Asrock A68M-ITX R2.0 User Manual

Version 1.0

Published March 2016

Copyright©2016 ASRock INC. All rights reserved.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this documentation may be reproduced, transcribed, transmitted, or
translated in any language, in any form or by any means, except duplication of
documentation by the purchaser for backup purpose, without written consent of
ASRock Inc.

Products and corporate names appearing in this documentation may or may not
be registered trademarks or copyrights of their respective companies, and are used
only for identication or explanation and to the owners’ benet, without intent to

infringe.

Disclaimer:

Specications and information contained in this documentation are furnished for
informational use only and subject to change without notice, and should not be
constructed as a commitment by ASRock. ASRock assumes no responsibility for
any errors or omissions that may appear in this documentation.

With respect to the contents of this documentation, ASRock does not provide
warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to
the implied warranties or conditions of merchantability or tness for a particular
purpose.

In no event shall ASRock, its directors, ocers, employees, or agents be liable for
any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages (including damages for
loss of prots, loss of business, loss of data, interruption of business and the like),
even if ASRock has been advised of the possibility of such damages arising from any
defect or error in the documentation or product.

is device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following
two conditions:
(1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that

may cause undesired operation.

CALIFORNIA, USA ONLY

e Lithium battery adopted on this motherboard contains Perchlorate, a toxic substance
controlled in Perchlorate Best Management Practices (BMP) regulations passed by the
California Legislature. When you discard the Lithium battery in California, USA, please
follow the related regulations in advance.
“Perchlorate Material-special handling may apply, see ww w.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/
perchlorate”

ASRock Website: http://www.asrock.com

AUSTRALIA ONLY

Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer
Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for
any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage caused by our goods. You are also entitled
to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the
failure does not amount to a major failure. If you require assistance please call ASRock Tel
: [phone] ext.123 (Standard International call charges apply)

e terms HDMI™ and HDMI High-Denition Multimedia Interface, and the HDMI
logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing LLC in the United
States and other countries.

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Package Contents 1

1.2 Specications 2

1.3 Motherboard Layout 6

1.4 I/O Panel 8

2. Installation 10

2.1 CPU Installation 11

2.2 Installation of CPU Fan and Heatsink 12

2.3 Installation of Memory Modules (DIMM) 13

2.4 Expansion Slot (PCI Express Slot) 15

2.5 Jumpers Setup 16

2.6 Onboard Headers and Connectors 17

2.7 AMD Dual Graphics Operation Guide 21

3. Software and Utilities Operation 23

3.1 Installing Drivers 23

3.2 ASRock Live Update & APP Shop 24

4. UEFI SETUP UTILITY 30

4.1 Introduction 30

4.1.1 UEFI Menu Bar 30

4.1.2 Navigation Keys 31

4.2 Main Screen 31

4.3 OC Tweaker Screen 32

4.4 Advanced Screen 35

4.4.1 CPU Conguration 36

4.4.2 North Bridge Conguration 37

4.4.3 South Bridge Conguration 38

4.4.4 Storage Conguration 39

4.4.5 ACPI Conguration 40

4.4.6 USB Conguration 42

4.5 Tool 43

4.6 Hardware Health Event Monitoring Screen 45

4.7 Boot Screen 46

4.8 Security Screen 48

4.9 Exit Screen 49

A68M-ITX R2.0

1. Introduction

Thank you for purchasing ASRock A68M-ITX R2.0 motherboard, a reliable moth-

erboard produced under ASRock’s consistently stringent quality control. It delivers

excellent performance with robust design conforming to ASRock’s commitment to

quality and endurance.

In this documentation, Chapter 1 and 2 contains the introduction of the motherboard

and step-by-step installation guides. Chapter 3 contains the operation guide of the

software and utilities. Chapter 4 contains the conguration guide of the BIOS setup.

