SUPER MICRO Computer X7DVL-3 User Manual

X7DVL-3

X7DVL-i

USER’S MANUAL

Revision 1.1a

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 SUPER MICRO COMPUTER, INC. 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, SUPER MICRO COMPUTER, INC.
SHALL NOT HAVE LIABILITY FOR ANY HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, OR DATA ST ORED 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. Super Micro'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 1.1a
Release Date:May 14, 2008

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 © 2008 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
supports dual Intel
front side bus speed of 667 MHz/1.066 GHz/1.333 GHz. With dual 64-bit Xeon
Quad Core/Dual Core processors built-in, the X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i offers substantial
functionality enhancements to the motherboards based on the Intel Core NetBurst
microarchitecture while remaining compatible with the IA-32 software. The fea­tures include Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, Virtualization Technology, Hyper
Pipelined Technology, Execution Trace Cache, Thermal Monitor 1/2 (TM1/TM2),
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology, Advanced Dynamic Execution, Advanced
Transfer Cache, Streaming SIMD Extensions 3 (SSE3) and Extended Memory 64
Technology (EM64T). These features allow the motherboard to operate at much
higher speeds with better power management in much safer thermal environments
than the traditional motherboards. The X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i is ideal for high perfor­mance dual processor (DP) and enterprise server environments. Please refer to
the motherboard specifi cations pages on our web site (http://www.supermicro.
com/products/motherboard/) for updates on supported processors. This product is
intended to be professionally installed.

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i motherboard. The X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i

Xeon Quad Core/Dual Core processors (w/771 LGA) with a

Preface

Manual Organization

Chapter 1 describes the features, specifi cations and performance of the mainboard

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

installing the processor, memory modules and other hardware components into
the system. If you encounter any problems, see Chapter 3, which describes
troubleshooting procedures for the video, the memory and the 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 POST Error Codes. Appendix B and Appendix C list
the Windows OS Installation 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

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i 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 Super Micro ........................................................................... 1-2

X7DVL-3/i Image ........................................................................ 1-3

X7DVL-3/i Layout ....................................................................... 1-4

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

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

Intel 5000V 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 ........................................................................................................1-13

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 Indicators ..................................................................... 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 (USB) ..................................................................... 2-15

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

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

Power Force-On ....................................................................................... 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 1/2 (Ethernet) Ports ....................................................................... 2-19

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

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

VGA Connector ........................................................................................2-20

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

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

2-6 Jumper Settings ............................................................................................... 2-22

Explanation of Jumpers ......................................................................... 2-22

GLAN Enable/Disable ............................................................................ 2-22

CMOS Clear ............................................................................................ 2-23

Watch Dog ................................................................................................2-23

VGA Enable/Disable .................................................................................2-24

I2C Bus to PCI Slots ................................................................................ 2-24

PWR Supply Failure ................................................................................. 2-25

SAS Enable .............................................................................................. 2-25

Software RAID Enable ............................................................................. 2-26

2-7 Onboard Indicators ....................................................................................... 2-27

GLAN LEDs .............................................................................................. 2-27

Onboard Power LED ................................................................................ 2-27

POST Code LED Indicators ..................................................................... 2-28

CPU_VRM Overheat LEDs ...................................................................... 2-28

Status LED ............................................................................................... 2-29

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

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

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

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

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

v

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i 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 ............................................................................................... 4-7

4-5 Security Setup ...............................................................................................4-24

4-6 Boot Setup ......................................................................................................4-25

4-7 Exit .................................................................................................................. 4-26

Appendices:

Appendix A: BIOS POST Error Codes .......................................................................A-1

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

Appendix C: Installing Other Software Programs and Drivers...................................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 . Super Micro 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 itmes are included in the Retail Box.

One (1) Super Micro Mainboard

One (1) ribbon cable for IDE devices (CBL-0036L-2)

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

Eight (8) SATA cables (CBL-0044L) (*X7DVL-3)

Six (6) SATA cables (CBL-0044L) (*X7DVL-i)

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

One (1) CPU Retention Module (SKT-0159-for retail and bulk packaging)

One (1) Super Micro CD containing drivers and utilities

One (1) User's/BIOS Manual

Optional

(For SAS HostRAID 5)

One (1) I-Button (to be purchased from Super Micro) (*X7DVL-3)

1-1

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i 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: Super 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

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i 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

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i User's Manual

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i Motherboard Layout

(not drawn to scale)

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 cable before removing or in­stalling components.

