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ii
Contents
Safety information ...................................................................................................... iv
About this guide ......................................................................................................... iv
Package contents ....................................................................................................... vi
Z97-A specifications summary ................................................................................. vi
Chapter 1: Product Introduction
1.1 Before you proceed ...................................................................................1-1
ASUS contact information ...................................................................................... A-4
iii
Safety information
Electrical safety
• To prevent electrical shock hazard, disconnect the power cable from the electrical outlet
before relocating the system.
• When adding or removing devices to or from the system, ensure that the power cables
for the devices are unplugged before the signal cables are connected. If possible,
disconnect all power cables from the existing system before you add a device.
• Before connecting or removing signal cables from the motherboard, ensure that all
power cables are unplugged.
• Seek professional assistance before using an adapter or extension cord. These devices
could interrupt the grounding circuit.
• Ensure that your power supply is set to the correct voltage in your area. If you are not
sure about the voltage of the electrical outlet you are using, contact your local power
company.
• If the power supply is broken, do not try to x it by yourself. Contact a qualied service
technician or your retailer.
Operation safety
• Before installing the motherboard and adding components, carefully read all the manuals
that came with the package.
• Before using the product, ensure all cables are correctly connected and the power
cables are not damaged. If you detect any damage, contact your dealer immediately.
• To avoid short circuits, keep paper clips, screws, and staples away from connectors,
slots, sockets and circuitry.
• Avoid dust, humidity, and temperature extremes. Do not place the product in any area
where it may be exposed to moisture.
• Place the product on a stable surface.
• If you encounter technical problems with the product, contact a qualied service
technician or your retailer.
About this guide
This user guide contains the information you need when installing and conguring the
motherboard.
How this guide is organized
This guide contains the following parts:
•Chapter1:Productintroduction
This chapter describes the features of the motherboard and the new technology it
supports. It includes descriptions of the switches, jumpers, and connectors on the
motherboard.
•Chapter2:BIOSinformation
This chapter discusses changing system settings through the BIOS Setup menus.
Detailed descriptions for the BIOS parameters are also provided.
iv
Where to find more information
Refer to the following sources for additional information and for product and software
updates.
1. ASUS websites
The ASUS website provides updated information on ASUS hardware and software
products. Refer to the ASUS contact information.
2. Optional documentation
Your product package may include optional documentation, such as warranty yers,
that may have been added by your dealer. These documents are not part of the
standard package.
Conventions used in this guide
To ensure that you perform certain tasks properly, take note of the following symbols used
throughout this manual.
DANGER/WARNING: Information to prevent injury to yourself when
completing a task.
CAUTION: Information to prevent damage to the components when
completing a task
IMPORTANT: Instructions that you MUST follow to complete a task.
NOTE: Tips and additional information to help you complete a task.
Typography
Bold text
Italics
<Key>Keys enclosed in the less-than and greater-than sign
<Key1> + <Key2> + <Key3>If you must press two or more keys simultaneously, the key
Indicates a menu or an item to select.
Used to emphasize a word or a phrase.
means that you must press the enclosed key.
Example: <Enter> means that you must press the Enter or
Return key.
names are linked with a plus sign (+).
v
Package contents
Check your motherboard package for the following items:
Motherboard
Cables
Accessories
Application DVD
Documentation
If any of the above items is damaged or missing, contact your retailer.
ASUS Z97-A Motherboard
3 x Serial ATA 6.0 Gb/s cables
1 x ASUS SLI bridge connector
2-in-1 Q-connector
Support DVD
User Guide
Z97-A specifications summary
LGA1150 socket for the 4th Generation and the New 4th Generation Intel® Core™
i7/Intel® Core™ i5/ Intel® Core™ i3, Pentium® and Celeron® processors
CPU
Chipset
Memory
Expansion
slots
VGA
Supports 22nm CPU
Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0*
* The Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 support depends on the CPU types.
and ASUS DRAM SPD (Serial Presence Detect) memory information
WfM 2.0, DMI 2.7, WOL by PME, PXE
Drivers
ASUS utilities
EZ Update
Anti-virus software (OEM version)
Windows® 8.1/Windows® 8
Windows® 7
ATX form factor: 12 in. x 9.6 in. (30.5 cm x 22.4 cm)
Specications are subject to change without notice.
x
Chapter 1: Product Introduction
Product introduction
1
1.1 Before you proceed
Take note of the following precautions before you install motherboard components or change
any motherboard settings.
• Unplug the power cord from the wall socket before touching any component.
• Before handling components, use a grounded wrist strap or touch a safely grounded
object or a metal object, such as the power supply case, to avoid damaging them due
to static electricity.
• Hold components by the edges to avoid touching the ICs on them.
• Whenever you uninstall any component, place it on a grounded antistatic pad or in the
bag that came with the component.
• Before you install or remove any component, ensure that the ATX power supply is
switched off or the power cord is detached from the power supply. Failure to do so
may cause severe damage to the motherboard, peripherals, or components.
1.2 Motherboard overview
Before you install the motherboard, study the conguration of your chassis to ensure that the
motherboard ts.
Unplug the power cord before installing or removing the motherboard. Failure to do so can
cause you physical injury and damage to motherboard components.
1.2.1 Placement direction
When installing the motherboard, place it into the chassis in the correct orientation. The edge
with external ports goes to the rear part of the chassis.
1.2.2 Screw holes
Place nine screws into the holes indicated by circles to secure the motherboard to the
chassis.
Do not overtighten the screws! Doing so can damage the motherboard.
