Biostar NF4UL-A9 Owner's Manual

NF4 Ul tra-A 9

FCC Inf or m at ion and Copyri ght

This equipment has bee n te sted and found to comply with the l imits of a Class
B digi ta l dev i ce, pu r suan t to Part 15 of t he F CC Rul e s. Th ese lim it s ar e de sign ed
to provide reasonable pr otec tion against harmful interfer ence in a residential
installation. Th is equipmen t gene r ate s, uses and can r adi ate radio frequen cy
en ergy and, if not install ed and used in accordance with the instructions, may
cause harmf ul inter ference to radio commu nications. Ther e is no guarantee
that interference will not occur in a particular ins tallation.

The vendor makes no representations or warranties with respect to the
con te nt s h ere an d sp ecia ll y di scl a im s any im p li ed w arrant ie s of mer ch an t ab ilit y

or fi tness for any purpose . Furthe r the vendor rese rves the right to revise this
publi c ation and to make changes to the contents here without obligation to
notify any p a rty b eforehan d.

Duplication of this publication, in part or in whole, is not allowed without first
obt aining the vendor’s approv al in writing.

The con te nt of thi s u ser’s m anu al is subje ct to b e chan ge d w ithou t noti ce an d
we will not be responsible for any mistakes found in this user’ s manual. All the
brand and product nam es are trademark s of their resp ective companies.

i

Table of C ontents

Chapter 1: Introduction ...........................................................1

1.1 Motherboard Features.................................................... 1

1.2 Package Checklist...........................................................6

1.3 Layout & Components....................................................7

Chapter 2: Hard ware Installation ..........................................8

2.1 Central Processing Unit (CPU) ........................................ 8

2.2 Fan Headers..................................................................10

2.3 Memory Modules Installation ........................................11

2.4 Connectors, & Slots .......................................................12

Chapter 3: Headers & Jumpers Setup...............................13

3.1 How to setup Jumpers ...................................................13

3.2 Detail Settings...............................................................13

Chapter 4: Useful Help...........................................................19

4.1 Award BIOS Beep Code.................................................19

4.2 Troubleshooting ............................................................19

Chapter 5: NVIDIA RAID Functions ....................................20

5.1 Operation System..........................................................20

5.2 Raid Arrays..................................................................20

5.3 How RAID Works.........................................................21

Chapter 6: WarpSpeeder™...................................................25

6.1 Introduction ..................................................................25

6.2 System Requirement......................................................25

6.3 Installation ....................................................................26

6.4 [WarpSpeeder™] includes 1 tray icon and 5 panels..........27

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 MOTHERBOARD FEATURES

A. Hardware

CPU

Supports Socket 939.

Sup por ts AMD Athlon 64 F X proces sor.
Sup por ts AMD Athlon 64 pr ocess or.

Supports AMD Sempron processor.
AMD 64 architecture enables sim ultaneous 32 and 64 bi t

computi ng.

Supports HyperTransport Technology.
Sup por ts AMD C o ol’n’ Qu iet T echnol ogy.

Chipse t

NVIDIA nForce4 CK8-04 Ultra:

- Supports NVIDIA Firewall.

- Supports Gigabit Ethernet.

- Supports 10 USB 2.0 ports.

- Supports NVIDIA nTune Utility.

- Supports NVIDIA Se cure Networkin g Pro cessor.

- Supports 4 SATA ports, each channel up to 3Gb/s.

- Supports 1 PCI-Express x16 interface graphics slot.

- Supports NVIDIA RAID fu n ctions, inclu ding RAID 0, RAID 1

and RAID 0+1.

- Supports 4 IDE disk drives with PIO Mode 5, Bride M ode
and Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 Bus Master Mode.

- Compliant with AC’97 versi on2.3 specification.

- Complaints with PCI-Express Versi on 1.a specification.

Operating Systems

Supports Wi ndows 2000 and Windows XP.

Note: Do n ot suppo r t Windows 98SE and Windows M E.

Supp orts SCO UNIX.

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Dimensions

AT X Form Factor: 23.4cm (W) x 29.35cm (L)

Mai n Memory

Supp ort s Dual Cha nnel DDR.
Supports 8 banks in total.

Supports DDR333 and DDR400.
Maximum me mor y s iz e is 4GB.

DI MM Socket

Location

DIMM1 128MB/256MB/512MB/1GB *1
DIMM2 128MB/256MB/512MB/1GB *1

DIMM3 128MB/256MB/512MB/1GB *1
DIMM4 128MB/256MB/512MB/1GB *1

DDR Module

To t al Me m o r y

Size (MB)

Max is 4 GB.

DDR Installa tion Notice:

Please f ollow the table below to install your DDR me mory

mo du le, or t he s y stem may not boot up or may not function
properly.

“SS” re presen ts Sin gle Side DDR memory module.
“DS” re present s Double Side DDR mem ory mod ule.

Star sign “*” represents leave the DIMM socket empty.

DIMM1 SS/DS
DIMM2

DIMM3
DIMM4

* * *
*

* * *

*

SS/DS SS/DS SS/DS

SS/DS SS/DS

SS/DS

SS/DS

On- boa rd IDE

2 on-board connectors support 4 IDE disk drives.
Supports PIO m ode 5, Bl ock Mode and Ultra DMA

33/ 66/100/ 1 33 bus mas t er mo de.

Serial ATA

4 on-board Serial ATA connectors support 4 serial ATA (SATA)

ports.

Compliant with SATA2.0 specific ation.
Data tra n sfer rates u p to 3Gb/s.

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Slots

Three 32bit PCI bus master slots.
Two PCI-Express x1 slots:

- PCI Express 1.0a com pli ant.

- Bandwidth 250MB/s per directio n.

One PCI-Express x16 slot.

- PCI Express 1.0a com pli ant.

- Maximum theoreti cal realized bandwidth of 4GB/s

s imu lta ne ously per d irection, for an ag gr egate of 8GB /s
totally.

One Xtreme Graphics Port slot. (See p.12 for detail information)

Super I/O

Chip: ITE IT 8712F.
Low Pi n Count Interface.

Provides the most commonly used legacy Super I/O

functionality.

Environment Control initiatives,

- H/W Monitor

- Fan Speed Controller

- IT E's "S mart Guardian" fun ction

On -b o ard A C’ 97 Audio So und Codec

Chip: ALC850:

¾ Compliant wi th AC’97 versi on2.3 specification.
¾ Supports 8 channels audio output

Chip: ALC655 (optional):

¾ Compliant wi th AC’97 versi on2.3 specification.
¾ Supports 6 channels audio output.

IEEE 1394A Chip (optional)

Chip: VIA VT 6307.
Supports 2 ports with tra n sfer up to 400Mb/s.

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Giga bit Ethernet LAN

NVIDIA Gigabit MAC + VITESSE Gigabit PHY VSC8201.
Supports 10 Mb/s, 100 Mb/s and 1Gb/s auto-negotiation.

Half/Full duplex capabi lit y.
Supports personal Firewall setup.

Suppo r ts ACPI power m anagem en t.
Supports NVIDIA StreamThru te chnology

- Isochronous controller pai red wi th Hyper T ransport results
in fas t es t networking perf ormanc e

Secur ity

NVIDIA Networking Processo r.
NVIDIA Fi rewall technology

- Native firewall solution, protects the PC from intruders by

fil tering unauthorized traffic.

Advanced features

- Remote access, configuration, monitoring

- Com man d l in e int er f ace (C LI)

- WMI scripts.

NVIDIA Active Armor

- Enhance network security, and providing users an

environment with both fast and secure.

Storage

NVIDIA RAID Technology

- RAID 0 disk striping for highest system and application
performance

- RAID 1 disk m i rroring support for fault tolerance
Support for both SATA and ATA-133 disk controller

standards

- RAID 0+1 disk striping and mirroring for highest
performance with fault tolerance

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Inter nal On-board Connectors and Headers

1 audio-out header supports audio-out facili ties.

1 front panel header supports front panel facilities.

1 CD-in connector supports CD-ROM audi o-in function.

1 SPDIF-out connector supports digital audio-out function.
1 SPDIF-in connector supports digital audio-in function

(optional ).