Because the motherboard specications and the BIOS software might

be updated, the content of this manual will be subject to change without

notice. In case any modications of this manual occur, the updated ver-

sion will be available on ASRock website without further notice. You may

nd the latest VGA cards and CPU support lists on ASRock website as

well. ASRock website http://www.asrock.com

If you require technical support related to this motherboard, please visit

our website for specic information about the model you are using.

www.asrock.com/support/index.asp

1.1 Package Contents

ASRock A68M-ITX R2.0 Motherboard (Mini-ITX Form Factor)

ASRock A68M-ITX R2.0 Quick Installation Guide

ASRock A68M-ITX R2.0 Support CD

2 x Serial ATA (SATA) Data Cables (Optional)

1 x I/O Panel Shield

English

1

1.2 Specications

English

Platform

CPU

Chipset

Memor y

Expan­sion
Slot

Graphics

• Mini-ITX Form Factor

• Solid Capacitor design

• Supports Socket FM2+ 95W / FM2 100W processors

• Digi Power design

• AMD A68H (Bolton-D2H)

• Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Technology

• 2 x DDR3 DIMM Slots

• Supports DDR3 2400+(OC)/2133/1866/1600/1333/1066

non-ECC, un-buffered memory (see CAUTION 1)

• Max. capacity of system memory: 32GB

(see CAUTION 2)

• Supports Intel® Extreme Memor y Prole (XMP) 1.3 / 1.2

• Supports AMD Memory Prole (AMP) up to AMP 2400

• 1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slot (PCIE1: x16 mode)

* PCIE 3.0 is only supported with FM2+ CPU. With FM2

CPU, it only supports PCIE 2.0.

• Supports AMD Dual Graphics

• Integrated AMD RadeonTM R7/R5 Series Graphics in

A-series APU

• DirectX 11.1, Pixel Shader 5.0 with FM2+ CPU. DirectX

11, Pixel Shader 5.0 with FM2 CPU.

• Max. shared memory 2GB

• Three graphics output options: D-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI

• Supports Triple Monitor

• Supports HDMI with max. resolution up to 4K × 2K

(4096x2160) @ 24Hz

* Only FM2+ APU can support up to 4096x2160 resolution

display via HDMI port

• Supports Dual-link DVI- D with max. resolution up to

2560x1600 @ 60Hz

• Suppor ts D-Sub with max. resolution up to 1920x1200 @

60Hz

2

• Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC

and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI Por t

(Compliant HDMI monitor is required)

• Supports Blu-ray Stereoscopic 3D with HDMI Port

• Supports AMD Steady VideoTM 2.0: New video post

processing capability for automatic jitter reduction on

home/online video

• Supports HDCP with DVI-D and HDMI Ports

• Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) playback with

DVI-D and HDMI Ports

A68M-ITX R2.0

Audio

LAN

Rear
Panel I/O

• 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC887 Audio Codec)

* To congure 7.1 CH HD Audio, it is required to use an

HD front panel audio module and enable the multi-channel

audio feature through the audio driver.

• Supports Surge Protection (ASRock Full Spike

Protection)

• ELNA Audio Caps

• PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s

• Realtek RTL8111GR

• Supports Wake-On-WAN

• Supports Wake-On-LAN

• Supports Lightning/ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike

Protection)

• Supports LAN Cable Detection

• Supports Energy Efcient Ethernet 802.3az

• Supports PXE

• 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port

• 1 x D-Sub Port

• 1 x DVI-D Por t

• 1 x HDMI Port

• 2 x USB 3.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock

Full Spike Protection))

• 4 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock

Full Spike Protection))

• 1 x RJ -45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and

SPEED LED)

• HD Audio Jacks: Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone

English

3

Storage

• 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support R AID (R AID 0,

RAID 1 and RAID 10), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug

Connec­tor

BIOS
Feature

Hardware
Monitor

• 1 x Chassis Intrusion Header

• 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)

• 1 x Chassis Fan Connector (4-pin)

* CPU_FAN1 and CHA_FAN1 can auto detect if 3-pin or

4-pin fan is in use.

