ECS Q77H2-M User Manual

Q77H2-M USER MANUAL

Preface

Copyright

This publication, including all photographs, illustrations and software, is protected
under international copyright laws, with all rights reserved. Neither this manual, nor
any of the material contained herein, may be reproduced without written consent of
the author.

Version 1.0

Disclaimer

The information in this document is subject to change without notice. The manufac­turer makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents hereof
and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for
any particular purpose. The manufacturer reserves the right to revise this publica­tion and to make changes from time to time in the content hereof without obligation
of the manufacturer to notify any person of such revision or changes.

Trademark Recognition

Microsoft, MS-DOS and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

MMX, Pentium, Pentium-II, Pentium-III, Celeron are registered trademarks of Intel
Corporation.

Other product names used in this manual are the properties of their respective owners
and are acknowledged.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B
digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential instal­lation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and,
if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful
interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interfer­ence will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful
interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning
the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by
one or more of the following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna

• Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver

• Connect the equipment onto an outlet on a circuit different from that to

which the receiver is connected

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help

Shielded interconnect cables and a shielded AC power cable must be employed with
this equipment to ensure compliance with the pertinent RF emission limits govern­ing this device. Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the system’s
manufacturer could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

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Q77H2-M USER MANUAL

Declaration of Conformity

This device complies with part 15 of the FCC rules. Operation is subject to the follow­ing conditions:

• This device may not cause harmful interference.

• This device must accept any interference received, including interference

that may cause undesired operation.

Canadian Department of Communications

This class B digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference­causing Equipment Regulations.

Cet appareil numérique de la classe B respecte toutes les exigences du Réglement
sur le matériel brouilieur du Canada.

The manual consists of the following:

Describes features of the
motherboard.

H

page 1

Describes installation of
motherboard components.

H

page 7

H

page 27

Installing the Motherboard

Introducing the Motherboard

Provides information on us­ing the BIOS Setup Utility.

Limits and methods of mesurement of radio disturbance char­acteristics of information technology equipment

EN 55022

EN 61000-3-2

Disturbances in supply systems caused

EN 61000-3-3

Disturbances in supply systems caused by household appli­ances and similar electrical equipment “ Voltage fluctuations”

EN 55024

Information technology equipment-Immunity characteristics­Limits and methods of measurement

EN 60950

Safety for information technology equipment including electri­cal business equipment

CE marking

About the Manual

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This device is in conformity with the following EC/EMC directives:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3
Using BIOS

Chapter 4
Trouble Shooting

Provides basic trouble
shooting tips.

page 49

H

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Q77H2-M USER MANUAL

Chapter 2 7

Installing the Motherboard 7

Safety Precautions..............................................................................7

Installing the Motherboard in a Chassis.......................................7

Checking Jumper Settings..................................................................8

Installing Hardware...........................................................................9

Installing the Processor............................................................9

Installing the CPU Cooler........................................................11

Installing Memory Modules...................................................12

Installing Add-on Cards..........................................................14

Connecting Optional Devices.................................................16

Installing a SATA Hard Drive...................................................22

Connecting Case Components........................................................23

Front Panel Header................................................................25

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface i

Chapter 1 1

Introducing the Motherboard 1

Introduction...........................................................................................1

Pakage Contents..................................................................................1

Specifications......................................................................................2

Motherboard Components................................................................4

I/O Ports...............................................................................................6

Chapter 3 27

Using BIOS 27

About the Setup Utility......................................................................27

The Standard Configuration........................ ...........................27

Entering the Setup Utility.......................................................27

Using BIOS.........................................................................................28

BIOS Navigation Keys..............................................................29

Main Menu.............................................................................30

Advanced Menu......................................................................31

Power Menu............................................................................40

Authentication Menu..............................................................42

Security Menu.........................................................................43

Boot Options Menu.................................................................45

Exit Menu...............................................................................46

Updating the BIOS......................................................................47

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Q77H2-M USER MANUAL

Chapter 4 49

Trouble Shooting 49

Start up problems during assembly..............................................49

Start up problems after prolong use............................................50

Maintenance and care tips..............................................................50

Basic Troubleshooting Flowchart.....................................................51

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Q77H2-M

USER MANUAL

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Introducing the Motherboard

Introduction

Your motherboard package ships with the following items:

Package Contents

Q77H2-M Motherboard
Quick Installation Guide
User Manual
DVD
I/O Shield
2 SATA Cables

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The package contents above are for reference only, please take the actual

package items as standard.

