactly be the same motherboard.

d

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

WOM Connector

(Modem Card

Side

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

WWOOLL ((WWaakkee oonn LLAANN))

This feature is very similar as Wake On Modem, but it goes through local area network. To use Wake On LAN function, you

must have a network card with chipset that supports this feature, and connect a cable from LAN card to motherboard WOL

connector. The system identification information (probably IP address) is stored on network card and because there is a lot of

traffic on the Ethernet, you need to install network management software, such as ADM, for the checking of how to wake up the

system. Note that, at least 600mA ATX standby current is required to support the LAN card for this function.

WOL Connector

+5VSB

GND

LID

55

AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

WOL Connector

(Motherboard Side)

Note: This picture is for example only, it may not exactly be the same motherboard. Note: This picture is for example only, it may not exactly be the same motherboard.

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

WOL Connector

(Ethernet Card Side)

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

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PPCC9999 CCoolloorr CCooddeedd BBaacckk PPaanneell

The onboard I/O devices are PS/2 Keyboard, PS/2 Mouse, COM1 and COM2, RJ45 LAN, Printer, USB2.0, AC97 sound and

game ports. The view angle of drawing shown here is from the back panel of the housing.

PS/2 Keyboard: For standard keyboard, which is using a PS/2 plug. PS/2 Mouse: For PC-Mouse, which is using a PS/2 plug. USB Port: Available for connecting USB devices. Parallel Port: To connect with SPP/ECP/EPP printer. COM1/COM2 Port: To connect with pointing devices, modem or others serial devices. VGA Connector: To connect with PC monitor. Speaker Out: To External Speaker, Earphone or Amplifier. Line-In: Comes from the signal sources, such as CD/Tape player. MIC-In: From Microphone.

PS/2 Mouse

Connector

PS/2 Keyboard

Connector

USB Port

(2.0)

COM 1 Port COM 2 Port

SPP/EPP/ECP

Parallel Port

RJ45 LAN Jack

USB Port

(2.0)

Line-In

Speaker Out

MIC-In

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

SSuuppppoorrtt GGiiggaabbiitt LLAANN oonnbbooaarrdd

On the strength of Broadcom Gigabit LAN controller on board, which is a highly-integrated Platform LAN Connect device, it

provides Gigabits Ethernet for office and home use, the Ethernet RJ45 connector is located on top of USB connectors. The

right-hand side LED indicates the link mode, it blinks in orange whenever linking to network. The left-hand side LED indicates

the Connecting mode, and it lights in green when 100Mbps LAN is connected (never lights while 10Mbps is connected), but

lights in orange when Gigabits LAN is connected. To enable or disable this function, you may simply adjust it through BIOS.

Connecting (Left)

Green (100Mbps)

Orange (Gigabit)

Linking (Right)

Orange

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SSuuppppoorrtt EEiigghhtt UUSSBB22..00 CCoonnnneeccttoorrss

Compared to traditional USB 1.0/1.1 with the speed of 12Mbps, USB 2.0 has a fancy speed up to 480Mbps, which is 40 times

faster than the traditional one. Except for the speed increase, USB 2.0 supports old USB 1.0/1.1 software and peripherals,

offering impressive and even better compatibility to customers. On this motherboard, all eight USB connectors support USB 2.0

function. To connect those two headers, you have to use proper USB cables and connect them to any USB models.

USB2 Connector

NC KEY

GND-

SBD3+

SBD3-

+5V

GND SBD2+ SBD2 +5V

1

Pin 1

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OOnnbbooaarrdd IIEEEEEE 11339944 CCoonnttrroolllleerr

This motherboard comes with AGERE 1394 Control Chip (FW323) onboard. The IEEE 1394 provides data transfer rate up to

400Mbps, and USB just has 12Mbps. Hence, the IEEE 1394 interface can connect with the devices that need high data

transferring performance, such as digital camera, scanner or others IEEE 1394 devices. Please use the proper cable to connect

with devices.

10 9

Shielding GND

1394_PWR

TPB-

Pin 1

IEEE 1394

Port 1 & 2

Warning: Please be noted that Hot-Plug in is not

allowed on IEEE 1394 header, because it will burn

the IC of the controller and damage the motherboard.