ASUS Z97-A
1-1
Place this side towards the
rear of the chassis
1.2.3 Motherboard layout
1-2
Chapter 1: Product introduction
1.2.4 Layout contents
Connectors/Jumpers/Slots/LEDPage
1. ATX power connectors (24-pin EATXPWR, 8-pin EATX12V)
2.Intel® LGA1150 CPU socket 1-4
3.CPU and chassis fan connectors (4-pin CPU_FAN, 4-pin CPU_OPT;
CHA_FAN1, CHA_FAN2, CHA_FAN3, CHA_FAN4)
4.DDR3 DIMM slots1-7
5.CPU Over Voltage jumper (3-pin CPU_OV) 1-24
6.MemOK! button
7.EZ XMP switch 1-42
8.USB 3.0 connector (20-1 pin USB3_12)1-34
9.Intel® Z97 Serial ATA 6.0 Gb/s connector (7-pin SATA6G_1, SATA6G_2,
SATA6G_34, SATA6G_56, SATA Express
10. EPU switch1-39
11. TPU switch1-41
12. DirectKey connector (2-pin DRCT) 1-31
13. System panel connector (20-8 pin PANEL) 1-33
14. USB 2.0 connectors (10-1 pin USB910, USB1112, USB1314) 1-32
15. T Sensor connector (2-pin T_SENSOR1)1-35
16. Clear RTC RAM (3-pin CLRTC)1-23
17. TPM connector (20-1 pin TPM)1-32
18. Power-on button1-42
19. Thunderbolt header (5-pin TB_HEADER)1-35
20. Serial port connector (10-1 pin COM)1-27
21. Front panel audio connector (10-1 pin AAFP)1-30
22. Digital audio connector (4-1 pin SPDIF_OUT)1-30
23. M.2 Socket 31-31
1-29
1-28
1-40
1-27
ASUS Z97-A
1-3
1.3 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
The motherboard comes with a surface mount LGA1150 socket designed for the 4th
Generation and New 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 / Intel® Core™ i5 / Intel® Core™ i3,
Pentium®, and Celeron® processors.
Ensure that you install the correct CPU designed for LGA1150 socket only. DO NOT install
a CPU designed for LGA1155 and LGA1156 sockets on the LGA1150 socket.
• Ensure that all power cables are unplugged before installing the CPU.
• Upon purchase of the motherboard, ensure that the PnP cap is on the socket and
the socket contacts are not bent. Contact your retailer immediately if the PnP cap
is missing, or if you see any damage to the PnP cap/socket contacts/motherboard
components. ASUS will shoulder the cost of repair only if the damage is shipment/
transit-related.
• Keep the cap after installing the motherboard. ASUS will process Return Merchandise
Authorization (RMA) requests only if the motherboard comes with the cap on the
LGA1150 socket.
• The product warranty does not cover damage to the socket contacts resulting from
incorrect CPU installation/removal, or misplacement/loss/incorrect removal of the PnP
cap.
1-4
Unplug all power cables before installing the CPU.
Chapter 1: Product introduction
1.3.1 Installing the CPU
ASUS Z97-A
1-5
1.3.2 CPU heatsink and fan assembly installation
Apply the Thermal Interface Material
to the CPU heatsink and CPU
before you install the heatsink and
fan, if necessary.
To install the CPU heatsink and fan assembly
1-6
Chapter 1: Product introduction
To uninstall the CPU heatsink and fan assembly
1.4 System memory
1.4.1 Overview
This motherboard comes with four Double Data Rate 3 (DDR3) Dual Inline Memory Module
(DIMM) sockets. A DDR3 module is notched differently from a DDR or DDR2 module. DO
NOT install a DDR or DDR2 memory module to the DDR3 slot.
According to Intel® CPU spec, DIMM voltage below 1.65 V is recommended to protect the
CPU.
ASUS Z97-A
1-7
Recommended memory configurations
1.4.2 Memory configurations
You may install 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, and 8 GB unbuffered non-ECC DDR3 DIMMs into the
DIMM sockets. You can refer to the recommended memory population below.
• You may install varying memory sizes in Channel A and Channel B. The system
maps the total size of the lower-sized channel for the dual-channel conguration. Any
excess memory from the higher-sized channel is then mapped for single-channel
operation.
• Always install DIMMs with the same CAS latency. For optimal compatibility, we
recommend that you install memory modules of the same version or date code (D/C)
from the same vendor. Check with the retailer to get the correct memory modules.
• Due to the memory address limitation on 32-bit Windows® OS, when you install 4GB
or more memory on the motherboard, the actual usable memory for the OS can be
about 3GB or less. For effective use of memory, we recommend that you do any of the
following:
- Use a maximum of 3 GB system memory if you are using a 32-bit Windows® OS.
- Install a 64-bit Windows® OS if you want to install 4GB or more on the
• This motherboard does not support DIMMs made up of 512 Mb (64 MB) chips or less.
motherboard.
1-8
• The default memory operation frequency is dependent on its Serial Presence Detect
(SPD), which is the standard way of accessing information from a memory module.
Under the default state, some memory modules for overclocking may operate at a
lower frequency than the vendor-marked value. To operate at the vendor-marked
or at a higher frequency, refer to section 2.5 Ai Tweaker menu for manual memory
frequency adjustment.
• Memory modules with memory frequency higher than 2133MHz and their
corresponding timing or the loaded XMP prole is not the JEDEC memory standard.
The stability and compatibility of the memory modules depend on the CPU’s
capabilities and other installed devices.
• For system stability, use a more efcient memory cooling system to support a full
memory load (4 DIMMs).
• Visit the ASUS website at: www.asus.com for the latest QVL.