1 IEEE1394 header supports 1 1394 Fi rewire port (optional).
1 floppy connector supports 2 FDD devices with 360K, 720K,

1.2 M, 1.44M a nd 2.8 8M by tes.

2 IDE connectors support 4 IDE disk drives.

3 USB headers support 6 USB 2.0 ports at front panel.
4 Serial ATA connectors support 4 SATA devi ces.

Rear (Back Pane l ) Side Connectors

1 PS/2 Mouse Port.
1 PS/2 Keyboa rd Port.

1 Printer Port.
1 Serial Port. (COM2 is optional.)

1 1394 Firewi re Port (optional).
1 RJ - 45 LAN jack.

4 USB 2.0 Ports.
6 audio ports support 8 channels audio-out faciliti es (wi th

ALC850).

LAN

PS/2

Mouse

Printer Port

1394 Port
(optional)

Connector

PS/2

Keyboard

COM1 COM2

Center/Left

( opti onal)

Rear

Si de

5

USB *2

Line-in

Line-out

MIC-i n

US B * 2

3 audio ports support 6 channels audio-out faciliti es (wi th

N

ALC 65 5, optiona l) .

PS/2

Mouse

PS/2

Key boar d

B. BIOS & Software

BIOS

Award legal BIOS.
Supports APM1.2.

Supports ACPI.
Supp orts USB Function.

Bundled Softwa re

Supports 9th Touch™, WINFLASHER™ and FLASHER™.

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Printer Port

COM1 COM2

( optional)

1394 Port
(optional)

U SB * 2

LA

Connector

US B * 2

Line-in/R ear
Line-out

MIC-in/
Center/

Left

1.2 PACKAGE CHECKLIST

FDD Cable x 1
HDD Cable x 1

User’s Manu al x 1
Serial ATA Cable x 1

Fu lly Setup Driver CD x 1
Rear I/O P anel for ATX Case x 1

S/PDIF Cable x 1 (optional)
USB 2.0 Cable x 1 (opti onal)

IEEE 1394 Cable x 1 (optional)
Serial ATA Power Swi tch Cable x 1 (optional)

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1.3 LA YOUT & COMPONENTS

JKB MS1

JCOM1

JCOM2

(op tional)

J1394_USB1

JUSB LA N1

EA RPHONEJACK1

C
O
M
1

C
O

M
2

Giga LA N

JKBM SV1

JPRNT1

J1394_USBV1

JATXPWR2

JAUDI O2

PCI- EX x1

PEX1- 2

PCI- EX x1

PEX1- 1

J1394PWR1
(opt ional)

XGP 1

IE EE 13 9 4

Chip

(optional)

JC DIN1

PCI1

JS PDIF_OUT

PCI2

Codec

JSPDIF_IN 1

PCI3

Note: ■ represents the 1st pin.

CPU1

PCI-EX16

nForce4

CK8-04

Ultra

Socket 939

Super I/O

J1394 A1
(optional)

JCFAN1

DIMM2

DIMM4

JNBF AN1

JSATA1 JSATA2 JSATA 3 JSATA4

JCI1

BIOS

JPANEL1

IDE2

IDE1

FDD1

JATXPWR1

DI MM 1

DIMM3

JUSBV1

JUSB3JUSB2JUSB1

JCMOS1

BAT1

JSFAN1

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CHAPTER 2: HARDW ARE INSTALLATION

2.1 CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

Step 1: Remove the socket protection cap.

Step 2: Pull the lever sideways away from the socket and then raise the

lever up to a 90-degree angle.

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Step 3: Look for the bl ack cut edge on socket, and the white dot on CPU

should point forwards thi s black cut edge. The CPU will fit only in
the correct orientation.

Step 4: Hol d the CPU down firmly, and then close the lever to complete

the i nstalla ti on.

Step 5: Put the CPU Fan on the CPU and buckle it. Connect the CPU FAN

power cabl e to the JCFAN1. Thi s compl etes the i nstallation.

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2.2 FAN HEADERS

CPU FAN Po wer Header: JCFAN1

Pin Assignment

1 Ground

13

System Fan Power Header: JSFAN1

13

North Bri dge Fan Power Hea der: JNBFAN1

13

Note:

The JCF AN1, JSF AN 1and JN BF AN1 s upport system cooling fan with
Smart Fan C ont rol utility. It support s 3 pin head c onnector. When
connec t ing wit h wires onto c onnectors, please not e that t he red wire is the

posit iv e and should be connec t ed to pin#2, and t he blac k wire is Ground
and should be connec t ed to GND.

2 +12V
3 FAN RPM rate sense

Pin Assignment

1 Ground
2 +12V

3 FAN RPM rate sense

Pin Assignment

1 Ground
2 +12V

3 FAN RPM rate sense

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2.3 MEMORY MODULES INSTAL LAT ION

2.2.1 DDR M o dule ins tallat ion

1. Unlock a DIMM sl ot by pressi ng the retaining clips outward. Align a
DIM M on the sl ot such that the notch on the DIMM matches the break

on the Slot.

2. Insert the DIMM verticall y and firm ly into the slot until th e retaining chip
snap back in place and the DIMM is properly seated.

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2.4 CONNECTO RS, & SLOTS

Floppy Disk Connector: FDD1

The m otherboard provides a standard fl oppy disk connector that
s uppor t s 360 K, 720K, 1.2 M, 1.4 4M and 2. 8 8 M f lo ppy d is k types. Th is

connector supports the provided floppy drive ribbon cabl es.

Hard Disk Connectors: IDE1/IDE2

The m otherboard has a 32-bit Enhanced PCI IDE Control ler that
provides PIO Mode 0~5, Bus Master, and Ul tra DMA 33/66/100/133

functionality. I t has two HDD conn ecto rs IDE1 (primary) an d IDE2
(secondary).

The IDE connectors can connect a master and a slave drive, so you can
connect up to four hard disk dri ves. The fi rst hard drive should always be

connected to IDE1.

Peripheral Component Interconnect Slots: PCI1~PCI3

This m otherboard is equipped with 3 standard PCI slot. PCI stands for
Peripheral Component Interconnect, and it is a bus standard for

expansion cards. T his PCI sl ot is designated as 32 bits.

Xtreme Graphics Port Slot: XGP1

This XGP (Xtreme Graphics Port) slot is a special design that onl y
supports compatible AGP VGA cards.

To install the system with an add-on AGP VGA card, please make sure
to install the driver of add-on AGP VGA card before onboard VGA driver

instal lation. If the onboard VGA driver has al ready been installed before
you install the add-on AGP VGA card, the system wil l autom atically set

the onboard VGA as the primary graphics adapter.
For the onboard VGA driver can’t be removed completel y, and to solve

this problem, please follow the steps bel ow,

1. Disable onboard VGA utility under the operating system, and reboot
PC. After PC restarts, the system will automatically set the AGP

VGA card as the graphi cs adapter.

2. Re-instal l your operati ng system to ensure the AGP VGA card
function c an be us ed.

Note:

Please go to “http: // www.biostar. c om.tw” for more detailed inform ation
about XGP compatibl e AGP cards.

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CHAPTER 3: HEADERS & JUMPERS SETUP

3.1 HOW TO S ETUP JUMPE RS

The illustration shows how to set up jumpers. When the jumper cap i s
placed on pins, the jumper i s “close”, if not, that means the jumper is

“open”.

Pin opened Pin closed Pin1-2 closed

3.2 DETAIL SETTINGS

ATX Power So urc e Connectors: JATX PWR1/ JATX PWR2

JATXPWR1: This connector allows user to connect 20-pin power
conn ec tor on t h e A TX power s upply.

JATXPWR2: By connecting this connector, it will pro vi de +12 V to CPU
power circuit.