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GND TPA-

KEY 1394_PWR TPB+ GND TPA+

2 1

AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

CChhaassssiiss IInnttrruussiioonn CCoonnnneeccttoorr

The “CASE OPEN” header provides chassis intrusion-monitoring function. To make this function works, you have to enable it in

the system BIOS, connect this header to a sensor somewhere on the chassis. So, whenever the sensor is triggered by lights or

the opening of the chassis, the system will send out beep sound to inform you. Please be informed that this useful function only

applies to advanced chassis, you may purchase an extra sensor, attach it on your chassis, and make a good use of this

function.

Pin 1

1

SENSOR

Chassis Intrusion

Connector

GND

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CCDD AAuuddiioo CCoonnnneeccttoorr

This connector is used to connect CD Audio cable from CDROM or DVD drive to onboard sound.

CCDD--IINN CCoonnnneeccttoorr

L

GND

R

Note: Though some of the latest version of Windows

support “Digital Audio” through IDE bus. However, in

order to use Open Jukebox player, which is driven

under BIOS, it is a MUST to insert audio cable to

CD-IN connector on the motherboard.

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AAUUXX--IINN CCoonnnneeccttoorr

This connector is used to connect MPEG Audio cable from MPEG card to onboard sound.

AAUUXX--IINN CCoonnnneeccttoorr

L

GND

R

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FFrroonntt AAuuddiioo CCoonnnneeccttoorr

If the housing has been designed with an audio port on the front panel, you’ll be able to connect onboard audio to front panel

through this connector. By the way, please remove 5-6 and 9-10 jumper caps from the Front Audio Connector before

connecting the cable. Please do not remove these 5-6 and 9-10 yellow jumper caps if there’s no audio port on the front

panel.

Pin 1

AUD_MIC

AUD_MIC_BIAS

AUD_FPOUT_R

NC

AUD_FROUT_L

1 2

AUD_GND

AUD_VCC

AUD_RET_R

KEY

AUD_RET_L

9 10

Note: Please remove the jumper cap from the Front Panel Audio Connector

before you connect the cable. Do not remove this yellow jumper cap if

housin

without an audio port on the front panel.

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Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

DDiiee--HHaarrdd BBIIOOSS IIII ((UUsseerr UUppggrraaddee OOppttiioonnaall))

Many viruses have been found that they may destroy bios code and data area lately. This motherboard implements a very

effective hardware protection method without any software or BIOS coding involved, therefore it is 100% virus free. You may

restore the originally mounted BIOS with 2

BIOS 2

nd

BIOS ROM by setting JP24 to pin 2-3 if it fails to work properly.

BIOS 1

JP24

Pin 1

BIOS Rescue Jumper

1

Normal (Default)

JP24

1

Rescue

(BIOS 2)

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EExxtteerrnnaall CCoonnttrroolllleerr ffoorr DDIIEE--HHAARRDD BBIIOOSS ((UUsseerr UUppggrraadde

External Controller provides you a better and convenience way to switch the BIOS status between “Rescue” and “Normal”

without opening the case of your computer. You have to plug the jumper cable to the connector pin (JP30) on the motherboard.

Be careful of the orientation when you connect, the red wire should correspond to Pin1.

Normal

To / From CPU

Read Only

Read/Write

Rescue ROM

Manual Switch

Flash ROM

e OOppttiioonnaall))

Note: If you suspect your BIOS is infected by virus, just rescue your bios by following steps:

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1. Turn off the system, set the External Controller to “Rescue” to read from rescue ROM. 1. Turn off the system, set the External Controller to “Rescue” to read from rescue ROM.

2. Boot the system and set the switch back to “Normal”. 2. Boot the system and set the switch back to “Normal”.

3. Follow the BIOS upgrade procedure to rehabilitate BIOS. 3. Follow the BIOS upgrade procedure to rehabilitate BIOS.

Reboot the system, and you should be able to go back to normal mode. Reboot the system, and you should be able to go back to normal mode.

Normal

(Read from normal

Flash ROM)

Tip: If you place the switch to the middle

rd

picture shows), you will not be

(as 3

able to boot your system, thus you can

protect your data from molesting.

Rescue

(Read from

Rescue ROM)

(Lock your computer

to protect your data)

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

Lock

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JJPP22 DDrr.. VVooiiccee OOuuttppuutt SSeelleecctt JJuummppeerr

This motherboard comes with another considerate function, which allows you to select the voice coming out from buzzer or

speaker, if Dr. Voice detects any errors that occurred in the operating system. If you want to enable buzzer, you may set JP2 to

pin 1-2, or pin 2-3 to enable speaker. For enabling different language versions of Dr Voice, please go to BIOS settings for

adjustment.