5. SAS is available for the X7DVL-3 only. SAS Connectors, the LSI SAS HostRAID
Controller, the I-Button socket and 3-GSPIO0/3-GSPIO1 LEDs are built in on the
X7DVL-3 only. I-Button is used to enable RAID 5. However, RAID 0, 1 and 10 are
enabled through the LSI SAS Controller. (I-Button is optional.)

1-4

Chapter 1: Introduction

Quick Reference (X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i)

Jumper Description Default Setting

JBT1 CMOS Clear See Chapter 2
JI2C1/JI2C2 SMB to PCI Slot#1/Slot#2 Speed Pins 2-3 (Disabled)
JPG1 VGA Enable Pins 1-2 (Enabled)
JPA1 SAS Enable Pins 1-2 (Enabled)
JPA2 Software RAID Enable Pins 1-2 (Enabled)
JPL1/ JPL2 GLAN1/GLAN2 Enable Pins 1-2 (Enabled)
JPWF PWR Supply Failure Detect Off (Disabled)
JWD (JWD1) Watch Dog Pins 1-2 (Reset)
Connector Description
ATX PWR (JPW1) Primary 24-Pin ATX PWR Connector
CPU PWR (JPW3) +12V 8-pin PWR
Alarm Reset (JAR) Alarm Reset Header
Chassis Intru.(JL1) Chassis Intrusion Header
COM1/COM2 (JCOM1/2) COM1/COM2 Serial Port Connectors
FAN 1-6 Fans 1-6: System cooling fans, chassis fans, CPU fans
Floppy (J22) Floppy Disk Drive Connector
FP Control (JF1) Front Control Panel Connector
GLAN 1/2 (JLAN1/2) G-bit Ethernet Ports
IDE1 (JIDE1) IDE1 Hard Drive
Parallel (J21) Parallel (Printer) Port
PWR LED/SPKR (JD1) Power LED(pins1-3)/SpeakerHeader (pins 4-7)
PWR Force-On (JPF) Power Force-On
PWR SMB (JPI
PWR Supply Fail (JPWF) Power Supply Failure (See Chapter 2)
SAS0-SAS7 Serial Attached SCSI Connectors (#0-#7) (*X7DVL-3)
SATA0-SATA5 (JS1-JS6) Intel SATA 0-5 Connectors
SIMLP (J16) IPMI SIMM Low-profi le Slot
T-SGPIO#0/1 Serial ATA General Purpose Input/Output Headers
3-SGPIO#0/1 SAS General Purpose Input/Output Headers(*X7DVL-3)
Slot1 PCI 33MHz Slot
Slot5 PCI-X 133MHz Slot
Slot6 PCI-X 133MHz Slot and PCI-Express x 8 Slot
USB 0/1 (J20) Back Panel USB 0/1
USB 2/3/4/5 (JUSB1/2) Front Panel USB 2/3 (JUSB1)/FPUSB 4/5 (JUSB2)
VGA (J15) VGA Port
WOL (JWOL) Wake-on-LAN Header
WOR (JWOR) Wake-on-Ring Header
LED Indicator Description
D31 Status LED (See Chapter 2)
LE1 Power LED (See Note 4 on the previous page.)
LE2/LE3 (See Chpt. 2) CPU1 VRM Overheat(LE2)/CPU2 VRM Overheat (LE3)
LE4/LE5 POST LED Indicators (*See Chapter 2)

2

C) Power System Management (I2C) Header

1-5

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i User's Manual

Motherboard Features

CPU

• Dual Intel

®

64-bit Xeon LGA 771 Quad Core/Dual Core processors at a front

side bus speed of 1333 MHz/1067 MHz/667MHz

Memory

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

Chipset

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

Expansion Slots

• One PCI-Exp. x8 slot (Slot6)

• Two 64-bit PCI-X 133MHz slots (Slot5/Slot6)

• One 32-bit PCI 33 MHz slot (Slot1)

• One Low Profi le SIMLP IPMI (J16)

BIOS

• 8 Mb Phoenix

®

Flash ROM

• DMI 2.3, PCI 2.2, ACPI 1.0, Plug and Play (PnP), USB Keyboard support,
Hardware BIOS Virus Protection and SMBIOS 2.3

PC Health Monitoring

• Onboard voltage monitors for CPU cores, +1.8V, +3.3V, +5V, +12V, −12V,
+3.3V standby, +5V standby and VBAT)

• Fan status monitor with fi rmware control

• CPU/chassis temperature monitors

• Low noise fan speed control

Platform Environment Control Interface (PECI) ready

• CPU fan auto-off in sleep mode

• Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) fan control

2

• I

C temperature sensing logic

• Thermal Monitor 2 (TM2) support

• CPU slow-down on temperature overheat

• CPU thermal trip support for processor protection

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

• 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

• Power-on mode for power recovery

Onboard I/O

• Six SATA ports (supporting RAID0, 1,10 and 5)

