MSI 915, Midas 915, MS-6275 User Manual

Midas 915

User’s Guide

G52-B6275X1

FCC-B Radio Frequency Interference Statement

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 when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This
equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if
not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may
cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this
equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference, in
which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own
expense.

Notice 1

The changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party re­sponsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the
equipment.

Notice 2

Shielded interface cables and AC. power cord, if any, must be used in

This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is
subject to the following two conditions:

(1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) this device must accept any interference received, including

interference that may cause undesired operation.

Micro-Star International

Midas 915

ii

Trademarks

All trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.
Intel® and Pentium® are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.
PS/2 and OS®/2 are registered trademarks of International Business Ma­chines Corporation.
Windows® 95/98/2000/NT/XP are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation.
Netware® is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc.
Award® is a registered trademark of Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
AMI® is a registered trademark of American Megatrends Inc.

Revision History

Revision Revision History Date

V1.0 First Release March 2005

Copyright Notice

The material in this document is the intellectual property of MICRO­STAR INTERNATIONAL. We take every care in the preparation of this

document, but no guarantee is given as to the correctness of its contents.
Our products are under continual improvement and we reserve the right
to make changes without notice.

iii

Safety Instructions

1. Always read the safety instructions carefully.

2. Keep this User’s Manual for future reference.

3. Keep this equipment away from humidity.

4. Lay this equipment on a reliable flat surface before setting it up.

5. The openings on the enclosure are for air convection hence pro
tects the equipment from overheating. DO NOT COVER THE
OPENINGS.

6. Make sure the voltage of the power source and adjust properly
115/230V before connecting the equipment to the power inlet.

7. Place the power cord such a way that people can not step on it.
Do not place anything over the power cord.

8. Always Unplug the Power Cord before inserting any add-on card
or module.

9. All cautions and warnings on the equipment should be noted.

10. Never pour any liquid into the opening that could damage or cause elec­trical shock.

11. If any of the following situations arises, get the equipment checked
by a service personnel:

- The power cord or plug is damaged.

- Liquid has penetrated into the equipment.

- The equipment has been exposed to moisture.

- The equipment has not work well or you can not get it work according
to User’s Manual.

- The equipment has dropped and damaged.

- The equipment has obvious sign of breakage.

12. Do not leave this equipment in an unconditioned environment with

storage temperature above 600 C (1400F). Extreme heat may dam­age the equipment.

CAUTION: Danger of explosion if battery is incorrectly replaced.
Replace only with the same or equivalent type recommended by the

manufacturer.

iv

CONTENTS

Chapter 1. Getting Started........................................................................1-1

1.1 System Specifications...................................................1-2

1.2 System Configuration...................................................1-4

1.3 Thermal Solution..........................................................1-7

Chapter 2. Introducing Mainboard..........................................................2-1

2.1 Mainboard Layout...................................................................2-2

2.2 CPU.............................................................................2-3

CPU & Cooler Installation...........................................2-3

2.3 Memory.......................................................................2-7

Introduction to DDR SDRAM.............................................2-7

DDR Module Combination..................................................2-8

Installing DDR Modules......................................................2-8

2.4 Power Supply...............................................................2-9

ATX 24-Pin Power Connector: ATX............................2-9

ATX 12V Power Connector: ATX_12V........................2-9

2.5 Front Panel.................................................................2-10

Audio Ports...........................................................................2-10

USB Ports.............................................................................2-10

2.6 Rear Panel..................................................................2-11

Mouse/Keyboard Connectors.................................2-11

Audio Ports.............................................................2-12

VGA Port.................................................................2-12

RJ-45 LAN Jack........................................................2-13

USB Ports...............................................................2-13

Parallel Port..............................................................2-14

Serial Port................................................................2-15

2.7 Connectors.............................................................................2-16

IDE Connector: IDE1...........................................................2-16

v

Floppy Disk Drive Connector: FDD..................................2-16

Serial ATA Connectors: SATA1~ SATA4 ........................2-17

Front Panel Audio Connector: F_AUDIO........................2-17

Front Panel Connector: JFP1..............................................2-18

CD-in Connector: CD_IN......................................................2-18

Fan Power Connectors: CPU_FAN/SYS_FAN.................2-19

Serial Port Connector: JCOM2............................................2-19

Front USB Connectors: F_USB1/F_USB2........................2-20

2.8 Jumper.......................................................................2-21

BIOS Flash Jumper: BIOS_WP..................................2-21

Clear CMOS Jumper: CLR_CMOS...................................2-21

2.9 Slot............................................................................2-22

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Slots.............2-22

PCI Interrupt Request Routing..........................................2-22

PCI Express Slot..................................................................2-23

Chapter 3. System Assembly........................................................3-1

3.1 Overview......................................................................3-2

Installation Tools.......................................................3-2

Screws.......................................................................3-2

Checking the Items.....................................................3-3

3.2 Installation Procedures.................................................3-4

1. Removing Cover, Installing Memory Modules.........3-4

2. Installing CPU.........................................................3-5

3. Installing CPU Cooler..............................................3-6

4. Removing Drive Cage.............................................3-7

5. Installing HDD........................................................3-8

6. Installing FDD and Optical Drive.............................3-9

7. Restoring Chassis Cover.......................................3-11

Chapter 4. BIOS Setup.................................................................4-1

Entering Setup..............................................................................4-2

vi

Control Keys.........................................................................4-2

Getting Help...........................................................................4-3

The Main Menu.............................................................................4-4

Standard CMOS Features...........................................................4-6

Advanced BIOS Features...........................................................4-8

Advanced Chipset Features.....................................................4-11

Integrated Peripherals................................................................4-14

Power Management Setup........................................................4-19

PNP/PCI Configurations............................................................4-21

H/W Monitor................................................................................4-22

Frequency/Voltage Control.......................................................4-23

Load Fail-Safe/Optimized Defaults..........................................4-24

Set Password...............................................................................4-25

vii

Getting Started

Congratulations for purchasing Midas 915 (MS-6275)

barebone. Midas barebone is your best Slim PC choice. Based on

the “all-in-one” design idea, Midas provides 6 USB ports, 3 PCI
slots for expansion and 1 PCI-E slot (low profile). With the fantas-

tic appearance and small form factor, it can easily be set anywhere.
The feature packed platform also gives you an exciting PC
experience.

1

Chapter 1

1.1 System Specifications

CPU

† Supports Intel® Pentium 4 Prescott/Celeron DTM (LGA775) proces-

sors in LGA775 package

† Supports 533MHz, 800MHz FSB
† Supports 2004 Performance FMB CPU VR Design
† Supports 3/4 pin CPU Fan Pin-Header with Fan Speed Control

(For the latest information about CPU, please visit http://www.msi.com.
tw/program/products/slim_pc/slm/pro_slm_cpu_support.php)

Chipset

† Intel® 915G/915GL Chipset

- Supports 533/800MHz Intel NetBurst micro-architecture bus

- Supports PCI Express x16 interface

- Supports DDR 333/400 memory interface

- Integrated Intel GMA 900 graphic controller

† Intel® ICH6 chipset

- High Definition Audio interface

- 4 Serial ATA Host Controllers

- 1 channel Ultra ATA 100 bus Master IDE controller

- 6 USB 2.0/1.1 ports

- Supports SMBus 2.0

Main Memory

† Supports two 64-bit wide DDR data channels
† Available bandwidth up to 3.2GB/s (DDR 400) for single-channel

mode and 6.4 GB/s (DDR 400) for dual-channel mode

† Supports 256MB or 512MB DDR technologies
† Supports only x8, x16 DDR devices with 2-bank

(For the updated supporting memory modules, please visit http://www.
msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_trp_list.php.)