Pin 1

JP2 Dr. Voice Output

Select Jumper

1

Buzzer

(Default)

1

Speaker

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In conjunction with Dr. LED (Upgrade Optional), which can easily shows what kind of problems may occur on your system during

assembly. It can clearly indicate whether there is a component issue or an installed issue by the 8 LEDs on the front panel of Dr.

LED. This can helps you to have a self-diagnostic to your system status quickly.

Pin 1

3.3V

KEY

GND

1 2

S1

S2

S3

5 6

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Dr. LED is a CD disc storage box with 8 LEDs on its front panel, the size of Dr. LED is exactly the same as 5.25 in floppy drive,

so that it can be mount into normal 5.25 in drive bay of any housing.

The total 8 LEDs light up alternatively if the system fails in one of eight stages. Once the LED7 (latest LED) is lit, this indicates

that the system has completed its boot-up procedure.

The 8 LEDs indicate the following messages when lit: The 8 LEDs indicate the following messages when lit:

LED 0 - Indicates that the CPU may have been installed incorrectly or is damaged.

LED 1 - Indicates that the memory may have been installed incorrectly or is damaged.

LED 2 - Indicates that the AGP may have been installed incorrectly or is damaged.

LED 3 - Indicates that the PCI card may have been installed incorrectly or is damaged.

LED 4 - Indicates that the floppy disk drive may have been installed incorrectly or is damaged.

LED 5 - Indicates that the HDD may have been installed incorrectly or is damaged.

LED 6 - Indicates that the keyboard may have been installed incorrectly or is damaged.

LED 7 - Indicates that the system is OK.

567

Boot O.K.

KB

HDD

Floppy

PCI MemoryVideo CPU

01234

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Note: During POST (Power On Self Test) procedure, the

Debug LED will light on sequentially from LED0 to LED7 until

the system boot O.K

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Auto Switch

RTC

CMOS

Baatttteerryy--lleessss aanndd LLoonngg LLiiffee DDeessiiggnn

Auto switching to ATX standby power as

long as AC power line is plugged. This

smart design increases battery life if you

still plug battery on motherboard.

Backup by EEPROM

BBaatttteerryy--lleessss aanndd LLoonngg LLiiffee DDeessiiggnn

This Motherboard implements Flash ROMThis Motherboard implements Flash ROM and a special circuit that allows you to save your current CPU and CMOS Setup

configurations without the need of a battery. The RTC (real time clock) can also keep running as long as the power cord is

plugged. If you lose your CMOS data by accident, you can just reload the CMOS configurations from Flash ROM and the system

will recover as usual.

Flash

ROM

ATX Stand-by Power Battery

(Real Time Clock)

00:00:00

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CCPPUU OOvveerr--ccuurrrreenntt PPrrootteeccttiioonn

Over Current Protection has been popularly implemented on ATX 3.3V/5V/12V switching power supply for a while. However,

new generation CPU is able to use regulator of different voltages to transfer 12V to CPU voltage (for example, to 2.0V). This

motherboard is with switching regulator onboard that supports CPU over-current protection, and it applies to 3.3V/5V/12V power

supply for providing full line over-current protection.

Note: Although we have implemented protection circuit try to prevent any human operating

mistake, there is still certain risk that CPU, memory, HDD, add-on cards installed on this

motherboard may be damaged because of component failure, human operating error or unknown

nature reason. AOpen cannot guaranty the protection circuit will always work perfectly.

ATX Switching Power

Supply

CPPUU OOvveerr--ccuurrrreenntt PPrrootteeccttiioonn

Onboard

Power

Regulator

5V (Protected by power supply)

3.3V (Protected by power supply)

12V (Protected by power supply)

Over-Current

Protection Circuit

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CPU Core Voltage

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O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

AAOOCCoonnffiigg UUttiilliittyy

AOpen always dedicated to provide users a much friendlier computer environment. We now bring you a comprehensive system

detective utility. AOconfig is a Windows based utility with user-friendly interface that allows users to obtain information of the

operation system and hardware such as motherboard, CPU, memory, PCI devices and IDE devices. The powerful utility also

displays the version of BIOS and firmware for your convenience of maintenance.