• Six SAS ports (supporting RAID0, 1,10 and 5.) (*See Note 5 on Page 1-4)

• One SIMLP IPMI 2.0 socket

• Two Giga-bit LAN ports supported by the ESB 2 South Bridge

• One EIDE Ultra DMA/100 bus master interface

• One fl oppy port interface

• Two COM ports(1 header, 1 port)

• One EPP/ECP Parallel Header

• Up to six USB 2.0 (Universal Serial Bus) (2 ports, 4 Headers)

• XGI27 16 MB Graphic Controller

• Super I/O: Winbond W83627HF

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

• ATX 12" x 10" (304.8mm x 254 mm)

1-7

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i User's Manual

VGA
CONN

J12

J13

#6

#5

PCI-X_SLOT

#4

#3

#2

#1

#0

SAS/SATA

PCI-X SLOT

VGA

XGI Z7

#7

#6

#5

3.0Gb/S

J6
#1

PCI32_3.3V_SLOT

SIMLP CONN

VRM

ISL6306

J10
#6

PCI-EXP_X8_SLOT

LSI
SAS

1068E

PCI 32/33MMZ

RJ45

RJ45

667/1067/1333

PCI-EXP X8

PCI-EX4

PCI-X133MHz

PROCESSOR#2

MT/S

PORT
#4,5

PORT
#6,7

PORT

#1,2

PORT

#0

MCH

PORT PORT
#2,3

PCIE X8

PORT PORT

#4 #3

PROCESSOR#1

667/1067/1333

MT/S

FBD CHNL0

FBD CHNL1

#0

PCIE X4

ESB2

LPC

GB LAN FWH

GILGAL

SIO

W83627

HF

ATA 100

3.0 Gb/S

USB 2.0

VRM

ISL6306

#2

#1 #1

#0

FBD DIMM

IDE CONN

#5

#4

#3

#2

#1

#0

SATA

#5

#4

#3

#2

#1

#0

USB

#2

#0

FBD DIMM

PARALLEL

PORT

FDD

MS

KB

COM1

COM2

Block Diagram of the 5000V 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 5000V chipset, the X7DVL-3/
X7DVL-i motherboard provides the performance and feature set required for dual
processor-based servers with confi guration options optimized for communications,
presentation, storage, computation or database applications. The 5000V chipset
supports a single or dual Intel Xeon 64-bit Quad Core/Dual Core processor(s)
with front side bus speeds of up to 1.333 GHz. The chipset consists of the 5000V
Memory Controller Hub (MCH), and the Enterprise South Bridge 2 (ESB2).

The 5000V MCH chipset is designed for symmetric multiprocessing across two
independent front side bus interfaces. Each front side bus uses a 64-bit wide, 1333
MHz data bus that transfers data at 10.7 GB/sec. The MCH chipset connects up
to six Fully Buffered DIMM modules, providing a total memory size of up to 16 GB.
The MCH chipset also provides one x8 PCI-Express interface to the ESB2. In ad­dition, the 5000V 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 Quad Core/Dual Core Processor Features

Designed to be used with conjunction of the 5000V chipset, the Xeon Quad Core/
Dual Core Processor provides a feature set as follows:

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

1-9

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i User's Manual

1-3 Special Features

Recovery from AC Power Loss

BIOS provides a setting for you to determine how the system will respond when AC
power is lost and then restored to the system. You can choose for the system to
remain powered off (in which case you must hit the power switch to turn it back on)
or for it to automatically return to a power- on state. See the Power Lost Control
setting in the Advanced BIOS Setup section to change this setting. The default
setting is Last State.

1-4 PC Health Monitoring

This section describes the PC health monitoring features of the X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i.
All have an onboard System Hardware Monitor chip that supports PC health moni­toring.

Onboard Voltage Monitoring

An onboard voltage monitor will scan these voltages continuously: the CPU Cores,
Chipset Voltage, +1.8V, +3.3V, +5V, +12V, -12V, +3.3V Standby, +5V Standby and
VBA T. 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. Once 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.

1-10

Chapter 1: Introduction

CPU Overheat LED and Control

This feature is available when the user enables the CPU overheat warning function
in the BIOS. This allows the user to defi ne an overheat temperature. When the CPU
temperature reaches the pre-defi ned overheat threshold, both the overheat fan and
the warning LED are triggered.