Thank you for choosing the Q77H2-M motherboard. This motherboard is a high per­formance, enhanced function motherboard designed to support the LGA1155 socket
for 2nd/3rd Generation Intel® Sandy/Ivy Bridge processors for high-end business or
personal desktop markets.

This motherboard is based on Intel® Q77 Chipset for best desktop platform solution.
Q77 is a single-chip, highly integrated, high performance Hyper-Threading periph­eral controller, unmatched by any other single chip-device controller. This
motherboard supports up to 32 GB of system memory with dual channel DDR3 1600/

1333 SDRAM. One PCI slot is supported, fully compliant with PCI rev 2.2 specification

at 33MHz. High resolution graphics via one PCI Express x16 slot, intended for Graph­ics Interface, is fully compliant to the PCI Express Base Specification revision 3.0.
And one PCI Express x16 slot (with x4 connectivity) is supported, is compliant with all
PCIe x1 device of AVLC, it has independent video out when install a VGA card. In
addition, one PCI Express x1 slot is supported, is fully compliant to the PCI Express
Base Specification revision 2.0. It implements an EHCI (Enhanced Host Controller
Interface) compliant interface that provides ten USB 2.0 ports (four USB 2.0 ports at
the back panel and three USB 2.0 headers support additional six USB 2.0 ports) and
four USB 3.0 ports (two USB 3.0 ports at the back panel and one USB 3.0 header
supports additional two USB 3.0 ports).

The motherboard is equipped with advanced full set of I/O ports in the rear panel,
including PS/2 mouse and PS/2 keyboard connectors, one D-sub (VGA) port, one Se­rial port (COM1), one Display port, one HDMI port, one LAN port, four USB 2.0 ports,
two USB 3.0 ports, and audio jacks for line-in, line-out and microphone.

In addition, this motherboard supports two SATA 6.0Gb/s connectors and four SATA

3.0Gb/s connectors.

Chapter 1

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USER MANUAL

CPU

Specifications

• Intel® Q77 Chipset

Chipset

• Dual-channel DDR3 memory architecture

• 4 x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM sockets support up to 32 GB

• Supports DDR3 1600/1333 DDR3 SDRAM

Memory

• 1 x PCI Express x16

• 1 x PCI Express x16 (with x4 connectivity)

• 1 x PCI Express x1 slot

• 1 x PCI slot

• Supported by Intel®Q77 Express Chipset

- 2 x Serial ATA 6.0 Gb/s Host Controllers

- 4 x Serial ATA 3.0 Gb/s Host Controllers

Expansion
Slots

Storage

• 4 x USB 2.0 ports

• 2 x USB 3.0 ports

• 1 x D-sub (VGA) port

• 1 x Serial port (COM1)

• 1 x Display port

• 1 x HDMI port

• 1 x RJ45 LAN connector

• 1 x PS/2 keyboard & PS/2 mouse connectors

• 1 x Audio port (Line in, line out and microphone)

Rear Panel I/O

LAN • Intel® 82579LM

• Realtek ALC662VD 6-Ch HD audio CODEC

Audio

• LGA1155 socket for

2nd/3rd

Generation Intel® Sandy/Ivy Bridge

processors

• 1 x 24-pin ATX Power Supply connector

• 1 x 4-pin ATX_12V Power Supply connector

• 1 x 4-pin CPU_FAN connector

• 1 x 3-pin SYS_FAN connector

• 4 x SATA II 3.0Gb/s connectors

• 2 x SATA III 6.0Gb/s connectors

• 1 x Front panel switch/LED header

• 1 x Front panel audio header

• 3 x USB 2.0 headers support additional six USB 2.0 ports

• 1 x USB 3.0 header supports additional two USB 3.0 ports

• 1 x Onboard Serial port header (COM2)

• 1 x Clear CMOS header with jumper

• 1 x Onboard parallel port header (PRINTER)