Moreover, AOconfig allows users to save information in *.BMP or *.TXT format which users may collect the system information

in detail and send them to AOpen directly for technical support or further diagnosis of system problem.

1. The system page shows the detail information of the motherboard, the operating system, the processor, and BIOS version.

2. The PCI device page shows the configurations of all PCI devices installed on your motherboard.

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

NOTE: AOconfig can be used in Windows 98SE/ME, NT4.0/2000, or even the latest Windows XP. Please be

informed that AOconfig can only be operated in a system equipped with an AOpen motherboard. Meanwhile, all

applications must be closed before starting AOconfig.

3. This page presents the IDE devices information, such as the serial number, the manufacturer, the firmware version, and capacity.

4. From this page, users may obtain the technical support information of AOpen.

Moreover, detailed information

could be saved in .bmp or .txt

format.

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

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RReesseettaabbllee FFuussee

Traditional motherboard has fuse for Keyboard and USB port to prevent over-current or shortage. These fuses are soldered

onboard that when it is broken (function as protecting the motherboard), user still cannot replace it and the motherboard is still

malfunctioning.

With expensive Resetable Fuse, the motherboard can be resumed back to normal function after the fuse had done its protection

job.

Resetable

Fuse

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AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

0

3333000

The quality of low ESR capacitor (Low Equivalent Series Resistance) during high frequency operation is very important for the

stability of CPU power. The idea of where to put these capacitors is another know-how that requires experience and detail

calculation.

Not only that, AX4C Max II implements 3300μF capacitors, which is much larger than normal capacitor (1500 and 2200μf) and

it provides better stability for CPU power.

μ

FF LLooww EESSRR CCaappaacciittoorr

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

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O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

VV44 PPoowweerr EEnnggiinnee

While the market are flooded with low quality, cost-down power materials on motherboard by treacherous manufacturers that

subsequently cause the stability of your system, unknown system crashing, overheating of your motherboard, we, AOpen have

decided to maintain our long-lasting reputation of refined manufacturer by keep providing solid materials on our products.

As if V6 engine gives more horsepower to your car driving on the road, so as motherboard needed to have stronger and more

robust power to protect your system. Adopted 4 parelelled PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) controller channels in 4-phase form,

this motherboard provide optimized power density, transient response and thermal performance for satisfying the increasing

high CPU temperature. And one thing for sure, 4-phase PWM controller would definitely be better for 3-phase PWM controller as

the same theory of 3000c.c car would certainly be better than 2000c.c car. Therefore, It is a must for motherboard these days to

get prepared with stronger, more stable power.

If we take 60W power consumption shared by 3-phase PWM controller for example, testings shows that it transmits higher

temperature to its surrounding components and thus increasing the temperature of motherbaord, which is very frustrating for

CPU overclocking or for system stability concern at high loading. However, with 4-phase PWM controller implemented, voltage

are averagely shared in 4-phase PWM controller and transmit less temperature onto the board and thus cool down motherboard

temperature, so as to protect your system.

77

4-phase form PMW

AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

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Comprison Transient of 3-phase and 4-phase PWM Comprison Transient of 3-phase and 4-phase PWM

As test report shows, while most of the motherboards on the market are powered by 3-phase PWM controller, this motherboard

does comes with 4-phase PWM controller providing stronger power, and could lower down the temperature of motherboard from

does comes with 4-phase PWM controller providing stronger power, and could lower down the temperature of motherboard from 15℃ to 30℃.

15℃ to 30℃.

-phase

4

3-phase Vcore tolerance of - 126 mv

3-Phase PWM

Transient difference between 3-phas and 4-phase PWM

Vcore tolerance of - 116 mv Vcore tolerance of - 116 mv

4-Phase PWM

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OOppeenn JJuukkeeBBooxx PPllaayyeerr

without any hassle of entering Windows operation system.

Here we are pleased to provide you a brand-new powerful interface—Open JukeBox.

Without any cost you can have your PC turn into a fashionable CD player! This latest Open

JukeBox motherboard aims at helping you directly operate your CD player on the PC

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y

play

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How Your Open JukeBox Works

The operation of Open JukeBox Player is the same as other CD players. By pressing specific keys on the keyboard you will find

playing Open JukeBox Player couldn’t be easier than the traditional CD Players. Below is the function description of respective

buttons.