13

24

JATXPWR1

JATXPWR2

1

12

1

4

23

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1 +3.3V 13 +3.3V
2 +3.3V 14 -12V

3 Ground 15 Ground
4 +5V 16 PS_ON

5 Ground 17 Ground
6 +5V 18 Ground

7 Ground 19 Ground
8 PW_OK 20 -5V
9 Standby Voltage +5V 21 +5V

10 +12V 22 +5V
11 +12V 23 +5V

12 Detect 24 Ground

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1 +12V 3 Ground
2 +12V 4 Ground

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Power Source He ade rs for USB Ports: J1394_USBV1/JUSBV1

Assignment Description

3

1

Pin 1-2 clo se

Pin 2-3 clo se

3

1

+5V

+5V st andby
Voltage

J1394_U SBV1: +5V f or U SB ports at

J1394_U SB1 and JU SBLAN 1.

JU SBV1: +5V f or f ront USB headers

(JUSB1/JUSB2/JUSB3).

J1394_U SBV1: USB ports at

J1394_U SB1 and JU SBLAN 1 are
powered wit h +5V standby v oltage.

JU SBV1: Front U SB headers

(JU SB1/JU SB2/JUSB3) are powered
with +5V standby volt age.

Note:

In order to support this function “Power-on system via USB devi ce,”
“J1394_USBV1/JUSBV1” jumper cap should be placed on Pi n 2-3

individually.

Power Source Header for PS /2 Keyboard/Mouse: JKBMSV1

Assignment Description

1
3

Pin 1-2 close

1
3

Pin 2-3 close

Note:

In order to support this function “Power-on system via keyboard and
mouse”, “JKBMSV1” j umper cap shoul d be placed on Pin 2-3.

+5V +5V for ke yboard and mouse

+5V Standby
Voltage

PS/2 k eyboard and m ouse are
powered wit h +5V standby v oltage.

CD-ROM Audi o-in Conne c tor: JCDIN1

This connector allows user to connect the audio source from the variety
devi c es, like CD-RO M, DVD-ROM, P CI sound card , PCI TV turn er card

etc..

Pin Assignment

1 Lef t channel input
2 Ground

14

JCDIN1

3 Ground
4 Right channel input

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Fr o nt P anel Audio-out Header : JAUDIO2

This conn ec tor will allow user to con ne c t wit h the fron t audio out p ut
heade rs on the P C c ase. It will disable the output on back pan el audio

connectors.

With ALC850 Audio Sound Codec:

12

13 14

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1 Mic in/Stereo MIC -in R. 2 Ground
3 Stereo MIC-in L. 4 Audio power

Right line out/ Speaker out

5

Right
7 Reserved 8 Key
9 Lef t line out/Speaker out Lef t 10 Left line out/Speaker out Lef t

11 R ight line in 12 Right line in
13 Left line in 14 Left line in

Right line out/ Speaker out

6

Right

With ALC655 Audio Sound Codec (optional):

12

13 14

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1 Stereo MIC-in R / Center 2 Ground
3

Stereo M IC-in L/ Bass

Right line out/ Speaker-out

5

Right
7 Reserved 8 Key

9 Lef t line out/Speaker-out Lef t 10 Lef t line out /Speaker out Left

Right line in/R ear speaker

11

Right

13 Left line in/R ear speak er Left 14 Left line in/ R ear speak er Left

4 Audio power

Right line out/ Speaker-out

6

Right

Right line in/R ear speaker

12

Right

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Digital Audio-out Connector: JSPDIF_OUT

This conn ec tor will allow user to con ne c t the PCI brac ket S PDI F ou tput
header.

Pin Assignment

1 +5V

13

JSPDIF_OUT

2 SPDIF OUT
3 Ground

Digita l Aud io-i n Connector: JSPDIF _IN1 ( optiona l)

This conn ec tor will allow user to con ne c t the PCI brac ket S PDI F ou tput
header.

Pin Assignment

1 +5V

13

JSPDIF_IN1

2 SPDIF In
3 Ground

Power Source Header fo r 1394 Chip: J1 39 4PWR 1 ( option a l)

Assignment Description

3

1

Pin 1-2 clo se

3

1

Pin 2-3 clo se

+3.3V

+3.3V SB +3.3V SB f or 1394 chips et.

+3.3V for 1394 chipse t.
(Default)

Header for 1394 Firewire Port at Front Panel: J1394A1 (option al)

This connector allows user to connect the front 1394 port for digital
image devi ces.

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1

210

1 A+ 2 A­3 Ground 4 Ground

5 B+ 6 B­7 +12v 8 +12V
9 Key 10 Ground

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Header for Fr ont Pan el Faci lities: J PA NEL1

This 24-pin connector includes Power-on, Reset, HDD LED, Power LED,
Sleep button, speaker and IrDA Connection. It allows user to connect

the PC case’s front panel switch functi ons.

2

24

1

23

JPANEL1

Pin Assignment Function Pin Assignment Function

1 +5V 2 Sleep control
3 N/A 4 Ground

5 N/A 6 N/A N/A
7 Speaker
9 H DD LED (+) 10 Power LED (+)

11 HDD LED (-)
13 Ground 14 Power button

15 Reset control

Speaker
Connector

Hard drive
LED

Reset
button

8 Power LED (+)

12 Power LED (-)

16 Ground

Sleep
button

Power LED

Power-on
button

17 N/A 18 Key
19 N/A 20 Key

21 +5V 22 Ground
23 IRTX

IrDA
Connector

24 IRRX

IrDA
Connector

Headers for USB Ports at Front Panel: JUSB1~JUSB3

This connector allows user to connect additional USB cabl es at PC front
panel, and also can be connected with internal USB devices, like USB

card reader.

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1

210

1 +5V (f us ed) 2 +5V (fused)
3 USB- 4 USB­5 USB+ 6 USB+

7 Ground 8 Ground
9 Key 10 NC

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Close CMOS Header: JCMOS 1

By placing the jumper on pin2-3, it allows user to restore the BIOS safe
setting and the CMOS data, please careful l y follow the procedures to

avo id da ma ging th e mot her b oar d.

JCMOS1 Assignment

1
3

Pin 1-2 close

1
3

Pin 2-3 close

Norm al Operation (D ef ault).

Clear CMOS data.

※ Clear CMOS Procedures:

1. Remove AC power line.

2. Set the jumper to “Pin 2-3 close”.

3. Wait for f i ve seconds.

4. Set the jumper to “Pin 1-2 close”.

5. Power on the AC.

6. Reset your desired password or clear the CMOS data.

Case Op en Header: JCI 1

T his connector allo ws system to moni to r PC case open status. If the
signal has been triggered, i t will record to the CMOS and show the

message on next boot-up.

Pin Assignment

2

1

JCI1

1 Cas e open signal
2 Ground

Se rial ATA Connector: JSATA1~JS ATA4

The m otherboard has a SATA Controll er in nForce4 (CK8-04) with 4
channel s SATA interface, i t satisfies the SATA 1.0 spec and with transfer

rate of 1.5Gb/s.

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1 Ground 2 TX+
3 TX- 4 Ground

147

5 RX- 6 RX+
7 Ground

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;

s

CHAPTER 4: USEFUL HELP

4.1 AWARD BIOS BEEP CODE

Beep Sound Meanin g

One long beep f ollowed by t wo s hort
beeps

High-low siren sound CPU overheated

One Short beep when system boot-up No error found during POST
Long beeps every ot her sec ond No DRAM detected or inst all

4.2 TROUBL ESHOOTIN G

Probable Solution

1. N o power to the sy stem at all
Power light don’t illuminat e, fan

inside power supply does not t urn
on.

2. I ndic at or light on key board does
not t urn on.

Sys t em inoperat iv e. Key board lights
are on, power indic at or lights are lit,
and hard driv e is spinning.

Sys t em does not boot from hard dis k
drive, can be booted f rom optical driv e.

Sys t em only boots f rom opt ic al driv e.
Hard disk can be read and applic ations

can be used but booting f rom hard dis k
is imposs ible.

Screen m essage say s “Invalid
Conf igurat ion” or “CMOS Failure.”

Cannot boot sys t em af t er inst alling
sec ond hard drive.