Slots

† One PCI Express x16 slot (supports PCI Express Bus specification

v1.0a compliant)

† Three 32-bit v2.2 Master PCI bus slots (supports 3.3v/5v PCI bus

interface)

1-2

Getting Started

On-Board IDE

† One IDE controller on the ICH6 chipset provides IDE HDD/CD-

ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA66/100 operation modes

† Supports 4 Serial ATA ports

On-Board Peripherals

† On-Board Peripherals include:

- 1 floppy port supports 1 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and

2.88Mbytes

- 1 serial port, Com1 on Rear IO

- 1 parallel port supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode

- 1 Line-In / Line-Out / MIC-In

- 6 USB ports (Rear * 4/ Front * 2)

- 1 RJ-45 LAN jack

On-board LAN

† Realtek 8100C

- Integrated Fast Ethernet MAC and PHY in one chip

- Supports 10Mb/s, 100Mb/s

- Compliance with PCI 2.2

- Supports ACPI Power Management

Audio

† High Definition link controller integrated in ICH6
† 5.1 channels S/W audio codec Realtek ALC655 codec

BIOS

† 4Mb FWH
† Provides DMI2.0, WfM2.0, WOL, WOR, chassis intrusion, and

SMBus for system management

Mounting and Dimension

† M-ATX Form Factor: 24.5 cm (W) x 24.5 cm (L)
† 8 mounting holes

1-3

Chapter 1

1.2 System Configuration

Front View

1. 2 x USB 2.0 Ports 5. Power Switch

2. Mic-in (pink), Line-out (green) 6. FDD (optional)

3. HDD LED 7. Optical Drive (optional)

4. Power LED 8. Optical Drive Eject/Close

Button

1-4

Rear View

Getting Started

1. PS/2 Mouse 9. PCI Slots

2. PS/2 Keyboard 10. AC Input Voltage Selector

3. Serial Port 11. Parallel Port

4. VGA Port 12. RJ-45 LAN Jack

5. 4 x USB 2.0 Ports 13. Line-in

6. Mic-in 14. Chassis Locks

7. Line-out 15. Power Jack

8. PCI Express x16 Slot

1-5

Chapter 1

Chassis Design

† Dimension: 335mm (H) x 98mm (W) x 363mm (D)
† Minimized screw structure
† Detachable bay housing
† Multiple ventilation holes

1. CPU Fan Ventilation Hole 5. System Ventilation Hole

2. CPU Fan Ventilation Hole 6. System Ventilation Hole

3. System Fan Ventilation Hole 7. Front I/O Release Button

4. Power Supply Ventilation Hole

1-6

Getting Started

1.3 Thermal Solution

To prevent the system from overheating, we have adopted a spe­cially designed CPU cooler (optional) and multiple ventilation holes for
better cooling effects. Of course, you can use the CPU cooler included
with the Intel® CPU.

The specially designed CPU cooler supports Intel® LGA775­Prescott™ FSB800 and Celeron-D™ @ 800 MHz. The following figures

illustrate how the system fan effectively exhausts hot air through mul­tiple ventilation holes.

CPU Fan

Air Flow Direction

Air Out

Air In

CPU Fan

1-7

Chapter 1

Power
Supply Fan

Power
Supply

Ventilation Hole

Ventilation
Hole

System
Fan

Ventilation
Hole

front panel

1-8

System Air Flow Direction

Power
Supply
Fan

Power
Supply

Getting Started

System Fan

front panel

After the installation is completed, please
keep other objects away from the ventila­tion hole at least 2.5cm and above. Do not
block the ventilation hole.

1-9

Introducing Mainboard

This chapter tells you basics of the CPU, memory modules,
and expansion cards, as well as how to setup the jumpers on the
mainboard. Also, it provides the instructions on connecting
the peripheal devices, such as the mouse, keyboard, etc.

While doing the installation, be careful in holding the com­ponents and follow the installation procedures.

2

Chapter 2

DDR2DDR

1

F_AUDIO

BIOS

Winbond

W83627THF

IDE 1

COM2

JLPC1

ATX_12V

PCI_E

915G/915GL

JFP

1

2.1 Mainboard Layout

T: mouse
B: keyboard

T:

Line-In

Line-Out

M:
B:Mic

Codec

RTL8100C

PCI Slot 1

PCI Slot 2

PCI Slot 3

LGA775 CPU Socket

BA TT

JCI1

IrDA

ATX

Power Supply

FDD

SYS_FAN

ICH6

+

SATA4

SATA3
SATA2

SATA1

CD_IN

F_USB2

F_USB1

CLR_CMOS

MS-7036 (V1.X) Mainboard

2-2

BIOS_WP

Introducing Mainboard

2.2 CPU

The mainboard supports Intel® Pentium 4 Prescott/Celeron-D

processor. The mainboard uses a CPU socket called LGA775. When you
are installing the CPU, make sure to install the cooler to prevent
overheating. If you do not have the CPU cooler, contact your dealer to
purchase and install them before turning on the computer.

MSI Reminds You...

Overheating

Overheating will seriously damage the CPU and system, always
make sure the cooling fan can work properly to protect the CPU
from overheating.

Replacing the CPU

While replacing the CPU, always turn off the ATX power supply or
unplug the power supply’s power cord from grounded outlet first
to ensure the safety of CPU.

Overclocking

This motherboard is designed to support overclocking. However,
please make sure your components are able to tolerate such
abnormal setting, while doing overclocking. Any attempt to oper­ate beyond product specifications is not recommended. We do

not guarantee the damages or risks caused by inadequate
operation or beyond product specifications.

Introduction to LGA 775 CPU

The pin-pad side of LGA
775 CPU.

Alignment

The surface of LGA 775
CPU. Remember to apply
some silicon heat transfer
compound on it for better
heat dispersion.

Alignment Key

Yellow triangle is the Pin 1 indicator

Yellow triangle is the Pin 1 indicator

2-3

Chapter 2

CPU & Cooler Installation

When you are installing the CPU, make sure the CPU has a cooler

attached on the top to prevent overheating. If you do not have the cooler,

contact your dealer to purchase and install them before turning on the
computer. Meanwhile, do not forget to apply some silicon heat transfer
compound on CPU before installing the heat sink/cooler fan for better
heat dispersion.

Follow the steps below to install the CPU & cooler correctly. Wrong

installation will cause the damage of your CPU & mainboard.

1.The CPU has a land side cover on
the bottom to protect the CPU con­tact from damage. Rotate it to make
the pin 1 indicator (yellow triangle)

in the right-bottom corner.

land side cover

3.Use 2 hands to remove the land side
cover (if any). Please note not to

touch the pins.

2.Take out the accompanying CPU Clip
and rotate it for the same direction as
the CPU (Pin 1 indicator is in the left-

bottom corner).

4.Align the two pin 1 indicators (the
triangles on the CPU & the CPU Clip),
and use the CPU Clip to clip the CPU
up, pressing the clips on both sides

to the center, as the arrows shown.

MSI Reminds You...

1.Confirm if your CPU cooler is firmly installed before turning on
your system.

2.Do not touch the CPU socket pins to avoid damaging.

3. The availability of the CPU land side cover depends on your CPU
packing.

2-4

Introducing Mainboard

5.The CPU socket has a plastic cap on
it to protect the contact from damage.
Before you have installed the CPU,
always cover it to protect the socket

pin.

7.Lift the load lever up and open the
load plate.

6.Remove the cap from lever
hinge side (as the arrow
shows). The pins of socket
reveal.

8.Correctly align the triangle of
CPU Clip with the CPU chamfer,
and the square on the CPU Clip

to the hook of the socket.

9.Use your thumb and the middle fin­gers to push the clips to release the
CPU, then press down the CPU with
your index finger to allow the whole
module to be installed onto the CPU

socket.

10.The CPU is installed well on
the CPU socket.

2-5

Chapter 2

11.Visually inspect if the CPU is seated
well into the socket, then remove the
CPU Clip with 2 fingers. Then cover
the load plate onto the package.

12. Press down the load lever
lightly onto the load plate, and
then secure the lever with the
hook under retention tab.

The following installation example is Intel CPU cooler.

13. Align the holes on the mainboard with
the cooler. Push down the cooler until
its four clips get wedged into the holes
of the mainboard.

14.Press the four hooks down to
fasten the cooler. Then rotate
(with a tack screwdriver) the
locking switch (refer to the cor­rect direction marked on it) to
lock the hooks.

Note:If you want to uninstall the

CPU, align the 4 points (see
Point 8 for details) again and
push the clip to lift up the CPU.

MSI Reminds You...

1.Check the information in PC Health Status of H/W Monitor in
BIOS (Chapter 4) for the CPU temperature.

