SUPER MICRO Computer X7DBi+ User Manual

®

SUPER

X7DBi+

USER’S MANUAL

Revision 1.1

The information in this User’s Manual has been carefully reviewed and is believed to be accurate.
The vendor assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies that may be contained in this document,
makes no commitment to update or to keep current the information in this manual, or to notify any
person or organization of the updates. Please Note: For the most up-to-date version of this

manual, please see our web site at www.supermicro.com.

Super Micro Computer, Inc. ("Supermicro") reserves the right to make changes to the product
described in this manual at any time and without notice. This product, including software, if any,
and documentation may not, in whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated or
reduced to any medium or machine without prior written consent.

IN NO EVENT WILL SUPERMICRO BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL,
SPECULATIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO
USE THIS PRODUCT OR DOCUMENTATION, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
SUCH DAMAGES. IN PARTICULAR, SUPERMICRO SHALL NOT HAVE LIABILITY FOR ANY
HARDWARE, SOFTW ARE, OR DA TA STORED OR USED WITH THE PRODUCT, INCLUDING THE
COSTS OF REPAIRING, REPLACING, INTEGRATING, INSTALLING OR RECOVERING SUCH
HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, OR DATA.

Any disputes arising between manufacturer and customer shall be governed by the laws of Santa
Clara County in the State of California, USA. The State of California, County of Santa Clara
shall be the exclusive venue for the resolution of any such disputes. Supermicro's total liability for
all claims will not exceed the price paid for the hardware product.

FCC Statement: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class
A 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 manufacturer’s instruction manual, may cause harmful
interference with radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely
to cause harmful interference, in which case you will be required to correct the interference at your
own expense.

California Best Management Practices Regulations for Perchlorate Materials: This Perchlorate
warning applies only to products containing CR (Manganese Dioxide) Lithium coin cells. “Perchlorate
Material-special handling may apply. See www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlorate”

WARNING: Handling of lead solder materials used in this
product may expose you to lead, a chemical known to
the State of California to cause birth defects and other
reproductive harm.

Manual Revision 1.1
Release Date: June 25, 2009

Unless you request and receive written permission from Super Micro Computer, Inc., you may not
copy any part of this document.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Other products and companies
referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or mark
holders.

Copyright © 2009 by Super Micro Computer, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Preface

About This Manual

This manual is written for system integrators, PC technicians and knowledge­able PC users. It provides information for the installation and use of the
X7DBi+ motherboard. The
Dual-Core Xeon 5300/5100/5000 Series processors with a front side bus speed of

1.333 GHz/1.066 GHz/667 MHz. With two 64-bit Quad-Core/Dual-Core processors
installed, the X7DBi+ offers superior performance, system reliability and power ef­fi ciency for storage platforms. The features supported by this motherboard include
the Intel Core Microarchitecture, ultra dense low-power platform, larger cache with
4 MB shared L2 capacity, the Intel Virtualization Technology, the Intel Extended
Memory 64 Technology (EM64), and the Intel I/O Acceleration Technology (Intel I/
OAT). The X7DBi+ offers a superb solution for intense computing and complex I/O
performance, especially ideal for high-end server platforms. Please refer to our web
site (http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/) for updates on supported
processors. This product is intended to be professionally installed.

X7DBi+ supports dual Intel Quad-Core and

Preface

Manual Organization

Chapter 1 describes the features, specifi cations and performance of the main board

and provides detailed information about the chipset.
Chapter 2 provides hardware installation instructions. Read this chapter when in-

stalling the processor, memory modules and other hardware components into the
system. If you encounter any problems, see Chapter 3, which describes trouble­shooting procedures for video, memory and system setup stored in the CMOS.

Chapter 4 includes an introduction to BIOS and provides detailed information on
running the CMOS Setup utility.

Appendix A provides BIOS Beep Codes. Appendix B and Appendix C list the
Windows OS and other software installation instructions.

Conventions Used in the Manual:

Special attention should be given to the following symbols for proper installation and
to prevent damage done to the components or injury to yourself:

Danger/Caution: Instructions to be strictly followed to prevent catastrophic
system failure or to avoid bodily injury.

Warning: Important information given to ensure proper system installation or
to prevent damage to the components.

Note: Additional Information given to differentiate various models or to ensure cor-

rect system setup.

iii

X7DBi+ User's Manual

Table of Contents

Preface

About This Manual ...................................................................................................... iii

Manual Organization ................................................................................................... iii

Conventions Used in the Manual ..................................................................................iii

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-1 Overview ......................................................................................................... 1-1

Checklist ................................................................................................... 1-1

Contacting Supermicro ............................................................................. 1-2

X7DBi+ Image ............................................................................ 1-3

X7DBi+ Layout ............................................................................ 1-4

Quick Reference ...................................................................................... 1-5

Motherboard Features ................................................................................ 1-6

Intel Blackford Chipset: System Block Diagram ...................................... 1-8

1-2 Chipset Overview ........................................................................................... 1-9

1-3 Special Features ........................................................................................... 1-10

Recovery from AC Power Loss .............................................................. 1-10

1-4 PC Health Monitoring .................................................................................... 1-10

1-5 ACPI Features .............................................................................................. 1-11