Power-Off Button

Operation System

Boot to

Power: Pressing Boot: Pressing Play: Pressing Stop: Pressing Pause: Pressing Eject: Pressing Repeat: Like other CD Players, pressing Vol um e +/ -: Pressing + or – to adjust the volume of playing music.

Rewind/Forward Å / Æ: Pressing arrow keys, to rewind or forward the music.

O, to directly power off your computer with no hassle of entering Windows Operation System. B, to intelligently boot to Windows Operation System for you. A, to start playing CD music. S, to stop the music playing. P, to pause the music playing temporarily. E, to eject CD tray for you to change CD disc.

R, to shift the repeat mode.

80

Note: Though some of the latest

version of Windows support “Digital

Audio” through IDE bus. However, in

order to use Open Jukebox player,

which is driven under BIOS, it is a

MUST to insert audio cable to CD-IN

connector on the motherboard.

Dis

Function Ke

Screen

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Your Open JukeBox Settings in BIOS

There are three Open JukeBox settings in BIOS as follows.

Auto: The default setting is “Auto” with which the Open JukeBox will automatically check the CD player every time you power

on. The Open JukeBox will automatically be launched when it detects a music CD in your CD player.

Press Insert Key: Choosing this setting will allow a reminder message popped up on the screen during BIOS POST. It reminds

you of pressing “Ins” key on your keyboard to start Open JukeBox Player; otherwise the system will launch the Windows

Operation System. CD Player: Choosing this setting allows the system to launch Open JukeBox Player every time you power on. However, by pressing B on your keyboard the Windows Operation System will be launched.

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Your Open JukeBox EzSkin

Except these powerful functions above, Open JukeBox Player is also equipped with another fancy feature for you to

change its “skin”. You can download as many skins as you want from AOpen Website, and changing them whenever

you want by using this useful utility – EzSkin – which may also be downloaded from our website.

Even more, you may design your own skins with innovative idea and sharing them to users around the world by uploading to our website. For further technical information, we welcome you to visit our website at

http://english.aopen.com.tw/tech/download/skin

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VViivviidd BBIIOOSS tteecchhnnoollooggyy

Unlike earlier graphic POST screen which could occupy the whole screen and mask text information during POST, AOpen

VividBIOS deals with graphics and texts separately, and makes them running simultaneously during POST. With this innovative

design, VividBios now brings you a beautiful and sleek 256 colors screen without missing any important information shown on

POST screen.

In addition, the limited space of BIOS ROM is another big issue. When all of the traditional BIOS can only show

space-consuming and uncompressed Bitmap, AOpen has considerately tuned the BIOS to next generation, to recognize the

smaller-sized GIF format and even dynamic-showing GIF animation.

Vivid BIOS shares the same fundamental technology with Open JukeBox CD Player, you may use the same EzSkin utility to

change your Vivid BIOS screen or to download your favorite Open JukeBox skin. If you see this little logo your model name on the BIOS download page,

motherboard supports this innovative feature!

Viivviidd BBIIOOSS tteecchhnnoollooggyy

Have you been fed up with the conservative and immutable POST screen? Let’s rule out

the tradition idea that POST screen are stiff and frigid, and let AOpen show you the newly

developed VividBIOS to experience the lively vivid colorful POST screen!

shown beside

http://english.aopen.com.tw/tech/download/skin, it is assured that your

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Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

HHyyppeerr TThhrreeaaddiinngg TTeecchhnnoollooggyy

What is Hyper-Threading?

Hyper-Threading technology is an innovative design from Intel that enables multi-threaded software applications to process

threads in parallel within each processor resulting in increased utilization of processor execution resources. As a result, an

average improvement of ~40% in CPU resource utilization yields higher processing throughput.

How Hyper-Threading Works

A form of simultaneous multi-threading technology (SMT), Hyper-Threading technology allows multiple threads of software

applications to be run simultaneously on

one processor by duplicating the

architectural state on each processor

while the same processor execution

resources is shared. The figure below

represents how a Hyper-Threading based

processor differentiates a traditional

multiprocessor. The left-hand

configuration shows a traditional

multiprocessor system with two physical

processors. Each processor has its own

independent execution resources and

architectural state. The right-hand

configuration represents an Intel

Hyper-Threading technology based

processor. You can see that the architectural state for each processor is duplicated, while the execution resources is shared.