2. Whenever CPU is not installed, always protect your CPU socket
pin with the plastic cap covered to avoid damaging.

3. Please note that the mating/unmating durability of the CPU is 20
cycles. Therefore we suggest you do not plug/unplug the CPU too
often.

locking

2-6

Introducing Mainboard

2.3 Memory

The mainboard provides two 184-pin unbuffered DDR266/DDR333/
DDR400 DDR SDRAM, and supports the memory size up to 2GB without
ECC. To operate properly, at least one DIMM module must be installed.

(For the updated supporting memory modules, please visit http://www.
msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_trp_list.php )

DDR DIMM Slots

(DIMM 1~2)

Introduction to DDR SDRAM

DDR (Double Data Rate) SDRAM is similar to conventional SDRAM, but
doubles the rate by transferring data twice per cycle. It uses 2.5 volts as
opposed to 3.3 volts used in SDR SDRAM, and requires 184-pin DIMM
modules rather than 168-pin DIMM modules used by SDR SDRAM.

2-7

Chapter 2

DIMM Module Combination

Install at least one DIMM module on the slots. You can install either
single- or double-sided modules in any order to meet your own needs.

Memory modules can be installed in any combination as follows:

Slot Memory Module Total Memory

DIMM 1
(Bank 0 & 1) S/D 128MB~1GB

DIMM 2
(Bank 2 & 3) S/D 128MB~1GB

System Memory Supported 128MB~2GB

S: Single Side D: Double Side

Installing DDR Modules

1. The DDR DIMM has only one notch on the center of module. The

module will only fit in the right orientation.

2. Insert the DIMM memory module vertically into the DIMM slot.

Then push it in until the golden finger on the memory module is
deeply inserted in the socket.

3. The plastic clip at each side of the DIMM slot will automatically

close.

Volt Notch

MSI Reminds You...

You can barely see the golden finger if the module is prop­erly inserted in the socket.

2-8

Introducing Mainboard

2.4 Power Supply

ATX 24-Pin Power Connector: ATX

This connector allows you to connect an ATX 24-pin power
supply. To connect the ATX 24-pin power supply, make
sure the plug of the power supply is inserted in the proper
orientation and the pins are aligned. Then push down
the power supply firmly into the connector.

You may use the 20-pin ATX power supply or 24­pin SSI power supply as you like. If you’d like to use the
ATX power supply, please plug your power supply along
with pin 1 & pin 13 (refer to the image at the right hand).
There is also a foolproof design on pin 11, 12, 23 & 24 to avoid wrong
installation.

Pin Definition

pin 13

pin 12

PIN SIGNAL

1 +3.3V
2 +3.3V
3 GND
4 +5V
5 GND
6 +5V
7 GND
8 PWR OK
9 5VSB
10 +12V
11 +12V
12 +3.3V

ATX

12

1

24

13

ATX 12V Power Connector: ATX_12V

This 12V power connector is used to provide power to the CPU.

Pin Definition

2
4

1
3

ATX_12V

PIN SIGNAL

1 GND
2 GND
3 12V
4 12V

PIN SIGNAL

13 +3.3V
14 -12V
15 GND
16 PS-ON#
17 GND
18 GND
19 GND
20 Res
21 +5V
22 +5V
23 +5V
24 GND

2-9

Chapter 2

2.5 Front Panel

USB Ports Line-out

Mic-in

Audio Ports

These audio ports allow you to connect front audio devices.

MIC-in

Line-out

USB Ports

The mainboard provides a UHCI (Universal Host Controller
Interface) Universal Serial Bus root for attaching USB devices such as
keyboard, mouse or other USB-compatible devices. You can plug the
USB devices directly into these connectors.

1 4 5 8

USB Port Description

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 VCC +5V
2 -Data 0 Negative Data Channel 0
3 +Data0 Positive Data Channel 0
4 GND Ground
5 VCC +5V
6 -Data 1 Negative Data Channel 1
7 +Data 1 Positive Data Channel 1
8 GND Ground

2-10

2.6 Rear Panel

The Rear Panel provides the following connectors:

Introducing Mainboard

Line-out

Mouse

Parallel Port

Keyboard

Serial Port

VGA Port

Mouse/Keyboard Connectors

The mainboard provides two standard PS/2® mini DIN connectors
for attaching PS/2® mouse and keyboard.

LAN Jack

USB Ports

Line-in

MIC -in

PS/2 Mouse (6-pin Female)

6

4

6

4

2

5

3

2

1

5

3

1

PS/2 Keyboard (6-pin Female)

Mouse Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 Mouse DATA Mouse DATA
2 NC No connection
3 GND Ground
4 VCC +5V
5 Mouse Clock Mouse clock
6 NC No connection

Keyboard Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 Keyboard DATA Keyboard DATA
2 NC No connection
3 GND Ground
4 VCC +5V
5 Keyboard Clock Keyboard clock
6 NC No connection

2-11

Chapter 2

Audio Ports

Line Out is a connector for Speakers or Headphone. Line In is

used for external CD player, Tape player, or other audio devices. MIC is
a connector for stereo microphone.

Line In

Line Out

MIC-in

VGA Port

The mainboard provides one DB 15-pin female connector to con­nect a VGA monitor.

5 1

15 11

DB 15-Pin Female Connector

VGA Port Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 Red
2 Green
3 Blue
4 Not used
5 Ground
6 Ground
7 Ground
8 Ground
9 Power
10 Ground
11 Not used
12 SDA
13 Horizontal Sync
14 Vertical Sync
15 SCL

2-12

Introducing Mainboard

RJ-45 LAN Jack

The mainboard provides one standard RJ-45 jack for connection
to Local Area Network (LAN). You can connect a network cable to the
LAN jack.This LAN enables data to be transferred at 100 or 10Mbps.

10/100Mbps LAN Jack Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 TDP Transmit Differential Pair
2 TDN Transmit Differential Pair
3 RDP Receive Differential Pair

8 1

RJ45 LAN Jack

4 NC Not Used
5 NC Not Used
6 RDN Receive Differential Pair
7 NC Not Used
8 NC Not Used

USB Ports

The mainboard provides a UHCI (Universal Host Controller
Interface) Universal Serial Bus root for attaching USB devices such as
keyboard, mouse or other USB-compatible devices. You can plug the
USB device directly into the connector. The mainboard supports
USB1.1 & 2.0 devices.

USB Port Description

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

USB Ports

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 VCC +5V
2 -Data 0 Negative Data Channel 0
3 +Data0 Positive Data Channel 0
4 GND Ground
5 VCC +5V
6 -Data 1 Negative Data Channel 1
7 +Data 1 Positive Data Channel 1
8 GND Ground

2-13

Chapter 2

Parallel Port

The mainboard provides a 25-pin female centronic connector as
LPT. A parallel port is a standard printer port that supports Enhanced
Parallel Port (EPP) and Extended Capabilities Parallel Port (ECP) mode.

13 1

25

14

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 STROBE Strobe
2 DATA0 Data0
3 DATA1 Data1
4 DATA2 Data2
5 DATA3 Data3
6 DATA4 Data4
7 DATA5 Data5
8 DATA6 Data6
9 DATA7 Data7
10 ACK# Acknowledge
11 BUSY Busy
12 PE Paper End
13 SELECT Select
14 AUTO FEED# Automatic Feed
15 ERR# Error
16 INIT# Initialize Printer
17 SLIN# Select In
18 GND Ground
19 GND Ground
20 GND Ground
21 GND Ground
22 GND Ground
23 GND Ground
24 GND Ground
25 GND Ground

2-14

Introducing Mainboard

Serial Port

The mainboard offers one 9-pin male DIN connector as serial port.
The port is 16550A high speed communication port that send/receive 16
bytes FIFOs. You can attach a serial mouse or other serial devices di­rectly to the connector.

Serial Port Pin Definition

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9

9-Pin Male DIN Connector

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 DCD Data Carry Detect
2 SIN Serial In or Receive Data
3 SOUT Serial Out or Transmit Data
4 DTR Data Terminal Ready
5 GND Ground
6 DSR Data Set Ready
7 RTS Request To Send
8 CTS Clear To Send
9 RI Ring Indicate

2-15

Chapter 2

2.7 Connectors

IDE Connector: IDE1

.

