Supero X7DB8-X, X7DBE-X User Manual

®

SUPER

X7DB8-X
X7DBE-X

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 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 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 SHALL NOT
HAVE LIABILITY FOR ANY HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, OR DATA 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. 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: October 8, 2008

Unless you request and receive written permission from SUPER MICRO COMPUTER, 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

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 Xeon 64-bit dual core processors at a front side bus speed of

1333/1066/667 MHz. With dual Xeon 64-bit dual core processors, the 5000P chipset,

and eight DDR2 FBD 667/533 memory modules built-in, the X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X

offers substantial functionality and performance enhancements to the motherboards

based on the dual core NetBurst microarchitecture while remaining compatible with

the 32-bit based software. Key features include the Intel Hyper-Threading Technol-

ogy, 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 environments than the traditional motherboards. The X7DB8-X/X7DBE-

X is ideal for high performance dual processor (DP) enterprise server/workstation

environments. This product is intended to be professionally installed.

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X motherboard. The X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X

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 CMOS.

Chapter 4 includes an introduction to BIOS and provides detailed information on

running the CMOS Setup utility.

Appendix A and Appendix B provide BIOS POST Messages and POST Codes.

Appendix C, Appendix D and Appendix E list HostRAID Setup Guidelines and

Other Software Driver and Program 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

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X 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

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X Image ......................................................... 1-3

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X Layout ......................................................... 1-4

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

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

Intel 5000P 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 LEDs ................................................................................... 2-11

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

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

iv

Table of Contents

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

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 Header .................................................................. 2-19

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

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

Overheat LED/Fan Fail ............................................................................ 2-21

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

SMB Power Connector ............................................................................. 2-22

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

SGPIO Headers ....................................................................................... 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

SCSI Controller Enabled/Disabled ........................................................... 2-26

SCSI Termination Enabled/Dsiabled ........................................................ 2-26

3rd PWR Supply PWR Fault .................................................................... 2-27

VGA Enable/Disable ................................................................................. 2-27

2

C Bus to PCI-X-PCI-E Slots .................................................................. 2-28

I

2-7 Onboard Indicators .......................................................................................... 2-29

GLAN LEDs .............................................................................................. 2-29

Onboard SCSI Activity LED ..................................................................... 2-30

Onboard Standby PWR LED ................................................................... 2-30

2-8 Floppy, SIMLP IPMI, Hard Disk Drive and SCSI Connections ....................... 2-31

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

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

v

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X User's Manual

SIMLP IPMI Slot ...................................................................................... 2-32

Ultra 320 SCSI Connectors ..................................................................... 2-33

Chapter 3: Troubleshooting

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

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

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

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

Memory Errors ........................................................................................... 3-1

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

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 Messages ..........................................................................A-1

Appendix B: BIOS POST Codes ................................................................................B-1

Appendix C: Intel HostRAID Setup Guidelines ..........................................................C-1

Appendix D: Adaptec HostRAID Setup Guidelines ....................................................D-1

Appendix E: Installing Other Software Programs and Drivers ...................................E-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 are included

in the Retail Box.

One (1) Supermicro Mainboard

One (1) ribbon cable for IDE devices (CBL-0036L-002)

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

One (1) 2-Port USB cable (CBL-0083)

Four (4) SATA cables (CBL-0044L)

One (1) COM port cable (CBL-010L)

One (1) SCSI cable (CBL-034L-U320) (*X7DB8-X only)

One (1) i/O Backplane Shield (CSE-PT07L)

One (1) Supermicro CD containing drivers and utilities (CDR-X7)

One (1) Motherboard User's/BIOS Manual

One (1) Ultra 320 SCSI User's Manual (*X7DB8-X only)

1-1

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X User's Manual

Contacting Super Micro

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, Taiwan

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

Chapter 1: Introduction

Figure 1-1. X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X Image

(*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

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X User's Manual

Figure 1-2. X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X Motherboard Layout

(not drawn to scale)

in

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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. SCSI is for the X7DB8-X only.

5. When LE1 is on, make sure to disconnect the power supply before removing

or installing components.