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For multiprocessor-capable software applications, the Hyper-Threading based processor is considered two separate logical

processors on which the software

applications can run without

modification. Also, each logical

processor responds to interrupts

independently. The first logical

processor can track one software

thread, while the second logical

processor tracks another software

thread simultaneously. Because the

two threads share the same

execution resources, the second

thread can use resources that would

be otherwise idle if only one thread

was executing. This results in an

increased utilization of the execution

resources within each physical

processor.

The figure below represents how

Hyper-Threading saves time when it works. With two logical processors available on every single physical processor,

multi-threaded applications can now take advantage of thread-level parallelism on each physical processor for additional

performance. As software applications continue to be optimized to take greater advantage of processor parallelism,

Hyper-Threading technology provides an additional boost for newer capabilities and the growing needs of today’s users.

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RRAAIIDD IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn

WWhhaatt’’ss RRAAIIDD??

Two major challenges facing the storage industry today are keeping pace with the increasing performance demands of computer

systems by improving disk I/O throughput and providing data accessibility in the face of hard disk failures.

The idea of RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) was first introduced by David A. Patterson, Garth Gibson and Randy

H. Katz at the University California at Berkeley in 1988. RAID is a purpose of storing the same data in different places on

multiple

performance and/or data fault tolerance. Better performance is accomplished by sharing the workload in parallel among multiple

physical hard drives. Fault-tolerance is achieved through data redundant operation where if one (or more) drive fails or has a

sector failure, a mirrored copy of the data can be found on another drive(s).

A RAID appears to the operating system to be a single logical hard disk. The RAID controller manages how the data is stored

and accessed across the physical and logical arrays. The RAID controller help users to ensure that the operating system only

sees the logical drives and users do not need to worry about managing the complicated schema.

For optimal performance results, select identical hard drives to install in disk arrays. The drives’ matched performance allows

the array to function better as a single drive.

hard disks and improves storage subsystem performance. The advantage of RAID is to provide better throughput

Warning: The Serial ATA RAID function

can be supported under Windows XP

and Windows .Net environments.

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Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

WWhhaatt aarree tthhee RRAAIIDD lleevveellss??

SSttrriippiinngg // SSppaann ((RRAAIIDD 00))

RAID level 0, which is the fastest drive array you can have, is a performance-oriented disk mapping method. The data in this

array gets written across a stripe or different disks for a faster transfer. This technique has striping but no redundancy of data. It

offers the best performance but no fault-tolerance. Reads and writes sector of data interleaved between multiple drives. When

any disk member fails, it affects the entire array. Performance is better than a single drive since the workload is balanced

between the array members. This array type is for high performance systems. Identical drives are recommended for

performance as well as data storage efficiency. The disk array data capacity is equal to the number of members times the

smallest member capacity. For example, one 40GB and one 60GB drives will form an 80GB (40GBx2) disk array.

Whhaatt aarree tthhee RRAAIIDD lleevveellss??

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

Striping

Block 1

Block 3

Block 5

Block 7

Block 5

Block 6

Block 7

Block 8

Block 2

Block 3

Block 5

Block 7

Logical Drive

87

Physical Disks

AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

MMiirrrroorriinngg ((RRAAIIDD 11))

RAID level 1 uses at least two duplicate hard drives and store the exact

same blocks of information between them. This is the slowest form of

fault tolerance because the data has to be replicated onto two disks at

the same time. However, this is the simplest way to provide high

reliability.

If one of the mirrored drives suffers a mechanical failure or does not

respond, the remaining drive will continue to serve and provide correct

data. If one drive has a physical sector error, the mirrored drive will

continue to function.

Due to redundancy, the drive capacity of the array is half the total drive

capacity. For example, two 40GB drives that have a combined capacity

of 80GB would have 40GB of usable storage. With drives of different

capacities, there may be unused capacity on the larger drive. RAID 1

increases cost as it takes twice as much hard drives to build our arrays.