The mainboard has a 32-bit Enhanced PCI IDE and Ultra DMA 33/
66/100 controller that provides PIO mode 0~4, Bus Master, and Ultra
DMA/33/66/100 function. The connectors on the mainboard allows you
to connect to the IDE devices: HDD & CD-ROM.

IDE1

Floppy Disk Drive Connector: FDD

The mainboard provides a standard floppy disk drive connector
that supports 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88M floppy disk types.

FDD

2-16

Introducing Mainboard

Serial ATA Connectors: SATA1~ SATA4

The southbridge of this mainboard is ICH6 which supports four
serial connectors SATA1~SATA4.

SATA1~SATA4 are dual high-speed Serial ATA interface ports.
Each supports 1st generation serial ATA data rates of 150 MB/s. The
connectors are fully compliant with Serial ATA 1.0 specifications. The
Serial ATA connector allows you to connect the hard disk device of
Serial ATA interface.

SATA1 ~ SATA4 Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL PIN SIGNAL

1 GND 2 TXP

1

7

SATA1~SATA4

3 TXN 4 GND
5 RXN 6 RXP
7 GND

Front Panel Audio Connector: F_AUDIO

The JAUD1 front panel audio connector allows you to connect to
the front panel audio and is compliant with Intel® Front Panel I/O Connec­tivity Design Guide.

2

1

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 Mic Mic-In
2 GND Ground
3 MicPWR Mic Bias Voltage
4 VCC5 DC 5V
5 FLine_OutR Line out - Front Right
6 Line_NextR Line out - Back Right
7 NC NC
8 NC NC
9 FLine_OutL Line out - Front Left
10 Line_NextL Line out - Back Left

10

F_AUDIO

9

2-17

Chapter 2

Front Panel Connector: JFP1

The mainboard provides one front panel connector for you to
connect to the front panel switches and LEDs. JFP1 is compliant with
Intel® Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design Guide.

910

Power
Switch

Power
LED

JFP1

Reset
Switch

HDD
LED

12

JFP1 Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 HD_LED_P Hard disk LED pull-up
2 FP PWR/SLP MSG LED pull-up
3 HD_LED_N Hard disk active LED
4 FP PWR/SLP MSG LED pull-up
5 RST_SW_N Reset Switch low reference pull-down to GND
6 PWR_SW_P Power Switch high reference pull-up
7 RST_SW_P Reset Switch high reference pull-up
8 PWR_SW_N Power Switch low reference pull-down to GND
9 RSVD_DNU Reserved. Do not use.

CD-in Connector: CD_IN

The connector is for CD-ROM audio connector.

R L

GND

CD_IN

2-18

Introducing Mainboard

Fan Power Connectors: CPU_FAN/SYS_FAN

The CPU_FAN(processor fan) and SYS_FAN (system fan) support
system cooling fan with +12V. It supports four/three-pin head connector.
When connecting the wire to the connectors, always take note that the
red wire is the positive and should be connected to the +12V, the black
wire is Ground and should be connected to GND. If the mainboard has a
System Hardware Monitor chipset on-board, you must use a specially
designed fan with speed sensor to take advantage of the CPU fan control.

GND
+4.5V~+12V

SEN

3.3V (High)

CPU_FAN

SOR

Sensor

+8.5V~+12V

GND

SYS_FAN

MSI Reminds You...

1. Always consult the vendors for proper CPU cooling fan.

2. Please refer to the recommended CPU fans at Intel® official web­ site.

Serial Port Connector: JCOM2

The mainboard offers one serial port JCOM2. It is 16550A high speed
communication ports that senda/receivea/ 16 bytes FIFOs. You can at­tach a serial mouse or other serial device directly to it.

Pin Definition

9

1 2

JCOM2

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 DCD Data Carry Detect
2 SIN Serial In or Receive Data
3 SOUT Serial Out or Transmit Data
4 DTR Data Terminal Ready)
5 GND Ground
6 DSR Data Set Ready
7 RTS Request To Send
8 CTS Clear To Send
9 RI Ring Indicate

2-19

Chapter 2

Front USB Connectors: F_USB1/F_USB2

The mainboard provides two standard USB 2.0 pin headers:
F_USB1/F_USB2 to connect to front devices. USB 2.0 technology
increases data transfer rate up to a maximum throughput of 480Mbps,
which is 40 times faster than USB 1.1.

2
1

F_USB2

PIN SIGNAL PIN SIGNAL

1 VCC 2 VCC
3 USB0- 4 USB1­5 USB0+ 6 USB1+
7 GND 8 GND
9 Key (no pin) 10 USBOC

10

9

2
1

F_USB1

J3 Pin Definition

10

9

MSI Reminds You...

Note that the pins of VCC and GND must be connected cor­rectly or it may cause some damage.

Chassis Intrusion Switch Connector: JCI1

This connector is connected to a 2-pin chassis switch. If the chas­sis is opened, the switch will be short. The system will record this status
and show a warning message on the screen. To clear the warning, you
must enter the BIOS utility and clear the record.

GND

CINTRU

2-20

2
1

JCI1

Introducing Mainboard

2.8 Jumper

The motherboard provides the following jumpers for you to set the
computer’s function. This section will explain how to change your
motherboard’s function through the use of jumpers.

BIOS Flash Jumper: BIOS_WP

This jumper is used to lock or unlock the boot block area on BIOS.
When unlocked, the BIOS boot block area can be updated. When locked,
the BIOS boot block area cannot be updated.

With Jumper No Jumper

BIOS_WP

BIOS Flash UnlockedBIOS Flash Locked

Clear CMOS Jumper: CLR_CMOS

There is a CMOS RAM on board that has a power supply from
external battery to keep the system configuration data. With the CMOS
RAM, the system can automatically boot OS every time it is turned on. If
you want to clear the system configuration, use the CLR_CMOS (Clear
CMOS Jumper ) to clear data. Follow the instructions below to clear the
data:

1

CLR_CMOS

Jumper

1

3

Keep Data

Jumper

1

3

Clear Data

MSI Reminds You...

You can clear CMOS by shorting 2-3 pin while the system is off.
Then return to 1-2 pin position. Avoid clearing the CMOS while
the system is on; it will damage the mainboard.

2-21

Chapter 2

2.9 Slot

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Slots

The PCI slots allow you to insert the expansion cards to meet your
needs. When adding or removing expansion cards, make sure that you
unplug the power supply first. Meanwhile, read the documentation for
the expansion card to make any necessary hardware or software settings
for the expansion card, such as jumpers, switches or BIOS configuration.

PCI Slots

PCI Interrupt Request Routing

The IRQ, abbreviation of interrupt request line and pronounced I-R-Q,
are hardware lines over which devices can send interrupt signals to the
microprocessor. The PCI IRQ pins are typically connected to the PCI bus
INT A# ~ INT D# pins as follow:

Order 1 Order 2 Order 3 Order 4
PCI Slot 1 INT A# INT B# INT C# INT D#
PCI Slot 2 INT B# INT C# INT D# INT A#
PCI Slot 3 INT C# INT D# INT A# INT B#

2-22

Introducing Mainboard

PCI Express Slot

The PCI Express slots, as a high-bandwidth, low pin count, serial,
interconnect technology, support Intel highest performance desktop plat­forms utilizing the Intel Pentium 4 processor with HT Technology with
these platform benefits. You can insert the expansion cards to meet your
needs. When adding or removing expansion cards, make sure that you
unplug the power supply first.

PCI Express architecture provides a high performance I/O infra­structure for Desktop Platforms with transfer rates starting at 2.5 Giga
transfers per second over a PCI Express x1 lane for Gigabit Ethernet, TV
Tuners, 1394 controllers, and general purpose I/O. Also, desktop plat­forms with PCI Express Architecture will be designed to deliver highest
performance in video, graphics, multimedia and other sophisticated
applications. Moreover, PCI Express architecture provides a high per­formance graphics (PDF, 166Kb) infrastructure for Desktop Platforms
doubling the capability of existing AGP8x designs with transfer rates of 4.
0 GB/s over a PCI Express x16 lane for graphics controllers.

PCI Express x16 slot

2-23

System Assembly

System Assembly

This chapter provides you with the installation procedures
of Midas barebone. It is useful for you to read the information of
mainboard setup before assembling the whole system.