6. For the ZCR card to function properly, be sure to install it in the green slot.

(Green Slot is available for the X7DB8-X only.)

7. Slot 1 supports up to 100 MHz.

1-4

Chapter 1: Introduction

Quick Reference ( X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X)

Jumper Description Default Setting

J27, J28 I

2

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

J3P 3rd PWR Failure Detect Off (Disabled)

JBT1 CMOS Clear See Chapter 2

JPA1 SCSI Controller Enable Pins 1-2 (Enabled)(*Note)

JPA2, JPA3 SCSI CHA(JPA2),CHB(JPA3)Term.En Off (Enabled) (*Note)

JPG1 VGA Enable Pins 1-2 (Enabled)

JPL1/ JPL2 GLAN1/GLAN2 Enable Pins 1-2 (Enabled)

JWD 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 Reset Off (Normal)

Chassis Intrusion (JL1) Chassis Intrusion Header

COM1/COM2 (JCOM1/2) COM1/COM2 Serial Port Connectors

DA1/DA2 SCSI Activity LED Indicators (See Chapter 2)

DIMM#1A-DIMM#4B Memory FBD DDRII Slots

FAN 1-8 Fans 1-8 (CPU Fans/Chassis Fans)

Floppy (J22) Floppy Disk Drive Connector

FP CTRL (JF1) Front Control Panel Connector

GLAN 1/2 (JLAN1/2) G-bit Ethernet Ports

IDE1 IDE1 Hard Drive (JIDE1)

Keylock (JK1) Keylock Header

OH LED (JOH1) Overheat LED

PSF (JP3) Power Supply Failure (See Chapter 2)

PWR LED (LE1) PWR LED Indicator (*Note 6 on Pg.1-4)

PWR LED/SPKR (JD1) PWR LED(pins1-3)/SpeakerHeader (pins 4-7)

PWR SMB (J17) Power System Management (I

SATA0-SATA5 (JS1-JS6) SATA 0-5 Connectors

SCSI Chan. A/B(JA1/JA2)SCSI Channel A/B Connectors (*Note)

SGPIO 1/2 (J29,J30) Serial General Purpose Input/Output Headers

SMB (J18) System Management Bus Header

Slot 1 PCI-X 100 MHz (ZCR) Slot (*Note)

Slot 2/Slot 3/Slot 6 PCI-X 133 MHz Slots

Slot 4/Slot 5 PCI-X 100 MHz Slots

Slot 7 (J16) SIM Low Profi le IPMI (J16) Slot

USB 0/1,USB 2/3, USB4 Back Panel USB 0/1, Front Panel USB 2/3, FP USB4

VGA (J15) VGA Connector

WOL (JWOL) Wake-on-LAN Header

WOR (JWOR) Wake-on-Ring Header

2

C) Header

(*Note: X7DB8-X only)

1-5

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X User's Manual

Motherboard Features

CPU

®

• Dual Intel

speed of 1.333 GHz/1.066 GHz/667 MHz with a system clock speed of

333/267 MHz

Memory

• Eight 240-pin DIMM sockets with support up to 16 (32) GB DDR2 Fully Buff-

ered (FBD) 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), the

Enterprise South Bridge 2 (ESB2), and the PXH I/O subsystem (x2).

Expansion Slots

• Three PCI-X 133 MHz slots (*Slots 2/3/6)

• Three PCI-X 100 MHz slots (*two PCI-X-100 MHz slots: Slots 4/5, one PCI-X-

100 MHz w/ZCR slot: Slot 1) (*ZCR is available for the X7DB8-X only.)

BIOS

64-bit Xeon LGA 771 dual core processors at a front side bus

• 8 Mb Phoenix® Flash ROM

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

PC Health Monitoring

• Onboard voltage monitors for CPU cores, chipset voltage, +3.3V, +5V, +12V,

−12V and +5V standby

• 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/ACPM Power Management

• Keyboard Wakeup from Soft-off

Onboard I/O

• Adaptec 7902 dual channel Ultra 320 SCSI with ZCR option (*X7DB8-X only)