Video card not f ound or v ideo card
mem ory bad

Sys t em will shut down autom at ically

1. Make s ure power c able is
sec urely plugged in.

2. Replace cable.

3. Contact techni cal support.

Us ing even pres s ure on bot h ends of
the DIMM, press down firm ly unt il the
module s naps int o place.

1. C hec k cable running f rom disk t o
disk controller board. Make sure

both ends are s ecurely plugged in
chec k the drive type in t he

standard CMOS setup.

2. Bac k ing up the hard drive is
ext rem ely im portant. All hard disk

are capable of break ing down at
any time.

Back up data and applications f iles.
Ref orm at t he hard driv e. R e-install

applicat ions and dat a using bac k up
disks.

Rev iew system’s equipm ent. Make
sure c orrect informat ion is in setup.

Set master/slave jumpers correctly.
Run SETUP program and s elect

correc t driv e types. Call t he drive
manuf acturers f or c ompatibility with

other driv es.

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CHAPTER 5: NVIDIA RAID FUNCTIONS

5.1 OPERATION SYSTEM

Wi ndows XP home Edition
Wi ndows XP Professional Edition

Wi ndows 2000 Professional

5.2 RAID ARRAYS

NVRAID supports the following types of RAID arrays:

RAID 0:

RAID 0 defi nes a disk striping schem e that improves disk read and writes
tim es for many applicati ons.

RAID 1:

RAID 1 defi nes techniques for mirroring data.

RAID 0+1:

RAID 0+1 com bines the techniques used i n RAID 0 and RAID 1.

Spanning (JBOD):

JBOD provides a method for combining drives of different sizes in to one
large di sk.

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5.3 HOW RAID WORKS

RAID 0:

Th e contro lle r “stripes” data acro ss mult iple driv e s in a RAID 0 array
sys te m. It breaks up a large fi le into small er blocks an d performs disk

reads and writ es across m ultiple drives in parallel. T he size o f each
block is determined by the strip size paramet er, which you set during

the creation of the RAID set based on the syst em environment.
This technique reduces overall disk access time and offers high

bandwidth.

nVIDIA

nFor ce 4

CK8-04

Ultra

Block 1
Block 3
Block 5

Block 2
Block 4
Block 6

Feat u r es and Benef its

¾ Drives: Minimum 1, and ma ximum i s up to 6 or 8. Depending on

the p lat f or m .

¾ Uses: Intended for non-critical data requiring high data

t hroughp ut, or any envi r onment that does n ot re quire fault
tolerance.

¾ Benefits: provides i ncreased data throughput, especially for

large files. No capacity loss penalty for parity.

¾ Drawbacks: Does not deliver any fault tol erance. If any drive i n

the array fail s, all da ta is lost.

¾ Fa ult Tole rance : No.

21

NF4 Ul tra-A 9

RAID 1:

Every read and write is actually carried out in p ar allel across 2 disk
drives in a RAID 1 array system. Th e mirro r ed (backup) copy of the

dat a c an res ide on t he s ame dis k or on a second redundant dri ve i n the
array. R AID 1 prov ide s a hot-standby copy of data if th e ac tiv e volume

or drive is corrupted or becomes unav ailable because of a hardware
failure.

RA ID technique s can be applied for h igh-avai labi l ity s olut ions , or as a
form of auto matic backup that elimin ates tedious m anual backups t o

mo r e expensive and less reliable media.

nVIDIA

nFor ce 4

CK8-04

Ultra

Block 1
Block 2
Block 3

Block 1
Block 2
Block 3

Feat u r es and Benef its

¾ Drives: Minimum 2 , a n d m ax i mum is 2.
¾ Uses: RAID 1 is i deal for sm all databases or any other

app l ica ti on t h at req u ir es fau lt t o lerance an d minimal ca pacity .

¾ Benefits: Provides 100% data redundancy. Should one drive

fail , the controller switches to the other drive.

¾ Drawbacks: Requi res 2 drives for the storage space of one

drive. Performance is impaired during drive rebuilds.

¾ Fa ult Tole rance : Yes.

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NF4 Ul tra-A 9

RAID 0+1:

RA ID 0 drives can be mi rrored s uing R AID 1 t echnique s . R esulting in a
RAID 0 +1 solut ion for improved p erform ance plus resiliency.

nVIDIA

nForce 4

CK8-0 4

Ult ra

Block 1
Block 3
Block 5

Block 2
Block 4
Block 6

Block 1
Block 3
Block 5

Block 2
Block 4
Block 6

Feat u r es and Benef its

¾ Drives: Minimum 4, and maximum is 6 or 8, depending on the

platform .

¾ Benefits: Optimizes for both fault tolera n ce and performance,

allowing for automatic redundancy. May be simultaneously used
with other RAID levels in an array, and allows for spare di sks.

¾ Drawbacks: Requi res twice the avai lable disk space for data

redundancy, the same as RAID l evel 1.

¾ Fa ult Tole rance : Yes.

23

NF4 Ul tra-A 9

S p anning (JBOD):

JBOD st ands f or “Just a Bunch of Disks”. Each drive is accessed as if it
were on a standard SCSI h ost bus adapter . Th is is useful when a single

dr ive configuration is neede d, but it offers no speed improv ement or
fault tolera nce.

nVIDIA

nForce 4

CK8-04

Ultra

Single Logi cal

Drive

Disk 1: 40GB
Disk 2: 80GB

Disk 3: 40GB

Disk 4: 120GB

Feat u r es and Benef its

¾ Uses: JBOD works best if you have odd sized drives and you

want to combine them to m ake one big drive.

¾ Benefits: JBOD provides the ability to combine odd si ze drives

us ing a ll of th e ca pacity of t he drives.

¾ Drawbacks: Decreases performance because of the difficul ty in

us ing dr iv es concur r ently .

¾ Fa ult Tole rance : Yes.

※ For more det ailed setup informa tion, ple ase re fer to the Dri ver CD, or

go to

h ttp://www.nv idia.com/page/pg_20011106217193.html to download

NVIDI A nF o rce T u to ri al Flash .

24

NF4 Ul tra-A 9

CHAPTER 6: W ARPSPEEDER™

6.1 INTRO DUCTION

[WarpSpeeder™], a new powerful control utility, features three
user-friendly functions includi ng Overclock Manager, Overvoltage

Manager, and Hardware Monitor.
Wi th the Overcl ock Manager, users can easi ly adjust the frequency they

prefer or they can get the best CPU performance with just one click. The
Overvoltage Manager, on the other hand, hel ps to power up CPU core

vol tage and Me mor y v ol ta ge. Th e co o l H ardw are Mo ni tor s mar tly in d icates
the temperatures, vol tage and CPU fan speed as well as the chipset

information. Al so, in the About panel, you can get detail descriptions about
BIOS m odel and chipsets. In additi on, the frequency status of CPU,

mem ory, AGP and PCI along with the CPU speed are synchronically
s how n on our ma i n p an el .

Moreover, to protect users' computer systems i f the setting is not
appropriate when testing and results i n system fail or hang,

[WarpSpeeder™] technology assures the system stability by automatically
rebooting the computer and then restart to a speed that i s either the

original system speed or a suitable one.

6.2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENT

OS Support: Windows 98 SE, Windows M e, Windows 2000, Windows XP
DirectX: DirectX 8.1 or above. (T he Windows XP operating system

includes DirectX 8.1. If you use Wi ndows XP, you do not need to instal l
Dir ec tX 8.1.)

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NF4 Ul tra-A 9

6.3 INSTALL ATION

1. Execute the setup executi on file, and then the following dialog will pop
up. Please click “Next” button and foll ow the default procedure to

install.

2. When you see the following dialog in setup procedure, i t means setup
is completed. If the “Launch the WarpSpeeder Tray Utility” checkbox

is checked, th e Tray Ico n utili ty an d [WarpSpe ed er™ ] utilit y will b e
automati cally and imm ediatel y launched after you click “Finish”

button.

Usage:

The following figures are j ust only for reference, the screen printed in
this user manual will chan ge a c c ordin g to your motherboard on hand.