3

3-1

Chapter 3

3.1 Overview

The built-in MS-7036 mainboard is designed for Midas barebone
only. Except MS-7036 mainboard, the built-in components of the
barebone include power supply. In this chapter we’ll show you how to
install CPU, F DD, HDD, Optical Drive and CPU Cooler.

Installation Tools

Screws

Three types of screws are used in assembling the barebone:

round-headed screw, hexagonal screw with washer.

Screw Driver

Gloves

Round-headed screw: This type of screw is used to
attach the HDD to the HDD tray.

Round-headed screw with washer: The screw is used to
fasten the F DD, Optical drive to the drives cage and the
front cage.

Round-headed screw: This type of screw is used to lock
the Fan Duct to the fan.

3-2

Checking the Items

Before assembling your system, please check the items listed

below for basic system operation.

System Assembly

CPU (Optional)

IDE or SATA HDD (Optional)

CPU Cooler (Optional)

Optical Drive (Optional)

Note: The length must be under
190mm to avoid hindering the CPU
cooler

SATA Cable (90 Degree
Connector)

DDR SDRAM (Optional)Rubber Foot (Optional)

3-3

Chapter 3

3.2 Installation Procedures

1. Removing Cover, Installing Memory Modules

Push the lock brackets inwards to
unlock the chassis cover.

Remove the chassis cover.

Locate the DIMM slots.

Insert the DIMM vertically into the
slot.

Note: The DIMM has only one notch
on the center of module. It will only
fit in the right direction.

3-4

2. Installing CPU

Locate the CPU socket. Pull the lever
away from the socket and raise it up,
then lift up the cover.

Align the two pin 1 indicators (the
triangles on the CPU & the CPU Clip),
and use the CPU Clip to clip the CPU up,
pressing the clips on both sides to the
center, as the arrows shown.

System Assembly

Correctly align the triangle of CPU Clip
with the CPU chamfer, and the square on
the CPU Clip to the hook of the socket..

Note: Make sure the pins are completely
embedded into the socket. The CPU can
only fit in the correct direction.

Close the cover and the lever to complete
the installaton.

3-5

Chapter 3

3. Installing CPU Cooler

(The following procedures includes two kinds of fan coolers.)

Installing the Intel CPU fan
Place the Intel CPU cooler onto the
CPU socket and secure the four
screws.

Note: The standard CPU cooler
is included with the Intel CPU,
not provided by MSI.

Installing the optional CPU fan
Lock the screws according to the order

in the right picture.

Push pins
to fix

MSI Reminds You...

Do not fix any screw untill all the four screws are in the
position, and lock the four screws with balance, or it may
shift the CPU position to cause the system unbootable.

Connect the CPU cooler’s power cord
to the connector on the mainboard.

3-6

Lock the Fan Duct with 4 screws.
Follow the direction as right picture
to match the ventilation hole on the
case.

Rounded Side

System Assembly

4. Removing Drive Cage

Use a screw driver to unscrew
the drive cage.

Pull the drive cage to release it
from the chassis.

3-7

Chapter 3

5. Installing HDD

Press the HDD lever to the
left to release the HDD cage.

Pull the HDD tray forwards to
remove it from the drive cage.

Put the HDD in the HDD tray
and use 4 screws to fix it on
both sides. Please lock the
screws according to the oder in
the right picture.

Put the HDD tray back to
secure it on the drive cage.

3-8

6. Installing FDD and Optical Drive

Press the F DD tray lever to release
the F DD lock and push the FDD
inwards to fix it.

Note: The FDD tray can install the
optional card reader instead.

Use 2 screws to secure the F DD in
the F DD tray.

Note: The length shows in 1
can not be over 30mm.

System Assembly

Insert the optical drive into the
drives cage.

Use 2 screws to secure the optical
drive in the tray.

3-9

Chapter 3

Connect the cables and the power
cords to the HDD and the optical
drive.

Note: If you are using a Serial ATA
HDD, please connect it to the SATA
cable.

Connect the cable and the power cord
to the F DD.

Slide the drive cage back into the
chassis. Be careful to align the tenon
and the notch.

Use 3 screws to secure the drive cage.

3-10

7. Restoring Chassis Cover

Restore the chassis cover.

Push the lock brackets outwards to
lock the chassis cover.

System Assembly

Attach the rubber foots to the
under side (horizontal type).

Horizontal type

(Bottom View)

Put the PC on the four foots or lay
on the rubber foots.

Horizontal type

Tower type

3-11

Bios Setup

BIOS Setup

4

This chapter provides information on the BIOS Setup
program and allows you to configure the system for optimum
use.

You may need to run the Setup program when:

An error message appears on the screen during the systemm

booting up, and requests you to run SETUP.

You want to change the default settings for customized

features.

4-1

Chapter 4

Entering Setup

Power on the computer and the system will start POST (Power On Self Test) process.
When the message below appears on the screen, press <DEL> key to enter Setup.

Press DEL to enter SETUP

If the message disappears before you respond and you still wish to enter Setup,
restart the system by turning it OFF and On or pressing the RESET button. You may also
restart the system by simultaneously pressing <Ctrl>, <Alt>, and <Delete> keys.

Control Keys

<↑> Move to the previous item
<↓> Move to the next item
<←> Move to the item in the left hand

<→> Move to the item in the right hand

<Enter> Select the item

<Esc> Jumps to the Exit menu or returns to the main menu from a

submenu

<+/PU> Increase the numeric value or make changes

<-/PD> Decrease the numeric value or make changes

<F1> General help, only for Status Page Setup Menu and Option Page

Setup Menu

<F5> Load Previous Values
<F6> Load Fail-Safe Defaults
<F7> Load Optimized Defaults

<F10> Save to CMOS and Exit

4-2

Bios Setup

Getting Help
After entering the Setup menu, the first menu you will see is the Main Menu.

Main Menu

The main menu lists the setup functions you can make changes to. You can use the
control keys ( ↑↓ ) to select the item. The on-line description of the highlighted setup
function is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Sub-Menu

If you find a right pointer symbol (as shown in the
right view) appears to the left of certain field that
means a sub-menu containing additional options
can be launched from this field. You can use control
keys ( ↑↓ ) to highlight the field and press <Enter>
to call up the sub-menu. Then you can use the
control keys to enter values and move from field
to field within a sub-menu. If you want to return to
the main menu, just press <Esc >.

General Help <F1>

The BIOS setup program provides a General Help screen. You can call up this screen
from any menu by simply pressing <F1>. The Help screen lists the appropriate keys to
use and the possible selections for the highlighted item. Press <Esc> to exit the Help
screen.

MSI Reminds You...

The items under each BIOS category described in this chapter are
under continuous update for better system performance. Therefore,
the description may be slightly different from the latest BIOS and
should be held for reference only.

4-3

Chapter 4

The Main Menu

Once you enter Award® BIOS CMOS Setup Utility, the Main Menu (figure below) will
appear on the screen. The Main Menu allows you to select from twelve setup functions
and two exit choices. Use arrow keys to select among the items and press <Enter> to
accept or enter the sub-menu.

Standard CMOS Features

Use this menu for basic system configurations, such as time, date etc.

Advanced BIOS Features

Use this menu to setup the items of Award® special enhanced features.

Advanced Chipset Features

Use this menu to change the values in the chipset registers and optimize your system’s
performance.

Integrated Peripherals

Use this menu to specify your settings for integrated peripherals.

Power Management Setup

Use this menu to specify your settings for power management.

PNP/PCI Configurations

This entry appears if your system supports PnP/PCI.

H/W/ Monitor

This entry shows the status of your CPU, fan, warning for overall system status.

Frequency/Voltage Control

Use this menu to specify your settings for frequency/voltage control.

4-4

Bios Setup

Load Fail-Safe Defaults

Use this menu to load the BIOS values for the best system performance, but the system
stability may be affected.

Load Optimized Defaults

Use this menu to load factory default settings into the BIOS for stable system perfor­mance operations.

Set Password

Use this menu to set Password.

Save & Exit Setup

Save changes to CMOS and exit setup.

Exit Without Saving

Abandon all changes and exit setup.