• Six SATA2 ports (supporting RAID0, 1, 10 and 5)

• One SIMLP IPMI socket

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

• EIDE Ultra DMA/100 bus master interfaces supporting one IDE slot

• Two SGPIO (Serial General Purpose Input/Output) headers

• One fl oppy port interface

• Two COM ports (1 header, 1 port)

• PS/2 mouse and PS/2 keyboard ports

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

• ATI ES1000 with 16 MB Graphic Controller

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

HECETA

Other

• Internal/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 Ext. 12" x 13.05" (304.8 mm x 331.5 mm)

1-7

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X User's Manual

ISL6307

J5

PCI-X Slot

#6

J12

J13

#2

#1

SCSI

7902

PCI-X ZCR

PCI-X Slot

spare, For IPMI later

(PCI-E based)

spare, For SAS later

VGA
CONN

VRM

J4

J3

PCI-X Slot

PCI-X Slot

#4

#5

PCI-X100

PCI-X133

J14

#3

PCI-X Slot

RN 50

A

B

A

B

PCI-X 133

VGA

RJ45

RJ45

PXH

PXH

PCI-E X8

DDR

PROCESSOR#2

1067/1333

PCI-EX8

PCI-E X8

PCI-E X4

PCI 33MHz

MT/S

PORT
#0

PORT
#1,2

GB LAN

GILGAL

PORT
#4,5

PORT
#6,7

KUMERAN

5000P

MCH

PORT PORT

#0#2,3

PCIE X8

PORT PORT
#4 #3

ESB2

PROCESSOR#1

1067/1333

MT/S

FBD CHNL0

FBD CHNL1

FBD CHNL2

FBD CHNL3

PCIE X4

SIO

W83627

HF

ATA 100

EXP. BUS

3.0 Gb/S

USB 2.0

LPC

ISL6307

#2

#1 #3

FBD DIMM

IDE CONN

EBUS CONN

#0-5

SATA

USB

#0-4

FWH

VRM

#4

#6

#5

FBD DIMM

FBD DIMM

#8

#7

FBD DIMM

FDD

MS

KB

COM1

COM2

Figure 1-9. 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 X7DB8-X/

X7DBE-X 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 5000P chipset

supports single or dual Xeon 64-bit 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), the Enterprise South Bridge 2 (ESB2), and two PXH I/O subsystems.

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. The MCH chipset connects up to

eight Fully Buffered DIMM modules, providing a total memory of up to 32.0 GB. 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 Processor Features

Designed to be used with conjunction of the 5000P chipset, the Xeon 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

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X 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 Con-

trol setting in the Advanced BIOS Setup section to change this setting. (*Default:

Last State)

1-4 PC Health Monitoring

This section describes the PC health monitoring features of the X7DB8-X/X7DBE-

X. All have an onboard System Hardware Monitor chip that supports PC health

monitoring.

Onboard Voltage Monitors for CPU Core, HT Voltage, Memory
Voltage, Chipset Voltage, +1.8V, +3.3V, +5V, +12V, −12V, +3.3V
Standby, +5V Standby and VBATT.

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. 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 chas-

sis temperature is too high.

1-10

Chapter 1: Introduction

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 Standby mode. When in sleep mode, the CPU will not run at

full power, thereby generating less heat.

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 this tem-

perature is exceeded, 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 pre-defi 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 both Windows 2000 and Windows NT 5.0.

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.

1-11

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X User's Manual

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

(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 X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X can only accommodate 24-pin ATX power supplies. Al-

though most power supplies generally meet the specifi cations required by the CPU,

some are inadequate. In addition, the 12V 4-pin power supply - is also required to

ensure adequate power supply to the system. Also your power supply must supply

1.5A for the Ethernet ports.

1-12

Chapter 1: Introduction

NOTE: The + 12V 8-pin Aux. Power Connector is also required to support

Intel 64-bit CPUs. Failure to provide this 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 (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.

1-7 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 genera-

tor, 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), 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 manage-

ment through an SMI or SCI function pin. It also features auto power management

to reduce power consumption.