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NF4 Ul tra-A 9

6.4 [WARPSPEEDER™] INCLUDES 1 TRAY IC ON AND 5 PAN ELS

1. Tray Icon:

Whenever the T ray Icon utility is launched, it will displa y a little t ray
icon on the right si de of Windows Taskbar.

This utility is responsi ble for conveniently i nvoking [WarpSpeeder™]
Utility. You can use the mouse by clicking the left button in order to

invoke [WarpSpeeder™] directly from the little tray icon or you can
right-click the little tray icon to pop up a popup menu as followi ng

figure. T he “Launch Utility” item in the popup menu has the same
function as mouse left-click on tray ic on and “Exi t” item will close

T ray Icon utility if se lected.

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NF4 Ul tra-A 9

2. Main Panel

If y ou click the tra y icon, [Wa rpSpeeder™] utilit y will be invoked.
Please refer to the following fi gure; the utility’s first window you will

see is Main Panel.

Main Panel contains features as foll ows:

a. Display the CPU Speed, CPU external clock, Memory clock,

AGP clock, and PCI cl ock information.

b. Contains About, Voltage, Overclock, and Hardware Monitor

Buttons for invoking respective panel s.

c. With a us er - fr ie nd ly Status Animatio n, it c an r epr esent 3

overclock percentage stages:
Man walking→overcl ock percentage from 100% ~ 110 %
Panther running→overclock percentage from 110% ~ 120%
Ca r racing→overclock percentage from 120% ~ above

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NF4 Ul tra-A 9

3. Vol ta ge Panel

Clic k the Vol tage button in Main Pa nel , the button will be highligh te d
and t he Vol ta ge Pa ne l will slide out t o up as the f ollowing fig ure.

In this panel , you can decide to increase CPU core voltage and
Memory vo ltage or not. The default settin g is “No”. If you want to ge t

the best performance of overcl ocking, we recommend you click the
option “Yes”.

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NF4 Ul tra-A 9

4. Over clock Pa nel

Clic k the Overcloc k button in Ma in Pa ne l, the button will be
highlighted and the Overcl ock Panel will slide out to left as the

fol l owi ng f igur e.

Overclock Panel contains the these features:

a. “–3MHz button”, “-1MHz button”, “+1M Hz button”, and “+3M Hz

button”: provide user the ability to do real-time overclock
adj ustment.

Warning:

Manually overclock is pot entially dangerous, especially when t he
overc locking percentage is over 110 %. We s t rongly rec ommend you

verif y ev ery s peed you ov erc lock by c lick the Verify butt on. Or, you c an
just click Aut o ov erclock but t on and let [W arpSpeeder™] aut om atically

gets the best result f or y ou.

b. “Recovery Dialog button”: Pop up the followi ng dialog. Let user

select a restori ng way if system need to do a fail-safe reboot.

30

NF4 Ul tra-A 9

c. “Auto-overclock button”: User can click this button and

[Wa rpS pee der™] will set th e be st and sta ble perf ormance and
frequency automatically. [WarpSpeeder™] utility will execute a

series of testing un til syst em fail . Then system will do fail-saf e
reboot by using Watchdog function. After reboot, the

[WarpSpeeder™] utility will restore to the hardware default
setting or load the veri fied best and stable frequency according

to th e Reco very Dialog’s setting.

d. “Verify button”: User can click this button and [WarpSpeeder™]

will proceed a testing for current frequency. If the testing is ok,
then the curre n t freq uency will be sa ved in to syste m regi stry. If

the testing fail, system will do a fail-safe rebooting. After reboot,
the [WarpSpeede r™ ] utility will resto re to the ha rdware default

setting or load the veri fied best and stable frequency according
to th e Reco very Dialog’s setting.

Note:

Becaus e the t esting programs, inv ok ed in Aut o-overclock and Verify,
include D irectDraw, D irect3D and D irectShow t ests, the Direc t X 8.1 or

newer runtime library is required. And please m ak e s ure your dis play
card’s color depth is High color (16 bit) or True c olor( 24/ 32 bit ) t hat is
required for Direct3D rendering.

5. Hardware Monitor Panel

Clic k the Hardware Monitor butt on in Main Pa ne l, the bu tton will be
highlighted and the Hardware Monitor panel will slide out to left as

the fo l lowing f ig ur e.
In this panel , you can get the real-time status information of your

system. The informati on will be ref reshed every 1 second.

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NF4 Ul tra-A 9

6. About Panel

Click the “about” button i n Main Panel, the button will be highlighted
and th e About Pa nel w il l s lid e out to up as the follow in g f igur e.

In this panel, you can get model name and detail inform ation i n hints
of all the chi pset that are related to overclocking. You can also get

the mainboard’s BIOS model and the Version number of
[WarpSpeeder™] utility.

32

NF4 Ul tra-A 9

Note :

Because the overcl ock, overvol tage, and hardware monitor features
are controlled by several separate chipset, [WarpSpeeder™] divide

these features to separate panels. If one chi pset is not on board, the
correlative button in Main panel will be disabled, but will not i nte r fere

other panels’ functions. T his property can make [WarpSpeeder™]
utility more robust.

08/15, 2005

33

NF4 Ultra-A9 BIOS Setup

BIOS Setup........................................................................................1

1 Main Menu.......................................................................................................3

2 Standard CMOS Features...................................................................................6

3 Advanced BIOS Features...................................................................................9

4 Advanced Chipset Features............................................................................... 12

5 Integrated Peripherals ...................................................................................... 15

6 Power Management Setup................................................................................21

7 PnP/PCI Configurations ................................................................................... 24

8 PC Health Status............................................................................................. 26

9 Frequency/Voltage Control...............................................................................28

i

NF4 Ultra-A9

BIOS Setup

Introduction

T his ma nual discussed Aw ard™ Setup progr am built into the R OM BIOS . T he Set up
program allows users to modify the basic system configuration. T his special information is
th en sto red in battery- backed RAM so th at it ret ains the S et up infor ma tion wh en the power
is turned off.

T he Award BIOS™ installed in your co m puter syste m’s ROM (Read O nly Me mory) is a
custom version of an industry standard BIOS. This means that it supports Intel Pentium

processor input/output system. The BIOS provides critical low-leve l support for standard
devices such as disk drives and serial and parallel ports.

Adding important has customized the Award BIOS™, but nonstandard, features such as
virus and password protection as well as special support for detailed f ine-tuning of the
chipset controlling the entire system.

The rest of this manual is intended to guide you through the process of configuring your
system using Setup.

Plug and Play Support

These AWARD BIOS supports the Plug and Play Version 1.0A specification. ESCD
(Extended System Configuration Data) write is supported.

EPA Green PC Support

This AWARD BIOS supports Version 1.03 of the EPA Green PC specification.

APM Support

These AWARD BIOS supports Version 1.1&1.2 of the Advanced P ower Management
(APM) specif ication. Power management features are imp lemented via the System

Management Interrupt (SMI). Sleep and Suspend power mana gement modes are supported.
Power to the hard disk drives and video monitors can be managed by this AWARD BIOS.

ACPI Support

Award ACPI BIOS support Version 1.0 of Advanced Configuration and Power interface
specification (ACPI). It provides ASL code for power management and device
configuration capabilities as defined in the ACPI specification, developed by Microsoft,
Intel and Toshiba.

®

4

1

NF4 Ultra-A9

PCI Bus Su ppo rt

This AW ARD BIOS also supports Version 2.1 of the Intel PCI (Peripheral Component
Interconnect) local bus specification.

DRAM Support

DDR SDRAM (Double Data Rate Synchronous DRAM) are supported.

Suppo r te d CP Us

T his AW ARD B I O S s u p p o rts t he AM D C P U.

Us i ng Setup

In general, you use the arrow keys to highlight items, press <Enter> to select, use the
<PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to change entries, press <F1> for help and press <Esc> to quit.

The following table provides more detail about how to navigate in the Setup program by
using the keyboard.