4-5

Chapter 4

Standard CMOS Features

The items in Standard CMOS Features Menu are divided into 11 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 <PgDn> keys to select the value you want
in each item.

Date

The date format is <day> <month> <date> <year>.

day Day of the week, from Sun to Sat, determined by BIOS. Read-only.
month The month from Jan. through Dec.
date The date from 1 to 31 can be keyed by numeric function keys.
year The year can be adjusted by users.

Time

The time format is <hour> <minute> <second>.

IDE Primary/Secondary/Third/Fourth Master/Slave

Press <+> or <-> to select the hard disk drive type. The specification of hard disk drive
will show up on the right hand according to your selection. Press <Enter> for the sub­menu of each item:

4-6

Bios Setup

If you select [Manual], related information is asked to be entered to the following items.
Enter the information directly from the keyboard. This information should be provided in
the documentation from your hard disk vendor or the system manufacturer.

Access Mode The settings are CHS, LBA, Large, Auto.
Capacity The formatted size of the storage device.
Cylinder Number of cylinders.
Head Number of heads.
Precomp Write precompensation.
Landing Zone Cylinder location of the landing zone.
Sector Number of sectors.

Drive A

This item allows you to set the type of floppy drives installed. Setting options: [None],
[360K, 5.25 in.], [1.2M, 5.25 in.], [720K, 3.5 in.], [1.44M, 3.5 in.], [2.88M, 3.5 in.]

Video

The setting controls the type of video adapter used for the primary monitor of the
system. Setting options: [EGA/VGA], [CGA 40], [CGA 80], [MONO].

Halt On

The setting determines whether the system will stop if an error is detected at boot.
Setting options are:

All Errors The system stops when any error is detected.
No Errors The system doesn’t stop for any detected error.
All, But Keyboard The system doesn’t stop for a keyboard error.
All, But Diskette The system doesn’t stop for a disk error.
All, But Disk/Key The system doesn’t stop for either a disk or a keyboard

error.

System Information

Press <Enter> to for the sub-menu of each item:

Total System Memory/BIOS Version

This item shows the memory status and BIOS version of your system (read only).

CPU Type/CPU ID/uCode ID/CPU Frequency

The three items show the CPU related information of your system (read only).

4-7

Chapter 4

Advanced BIOS Features

CPU Feature

Press <Enter> and the following sub-menu appears:

Delay Prior to Thermal

When the CPU temperature reaches a factory preset level, a thermal monitoring
mechanism will be enabled following the appropriate timing delay specified in
this field. With the thermal monitoring enabled, clock modulation controlled by
the processor’s internal thermal sensor is also activated to keep the processor
within allowable temperature limit. Setting options: [4 Min], [8 Min], [16 Min], [32
Min].

Intel(R) SpeedStep(tm) tech

This function will decreases the speed of the CPU to save power.Settings:
[Enabled], [Disabled].

Thermal Management

When CPU’s temperature is higher than the predefined thermal level, the thermal
monitoring mechanism will slow down the CPU speed to the percentage specified
in the field.

Limit CPUID MaxVal

If installing Windows NT series OS with Prescott CPU, you must [Enable] this item
function; if you use other OS except Windows NT, you have to [Disable] this item

4-8

Bios Setup

function. Setting options: [Enabled], [Disabled].

NX Support

NX (No eXecute) Support function is designed for memory buffer overflow
protection, it can prevent viruses from proliferating. Settings: [Enabled], [Disabled].

C1E Support

When The CPU ID>0F40 and is above 533MHz/2.8GHz or 800MHz/3.6GHz, you
can enable C1E Support to lower the CPU power consumption while idle. Settings:
[Enabled], [Disabled].

BIOS Sector Protection

This function protects the boot sector of HDD from computer viruses. When enabled,
the boot sector’ data cannot be changed. Setting options: [Enabled], [Disabled].

Hyper-Threading Technology

The processor uses Hyper-Threading technology to increase transaction rates and
reduces end-user response times. The technology treats the two cores inside the
processor as two logical processors that can execute instructions simultaneously.
In this way, the system performance is highly improved. If you disable the function,
the processor will use only one core to execute the instructions. Settings: [Enabled],
[Disabled].

MSI Reminds You...

Enabling the functionality of Hyper-Threading Technology for your com­puter system requires ALL of the following platform Components:

* CPU: An Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor with HT Technology;
* Chipset: An Intel® Chipset that supports HT Technology;
* BIOS: A BIOS that supports HT Technology and has it

enabled;

* OS: An operating system that supports HT Technology.
For more information on Hyper-threading Technology, go to:
www.intel.com/info/hyperthreading

Quick Boot

Setting the item to [Enabled] allows the system to boot within 5 seconds since it will skip
some check items. Available options: [Enabled], [Disabled].

MPS Table Version

This field allows you to select which MPS (Multi-Processor Specification) version to be
used for the operating system. You need to select the MPS version supported by your
operating system. To find out which version to use, consult the vendor of your operat­ing system. Settings: [1.4], [1.1].

Boot to OS/2

This allows you to run the OS/2® operating system with DRAM greater than 64MB.
Setting options: [Yes], [No].

4-9

Chapter 4

Full Screen LOGO Display

This item enables you to show the company logo on the bootup screen. Settings are:
[Enabled] Shows a still image (logo) on the full screen at boot.[Disabled] shows the
POST messages at boot.

Boot Sequence

Press <Enter> and the following sub-menu appears:

Hard Disk Boot Priority

Press <Enter> and the following sub-menu appears:

Pri.Master/Slave, Sec,Master/Slave, USBHDD0/1/2, Bootable Add-in
Cards

You can see a list of the current status of Pri.Master/Slave, Sec,Master/Slave,
USBHDD0/1/2, Bootable Add-in Cards.

1st/2nd/3rd Boot Device

These items allow you to set the sequence of boot devices where BIOS attempts
to load the operating system.

MSI Reminds You...

Available settings for “1st/2nd/3rd Boot Device” vary depending on
the bootable devices you have installed. For example, if you did not
install a floppy drive, the setting “Floppy ” will not show up.

Boot From Other Device

Setting the option to Enabled allows the system to try to boot from other device
if the system fails to boot from the 1st/2nd/3rd boot device.

4-10

Bios Setup

Advanced Chipset Features

DRAM Timing Selectable

This field allows you to select the DRAM timing setting. Setting to [By SPD] enables Max
Memclock (Mhz) automatically to be determined by SPD. Selecting [Manual] allows
users to configure these fields manually. Setting options: [By SPD] , [Manual].

CAS Latency Time

When the DRAM Timing Control is set to [Manual], this field is adjustable. The field
controls the CAS latency, which determines the timing delay before SDRAM starts a
read command after receiving it. Setting options: [2T], [2.5T], [3T], [Auto]. [2T] in­creases system performance while [3T] provides more stable system performance.

DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay

When the DRAM Timing Control is set to [Manual], this field is adjustable. When
DRAM is refreshed, both rows and columns are addressed separately. This setup item
allows you to determine the timing of the transition from RAS (row address strobe) to
CAS (column address strobe). The less the clock cycles, the faster the DRAM
performance. Setting options: [2T] to [5T], [Auto].

DRAM RAS# Precharge

When the DRAM Timing Control is set to [Manual], this field is adjustable. This
setting controls the number of cycles for Row Address Strobe (RAS) to be allowed to
precharge. If insufficient time is allowed for the RAS to accumulate its charge before
DRAM refresh, refreshing may be incomplete and DRAM may fail to retain data. This
item applies only when synchronous DRAM is installed in the system. Setting options:
[2T] to [5T], [Auto].

4-11

Chapter 4

Precharge Delay (tRAS)

The field specifies the idle cycles before precharging an idle bank. Settings: [Auto],
[4] ~ [15] (clocks).

Adjust DDR Frequency

When it is set to [Manual] in High Performance Mode, user can place an artificial
memory clock limit on the system. Please note that memory is prevented from running
faster than this frequency. Setting options: [Auto], [333 MHz], [400 MHz], [533 MHz].

Memory Hole

In order to improve performance, certain space in memory can be reserved for ISA
peripherals. This memory must be mapped into the memory space below 16MB. When
this area is reserved, it cannot be cached. Settings: [Disabled], [Enabled].