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

Block 5

Block 6

Block 7

Block 8

Logical Drive

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

Block 5

Block 6

Mirroring

Block 7

Block 8

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

Block 5

Block 6

Block 7

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Physical Disks

AAXX44CC MMaaxx IIII O

Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

SSttrriippiinngg wwiitthh MMiirrrroorriinngg ((RRAAIIDD 00++11))

As the name would suggest, RAID 0+1 is striping and mirroring combined. This RAID combines the best of both RAID 0 and

RAID 1. It takes a Disk stripe using two disks, and mirrors it to another set of disks for fault tolerance. Data is stripped across

several disks, each disk has partner with exactly the same data on it. You get the benefits of fast data access as in RAID 0, with

the fault tolerance of RAID 1. This configuration provides optimal speed and reliability. You need double the number of disks as

a RAID 0, half for each side of the mirror. At least 4 hard disks are needed while performing RAID 0+1. There are other RAID

configurations in addition to those described here, but these are the types most commonly used in the industry.

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

Block 5

Block 6

Block 7

Block 8

Logical Drive

Block 1

Block 3

Striping

Block 5

Block 7

Block 2

Block 4

Block 6

Block 8

Physical Disks

Mirroring

Block 1

Block 3

Block 5

Block 7

Block 2

Block 4

Block 6

Block 8

Physical Disks

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Onnlliinnee MMaannuuaall

HHDDDD CCaappaacciittyy ooff RRAAIIDD LLeevveellss

SSttrriippiinngg // SSppaann ((RRAAIIDD 00)) S

Physical Disks 40 GB

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Physical Disks 40 GB

Logical Drive 80 GB

Logical Drive 40 GB

Physical Disks 40GB

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Striping

Physical Disks 40 GB

Mirroring

Logical Drive 80 GB

Physical Disks 40 GB

Striping

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With the latest chipsets implemented, Intel ICH5R provides RAID 0 and RAID 1 function for the Serial ATA hard disks. You may

follow the steps shown below to setup your disk array.

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After having properly installed your Serial ATA hard disks, you may directly get into the BIOS setting screen for adjustment. You

may simply press “Integrated Peripherals Æ OnChip IDE Device Æ On-Chip Serial ATA” to choose Enhanced mode. In order

to utilize Serial ATA function, please select RAID in SATA Mode. Finally, do save the changes and exit BIOS setup screen.

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In order to make sure your system can recognize and operate Serial ATA RAID device smoothly, we have to enter RAID

Configuration Utility to do some configuration. After finishing the BIOS setup and reboot, you will see [Press CTRL + I to enter

configuration Utility] about half way through the boot up. Please press these two buttons simultaneously. When you enter you

will be presented with a screen as shown below:

1. Create RAID Volume:

This section allows users to choose the strip

size and disk volume of RAID.

2. Delete RAID Volume:

This section allows users to delete the volume

of RAID. Please be noted that deleting a

volume will destroy volume data and cause

any member disks to become available as

non-RAID disks.

3. Reset Disks to Non-RAID:

Users can remove any internal RAID

structures from all RAID disks, including disks

with working volume. Select “Yes” will cause

all data on any disk to be lost.

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You can install Intel IAA RAID Edition Driver to increase the performance of software applications and reduce PC boot times.

The IAA RAID Edition is designed to provide functionality for the Intel (R) ICH5R SATA RAID Controller. This product is available

for use on Pentium (R) 4 processor-based systems with an ICH5R I/O Controller Hub and running Microsoft Windows 2000/XP.

Software installation is flexible and fully automated for Windows 2000/XP. You can find it in the AOpen Bonus Pack.

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Integrated in ICH5R, this motherboard comes with the function of additional RAID 0 and RAID 1 function. Beside RAID 0 and

RAID 1, this motherboard is designed with Promise Serial ATA (PDC20378) controller onboard, which is capable of providing

you additional RAID 0, 1, 0+1 functioned by ATA133 IDE Connector.

SATA port 2 (ICH5R)

SATA port 1 (ICH5R)

SATA port 3 (PDC20378) SATA port 4 (PDC20378)

Serial ATA Ports

Motherboard SATA 1 & 2 SATA 3 & 4

AX4C Max II RAID 0, 1 RAID 0, 1, 0+1

(With ATA133)

Note: Please be noted that "1MHz stepping

AGP/PCI Overclocking" will be automatically

disabled when SATA device is being connected,

for preventing any system instability.

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Promise PDC29378 is capable of creating RAID function of 0, 1, 0+1 (by IDE3). Briefly shows you how FASTBUILD Utility

creates disk array for your different arrangement (For details, please refer to the RAID Utility Guide in Bonus CD).