1-6 Power Supply ............................................................................................... 1-12

1-7 Super I/O ........................................................................................................ 1-12

Chapter 2: Installation

2-1 Static-Sensitive Devices ................................................................................. 2-1

Precautions ................................................................................................ 2-1

Unpacking ................................................................................................ 2-1

2-2 Processor and Heatsink Installation ............................................................... 2-2

2-3 Installing DIMMs ............................................................................................. 2-6

2-4 Control Panel Connectors and IO Ports ......................................................... 2-8

A. Back Panel Connectors/IO Ports ..............................................................2-8

B. Front Control Panel ...................................................................................2-9

C. Front Control Panel Pin Defi nitions ........................................................2-10

NMI Button ............................................................................................. 2-10

Power LED ............................................................................................. 2-10

HDD LED .............................................................................................. 2-11

NIC1/NIC2 LED ..................................................................................... 2-11

Overheat/Fan Fail LED ......................................................................... 2-12

Power Fail LED ........................................................................................2-12

Reset Button ......................................................................................... 2-13

iv

Table of Contents

Power Button .......................................................................................... 2-13

2-5 Connecting Cables ......................................................................................... 2-14

ATX Power Connector .......................................................................... 2-14

Processor Power Connector ................................................................. 2-14

Universal Serial Bus ................................................................................ 2-15

Chassis Intrusion .................................................................................... 2-15

Fan Headers .......................................................................................... 2-16

Keylock .....................................................................................................2-16

ATX PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse Ports .....................................................2-17

Serial Ports ............................................................................................. 2-17

Wake-On-Ring ..........................................................................................2-18

Wake-On-LAN ..........................................................................................2-18

GLAN (Ethernet Ports) ............................................................................. 2-19

Speaker/Power LED/Keylock Header .................................................... 2-19

Power Fault ..............................................................................................2-20

Alarm Reset ..............................................................................................2-20

SMB Connector ........................................................................................ 2-21

SMB Power Connector ............................................................................. 2-21

T-SGPIO Headers .................................................................................... 2-21

VGA Connector ........................................................................................2-22

Compact Flash Card PWR Connector ..................................................... 2-23

2-6 Jumper Settings .............................................................................................. 2-24

Explanation of Jumpers ......................................................................... 2-24

GLAN Enable/Disable ............................................................................ 2-24

Clear CMOS ............................................................................................. 2-25

Watch Dog ................................................................................................2-25

3rd PWR Supply PWR Fault ....................................................................2-26

VGA Enable/Disable .................................................................................2-26

Compact Flash Master/Slave Enable/Disable .......................................... 2-27

2

I

C Bus to PCI-X/PCI-Exp. Slots Enable/Disable .....................................2-27

2-7 Onboard Indicators .......................................................................................... 2-28

GLAN LEDs .............................................................................................. 2-28

Onboard Standby PWR LED....................................................................2-28

Overheat/Fan Fail LED ............................................................................ 2-29

2-8 Parallel Port, Floppy, Hard Disk Drive and SIMLP Connections ..................... 2-30

Parallel Port Connector ........................................................................... 2-30

Floppy Connector .................................................................................... 2-31

SIMLP Slot .............................................................................................. 2-31

IDE Connectors ....................................................................................... 2-32

v

X7DBi+ User's Manual

Chapter 3: Troubleshooting

3-1 Troubleshooting Procedures ........................................................................... 3-1

Before Power On ....................................................................................... 3-1

No Power ................................................................................................... 3-1

No Video .................................................................................................. 3-1

Losing the System’s Setup Confi guration ................................................ 3-1

Memory Errors ........................................................................................... 3-2

3-2 Technical Support Procedures ........................................................................ 3-2

3-3 Frequently Asked Questions ........................................................................... 3-3

3-4 Returning Merchandise for Service ................................................................. 3-4

Chapter 4: BIOS

4-1 Introduction .......................................................................................................4-1

4-2 Running Setup ................................................................................................. 4-2

4-3 Main BIOS Setup .............................................................................................4-2

4-4 Advanced Setup ............................................................................................... 4-6

4-5 Security Setup ...............................................................................................4-25

4-6 Boot Setup ......................................................................................................4-26

4-7 Exit ..................................................................................................................4-27

Appendices:

Appendix A: BIOS Beep Codes .................................................................................A-1

Appendix B: Installing the Windows OS ....................................................................B-1

Appendix C: Installing Other Software Programs ......................................................C-1

vi

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 1

Introduction

1-1 Overview

Checklist

Congratulations on purchasing your computer motherboard from an acknowledged
leader in the industry. Supermicro boards are designed with the utmost attention to
detail to provide you with the highest standards in quality and performance. Check
that the following items have all been included with your motherboard. If anything
listed here is damaged or missing, contact your retailer.

All the following items are included in the retail box.