PCI Express Root Port Function

Press <Enter> and the following sub-menu appears:

PCI Express Port

It allows you enable the PCI-E ports. Setting options: [Auto], [Enabled], [Disabled].

PCI-E Compliancy Mode

It allows you select the PCI-E compliant mode. Setting options: [v1.0], [v1.0a].

** VGA Setting **
Init Display First

This item specifies which VGA card is your primary graphics adapter. Setting options:
[IGD], [PEG], [Auto].

On-Chip Video Memory Size

This setting controls just how much system RAM can be allocated to onboard video
controller for video purposes. The on-chip video window is a portion of the PCI
memory address range dedicated to graphics memory address space. Host cycles
that hit the aperture range are forwarded to the onboard video device without any
translation. Settings: [Disabled], [64MB], [128MB].

On-Chip Frame Buffer Size

Frame Buffer is the video memory that stores data for video display (frame). This field
is used to determine the memory size for Frame Buffer. Larger frame buffer size
increases video performance. Settings: [1MB], [8MB].

4-12

Bios Setup

FIXED Memory Size

Specify the size of system memory to allocate for video memory, Settings: [0M], [32M],
[64MB], [128MB].

DVMT Memory Size

Specify the size of DVMT memory to allocate for video memory, Settings: [0M], [32M],
[64MB], [128MB], [224M].

Boot Display

Use the field to select the type of device you want to use as the display(s) of the
system. Setting options: [Auto], [CRT], [TV], [EFP]. The option [EFP] refers to the LCD
display.

4-13

Chapter 4

Integrated Peripherals

USB Controller

This setting disables/enables the onchip USB controller. Setting options: [Enabled],
[Disabled].

USB 2.0 Controller

Set to [Enabled] if you need to use any USB 2.0 device in the operating system that
does not support or have any USB 2.0 driver installed, such as DOS and SCO Unix.
Setting options: [Enabled], [Disabled].

USB Keyboard Support

Select Enabled if your system contains a Universal Serial Bus (USB) controller and
you have a USB keyboard. Setting options: [Enabled], [Disabled].

USB Mouse Support

Select [Enabled] if you need to use a USB-interfaced mouse in the operating system.
The settings are: [Enabled], [Disabled].

AC97 Audio

[Auto] allows the mainboard to detect whether an audio device is used. If an audio
device is detected, the onboard AC97 (Audio Codec’97) controller will be enabled; if
not, it is disabled. Disable the controller if you want to use other controller cards to
connect an audio device. Settings: [Auto], [Disabled].

Onboard LAN

This setting controls the onboard LAN controller. Setting options: [Enabled], [Disabled].

Onboard LAN Boot ROM

This setting enables/disables the initialization of the onboard LAN Boot ROM during
bootup. Selecting [Disabled] will speed up the boot process.

4-14

Bios Setup

IO Devices Configuration

Press <Enter> and the following sub-menu appears:

POWER ON Function

This controls how the PS/2 mouse or keyboard can power on the system. Settings:
[Password], [Hot KEY], [Mouse Left], [Mouse Left], [Mouse Right], [any KEY],
[BUTTON ONLY], [Keyboard 98].

KB Power ON Password

If POWER ON Function is set to Password, then you can set a password in the
field for the PS/2 keyboard to power on the system.

Hot Key Power ON

If POWER ON Function is set to [Hot KEY], you can assign a hot key combina­tion in the field for the PS/2 keyboard to power on the system. Settings: [Ctrl-F1]
through [Ctrl-F12].

Onboard FDC Controller

Select [Enabled] if your system has a floppy disk controller (FDD) installed on the
system board and you wish to use it. If you install add-on FDC or the system has no
floppy drive, select [Disabled] in this field. Setting options: [Enabled], [Disabled].

COM Port 1/2

This item specifies the base I/O port addresses of the onboard Serial Port 1/2 (COM
1/2). Selecting [Auto] allows BIOS to automatically determine the correct base I/O
port address. Settings: [3F8/IRQ4], [2F8/IRQ3], [3E8/IRQ4], [2E8/IRQ3] and [Disabled].

UART Mode Select

This setting allows you to specify the operation mode for serial port 2. Setting
options: IrDA, ASKIR, Normal.

NormalRS-232C Serial Port
IrDA IrDA-compliant Serial Infrared Port
ASKIR Amplitude Shift Keyed Infrared Port

4-15

Chapter 4

RxD, TxD Active

This setting controls the receiving and transmitting speed of the IR peripheral in
use. Setting options: [Hi,Hi], [Hi,Lo], [Lo,Hi], [Lo,Lo].

IR Transmission Delay

This setting determines whether the IR transmission rate will be delayed while
converting to receiving mode. Setting options: [Disabled], [Enabled].

UR2 Duplex Mode

In an infrared port mode, this field appears. Full-duplex mode permits simulta­neous two-direction transmission. Half-duplex mode permits transmission in
one direction only at a time. Select the value required by the IR device con­nected to the IR port. Setting options: [Full], [Half].

Use IR Pins

Consult your IR peripheral documentation to select the correct setting of the
TxD and RxD signals.

Parallel Port

This specifies the I/O port address and IRQ of the onboard parallel port. Setting
options: [378/IRQ7], [278/IRQ5], [3BC/IRQ7], [Disabled].

Parallel Port Mode

This item selects the operating mode for the parallel port: [Normal], [SPP], [EPP],
[ECP], or [ECP+EPP].
[SPP] Standard Parallel Port
[EPP] Enhanced Parallel Port
[ECP] Extended Capability Port
[ECP + EPP] Extended Capability Port + Enhanced Parallel Port
[Normal] Standard Parallel Port + Bi-Directional Mode.

EPP Mode Select

This item selects the EPP mode. Setting options: [EPP1.9], [EPP1.7].

ECP Mode Use DMA

The ECP mode has to use the DMA channel, so choose the onboard parallel port
with the ECP feature. After selecting it, the following message will appear: “ECP
Mode Use DMA.” At this time, the user can choose between DMA channel [3] or
[1].

PWRON After PWR-fail

This item specifies whether your system will reboot after a power failure or
interrupt occurs. Available settings are:

[Off] Leaves the computer in the power off state.
[On] Leaves the computer in the power on state.
[Former-sts] Restores the system to the status before power failure

or interrupt occurred.

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Bios Setup

IDE Devices Configuration

Press <Enter> and the following sub-menu appears:

PCI IDE BusMaster

Set this option to [Enabled] to specify that the IDE controller on the PCI local bus
has bus mastering capability. Settings options: [Disabled], [Enabled].

On-Chip Primary PCI IDE

The integrated peripheral controller contains two IDE interface with support for
four IDE channels. Choose [Enabled] to activate each channel separately. Settings:
[Enabled], [Disabled].

IDE Primary Master/Slave PIO

The four IDE PIO (Programmed Input/Output) fields let you set a PIO mode (0-4) for
each of the four IDE devices that the onboard IDE interface supports. Modes 0
through 4 provide successively increased performance. In [Auto] mode, the sys­tem automatically determines the best mode for each device. Setting options:
[Auto], [Mode 0], [Mode 1], [Mode 2], [Mode 3], [Mode 4].

IDE Primary Master/Slave UDMA

Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 implementation is possible only if your IDE hard drive
supports it and the operating environment includes a DMA driver (Windows ME, XP
or a third-party IDE bus master driver). If your hard drive and your system software
both support Ultra DMA/33, Ultra DMA/66, Ultra DMA/100 and Ultra DMA/133, select
[Auto] to enable BIOS support. Setting options: [Auto], [Disabled].

SATA Devices Configuration

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears:

** On-Chip Serial ATA Setting **

On-Chip Serial ATA

This setting is used to specify the SATA controller. The settings are:
[Disabled]Disable the SATA controller.
[Auto] PATA and SATA will be arranged by BIOS, and you will be

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able to see the IDE Device status listed in Standard COMS
Features.

[Combined]PATA and SATA will be combined. Max. of 2 IDE drives in each

channel are available.

[Enhanced Mode] PATA and SATA will both be enabled. Max. of 6 IDE drives are

supported.

[SATA only]Only SATA is operating in legacy mode.

PATA IDE Mode

This item is available for you to select the parallel ATA channel. Setting options:
[Primary], [Secondary].