• 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector

• 1 x 8 pin 12V Power Connector

• 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector

• 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Sup-

ports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))

• 1 x USB 3.0 Header by ASMedia ASM1042A (Suppor ts

2 USB 3.0 por ts) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock

Full Spike Protection))

• AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with GUI support

• Supports “Plug and Play”

• ACPI 1.1 Compliant wake up events

• Supports jumperfree

• SMBIOS 2.3.1 support

• DRAM, VDDP, SB Voltage multi-adjustment

• CPU/Chassis temperature sensing

• CPU/Chassis Tachometer

• CPU/Chassis Quiet Fan

• CPU/Chassis Fan multi-speed control

• CASE OPEN detection

• Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, Vcore

English

4

OS

• Microsoft® Windows® 10 32-bit / 10 64-bit / 8.1 32-bit / 8.1

64-bit / 7 32-bit / 7 64-bit

* For the updated Windows® 10 driver, please visit

ASRock's website for details: http://www.asrock.com

* Carrizo FM2r2 processor supports Windows® 10 64-bit/

8.1 64-bit / 7 32-bit / 7 64-bit only.

A68M-ITX R2.0

Certica­tions

* For detailed product information, please visit our website: http://www.asrock.com

WARNING

Please realize that there is a certain risk involved with overclocking,

including adjusting the setting in the BIOS, applying Untied Overclocking

Technology, or using third-party overclocking tools. Overclocking may

affect your system’s stability, or even cause damage to the components

and devices of your system. It should be done at your own risk and

expense. We are not responsible for possible damage caused by

overclocking.

• FCC, CE, WHQL

• ErP/EuP Ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is re-

quired)

CAUTION!

1. Whether 2400/2133/1866/1600MHz memory speed is support-

ed depends on the CPU you adopt. If you want to adopt DDR3

2400/2133/1866/1600 memory module on this motherboard,

please refer to the memory support list on our website for the

compatible memory modules.

ASRock website http://www.asrock.com

2. Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size

may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage

under Windows® 10 / 8.1 / 7. For Windows® 64-bit OS with 64-

bit CPU, there is no such limitation.

English

5

PCIE1

AMD

A68H

(Bolton-D2 H)

Chipse t

Fron t USB 3.0

Top:

LINE IN

Cent er:

FRON T

Bott om:

MIC IN

Top:
RJ- 45

USB 2.0
T: US B2
B: USB3

USB 3. 0
T: US B0
B: USB 1

HD_A UDIO1

1

BIO S
ROM

A68M-ITX

HDLED RESET

PLED PW RBTN

1

PANEL1

CMO S

Bat te ry

SATA3_2

SATA3_4

SATA3_1

SATA3_3

SOCKET FM2b

USB 2 .0
T: USB0
B: US B1

PS2

Key boar d

/Mo use

VGA1

DVI 1

HDMI1

1

USB3_ 2_3

PCI Ex p r ess 3.0

USB4_ 5

1

USB6_ 7

1

RoHS

ATXPWR1

DDR 3_ B1 ( 64 b it, 240 -p in m od ule )

DDR 3_ A1 ( 64 b it, 240 -p in m od ule )

1

CLRCMOS 1

CI1

1

CPU_FAN 1

SPEAKER 1

1

CHA_FA N1

ATX12V1

1.3 Motherboard Layout

English

6

No. Description

1 Chassis Intrusion Header (CI1)

2 Clear CMOS Jumper (CLRCMOS1)

3 CPU Fan Connector (CPU_FAN1)

4 ATX Power Connector (ATXPWR1)

5 Chassis Speaker Header (SPEAKER1)

6 2 x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slots (DDR3_ A1, DDR3_B1)

7 Chassis Fan Connector (CHA _FAN1)

8 System Panel Header (PANEL1)

9 SATA3 Connector (SATA3 _4)

10 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_3)

11 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_2)

12 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_1)