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
notify the user of certain system events. For example, if the system is running low
on virtual memory and there is insuffi cient hard drive space for saving the data,
you can be alerted of the potential problem. You can also confi gure Supero Doctor
to provide you with warnings when the system temperature goes beyond a pre­defi ned range.

1-5 ACPI Features

ACPI stands for Advanced Confi guration and Power Interface. The ACPI specifi -
cation 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. This also includes consumer devices connected to the PC
such as VCRs, TVs, telephones and stereos.

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 Servers.

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

1-11

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i User's Manual

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 Standby or Off state. Note that external modem ring-on
can only be used with an ATX 2.01 (or above) compliant power supply.

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
(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 X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i can only accommodate 24-pin ATX power supply. Although
most power supplies generally meet the specifi cations required by the motherboard,
some are inadequate. You should use one that will supply at least 400W of power.
In addition, the 12V 8-pin is also required for adequate power supply to the CPU.
Also your power supply must supply 1.5A for the Ethernet ports.

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 (info 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.

1-12

Chapter 1: Introduction

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). 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), Bi-directional Printer
Port (BPP) , Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) or Extended Capabilities Port (ECP).

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.

1-13

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i User's Manual

Notes

1-14

Chapter 2: Installation

Chapter 2

Installation

2-1 Static-Sensitive Devices

Electro-Static-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.

2-1

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i User's Manual

!

2-2 Processor and Heatsink Fan 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. Make sure to install the motherboard into the chassis before you install the CPU
heatsink and fan.

4. When purchasing a motherboard with an LGA 771 CPU Socket, make sure that
the CPU plastic cap is in place and none of the CPU Socket pins are bent; other­wise, contact the retailer immediately.

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

Installation of the LGA771 Processor

Load Lever

PnP Cap on
top of the

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

2. Gently lift the load lever to open the
load plate.

Load Plate

Load Plate
(with PnP Cap
attached)

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 to 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 installed in the

socket, inspect the four corners of
the CPU to make sure that the CPU
is properly installed. Then, close the
load plate.

8. Use your thumb to gently push the

load lever down to lock it.

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 PnP cap. The motherboard
must be shipped with the PnP cap
properly installed to protect the CPU
socket pins. Shipment without the
PnP cap properly installed will cause
damage to the socket pins.)

Load Lever

CPU in the CPU socket

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

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X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i User's Manual

!

Installation of the Heatsink

CEK Heatsink Installation

1. Do not apply any thermal grease to
the heatsink or the CPU die; 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#2

Screw#1

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 on the next page 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
shown 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 heatsink 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 into the chassis.)

2-5

X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i User's Manual

2-3 Installing DIMMs

Note: Check the Super Micro 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 (see step 1).

DIMM Installation (See Figure 2-2)

1. Insert the desired number of DIMMs into the memory slots, starting with DIMM
#1A. For better memory performance, please install two modules at a time,
beginning with DIMM #1A, DIMM #2A, then DIMM #1B, DIMM #2B, and DIMM
#1C, DIMM #2C. (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 X7DVL-3/X7DVL-i supports up to 16 GB fully buffered (FBD) ECC DDR2
533/667 in 6 DIMMs. Populating DIMM modules with pairs of memory modules of
the same size and same type will result in better memory performance.

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

Optimized DIMM Population Configurations

Number

of DIMMs

2 DIMMs 1A ------ ------ 2A ------ -----­4 DIMMs 1A 1B ------ 2A 2B -----­6 DIMMs 1A 1B 1C 2A 2B 2C

Bank 1 Bank 2

(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, we recommend that you use
the memory modules of the same speed and of
the same type on a motherboard. iii. For memory
to work properly, you need to follow the restrictions
listed above. )

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. (Refer to the following Memory Availability
Table for details.

Possible System Memory Allocation & Availability

System Device Size Physical Memory

Firmware Hub fl ash memory (System BIOS) 1 MB 3.99
Local APIC 4 KB 3.99
Area Reserved for the chipset 2 MB 3.99
I/O APIC (4 Kbytes) 4 KB 3.99
PCI Enumeration Area 1 256 MB 3.76
PCI Express (256 MB) 256 MB 3.51
PCI Enumeration Area 2 (if needed) -Aligned on 256-

MB boundary­VGA Memory 16 MB 2.85
TSEG 1 MB 2.84
Memory available to OS and other applications 2.84

512 MB 3.01

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

Installing and Removing DIMMs

DDR2 FBD DIMM

®

UPER X7DVL-3

S

To Remove:

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

To Install: Insert module vertically and press down until it
snaps into place. Pay attention to the alignment notch at
the bottom.

Top View of DDR2 FBD Slot

2-7