1-13

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X User's Manual

Notes

1-14

Chapter 2: Installation

Chapter 2

Installation

2-1 Static-Sensitive Devices

Electric-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 explo-

sion.

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

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X 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 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.

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

Installation of the LGA771 Processor

Socket Clip

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

Load Plate

2-2

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 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 hori-

zontally or vertically. Do not rub the

CPU against the surface or against

any pins of the socket to avoid dam-

age to the CPU or the socket.)

Socket Key

(Socket Notch)

CPU Key (semi-

circle cutout)

below the circle.

Corner with a

triangle cutout

Chapter 2: Installation

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 prop-

erly 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.

2-3

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X 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 pos-

sible damage to the CPU.)

4. Finish the installation by fully tightening

all four screws.

CEK Passive Heatsink

Screw#1 Screw#2

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.)

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 show 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.

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.

Chapter 2: Installation

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.)

2-5

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X 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 (see step 1).

DIMM Installation (See Figure 2-2)

1. Insert the desired number of DIMMs into the memory slots, starting with DIMM

#1A. The memory scheme is interleaved so you must install two modules

at a time, beginning with DIMM #1A, then DIMM #2A and so on. (*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 X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X supports up to 16 GB (32 GB) fully buffered (FBD) ECC

DDR2 667/533 in 8 DIMMs. Populating DIMM modules with pairs of memory

modules of the same size and same type will result in Interleaved Memory which

will increase 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 ------ 2A ------ 3A ------ 4A -----­6 DIMMs 1A 1B 2A 2B 3A ------ 4A -----­8 DIMMs 1A 1B 2A 2B 3A 3B 4A 4B

(*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. To optimize memory performance, please install pairs of DIMMs in both

Branch 0 and Branch 1

restrictions listed above. )

Branch0 Branch1

Bank 1

(Channel 0)

. iv. For memory to work properly, you need to follow the

Bank 2

(Channel 1)

Bank 3

(Channel 2)

Bank 4

(Channel 3)

*Note 2: Due to memory allocation to system devices, memory remaining avail-

able 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.

2-6

II

Possible System Memory Allocation & Availability

Chapter 2: Installation

System Device Size Physical Memory

Firmware Hub fl ash memory (System
BIOS)

1 MB 3.99

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

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 boundary-

512 MB 3.01

VGA Memory 16 MB 2.85

TSEG 1 MB 2.84

Memory available to OS and other ap­plications

2.84

Figure 2-2. Installing and Removing DIMMs

DDR2 FBD

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To Remove:

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

DDR2 FBD Slot

2-7

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X User's Manual

2-4 Control Panel Connectors/IO Ports

The I/O ports are color coded in conformance with the PC 99 specifi cation. See
Figure 2-3 below for the colors and locations of the various I/O ports.

A. Back Panel Connectors/IO Ports

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S

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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. Gigabit LAN 1

8. Gigabit LAN 2

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

(*See Section 2-5 for details.)

2-8

Chapter 2: Installation

B. Front Control Panel

JF1 contains header pins for various buttons and indicators that are normally located

on a control panel at the front of the chassis. These connectors are designed specifi -

cally for use with Supermicro server chassis. See Figure 2-4 for the descriptions of

the various control panel buttons and LED indicators. Refer to the following section

for descriptions and pin defi nitions.

Figure 2-4. JF1 Header Pins

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2-9

X7DB8-X/X7DBE-X User's Manual

C. Front Control Panel Pin Defi nitions

NMI Button

The non-maskable interrupt button

header is located on pins 19 and 20

of JF1. Refer to the table on the right

for pin defi nitions.

Power LED

The Power LED connection is located

on pins 15 and 16 of JF1. Refer to the

table on the right for pin defi nitions.

A. NMI

B. PWR LED

NMI Button

Pin Defi nitions (JF1)

Pin# Defi nition

19 Control

20 Ground

Power LED

Pin Defi nitions (JF1)

Pin# Defi nition

15 +5V

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2-10