Keystroke Function

Up arrow Move to p revio us item
Down arrow Move to next item
Left arro w Move to the ite m o n the left (me nu bar )
Right arrow Move to the item o n the right (menu bar)
Move Enter Move to the item you desired
PgUp key Increase the numeric value or make changes
PgDn key Decrease the numeric value or make changes
+ Key Increase the numeric value or make changes

- Key Decrease the numeric value or make changes
Esc key Main Menu – Quit a nd not save changes into CMOS

F1 k ey Genera l help o n S etup na vi gation keys
F5 key Load previous values fro m CMOS
F7 key Load the optimized defaults
F10 key Save all the CMOS changes and exit

Status Page Setup Menu and Optio n Page Setup Me nu – Exit
Current page a nd re turn to Main Menu

2

NF4 Ultra-A9

1 Main Menu

Once you enter Award BIOS™ CMOS Setup Utility, the Main Menu will appear on the
screen. T he Main Menu allows you to select from several setup functions. Use the arrow
keys to select among the items and press <Enter> to accept and enter the sub-menu.

!! WARNING !!

The information about BIOS defaults on manual (Figu re
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) is just for reference, please refer to the BIOS

installed on board, for update information.

 Figure 1. Main Menu

Standa rd CMOS Features

This submenu contains industry standard configurable options.

Advance d BIOS Feat ures

This submenu allows you to configure enhanced features of the BIOS.

Advanced Chipset Features

This submenu allows you to configure special chipset features.

Integrated Peripherals

This submenu allows you to configure certain IDE hard drive options and Programmed
Input/ Output features.

3

NF4 Ultra-A9

Power Management Setup

This submenu allows you to configure the power management features.

PnP/PCI Configurations

This submenu allows you to configure certain “Plug and Play” and PCI options.

PC Health Sta tus

This submenu allows you to monitor the hardware of your system.

Frequency/ Voltage Control

This submenu allows you to change CPU Vcore Voltage and CPU/PCI clock. (Howe ver,
this function is strongly recommended not to use. Not properly change the vo ltage

and clock may cause the CPU o r M/B damage!)

Lo a d Optimi ze d De fa u l ts

This selection allows you to reload the BIOS when the system is having problems
particularly with the boot sequence. These configurations are factory settings optimized
for this system. A confirmation messa ge will be displayed before defaults are set.

Set Supervisor Password

Setting the supervisor password will prohibit everyone except the supervisor from making
changes using the CMOS Setup Utility. You will be prompted with to enter a password.

4

NF4 Ultra-A9

Set User Password

If the Supervisor P assword is not set, then the User Password will function in the same way
as the Super visor Passwor d. If the Supe rvisor Pa sswo rd is set and the Use r P asswo rd is
set, the “User” will only be able to view configurat ions but will not be able to change them.

Save & Exit Setup

Save all configuration changes to CMOS(memory) and exit setup. Confirmation message
will be disp layed before proceeding.

Exit Without Saving

Abandon all changes made during the current session and exit setup. confirmation
message will be displayed before proceeding.

Upgrade BIOS

This submenu allows you to upgrade bios.

5

NF4 Ultra-A9

2 Standard CMOS Features

The items in Standard CMOS Setup Menu are divided into 10 categories. Each category
includes no, one or more than one setup items. Use the arrow keys to highlight the item and
then use the<PgUp> or <P gDn> keys to select the value you want in each item.

Figure 2. Standard CM OS Setup



6

NF4 Ultra-A9

Main Menu Selections

This table shows the selections that you can make on the Main Menu.

Item Options Description

Date mm : dd : yy Set the system date. Note

Time hh : mm : ss Set the system internal

IDE Pri mary Master Options are in its sub

menu.

IDE Primary Slave Options are in its sub

menu.

IDE Secondary Master Options are in its sub

menu.

IDE Secondary Slave Options are in its sub

menu.

Drive A

Drive B

Video EGA/VGA

360K, 5.25 in

1.2M, 5.25 in

720K, 3.5 in

1.44M, 3.5 in

2.88M, 3.5 in

None

CGA 40

CGA 80

MONO

that the ‘Day’ automatically
changes when you set the
date.

clock.

Press <Enter> to enter the
sub menu of detailed
options

Press <Enter> to enter the
sub menu of detailed
options.

Press <Enter> to enter the
sub menu of detailed

options.

Press <Enter> to enter the
sub menu of detailed
options.

Select the t ype of flop py
disk drive installed in your
system.

Select the default video
device.

7

NF4 Ultra-A9

Item Options Description

Halt On All Errors

No Errors

All, but Keyboard

All, but Diskette

All, but Disk/ Key

Base Memory N/A Displays the amount of

Extended Memory N/A Displays the amount of

Total Memory N/A Displays the total me mory

Select the situation in which

you want the B IOS to stop

the POST process and

notify you.

conventional me mory

detected during boot up.

extended memory detected

during boot up.

available in the system.

8

NF4 Ultra-A9

3 Advanced BIOS Features

 Fig ure 3. Adva nced BIOS Se tup

Virus Warning

T his opt ion allows yo u to choo se the Virus Wa rnin g featu r e that is used t o protec t th e IDE
Hard Disk boot sector. If this function is enabled and an attempt is made to write to the
boot sector, BIOS will display a warning message on the screen and sound an alarm beep.

Quick Power On Self Test

Enabling this option will cause an abridged version of the Power On Self-T est (POST ) to
execute after you power up the computer.

Boot Up N umLock S ta tus

Selects the NumLock. State after power on.

Gate A20 Option

Select if ch ipset or keyboard controller shou ld control Gate A20.

Disabled (default) Virus protection is disabled.
Enabled Virus protection is activated.

Enable d (default) Enable quick POST.
Disabled Normal POST.

On (default) Numpad is number keys.
Off Numpad is arrow keys.

Normal A pin in the keyboard controller

controls Gate A20.

Fast (default) Lets chipset control Gate A20.

9

NF4 Ultra-A9

Typematic Rate Se tting

When a key is held down, the keystroke will repeat at a rate determined by the keyboard
controller. When enabled, the typematic rate and typematic delay can be configured.

Disabled (default)
Enabled

Typematic Rate (Chars /Sec)

Sets the rate at which a keystroke is repeated when you hold the key down.

Typematic Delay (Msec)

Sets the delay time after the key is held down before it begins to repeat the keystroke.

Securi ty Optio n

This option will enable only ind ividua ls with passwords to bring the system online and/or
to use the CMOS Setup Utility.

APIC MODE

MPS Version Control For OS

The BIOS supports version 1.1 and 1.4 of the Intel multiprocessor specification.
Select version supported by the operation system running on this computer.
The Choices: 1.4 (default), 1.1.

OS Select For DRAM > 64MB

A choice other than Non-OS2 is only used for OS2 systems with memory exceeding 64MB.

Summary Screen Show

This item allows you to enable/ disable display the Summary Screen Show.
The Choices: Disabled (default), Enabled.

The Choices: 6 (default), 8,10,12,15,20,24,30.

The Choices: 250 (default), 500,750,1000.

System A password is required for the system to boot and is

also required to access the Setup Utility.

Setup (default) A password is required to access the Setup Utility

only.

This will only apply if passwords are set from the Setup main menu.

Selecting Enabled enables ACPI device mode reporting from the BIOS to
the operating system.

The C h o ice s : En a ble d (default), Disab led.

The Choices: Non-OS2 (default), OS2.

10

NF4 Ultra-A9

Cache Setup

These BIOS attempt to load the operating system from the device in the sequence selected in
these items.

CP U Intern al Ca che

Depending on the CPU/chipset in use, you may be able to increase memory
access time with this option.
Enable d (default) Enable cache.
Disabled Disable cache.

Extern al C ache

This option enables or disab les “Level 2” secondary cache on the CPU, which

Boot Seq & Floppy Setup

Hard Disk Boot Priority

These BIOS attempt to load the operating system from the device in the
sequence selected in these items.

The Choices: Pri. Master, Pri. Slave, Sec. Master, Sec, Slave, USBHDD0,
USB HDD1, USB HDD2, and Bootable Add-in Cards.

First/ Second/ Third/ Boo t Other Device

These BIOS attempt to load the operating system from the devices in the
sequence selected in these items.
The Choices: Floppy, LS120, HDD-0, SCSI, CDROM, HDD-1, HDD-2, HDD-3,
ZIP100, LAN, Disabled.