One (1) Supermicro Mainboard

One (1) ribbon cable for IDE devices (CBL-0036L-03)

One (1) Serial Port cable (CBL-010L-01)

One (1) USB cable (CBL-0083L)

One (1) fl oppy ribbon cable (CBL-0022L)

Six (6) SATA cables (CBL-0044L)

One (1) I/O backpanel shield (CSE-PT07L)

One (1) Supermicro CD containing drivers and utilities

One (1) User's/BIOS Manual

1-1

X7DBi+ User's Manual

Contacting Supermicro

Headquarters

Address: Super Micro Computer, Inc.
980 Rock Ave.
San Jose, CA 95131 U.S.A.
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail] (General Information)
[e-mail] (Technical Support)
Web Site: www.supermicro.com

Europe

Address: Super Micro Computer B.V.
Het Sterrenbeeld 28, 5215 ML
's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail] (General Information)
[e-mail] (Technical Support)
[e-mail] (Customer Support)

Asia-Pacifi c

Address: uper Micro Computer, Inc.
4F, No. 232-1 Liancheng Road
Chung-Ho 235, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Web Site: www.supermicro.com.tw

Technical Support:
Email: [e-mail]
Tel: [phone], ext.132 or 139

1-2

X7DBi+ Image

Chapter 1: Introduction

Note: The drawings and pictures shown in this manual were based on the latest

PCB Revision available at the time of publishing of the manual. The motherboard
you’ve received may or may not look exactly the same as the graphics shown
in the manual.

1-3

X7DBi+ User's Manual

X7DBi+ Motherboard Layout

DIMM 4D (Bank4)
DIMM 4C (Bank4)
DIMM 4B (Bank4)
DIMM 4A (Bank4)

DIMM 3D (Bank3)
DIMM 3C (Bank3)
DIMM 3B (Bank3)
DIMM 3A (Bank3)
DIMM 2D (Bank2)
DIMM 2C (Bank2)
DIMM 2B (Bank2)
DIMM 2A (Bank2)
DIMM 1D (Bank1)

DIMM 1C (Bank1)
DIMM 1B (Bank1)
DIMM 1A (Bank1)

JWD

J19

J28
J27

KB/Mouse

JKM1

JUSB1

JCOM1

COM1

VGA

J15

JLAN1

JLAN2

X7DBi+

FAN5

FAN6

VGA

USB 0/1

Printer

J21

VGA

CTRL

Memory

GLAN

CTRL

GLAN1

GLAN2

J16

J34

J4

Bank4

J9B2
J9B1

J33

J3

Bank3

J8B3
J8B2

J32
J2

Bank2

J8B1
J7B3

J31
J1

Bank1

J7B2
J7B1

JPG1

J5

J9

J6

J12

J13

Slot7 SIMLP

Slot6 PCI-E X8

Slot5 PCI-E X4

Slot4 PCI-E X8

Slot3 PCI-E X4

Slot2 PCI-E X4

(not drawn to scale)

CPU FAN1

SMBus PS

PSF

JP3

JAR

Intel

5000P

(North Bridge)

WOL

JWOL1

USB 4

JUSB3

FAN7

J3P

J17

Intel

ESB 2

(SouthBridge)

24-Pin ATX PWR

CPU1

CPU2

I-SATA2

I-SATA0

I-SATA1

4-Pin PWR

I-SATA3

I-SATA4

JBT1

JPL1
JPL2

KEYLOCK

JPW1

I-SATA5

JK1

8-Pin PWR

JPW2

BIOS

SI/O

JPW3

JCF1
JWF1

JF1

J22

FP CTRL

Buzzer

SP1

LE1

Floppy

JIDE2

Battery

FAN1

FAN2

JD1

JOH1

FAN3
FAN8

CPU FAN2

IDE#1

Compact Flash

JIDE1
J30
J29

J14

Slot1 PCI-X 133MHZ

JCOM2

JWOR1

COM2

USB 2/3

JUSB2

SMB

J18

JL1

FAN4

Notes:

1. Jumpers not indicated are for test purposes only.

2. See Chapter 2 for detailed information on jumpers, I/O ports and JF1 front panel
connections.

3. " " indicates the location of Pin 1.

4. When LE1 is on, make sure to unplug the power supply before removing or
installing components.

1-4

Chapter 1: Introduction

Quick Reference ( X7DBi+)

Jumper Description Default Setting

J27/J28 I
J3P 3rd PWR Failure Detect Off (Disabled)

JBT1 CMOS Clear (See Chapter 2)
JCF1 Compact Card Master/Slave Select On (Master)
JPG1 VGA Enable Pins 1-2 (Enabled)
JPL1/ JPL2 GLAN1/GLAN2 Enable Pins 1-2 (Enabled)
JWD (J19) Watch Dog Pins 1-2 (Reset)