• 1 x Floppy Disk header

• 1 x ME_UNLOCK header

• 1 x Opened Chassis detective header

• 1 x BIOS flash protect header with jumper

Internal I/O
Connectors &
Headers

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Chapter 1

• AMI BIOS with 64Mb SPI Flash ROM

• Supports Plug and Play, STR (S3) / STD (S4) , Hardware monitor

• Supports ACPI & DMI

• Audio, LAN, can be disabled in BIOS

• Supports Multi-Language

• F12 hot key for boot up devices option

• Supports Dual/Triple Display

System BIOS

Form Factor • Micro ATX Size, 244mm x 244mm

Chapter 1

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USER MANUAL

Motherboard Components

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USER MANUAL

Chapter 1

Table of Motherboard Components

LABEL COMPONENTS

1. CPU

Su

pp

orts the LGA1155 socket for 2

nd

/

3rd Generation

Intel

®

Sandy/Ivy Bridge Processor

2. CPU_FAN CPU cooling fan connector

3. DDR3_1~4 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM slots
(Channel A: DIMM1~2 Channel B: DIMM3~4)

4. LPT Onboard parallel port header

5. FDD Floppy Disk header

6. ATX_POWER Standard 24-pin ATX power connector

7. BZ1

Buzzer

8. USB3F Front panel USB 3.0 connector

9. SATA1~2 Serial ATA 6.0Gb/s connectors

10. SATA3~6 Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s connectors

11. F_PANEL Front panel switch/LED header

12. CASE Opened Chassis detective header

13. CLR_CMOS Clear CMOS header with jumper

14. ME_UNLOCK ME unlock header-for factory use only

15. BIOS_WP BIOS flash protect header with jumper

16. F_USB2~4 Front panel USB 2.0 headers

17. F_AUDIO Front panel audio header

18. PCIEX16_2 PCI Express x16 slot (runs at X4 mode)

19. PCI 32-bit add-on card slot

20. PCIE PCI Express x1 slot

21. PCIEX16_1 PCI Express x16 slot

22. SYS_FAN System cooling fan connector

23. COM2 Onboard serial port header

24. ATX_12V Auxiliary 4-pin power connector

Chapter 1

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I/O Ports

1. PS/2 Mouse

Use the upper PS/2 port to connect the PS/2 Mouse.

2. PS/2 Keyboard

Use the lower PS/2 port to connect the PS/2 Keyboard.

3. Serial Port (COM1)

Use the COM1 port to connect the serial devices such as mice or fax/modems.

4. VGA Port

Connect your monitor to the VGA port.

5. Display Port (DP)

You can connect the display device to the display port.

6. HDMI Port

You can connect the display device to the HDMI port.

7. USB 2.0 Ports

Use the USB 2.0 ports to connect USB 2.0 devices.

8. LAN Port

Connect an RJ-45 jack to the LAN port to connect your computer to the Network.

Link LED

LAN Port

9. USB 3.0 Ports

Use the USB 3.0 ports to connect USB 3.0 devices.

10. Line-in (blue)
It can be connected to an external CD/DVD player, Tape player or other audio
devices for audio input.

11. Line-out (green)
It is used to connect to speakers or headphones.

12. Microphone (pink)
It is used to connect to a microphone.

Transm ission
Spee d

LAN LED Status Description

OFF No dat a
Orange blinking Active
OFF No link
Green Link
OFF No dat a
Orange blinking Active
OFF No link
Ora nge Li nk

Activity LED

Link LED

100M

Giga

Activity LED

Link LED

Chapter 2

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Q77H2-M USER MANUAL

Chapter 2

Installing the Motherboard

2-1. Safety Precautions

2-2. Installing the motherboard in a Chassis

This motherboard carries an ATX form factor of 244 x 244 mm. Choose a chassis that
accommodates this form factor. Make sure that the I/O template in the chassis
matches the I/O ports installed on the rear edge of the motherboard. Most system
chassis have mounting brackets installed in the chassis, which corresponds to the
holes in the motherboard. Place the motherboard over the mounting brackets and
secure the motherboard onto the mounting brackets with screws.

Follow these safety precautions when installing the motherboard:

• Wear a grounding strap attached to a grounded device to avoid damage
from static electricity.

• Discharge static electricity by touching the metal case of a safely grounded
object before working on the motherboard.

• Leave components in the static-proof bags.

• Always remove the AC power by unplugging the power cord from the power
outlet before installing or removing the motherboard or other hardware
components.

Do not over-tighten the screws as this can stress the motherboard.

Chapter 2

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Q77H2-M USER MANUAL

The following illustration shows the location of the motherboard jumpers. Pin 1 is
labeled.