Swap Floppy Drive

For systems with two floppy drives, this option allows you to swap logical dr ive
assignments.

The Choices: Disabled (default), Enabled.

Boot Up Floppy Seek

Enabling this opt ion will test the floppy dr ives to determine if they have 40 or 80
tracks. Disabling this option reduces the time it takes to boot-up.
The Choices: Enabled (default), Disabled.

11

NF4 Ultra-A9

4 Advanced Chipset Features

This submenu allows you to configure the specific features of the chipset installed on your
system. This chipset manage bus speeds and access to system memory resources, such as
DRAM. It also coordinates communications with the PCI bus. The default settings that came
with your system have been optimized and therefore should not be changed unless you are
suspicious that the settings have been changed incorrectly.



Fig ure 4. Adva nce d Chipse t Setu p

CPU Frequency

This item allows you to select the CPU Frequency.

The Choices: 200 (default).

HT Frequency

This item allows you to select the HT Frequency.

The Choices: 4x (default).

HT Width

This item allows you to control the utilized width of the outgoing side of the
HyperT ransport link.

Err94 Enh

This item allows you to enable/disable the “sequentia l Prufetch Feature” of K8 CP U.
Th e choic es: Disabled (default), enable.

12

DRAM Configuration

NF4 Ultra-A9

CAS# L atency
This field spec ify the cas# latency, i.e. cas# to read data valid.
The Choices: CL=2.5 (Default), CL=3.0, CL=2.0

Min RAS# active time (tRAS)

This field specifies the min imum RAS# active time. Typically -45-60 Nsec.
The Cho ices: 6 BUS CLOCKS (Default), 13 BUS CLOCKS, 14 BUS CLOCKS,

15 BUS CLOCKS .

RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD)

This field specifies the RAS# to CAS# Delay to read/ write command to the same
bank. T ypically -20 Nsec.

The Cho ices: 3 BUS CLOCKS (Default), 2 BUS CLOCKS, 4 BUS CLOCKS, 5
BUS CLOCKS, 6 BUS CLOCKS, 7 BUS CLOCKS

Row precharge Time (tRP)

This field specifies the Row precharge Time. Precharge to Active or
Aut o-Re fresh of the sam e bank. Ty pical ly 20- 24 Ns ec.
The Cho ices: 3 BUS CLO CKS (Default), 2 BUS CLOCKS, 4 BUS CLOCKS, 5
BUS CLOCKS, 6 BUS CLOCKS.

CPU Spread Spectrum

Th e choic es: Center Spread (default).

SATA Spread Spectrum

This item allows you to disable \ enable the SATA spread spectrum function.
Th e choic es: Disabled (default), enable.

13

NF4 Ultra-A9

PCIE Spread Spectrum

This item allows you to disable \ enable the SATA spread spectrum function.
Th e choic es: Disabled (default), enable.

SSE/SSE2 Instructions

The choices:Ena b le d (default), Disabled.

System BIOS Cacheable

Selecting the “Disabled ” option allows cachin g of the system BIOS ROM at

F0000h-FFFFFh which can improve system performance. However, any
programs writing to this area of memory will cause conflicts and result in

system errors.
The Cho ices: Disabled (default), Enabled.

14

NF4 Ultra-A9

5 Integrated Peripherals

 Figure 5. Integrated Peripherals

IDE F unc tion Se t up

If you highlight the literal “Press Enter” next to the “IDE Function Setup” label and then press
th e en ter ke y, it w ill take y o u a subm e nu with th e follow in g options :

OnChip IDE Channel 0/1
The motherboard chipset contains a PCI IDE interface with support for
two IDE channels. Select “Enabled” to activate the first and/or second
IDE interface. Select “Disabled” to deactivate an interface if you are

going to insta ll a primary and/or secondary add-in IDE interface.

The Choices: Enabled (default), Disabled.

15

NF4 Ultra-A9

Primary / Seco ndary /Master / Slave PIO

The IDE PIO (Programmed Input / Output) fields let you set a PIO
mode (0-4) for each of the IDE devices that the onboard IDE interface
supports. Modes 0 to 4 will increased performance progressively.
In Auto mode, the system automatically determines the best mode
for each device.
The Choices: Auto (default), Mode0, Mode1, Mode2, Mode3, Mode4.

Primary / Secondary /Master / Slave UDMA

Ultra DMA/100 functionality can be implemented if it is supported by the IDE
hard drives in your system. As we ll, your operating environment requires a DMA
driver (Windows 95 OSR2 or a third party IDE bus master driver). If your hard
drive and your system software both support Ultra DMA/100, select Auto to
enable BIOS support.

The Cho ices: Auto (default), Disabled.

IDE DMA Transfer Access

The Choices: Enabled (default), Disabled.

Serial-ATA A

Enables support for Serial-ATA1.

The Choices: Enabled (default), Disabled

SATA DMA transfer
The Choices: Enabled (default), Disabled.

Serial-ATA B

Enables support for Serial-ATA2.

The Choices: Enabled (default), Disabled

SATA2 DM A transfe r
The Choices: Enabled (default), Disabled.

IDE Prefetch Mo de
The Choices: Enabled (default), Disabled.

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RAID Configuration

RAID Enable

The choices: Disabled (default), enable.

ONBOARD DEVICE

OnChip USB

This option should be enabled if your system has a USB installed on the
system board. You will need to disable this feature if you add a
higher performance controller.

The Choices: V1. 1+V2. 0 (default), Disabled, V1.1

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USB keyboard Support

Enables support for USB attached keyboard.

The Choices: Disabled (default), Enabled

USB Mouse Support

The Choices: Disabled (default), Enabled

AC97 Audio

The Choices: Auto (default), Disabled.

MAC Me dia Interface

Enables support for USB attached mouse.

This option allows you to control the onboard AC97 audio.

MAC LAN (nVIDIA)

This option allows you to change the state of the onboard MAC LAN.

The Cho ices: Auto (Default), Disabled.

Onboard LAN Boot ROM

Th is item allows you t o ena ble or disab le Onbo ard L AN B oot R OM .

The Cho ices: Disabled (default), Enabled.

The Choices: Pin Strap (default).

Onboard 1394

This item allows you to enable or disable the Onboard 1394 Controller.

The C h o ice s : En a ble d (default), Disab led.

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ONBOARD IO/Address

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Onboard FDC Controller

Select Enabled if your system has a floppy disk controller (FDC) installed
on the system board and you wish to use it. If install and FDC or the system

has no floppy drive, se lect Disab led in this field.

The Choices: Enabled (default), Disabled.

Onboard Serial Port 1

Select an address and corresponding interrupt for the first and second serial ports.

The Choices: Disabled, 3F8/IR Q4 (default), 2F8/IRQ3, 3E8/IRQ4,
2E8/IRQ3, Auto.

The Choices: Disabled (default), Enab le d .

UART Mode Select

This item allows you to determine which Infra Red (IR) function of onboard
I/O chip.

The Choices: No rm al (default), AS KIR, IrDA.

UR2 Duplex Mode

The Choices: Half (def ault), Fu ll.

Onboa r d IR Functio n

Select the value required by the IR device connected to the IR port.
Full-duplex mode permits simu ltaneous two-direction transmission.
Half-duplex mode permits transmission in one direction only at a time.

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Onboard Parallel Port

This item allows you to determine access onboard parallel port controller

with which I /O Add ress.

The Choices: 378/IRQ7 (default), 278/IRQ5, 3BC/IRQ7, Disabled.

Parallel Port Mode

The default value is SPP.

The Choices:

SPP(def ault) Usin g Pa rallel p ort as Standa rd Prin ter P ort.

EPP Usin g Paralle l P ort as Enha nced P a ralle l P ort .
ECP Using P arallel port as Extended Capabilities Port.

ECP+EPP Using Parallel port as ECP & EPP mode.

ECP Mode Use DMA

Select a DMA Channel for the port.

The Choices: 3 (default), 1.