Connector Description
ATX PWR (JPW1) Primary 24-Pin ATX PWR Connector
Aux. PWR/CPU PWR +12V 4-pin PWR (JWP2)/+12V 8-pin PWR(JPW3)
Alarm Reset (JAR) Alarm Buzzer Reset
Compact Flash PW(JWF1) Compact Card PWR Connector(*Used if JFC1 is on.)
COM1/COM2 (JCOM1/2) COM1/COM2 Serial Port Connectors
Chassis Intru. (JL1) Chassis Intrusion Header
FAN 1-8 Fans 1-8 (Fan7: CPU Fan1, Fan8: CPU Fan2)
FP CTRL (JF1) Front Control Panel Connector
Floppy (J22) Floppy Disk Drive Connector
GLAN 1/2 (JLAN1/2) G-bit Ethernet Ports
IDE1/IDE2 (Note) IDE1 Hard Drive (JIDE1)/Compact Flash Card (JIDE2)
KB/Mouse (JKM1) PS2 Keyboard/Mouse
Keylock (JK1) Keylock Header
SIMLP (Slot 7) SIMLP (Supermicro Intelligent Management) Add-On
Card Slot Connector
OH LED (JOH1) Overheat LED
Parallel Port (J21) Parallel (Printer) Port
PWR LED/Speaker (JD1) PWR LED(pins1-3)/SpeakerHeader (pins 4-7)
PWR LED (LE1) PWR LED Indicator (Note6 on Pg.1-4)
PSF (JP3) Power Fault (Power Supply Failure: See Chapter 2)
SATA0-SATA5 Intel SATA 0-5 Connectors
SMBus PS (J17) Power System Management (I
SMB (J18) System Management Bus Header
T-SGPIO 1/2 (J29, J30) Serial General Purpose Input/Output Headers
USB 0/1 (JUSB1) Back Panel USB 0/1
USB 2/3,USB4 (JUSB2/3) Front Panel USB 2/3 (JUSB2), FP USB 4 (JUSB4)
VGA (J15) VGA Connector
WOL (JWOL1) Wake-on-LAN Header
WOR (JWOR1) Wake-on-Ring Header

2

C Bus to PCI-X/PCI-E Slots Open (Disabled)

2

C) Header

Note: JIDE2 is for Compact Card Use only. For Compact Card to work properly,
please enable JCF1 by putting a jumper on it and connect JWF1 to a power
supply.

1-5

X7DBi+ User's Manual

Motherboard Features

CPU

• Dual Intel

®

64-bit LGA 771 Quad-Core/Dual-Core Xeon 5300/5100/5000 Series

processors at a front side bus speed of 1.333 GHz/1.066 GHz/667 MHz

Memory

• 16 240-pin DIMM sockets with support up to 64 GB DDR2 FBD (Fully Buffered)
ECC 667/533 Memory (*See Section 2-3 in Chapter 2 for DIMM Slot Popula­tion.)

Chipset

• Intel 5000P chipset, including: the 5000P Memory Control Hub (MCH) and the
Enterprise South Bridge 2 (ESB2)

Expansion Slots

• Three PCI-Express x4 slots (x8 physical, x4 signal) (Slot 2, Slot 3, and Slot 5)

• Two PCI-Express x8 slots (x16 physical, x8 signal) (Slot 4 and Slot 6)

• One 64-bit PCI-X 133 MHz slot (Slot 1)

• One SIMLP (Supermicro Intelligent Management) add-on card slot (Slot 7)

BIOS

• 8 Mb Phoenix

®

Flash ROM

• DMI 2.3, PCI 2.2, ACPI 1.0, Plug and Play (PnP), and SMBIOS 2.3

PC Health Monitoring

• Onboard voltage monitors for CPU cores, chipset voltage, memory voltage,+1.8V,
+3.3V, +3.3V Standby,+5V, +5V Standby, 12V, 12V and VBAT

• Fan status monitor with fi rmware control

• CPU/chassis temperature monitors

• Platform Environment Control Interface (PECI) ready

• CPU fan auto-off in sleep mode

• CPU slow-down on temperature overheat

• CPU thermal trip support for processor protection, power LED

• Power-up mode control for recovery from AC power loss

• Auto-switching voltage regulator for CPU cores

• System overheat/Fan Fail LED Indicator and control

• Chassis intrusion detection

• System resource alert via Supero Doctor III

1-6

Chapter 1: Introduction

ACPI Features

• Slow blinking LED for suspend state indicator

• Main switch override mechanism

• ACPI Power Management

• Keyboard Wakeup from Soft-off

Onboard I/O

• Six SATA2 ports (supporting RAID0, RAID1, RAID10, RAID5*) (*For the Windows
Operating System only.)

• One SIMLP slot

• Intel 82563 Gigabit Ethernet controller supporting two Giga-bit LAN ports

• One EIDE Ultra DMA/100 bus master interface supports UDMA Mode 5, PIO
Mode 4, ATA 100 with Compact Flash support

• One fl oppy port interface

• Two COM ports(1 header, 1 port)

• One EPP/ECP Parallel Port

• PS/2 mouse and PS/2 keyboard ports

• Up to fi ve USB 2.0 (Universal Serial Bus) (2 ports, 3 Headers)

• ES1000 with 16 MB Graphic Controller

• Super I/O: Winbond W83627HF w/Hardware Monitor support: W83793,
HECETA

Other

• External modem ring-on

• Wake-on-LAN (WOL)

• Wake-on-Ring (WOR)

• Console redirection

• Onboard Fan Speed Control by Thermal Management via BIOS

CD/Diskette Utilities

• BIOS fl ash upgrade utility and device drivers

Dimensions

• Ext. ATX 13.0" x 13.68" (330.2 mm x 347.5 mm)