13 USB 3.0 Header (USB3_2_3)

14 ATX 12V Power Connector (ATX12V1)

15 USB 2.0 Header (USB4_5)

16 USB 2.0 Header (USB6_7)

17 Front Panel Audio Header (HD_AUDIO1)

A68M-ITX R2.0

English

7

1.4 I/O Panel

1

4

2

3

5

11

910

8 6

7

No. Description No. Description

1 USB 2.0 Ports (USB01)* 7 USB 2.0 Ports (USB23)*

2 D-Sub Port 8 USB 3.0 Ports (USB3_01)

3 LAN RJ-45 Port** 9 HDMI Por t

4 Line In (Light Blue) 10 DVI-D Port

5 Front Speaker (Lime)*** 11 PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Por t

6 Microphone (Pink)

* It is recommended to install the USB Keyboard/ Mouse cable to US B 2.0 por ts (USB01 or
USB23) instead of USB 3.0 ports.

** There are two LEDs on the L AN port. Please refer to the table b elow for the LAN port LED indica-

tions.

ACT/LINK L ED

SPEED LE D

LAN Por t

English

8

Activity / Link LED Speed LED

Status Description Status Description

Off No Link Off 10Mbps connection
Blinking Data Activity Orange 100Mbps connection
On Link Green 1Gbps connection

A68M-ITX R2.0

*** To con gure 7.1 CH HD Audio, it is required to use an HD front panel audio modu le and enab le
the multi-channel audio featur e through the audi o driver.

Please set Speaker C onguration to “7.1 Speaker”i n the Realtek HD Audio Manager.

Function of the Audio Por ts in 7.1-channel Con guration:

Port Function

Light Blue (Rear panel) Rear Speaker Out
Lime (Rear panel) Front Speaker Out
Pink (Rear panel) Central /Subwoofer Speaker Out
Lime (Front panel) Side Speaker Out

English

9

2. Installation

This is a Mini-IT X form factor motherboard. Before you install the motherboard,

study the conguration of your chassis to ensure that the motherboard ts into it.

Pre-installation Precautions

Take note of the following precautions before you install motherboard

components or change any motherboard settings.

Before you install or remove any component, ensure that the

power is switched off or the power cord is detached from the

power supply. Failure to do so may cause severe damage to the

motherboard, peripherals, and/or components.

1. Unplug the power cord from the wall socket before touching any

component.

2. To avoid damaging the motherboard components due to static elec-

tricity, NEVER place your motherboard directly on the carpet or the

like. Also remember to use a grounded wrist strap or touch a safety

grounded object before you handle components.

3. Hold components by the edges and do not touch the ICs.

4. Whenever you uninstall any component, place it on a grounded anti-

static pad or in the bag that comes with the component.

5. When placing screws into the screw holes to secure the mother-

board to the chassis, please do not over-tighten the screws! Doing

so may damage the motherboard.

English

10

2.1 CPU Installation

Step 1. Unlock the socket by lifting the lever up

to a 90

Step 2. Position the CPU directly above the

socket such that the CPU corner with

the golden triangle matches the socket

corner with a small triangle.

Step 3. Carefully insert the CPU into the

socket until it ts in place.

o

angle.

The CPU ts only in one correct

orientation. DO NOT force the CPU

into the socket to avoid bending of

the pins.

A68M-ITX R2.0

Step 4. When the CPU is in place, press it

rmly on the socket while you push

down the socket lever to secure the

CPU. The lever clicks on the side tab

to indicate that it is locked.

English

11

2.2 Installation of CPU Fan and Heatsink

After you install the CPU into this motherboard, it is necessary to install a

larger heatsink and cooling fan to dissipate heat. You also need to spray

thermal grease between the CPU and the heatsink to improve heat dis-

sipation. Make sure that the CPU and the heatsink are securely fastened

and in good contact with each other. Then connect the CPU fan to the

CPU FAN connector (CPU_FAN1, see Page 6, No. 3). For proper instal-

lation, please kindly refer to the instruction manuals of the CPU fan and

the heatsink.

English

12