IDE HDD Block Mode

Block m ode is als o called b lock tr ansfer , mult ip le co mm ands, or multip le sect or
read / write. If your IDE hard drive supports block mode (most new drives do),

select Enabled for automatic detection of the optimal number of block mode
(mos t new drive s do), selec t Enabled for au tomatic d etect ion of th e optima l
number of block read / write per sector where the drive can support.

The Choices: Enabled (default), Disabled.

Power on Function

This option allows you to choose the different function to power on the computer.

The Ch o ices : Ho t Ke y (default), Password, Mouse Move, Mouse Click, Any Key,
Button Only, Keyboard 98.

KB Power ON Password

Input password and press Enter to set the Keyboard power on

password.

Hot Key Power on

This option allows you to choose a hot key to power on.
The Choices: Ctrl-F1 (default), Ctrl-F2, Ctrl-F3, Ctrl-F4, Ctrl-F5, Ctrl-F6, Ctrl-F7, Ctrl-F8

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6 Power Management Setup

The Power Management Setup Menu allows you to configure your system to utilize energy
conservation and power up/power down features.

Figure 6. Power Manageme nt Setup



ACP I f unc tio n

This item displays the status of the Advanced Configuration and Power Management
(ACPI).

ACP I S us pend Ty pe

The item allows you to select the suspend type under the ACPI operating system.

Power Management

This category allows you to select the type (or degree) of power saving and is directly
related to the following modes:

1.HDD Power Down.

2. S uspe nd Mode .

There are four options of Power Management, three of which have fixed mode settings

The Choices: Enabled (default), Disabled.

The Choices: S1 (POS) (default) P ower on Suspend

S3 (STR) Suspend to RAM
S1+S3 POS+STR

Min. Power Saving

Minimum power management.
Su spen d M ode = 1 hr.

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HDD Power Down = 15 min

Max. Power Saving

Maximum power management only available for sl CPU’s.
Su spen d Mode = 1 min.
HDD Power Down = 1 min.

Use r De f i ne (default)

Allows you to set each mode individually.
When not disabled, each of the ranges are from 1 min. to 1 hr. except for HDD
Power Down which ranges from 1 min. to 15 min. and disable.

Video Off Method

T his opt ion deter mines t he manne r in which th e monitor is goes bla nk.

V/H SYNC+Blank (default)

This selection will cause the system to turn off the vertical and horizontal
synchronization ports and write blanks to the video buffer.

Blank Screen

This option only writes blanks to the video buffer.

DPMS

Initia l disp lay po wer manageme nt si gna l in g.

The Choices: Stop Grant, PwrOn Suspend.

HDD Power Down

When enabled, the hard disk drive will power down and after a set time of system inactivity.
Al l other de vices r emain act ive.
The Cho ices: Disabled (default), 1 Min, 2 Min, 3 Min, 4 Min, 5 Min, 6 Min, 7 Min, 8 Min,
9 Min, 10 Min, 11 Min, 12 Min, 13 Min, 14 Min, 15Min.

Soft-Off by PWR-BTTN

Pressing the power button for more than 4 seconds forces the system to enter the
Soft-Off state when the system has “hung.”

The Choices: Delay 4 Sec, Instant-Off (default).

WOL (PME#) From Soft-Off

The Cho ices: Disabled (default), Enabled.

WOR (RI#) From Soft-Off

The Cho ices: Disabled (default), Enabled.

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USB Resume from S3

The Cho ices: Disabled (default), Enabled.

Power-On by Alarm

When you select Enabled, an alarm returns the system to Full ON state.

The Choices: Disabled (default), Ena bled.

POW E R Afte r PW R-Fail

This setting specifies whether your system will reboot after a power
fail or interrupts occurs.
Off Leaves the computer in the power off state.
On Reboots the computer.
Former-Sts Restores the system to the status before power failure or
interrupt occurs.
The Choices: Off (default), On, Former-Sts.

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7 PnP/PCI Configurations

This section describes configuring the PCI bus system. PCI, or Personal Computer
Interconnect, is a system which allows I/O devices to operate at speeds nearing the speed of
the CPU itself uses when communicating with its own special components. This section
covers some very technical items and it is strongly recommended that only experienced
users should make any changes to the default settings.

Figure 7. PnP/PCI Configurations



Init Display First

With systems that have multip le video cards, this option determines whether the primary
display uses a PCI Slot or an AGP Slot.

The Cho ices: PCI Slot (default), AGP.

Resources Co ntrolled B y

By Choosing “Auto(ESCD)” (default), the system BIOS will detect the system resources
and automatically assign the relative IRQ and DMA channel for each peripheral.By
Choosing “Manual”, the user will need to assign IRQ & DMA for add-on cards. Be sure
that there are no IRQ/DMA and I/O port conflicts.

IRQ Resources

This submenu will allow you to assign each system interrupt a type, depending on the type
of device using the interrupt. When you press the “Press Enter” tag, you will be directed to
a submenu that will allow you to configure the system interrupts. This is only
configurable when “Resources Controlled By” is set to “Manual”.

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IRQ-3 assigned to PCI Device
IRQ-4 assigned to PCI Device
IRQ-5 assigned to PCI Device
IRQ-7 assigned to PCI Device
IRQ-9 assigned to PCI Device
IRQ-10 assigned to PCI Device

IRQ-11 assigned to PCI Device
IRQ-12 assigned to PCI Device
IRQ-14 assigned to PCI Device
IRQ-15 assigned to PCI Device

PCI / VG A Palette Snoop

Choose Disabled or Enabled. Some graphic controllers which are not VG A compatible
take the output from a VGA controller and map it to their display as a way to provide boot

information and VGA compatibility.

However, the color information coming from the VGA contro ller is draw n from th e palette
table inside the VGA contro ller to generate the proper colors, and the graphic controller
needs to know what is in the palette of the VGA controller. T o do this, the non-VGA
graphic controller watches for the Write access to the VGA palette and registers the snoop
data. In PCI based systems, where the VGA controller is on the PCI bus and a non-VGA
graphic controller is on an ISA bus, the Write Access to the palette will not show up on the
ISA bus if the PCI VGA controller responds to the Write.

In this case, the PCI VGA controller shou ld not respo nd to the Write, it should only sno op
the data and permit the access to be forwarded to the ISA bus. The non-VGA IS A graphic
controller can then snoop the data on the ISA bus. Unless you have the above situation,
you should disable this option.

Disabled (default) Disables the function.
Enabled Enables the function.

Maximum Pa y loa d Size

Set the maximum payload size for Transaction packets (TLP ).
The Choice: 4096 (default.)

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8 PC Health Status

 Figure 8. PC Health Sta tus

Chassis Open Warning

This item allows you to enable or disable Chass is Open Warning beep.

The Cho ices: Disabled (Default), Enabled.

Shutdo wn Te mperature

T his item al lows you t o set up t he CPU shutd own Temper ature. T his item only e ffect ive
under Windows 98 ACPI mode.

The Cho ices: Disabled (default), 60℃/140F, 65℃/149F, 70℃/158F, 75℃/167F.

Show H/W Monitor in POST

If your computer contains a monitoring system, it will show PC health status during POST
stage. T he item offers several delay time for you to choose.

The Cho ices: Enabled (default), Disabled.

CPU Vcore/ +1.5V+3.3V/ +5.0V/ +12.0V/+5V/ 5VSB/ Voltage Battery

Detect the system’s voltage status automatically.

CPU Temperature

This field displays the current temperature of the CP U.

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Current CPU FAN Speed

This field displays the current speed of CPU fan.

Curre nt SYS FAN Speed

This field displays the current speed SYST EM fan.

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9 Frequency/Voltage Control

 Figure 8. PC Health Sta tus

Hammer Vid Control

This item allows you to set different CPU frequency.

The Cho ices: StartUp (default), and other choices from 800Mhz to 5000Mhz.

Hammer Fid Control

This item allows you to set different CPU voltage.

The Cho ices: StartUp (default), and other choices from 1.625V to 0.8V.

DDR Voltage Reg ulator

This item allows you to set different DDR voltage.
The Cho ices: 2.7V, 2.8V, 2.9V.

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