To avoid the system instability after clearing CMOS, we recommend users to
enter the main BIOS setting page to “Load Default Settings” and then “Save
and Exit Setup”.

2-3. Checking Jumper Settings

Chapter 2

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Q77H2-M USER MANUAL

2-4. Installing Hardware

2-4-1. Installing the Processor

• This motherboard has an LGA1155 socket.

• When choosing a processor, consider the performance requirements of
the system. Performance is based on the processor design, the clock speed
and system bus frequency of the processor, and the quantity of internal
cache memory and external cache memory.

• You may be able to change the settings in the system Setup Utility. We
strongly recommend you do not over-clock processor or other compo­nents to run faster than their rated speed.

• The following illustration shows CPU installation components.

A. Press the hook of lever down with your thumb and pull it to the right
side to release it from retention tab.

B. Lift the tail of the load lever and rotate the load plate to fully open
position.

C. Grasp the edge of the package substrate. Make sure pin 1 indicator
is on your bottom-left side. Aim at the socket and place the package
carefully into the socket by purely vertical motion.

Chapter 2

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Q77H2-M USER MANUAL

D. Rotate the load plate onto the package IHS (Intergraded Heat
Spreader). Engage the load lever while pressing down lightly onto the
load plate. Secure the load lever with the hook under retention tab. Then
the cover will flick automatically.

Please save and replace the cover onto the CPU socket if processor is re­moved.

Chapter 2

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Q77H2-M USER MANUAL

A. Apply some thermal grease onto the contacted area between the
heatsink and the CPU, and make it to be a thin layer.

B. Fasten the cooling fan supporting base onto the CPU socket on the
motherboard. And make sure the CPU fan is plugged to the CPU fan
connector.

C. Connect the CPU cooler power connector to the CPU_FAN connector.

2-4-2. Installing the CPU Cooler

• Install the cooling fan in a well-lit work area so that you can clearly see the
motherboard and processor socket.

• Avoid using cooling fans with sharp edges in case the fan casing and the
clips cause serious damage to the motherboard or its components.

• To achieve better airflow rates and heat dissipation, we suggest that you
use a high quality fan with 3800 rpm at least. CPU fan and heat sink instal­lation procedures may vary with the type of CPU fan/heatsink supplied.
The form and size of fan/heatsink may also vary.

• DO NOT remove the CPU cap from the socket before installing a CPU.

• Return Material Authorization (RMA) requests will be accepted only if the
motherboard comes with the cap on the LGA1155 socket.

• The following illustration shows how to install CPU fan.

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Q77H2-M USER MANUAL

2-4-3. Installing Memory Modules

• This motherboard accommodates four memory modules. It can support
four 240-pin DDR3 1600/1333.

• Do not remove any memory module from its antistatic packaging until
you are ready to install it on the motherboard. Handle the modules only
by their edges. Do not touch the components or metal parts. Always wear
a grounding strap when you handle the modules.

• You must install at least one module in any of the four slots. Total memory
capacity is 32 GB.

• Refer to the following to install the memory modules.

C. The slot latches are levered upwards and latch on to the edges of the

DIMM.

A. Push the latches on each side of the DIMM slot down.

B. Install the DIMM module into the slot and press it firmly down until it
fits in place correctly. Check that the cutouts on the DIMM module edge

connector match the notches in the DIMM slot.

The four DDR3 memory sockets (DDR3_1, DDR3_2, DDR3_3 and DDR3_4) are divided
into two channels and each channel has two memory sockets as following:

Channel A: DDR3_1, DDR3_2
Channel B: DDR3_3, DDR3_4

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Q77H2-M USER MANUAL

Recommend memory configuration

Model

Sockets

DDR3_1 DDR3_2 DDR3_3 DDR3_4

1 DIMM ~ Populated ~ ~

1 DIMM ~ ~ ~ Populated

2 DIMMs ~ Populated ~ Populated

3 DIMMs Populated Populated ~ Populated

3 DIMMs ~ Populated Populated Populated

4 DIMMs Populated Populated Populated Populated

Due to Intel CPU spec definition, please follow the table above for
recommended memory configuration.

1. For best performance and compatibility, we recommend that users give
priority to the white DIMMs (DDR3_2/DDR3_4) when installing DIMMs.

2. We suggest users not to mix memory type. It is recommended to use the
same brand and type memory on this motherboard.