1-7

X7DBi+ User's Manual

ISL6307

J6

#4

J12

#3

J13

#2

PCI-E X8 SLOT

PCI-E X8 SLOT

VRM

J5
#6

PCI-E X8

PCI-E X8

J9

#5

PCI-E X4

PCI-E X16 SLOT

PCI-E X16 SLOT

PCI-E X8 SLOT

PCI-E X4

PCI-E X4

J14

#1

PCI-X 133

PROCESSOR#2

1067/1333

MT/S

PORT

#4,5

PORT

#6,7

PORT

#2,3

PCIE X8

PORT PORT

PORT
#0

PORT

#1

PORT

#2

#4 #3

5000P

MCH

ESB2

PROCESSOR#1

1067/1333

MT/S

PORT

#0

PCIE X4

FBD CHNL0

FBD CHNL1

FBD CHNL2

FBD CHNL3

ATA 100

EXP. BUS

3.0 Gb/S

VRM

ISL6307

#1D

#1C

#1B
#1A

FBD DIMM

IDE CONN

EBUS CONN

#0

#1

#2

#3

SATA

#2D

#2C

#2B

#2A

FBD DIMM

#5

#4

#3D

#3C

#3B

#3A

FBD DIMM

#4D

#4C

#4B

#4A

FBD DIMM

#2

#1

#0

COM2

#3

#4

USB

VGA

CONN

PCI-X SLOT

VGA

ES1000

DDR 8MX16

RJ45

RJ45

PCI33MHz

PARALLEL

PORT

KUMERAN

GB LAN

GILGAL

FDD

SIO

W83627

HF

MS

KB

USB 2.0

LPC

FWH

COM1

Block Diagram of the 5000P Chipset

Note: This is a general block diagram. Please see the previous Motherboard Features

pages for details on the features of each motherboard.

1-8

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-2 Chipset Overview

Built upon the functionality and the capability of the 5000P chipset, the X7DBi+
motherboard provides the performance and feature set required for dual processor­based servers with confi guration options optimized for communications, presenta-
tion, storage, computation or database applications. The 5000P chipset supports
a single or dual Intel 64-bit Quad core/dual core processor(s) with front side bus
speeds of up to 1.333 GHz. The chipset consists of the 5000P Memory Controller
Hub (MCH) and the Enterprise South Bridge 2 (ESB2).

The 5000P MCH chipset is designed for symmetric multiprocessing across two
independent front side bus interfaces. Each front side bus uses a 64-bit wide,

1.333 GHz data bus that transfers data at 10.7 GB/sec. In addition, the 5000P

chipset offers a wide range of RAS features, including memory interface ECC, x4/
x8 Single Device Data Correction, CRC, parity protection, memory mirroring and
memory sparing.

The Xeon Dual Core Processors

*L1 Cache Size: Instruction Cache (32KB/16KB), Data Cache (32KB/24KB)
*L2 Cache Size: 4MB (2MB per core)
*Data Bus Transfer Rate: 8.5 GB/s
*Package: FC-LGA6/FC-LGA4, 771 Lands

The Xeon Quad Core Processors

*L1 Cache Size: Instruction Data Cache (32KB per core)
*L2 Cache Size: Shared 4MB per die (8MB Total Cache per processor)
*Data Bus Transfer Rate: 8.5 GB/s

1-9

X7DBi+ User's Manual

1-3 Special Features

Recovery from AC Power Loss

The feature allows the user to set the power state after a power outage. You can
select Power-Off for the system power to remain off after a power loss. Select
Power-On for the system power to be turned on after a power loss. Select Last
State to allow the system to resume its last state before the power loss. The default
setting is Last State.

1-4 PC Health Monitoring

This section describes the PC health monitoring features of the X7DBi+. All have an
onboard System Hardware Monitor chip that supports PC health monitoring.

Onboard Voltage Monitors for CPU Core, Memory Voltage, Chipset
Voltage, +3.3V, +3.3V Standby,+5V, +5V Standby, +12V, −12V and
VBAT

An onboard voltage monitor will scan these voltages continuously. Once a voltage
becomes unstable, a warning is given or an error message is sent to the screen.
Users can adjust the voltage thresholds to defi ne the sensitivity of the voltage
monitor.

Fan Status Monitor with Firmware Control

The PC health monitor can check the RPM status of the cooling fans. The onboard
CPU and chassis fans are controlled by Thermal Management via BIOS (under
Hardware Monitoring in the Advanced Setting).

Environmental Temperature Control

The thermal control sensor monitors the CPU temperature in real time and will turn
on the thermal control fan whenever the CPU temperature exceeds a user-defi ned
threshold. The overheat circuitry runs independently from the CPU. When it detects
that the CPU temperature is too high, it will automatically turn on the thermal fan
control to prevent any overheat damage to the CPU. The onboard chassis thermal
circuitry can monitor the overall system temperature and alert users when the chas­sis temperature is too high.

CPU Fan Auto-Off in Sleep Mode

The CPU fan activates when the power is turned on. It continues to operate when
the system enters a standby mode. When in the sleep mode, the CPU will not run
at full power, thereby generating less heat.

System Resource Alert

This feature is available when used with Supero Doctor III in the Windows OS
environment or used with Supero Doctor II in Linux. Supero Doctor is used to

1-10

Chapter 1: Introduction

notify the user of certain system events. For example, you can also confi gure
Supero Doctor to provide you with warnings when the system temperature, CPU
temperatures, voltages and fan speeds go beyond a pre-defi ned range.