1. To create the disk array for RAID 0 with 2 hard disks:

2. To create the disk array for RAID 1 with 2 hard disks:

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3. To create the disk array for RAID 0, 1, 0 + 1 with 4 hard disks:

If this is the first time booting and drives installed, the Promise onboard BIOS will display the following screen.

FastBuild™ Utility Main Menu

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Press “1” to display the Auto Setup Menu below. This is the fastest and easiest method to creating your first array.

For viewing Drive Assignment, Define Array, Delete Array, or Rebuild Array, please select the respective item for settings.

(For details, please refer to the RAID Utility Guide in Bonus CD)

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The Intel(R) Application Accelerator is designed to improve performance of the storage sub-system and overall system

performance. This software delivers improved performance through several ingredient technologies (components). Installation of

the Intel(R) Chipset Software Installation Utility prior to loading the Intel(R) Application Accelerator.

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(For details, please refer to the RAID Utility Guide in Bonus CD)

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Promise FastTrak 378 Windows XP Installation

***************************

New Windows XP Installation

*************************** The following details the installation of the FastTrak 378 drivers while installing Windows XP.

1. Start the installation: * Floppy Install: Boot the computer with the Windows XP installation diskettes. * CD-ROM Install: Boot from the CD-ROM. Press F6 after the message "Press F6 if you need to install third party SCSI or RAID driver" appears.

2. When the "Windows XP Setup" window is generated, press "S" to Specify an Additional Device(s)

3. Insert the Promise Technology driver diskette into drive A: and press "Enter" key.

4. Choose "WinXP Promise FastTrak 378 (tm) Controller" from the list that appears on screen, then press the "Enter" key.

5. Press Enter to continue with installation or if you need to specify any additional devices to be installed, do so at this time. Once all devices are specified, Press Enter to continue with installation.

6. From the Windows XP Setup screen, press the Enter key. Setup will now load all device files and then continue the Windows XP installation.

********************************

Existing Windows XP Installation

********************************

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After installing the FastTrak 378 and rebooting your system, Under Windows XP, "Mass Storage Controller" will be displayed.

1. In the A: drive, insert the FastTrak 378 driver diskette.

2. Click on "Next," and from the generated list box, choose "Install from a list or special location (Advanced)". Click on "Next," and from the generated choices, choose "Include this location in the search:"

1a. Insert the Bonus CD in CD-ROM. 2a. Choose "Specify a location." and then press "Next". Type "[CD-ROM]:\Driver\Promise\PDC20378\Driver\WinXP" in the text box that appears. Press " OK ".

3. Choose "WinXP Promise FastTrak 378 (tm) Controller" from the list that appears on screen, then press the "Enter" key.

4. The Windows XP Setup screen will appear again saying "Setup will load support for the following mass storage devices WinXP Promise FastTrak 378 (tm) controller". The FastTrak 378 driver will now be copied on to the system and entered into the Windows XP driver database.

5. When the "System Settings Change" dialog box appears, remove the floppy diskette and click on "Yes" to restart the system. Windows XP will then restart for the driver installation to take effect.

6. Power off your system, then attach your hard drives to the FastTrak 378 controller.

**********************************

Confirming Windows XP Installation

**********************************

1. From Windows XP, open the Control Panel from "My Computer" followed by the System icon.

2. Choose the "Hardware" tab, then click the "Device Manager" tab.

3. Click the "+" in front of "SCSI & RAID Controllers" hardware type. The driver "WinXP Promise FastTrak 378 (tm) Controller" should appear.

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AOpen AX4CMAXII User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

AX4C Max II

Chipset

Expansion Slots

Memory

LAN Port

Ultra DMA 33/66/100, Promise 133 IDE

On-board AC’97 Sound

1MHz Stepping Frequency Adjustment

Watch Dog ABS

Die-Hard BIOS II (User Upgrade Optional)

S/PDIF Connectors

IEEE 1394 ports

Eight USB Connectors (2.0)

Dr. LED (User Upgrade Optional)

Power Management/Plug and Play

Hardware Monitoring Management

Enhanced ACPI

Super Multi-I/O

Motherboard Map

Self-Powered PCI slot

How Your Open JukeBox Works

Your Open JukeBox Settings in BIOS

Your Open JukeBox EzSkin