SATA Port

This allows you to set the boot sequence of serial ATA port.

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Bios Setup

Power Management Setup

ACPI Standby State

This item specifies the power saving modes for ACPI function. If your operating system
supports ACPI, such as Windows 98SE, Windows ME and Windows 2000, you can
choose to enter the Standby mode in S1 (POS) or S3 (STR) fashion through the setting
of this field. Options are:

[S1(POS)]The S1 sleep mode is a low power state. In this state, no system

context is lost (CPU or chipset) and hardware maintains all system
context.

[S3(STR)] The S3 sleep mode is a lower power state where the information

of system configuration and open applications/files is saved to
main memory that remains powered while most other hardware
components turn off to save energy. The information stored in
memory will be used to restore the system when a “ wake up”
event occurs.

Re-Call VGA BIOS from S3

Selecting [Enabled] allows BIOS to call VGA BIOS to initialize the VGA card when
system wakes up (resumes) from S3 sleep state. The system resume time is short­ened when you disable the function, but system will need an AGP driver to initialize the
VGA card. Therefore, if the AGP driver of the card does not support the initialization
feature, the display may work abnormally or not function after resuming from S3.

Suspend Time Out (Minute)

If system activity is not detected for the length of time specified in this field, all devices
except CPU will be shut off. Settings: [Disabled], [1], [2], [4], [8], [12], [20], [30], [40 min],
[1 Hour].

Power Button Function

This feature allows users to configure the Power Button function. Settings are:

[Power Off] The power button functions as a normal power-on/-off

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Chapter 4

button.

[Suspend] When you press the power button, the computer enters

the suspend/sleep mode, but if the button is pressed for
more than four seconds, the computer is turned off.

Wakeup Event Setup

Press <Enter> and the following sub-menu appears:

Resume by PCI Device (PME#)

This controls how and whether the system can be powered on by the devices
installed on PCI slots. Setting options: [Disabled], [Enabled].

Resume by Ring

An input signal on the serial Ring Indicator (RI) line (in other words, an incoming
call on the modem) awakens the system from a soft off state.

Resume From S3 By USB

The item allows the activity of the USB device to wake up the system from S3
(Suspend to RAM) sleep state. Setting options: [Disabled], [Enabled].

Resume by RTC Alarm

This is used to enable or disable the feature of booting up the system on a sched­uled time/date from the S3, S4, and S5 state. Setting options: [Disabled], [Enabled].

Date (of Month) Alarm

When Resume By Alarm is set to Enabled, the field specifies the date for Resume
By Alarm. Setting options: [0]~[31].

Time (hh:mm:ss) Alarm

When Resume By Alarm is set to Enabled, the field specifies the time for Resume
By Alarm. Format is <hour><minute><second>.

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Bios Setup

PNP/PCI Configurations

This section describes configuring the PCI bus system and PnP (Plug & Play) feature.
PCI, or Peripheral Component Interconnect, is a system which allows I/O devices to
operate at speeds nearing the speed the CPU itself uses when communicating with its
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.

Init Display First

This item specifies which VGA card is your primary graphics adapter. Settings: [PCI
Slot], [Onboard].

PCI Slot1/Slot2 IRQ

These items specify the IRQ line for each PCI slot. Setting options: [3], [4], [5], [7], [9],
[10], [11], [12], [14], [15], [Auto]. Selecting [Auto] allows BIOS to automatically determine
the IRQ line for each PCI slot.

** PCI Express relative items **
Maximum Payload size

It allows you to set the maximum TLP payload size for the PCI Express devices. Setting
options: [128 bytes], [256 bytes], [512 bytes], [1024 bytes], [2048 bytes], [4096 bytes].

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Chapter 4

H/W Monitor

This section shows the status of your CPU, fan, overall system status, etc. Monitor
function is available only if there is hardware monitoring mechanism onboard.

Chassis Intrusion Detect

The field enables or disables the feature of recording the chassis intrusion status and
issuing a warning message if the chassis is once opened. This item is available only
when your mainboard has JCI1 jumper. To clear the warning message, set the field to
[Reset]. The setting of the field will automatically return to [Enabled] later. Settings:
[Enabled], [Reset], [Disabled].

CPU Warning Temperature

This item is used to specify a thermal limit for CPU. If CPU temperature reaches the
specified limit, the system will issue a warning and allows you to prevent the CPU
overheating problem. Settings: [Disabled], [50°C/122°F], [53°C /127°F], [56°C /133°F],
[60°C /140°F], [63°C /145°F], [66°C /151°F] and [70°C /158°F].

Shutdown Temperature

If the CPU temperature reaches the limit preset in this setting, the system will shut­down automatically. Settings: [Disabled], [60°C/140°F], [65°C /149°F], [70°C /158°F],
[75°C /167°F].

PC Health Status

Press <Enter> and the following sub-menu appears:

CPU/System Temperature, CPU/SYSTEM FAN Speed, Vcore, +3.3V, +5.0V,
+12.0V, +5VSB

These items display the current status of all of the monitored hardware devices/
components such as CPU voltages, temperatures and all fans’ speeds.

Legend Thermal Control

If the temperature increases, the system increases the speed of CPU/system fans.
Settings: [Enabled], [Disabled].

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Bios Setup

Frequency/Voltage Control

Use this menu to specify your settings for frequency/voltage control.

Current CPU Clock

The item shows the current status of CPU Frequency.

Adjust CPU Ratio

End users can overclock the processor (only if the processor supports so) by speci­fying the CPU ratio (clock multiplier) in this field. It is available only when Set CPU
Ratio is set to [Manual]. Setting options: Min: [8], Max: [50].

Auto Detect PCI Clk

This item is used to auto detect the PCI slots. When set to [Enabled], the system will
remove (turn off) clocks from empty PCI slots to minimize the electromagnetic interfer­ence (EMI). Setting options: [Enabled], [Disabled].

Spread Spectrum

When the motherboard’s clock generator pulses, the extreme values (spikes) of the
pulses creates EMI (Electromagnetic Interference). The Spread Spectrum function
reduces the EMI generated by modulating the pulses so that the spikes of the pulses
are reduced to flatter curves. If you do not have any EMI problem, leave the setting at
[Disabled] for optimal system stability and performance. But if you are plagued by EMI,
set to [Enabled] for EMI reduction. Remember to disable Spread Spectrum if you are
overclocking because even a slight jitter can introduce a temporary boost in clock
speed which may just cause your overclocked processor to lock up. Setting options:
[Enabled], [Disabled].

Memory Voltage

Adjusting the DDR voltage can increase the DDR speed. Any changes made to this
setting may cause a stability issue, so changing the DDR voltage for long-term
purpose is NOT recommended. Setting options: [2.5V] to [3.3V].

PCI Express Voltage

Adjusting the voltage can increase the speed. Any changes made to this setting may
cause a stability issue, so changing the voltage for long-term purpose is NOT
recommended. Setting options: [1.5V] to [2.2V].

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Chapter 4

Load Fail-Safe/Optimized Defaults

The two options on the main menu allow users to restore all of the BIOS settings to the
default Fail-Safe or Optimized values. The Optimized Defaults are the default values set
by the mainboard manufacturer specifically for optimal performance of the mainboard.
The Fail-Safe Defaults are the default values set by the BIOS vendor for stable system
performance.

When you select Load Fail-Safe Defaults, a message as below appears:

Pressing Y loads the BIOS default values for the most stable, minimal system
performance.

When you select Load Optimized Defaults, a message as below appears:

Pressing Y loads the default factory settings for optimal system performance.

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Bios Setup

Set Password

When you select this function, a message as below will appear on the screen:

Type the password, up to eight characters in length, and press <Enter>. The password
typed now will replace any previously set password from CMOS memory. You will be
prompted to confirm the password. Retype the password and press <Enter>. You may
also press <Esc> to abort the selection and not enter a password.

To clear a set password, just press <Enter> when you are prompted to enter the
password. A message will show up confirming the password will be disabled. Once
the password is disabled, the system will boot and you can enter Setup without
entering any password.

When a password has been set, you will be prompted to enter it every time you try to
enter Setup. This prevents an unauthorized person from changing any part of your
system configuration.

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