1-5 ACPI Features

ACPI stands for Advanced Confi guration and Power Interface. The ACPI specifi ca-
tion defi nes a fl exible and abstract hardware interface that provides a standard
way to integrate power management features throughout a PC system, including
its hardware, operating system and application software. This enables the system
to automatically turn on and off peripherals such as CD-ROMs, network cards, hard
disk drives and printers.

In addition to enabling operating system-directed power management, ACPI
provides a generic system event mechanism for Plug and Play and an operating
system-independent interface for confi guration control. ACPI leverages the Plug
and Play BIOS data structures while providing a processor architecture-independent
implementation that is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows
2003 Operating Systems.

Slow Blinking LED for Suspend-State Indicator

When the CPU goes into a suspend state, the chassis power LED will start blinking
to indicate that the CPU is in suspend mode. When the user presses any key, the
CPU will wake-up and the LED will automatically stop blinking and remain on.

Main Switch Override Mechanism

When an ATX power supply is used, the power button can function as a system
suspend button to make the system enter a SoftOff state. The monitor will be
suspended, and the hard drive will spin down. Pressing the power button again
will cause the whole system to wake-up. During the SoftOff state, the ATX power
supply provides power to keep the required circuitry in the system "alive". In case
the system malfunctions and you want to turn off the power, just press and hold
the power button for 4 seconds. This option can be set in the Power section of the
BIOS Setup routine.

External Modem Ring-On

Wake-up events can be triggered by a device such as the external modem ringing
when the system is in the SoftOff state. Note that external modem ring-on can only
be used with an ATX 2.01 (or above) compliant power supply.

Wake-On-LAN (WOL)

Wake-On-LAN is defi ned as the ability of a management application to remotely
power up a computer that is powered off. Remote PC setup, up-dates and asset
tracking can occur after hours and on weekends so that daily LAN traffi c is kept
to a minimum and users are not interrupted. The motherboard has a 3-pin header

1-11

X7DBi+ User's Manual

(WOL) to connect to the 3-pin header on a Network Interface Card (NIC) that has
WOL capability. In addition, an onboard LAN controller can also support WOL
without any connection to the WOL header. The 3-pin WOL header is to be used
with a LAN add-on card only.

Note: Wake-On-LAN requires an ATX 2.01 (or above) compliant power supply.

1-6 Power Supply

As with all computer products, a stable power source is necessary for proper and
reliable operation. It is even more important for processors that have high CPU
clock rates.

The X7DBi+ can only accommodate 24-pin ATX power supplies. Although most
power supplies generally meet the specifi cations required by the CPU, some are
inadequate. In addition, the 12V 4-pin and the 12V 8-pin power connections are also
required to ensure adequate power supply to the system. Also your power supply
must supply 1.5A for the Ethernet ports.

Note: The + 12V 8-pin CPU Power Connector (JPW3) is also required to support
Intel 64-bit CPUs. Failure to provide the extra power will result in CPU PWR Failure.
See Section 2-5 for details on connecting the power supply.

It is strongly recommended that you use a high quality power supply that meets ATX
power supply Specifi cation 2.02 or above. It must also be SSI compliant. (Please
refer to the Web site at http://www.ssiforum.org/). Additionally, in areas where noisy
power transmission is present, you may choose to install a line fi lter to shield the
computer from noise. It is recommended that you also install a power surge protector
to help avoid problems caused by power surges.

1-7 Super I/O

The disk drive adapter functions of the Super I/O chip include a fl oppy disk drive
controller that is compatible with industry standard 82077/765, a data separator,
write pre-compensation circuitry , decode logic, data rate selection, a clock generator ,
drive interface control logic and interrupt and DMA logic. The wide range of functions
integrated onto the Super I/O greatly reduces the number of components required
for interfacing with fl oppy disk drives. The Super I/O supports 360 K, 720 K, 1.2
M, 1.44 M or 2.88 M disk drives and data transfer rates of 250 Kb/s, 500 Kb/s or
1 Mb/s. It also provides two high-speed, 16550 compatible serial communication
ports (UARTs). Each UART includes a 16-byte send/receive FIFO, a programmable
baud rate generator, complete modem control capability and a processor interrupt
system. Both UARTs provide legacy speed with baud rate of up to 115.2 Kbps as
well as an advanced speed with baud rates of 250 K, 500 K, or 1 Mb/s, which sup­port higher speed modems.

The Super I/O supports one PC-compatible printer port (SPP), Bidirectional Printer
Port (BPP), Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) or Extended Capabilities Port (ECP).

1-12

Chapter 1: Introduction

The Super I/O provides functions that comply with ACPI (Advanced Confi guration
and Power Interface), which includes support of legacy and ACPI power manage­ment through an SMI or SCI function pin. It also features auto power management
to reduce power consumption.

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X7DBi+ User's Manual

Notes

1-14

Chapter 2: Installation

Chapter 2

Installation

2-1 Static-Sensitive Devices

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) can damage electronic com ponents. To prevent dam­age to your system board, it is important to handle it very carefully. The following
measures are generally suffi cient to protect your equipment from ESD.

Precautions

• Use a grounded wrist strap designed to prevent static discharge.

• Touch a grounded metal object before removing the board from the antistatic
bag.

• Handle the board by its edges only; do not touch its components, peripheral
chips, memory modules or gold contacts.

• When handling chips or modules, avoid touching their pins.

• Put the motherboard and peripherals back into their antistatic bags when not in
use.

• For grounding purposes, make sure your computer chassis provides excellent
conductivity between the power supply, the case, the mounting fasteners and
the motherboard.

• Use only the correct type of onboard CMOS battery as specifi ed by the manu-
facturer. Do not install the onboard battery upside down to avoid possible explo­sion.

Unpacking

The motherboard is shipped in antistatic packaging to avoid static damage. When
unpacking the board, make sure the person handling it is static protected.

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X7DBi+ User's Manual

!

2-2 Processor and Heatsink Installation

When handling the processor package, avoid placing
direct pressure on the label area of the fan.

Notes: 1. Always connect the power cord last and always remove it before adding,
removing or changing any hardware components. Make sure that you install the
processor into the CPU socket before you install the CPU heatsink.

2. Intel's boxed Xeon CPU package contains the CPU fan and heatsink assembly.
If you buy a CPU separately, make sure that you use only Intel-certifi ed multi-di-
rectional heatsink and fan.

3. The Intel Xeon LGA 771 heatsink and fan comes with a push-pin design and no
tool is needed for installation.

4. Make sure to install the motherboard into the chassis before you install the CPU
heatsink and fan.)

5. When purchasing an LGA 771 CPU or when receiving a motherboard with an LGA
771 CPU pre-installed, make sure that the CPU plastic cap is in place and none of
the CPU pins are bent; otherwise, contact the retailer immediately.

6. Refer to the MB Features Section for more details on CPU support.

Installation of the LGA771 Processor

Socket Clip

Load Plate

1. Press the socket clip to release
the load plate, which covers the CPU
socket, from its locking position.

2. Gently lift the socket clip to open the
load plate.

Load Plate

2-2

Chapter 2: Installation

!

3. Use your thumb and your index

fi nger to hold the CPU at the North
Center Edge and the South Center
Edge of the CPU.

4. Align CPU Pin1 (the CPU corner

marked with a triangle) against the
socket corner that is marked with a
triangle cutout.

5. Align the CPU key that is the semi-

circle cutout below a gold dot against
the socket key, the Notch on the
same side of the triangle cutout on
the socket.

6. Once aligned, carefully lower the

CPU straight down into the socket.
(**Do not drop the CPU on the socket.
Do not move the CPU horizontally or
vertically. Do not rub the CPU against
the surface or against any pins of the
socket to avoid damage to the CPU
or the socket.)

Socket Key
(Socket Notch)

CPU Key (semi­circle cutout)
below the circle.

Corner with a
triangle cutout

North Center Edge

South Center Edge

gold dot

CPU Pin1

7. With the CPU inside the socket,

inspect the four corners of the CPU
to make sure that the CPU is properly
installed.

8. Use your thumb to gently push the

socket clip down to the clip lock.

9. If the CPU is properly installed into

the socket, the plastic cap will be
automatically released from the load
plate when the clip is pushed in the
clip lock. Remove the plastic cap from
the motherboard.

*Warning: Please save the
plastic cap. The motherboard must be
shipped with the plastic cap properly
installed to protect the CPU socket
pins. Shipment without the plastic cap
properly installed will cause damage
to the socket pins.

Socket clip

CPU in the CPU socket

Plastic cap
is released
from the
load plate
if the CPU
is properly
installed.

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X7DBi+ User's Manual

!

Installation of the Heatsink

CEK Heatsink Installation

1. Do not apply any thermal grease to the
heatsink or the CPU die because the re­quired amount has already been applied.

2. Place the heatsink on top of the CPU so
that the four mounting holes are aligned with
those on the retention mechanism.

3. Screw in two diagonal screws (ie the #1
and the #2 screws) until just snug (-do not
fully tighten the screws to avoid possible
damage to the CPU.)

4. Finish the installation by fully tightening
all four screws.

CEK Passive Heatsink

Screw#1

Screw#1

Screw#2

To Un-install the Heatsink

Warning: We do not recommend that

the CPU or the heatsink be removed.
However, if you do need to uninstall
the heatsink, please follow the instruc­tions below to uninstall the heatsink to
prevent damage done to the CPU or
the CPU socket.

Screw#2

2-4

1. Unscrew and remove the heatsink screws
from the motherboard in the sequence as show
in the picture on the right.

2. Hold the heatsink as shown in the picture
on the right and gently wriggle the heatsink to
loosen it from the CPU. (Do not use excessive
force when wriggling the heatsink!!)

3. Once the CPU is loosened, remove the
heatsink from the CPU socket.

Chapter 2: Installation

4. Clean the surface of the CPU and the
heatsink to get rid of the old thermal grease.
Reapply the proper amount of thermal grease
on the surface before you re-install the CPU
and the heatsink.

Mounting the Motherboard in the Chassis

All motherboards have standard mounting holes to fi t different types of chas-
sis. Make sure that the locations of all the mounting holes for both motherboard
and chassis match. Make sure that the metal standoffs click in or are screwed in
tightly. Then, use a screwdriver to secure the motherboard onto the motherboard
tray. Note: some components are very close to the mounting holes. Please take
precautionary measures to prevent damage done to these components when you
install the motherboard to the chassis.

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X7DBi+ User's Manual

2-3 Installing DIMMs

Note: Check the Supermicro web site for recommended memory modules.

CAUTION

Exercise extreme care when installing or removing DIMM

modules to prevent any possible damage. Also note that the

memory is interleaved to improve performance.

DIMM Installation

1. Insert the desired number of DIMMs into the memory slots, starting with DIMM
#1A. The memory scheme is interleaved so you must install four modules at a
time, beginning with DIMM #1A, DIMM #2A, DIMM #3A, then DIMM #4A and so
on. For optimal memory performance, please install four modules at a time with
the maximum of 16 modules. (See the Memory Installation Table Below.)

2. Insert each DIMM module vertically into its slot. Pay attention to the notch along
the bottom of the module to prevent inserting the DIMM module incorrectly.

3. Gently press down on the DIMM module until it snaps into place in the slot.
Repeat for all modules (see step 1 above).

Memory Support

The X7DBi+ supports up to 64 GB fully buffered (FBD) ECC DDR 2 533/667 in 16
DIMMs. Populating DIMM modules with pairs of memory modules that are of the
same size and same type in both Branch 0 and Branch 1 will result in interleaved
memory. (See the table below.)

Note 1: Due to OS limitations, some operating systems may not show more than
4 GB of memory.

DIMM Module Population Confi guration

To optimize memory support, follow the table below for memory installation:

Optimized DIMM Population Table

Branch 0 Branch 1
Number of
DIMMs
2 DIMMs 1A
4 DIMMs 1A
8 DIMMs 1A 1B
12 DIMMs 1A 1B 1C
16 DIMMs 1A 1B 1C 1D 2A 2B 2C 2D 3A 3B 3C 3D 4A 4B 4C 4D

(*Notes: i. DIMM slot# specified: DIMM slot to be populated; “---“: DIMM slot not to
be populated. ii. Both FBD 533 MHz and 667MHz DIMMs are supported; however,
you need to use the memory modules of the same speed and of the same type on a
motherboard. iii. Interleaved memory is supported when pairs of DIMM modules are
installed. For optimal memory performance, please install pairs of memory modules
in both
follow the restrictions listed above. )

Bank 1

(Channel 0)

--- --- ---

--- --- ---

--- ---

Bank 2
(Channel 1)
2A
2A
2A 2B

---

2A 2B 2C

Bank 3
(Channel 2)

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

--- --- ---

--- ---

---

--- --- ---

3A
3A 3B
3A 3B 3C

--- ---

Bank 4
(Channel 3)

4A
4A 4B

---

4A 4B 4C

--- --- ---

--- ---

Branch 0 and Branch 1. iv. For memory to work properly, you need to

---

2-6

Chapter 2: Installation

Note 2: Due to memory allocation to system devices, memory remaining available
for operational use will be reduced when 4 GB of RAM is used. The reduction in
memory availability is disproportional. (See the Memory Availability Table below.)

Possible System Memory Allocation & Availability

System Device Size Physical Memory

Firmware Hub fl ash memory (System
BIOS)

Local APIC 4 KB 3.99GB
Area Reserved for the chipset 2 MB 3.99GB
I/O APIC (4 Kbytes) 4 KB 3.99GB
PCI Enumeration Area 1 256 MB 3.76GB
PCI Express (256 MB) 256 MB 3.51GB
PCI Enumeration Area 2 (if needed)

-Aligned on 256-MB boundary­VGA Memory 16 MB 2.85GB
TSEG 1 MB 2.84GB

Memory available for the OS & other
applications

1 MB 3.99GB

512 MB 3.01GB

Remaining (-Available)
(4 GB Total System Memory)

2.84GB

Installing and Removing DIMMs

Notch

DIMM2 FBD

Notch

X7DBi+

To Remove:

Use your thumbs
to gently push
the release tabs
near both ends of
the module. This
should release it
from the slot.

Release

Tab

Note: Notch

should align

with the

receptive point

on the slot

Release

Tab

To Install: Insert module vertically and press down until it

snaps into place. Pay attention to the alignment notch at
the bottom.

2 FBD

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X7DBi+ User's Manual

123

4

5

678

9

2-4 Control Panel Connectors/IO Ports

The I/O ports are color coded in conformance with the PC 99 specifi cation. See the
fi gure below for the colors and locations of the various I/O ports.

A. Back Panel Connectors/IO Ports

X7DBi+

Figure 2-3. Back Panel I/O Port Locations and Defi nitions

Back Panel Connectors

1. Keyboard (Purple)

2. PS/2 Mouse (Green)

3. Back Panel USB Port 0

4. Back Panel USB Port 1

5. COM Port 1 (Turquoise)

6. VGA Port (Blue)

7. Parallel Port (Printer)

8. Gigabit LAN 1

9. Gigabit LAN 2

(*See Section 2-5 for details.)

2-8