ASROCK Super Alloy H170A-X1 User manual

Version 1.0
Published October 2015
Copyright©2015 ASRock INC. All rights reserved.
Copyright Notice:
No part of this documentation may be reproduced, transcribed, transmitted, or
translated in any language, in any form or by any means, except duplication of
documentation by the purchaser for backup purpose, without written consent of
ASRock Inc.
Products and corporate names appearing in this documentation may or may not
be registered trademarks or copyrights of their respective companies, and are used
only for identication or explanation and to the owners’ benet, without intent to
infringe.
Disclaimer:
Specications and information contained in this documentation are furnished for
informational use only and subject to change without notice, and should not be
constructed as a commitment by ASRock. ASRock assumes no responsibility for
any errors or omissions that may appear in this documentation.
With respect to the contents of this documentation, ASRock does not provide
warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to
the implied warranties or conditions of merchantability or tness for a particular
purpose.
In no event shall ASRock, its directors, ocers, employees, or agents be liable for
any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages (including damages for
loss of prots, loss of business, loss of data, interruption of business and the like),
even if ASRock has been advised of the possibility of such damages arising from any
defect or error in the documentation or product.
is device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following
two conditions:
(1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that
may cause undesired operation.
CALIFORNIA, USA ONLY
e Lithium battery adopted on this motherboard contains Perchlorate, a toxic substance
controlled in Perchlorate Best Management Practices (BMP) regulations passed by the
California Legislature. When you discard the Lithium battery in California, USA, please
follow the related regulations in advance.
“Perchlorate Material-special handling may apply, see www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/
perchlorate”
ASRock Website: http://www.asrock.com

Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Package Contents 1
1.2 Specications 2
1.3 Motherboard Layout 6
1.4 I/O Panel 8
Chapter 2 Installation 10
2.1 Installing the CPU 11
2.2 Installing the CPU Fan and Heatsink 14
2.3 Installing Memory Modules (DIMM) 15
2.4 Expansion Slots (PCI Express Slots) 17
2.5 Jumpers Setup 18
2.6 Onboard Headers and Connectors 19
2.7 CrossFireXTM and Quad CrossFireXTM Operation Guide 23
2.7.1 Installing Two CrossFireXTM-Ready Graphics Cards 23
2.7.2 Driver Installation and Setup 25
Chapter 3 Software and Utilities Operation 26
3.1 Installing Drivers 26
3.2 A-Tuning 27
3.3 ASRock Live Update & APP Shop 31
3.3.1 UI Overview 31
3.3.2 Apps 32

3.3.3 BIOS & Drivers 35
3.3.4 Setting 36
3.4 Creating Windows® 7 Installation Disk with USB 3.0 Drivers
Packed 37
Chapter 4 UEFI SETUP UTILITY 41
4.1 Introduction 41
4.2 EZ Mode 42
4.3 Advanced Mode 43
4.3.1 UEFI Menu Bar 43
4.3.2 Navigation Keys 44
4.4 Main Screen 45
4.5 OC Tweaker Screen 46
4.6 Advanced Screen 54
4.6.1 CPU Conguration 55
4.6.2 Chipset Conguration 57
4.6.3 Storage Conguration 59
4.6.4 ACPI Conguration 60
4.6.5 USB Conguration 62
4.6.6 Trusted Computing 63
4.7 Tools 64
4.8 Hardware Health Event Monitoring Screen 67
4.9 Security Screen 69
4.10 Boot Screen 70
4.11 Exit Screen 73

PB 1
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H170A-X1
Chapter 1 Introduction
ank you for purchasing ASRock H170A-X1 motherboard, a reliable motherboard
produced under ASRock’s consistently stringent quality control. It delivers excellent
performance with robust design conforming to ASRock’s commitment to quality
and endurance.
In this documentation, Chapter 1 and 2 contains the introduction of the
motherboard and step-by-step installation guides. Chapter 3 contains the operation
guide of the soware and utilities. Chapter 4 contains the conguration guide of
the BIOS setup.
1.1 Package Contents
• ASRock H170A-X1 Motherboard (ATX Form Factor)
• ASRock H170A-X1 Quick Installation Guide
• ASRock H170A-X1 Support CD
• 2 x Serial ATA (SATA) Data Cables (Optional)
• 1 x I/O Panel Shield
Because the motherboard specications and the BIOS soware might be updated, the
content of this documentation will be subject to change without notice. In case any modi-
cations of this documentation occur, the updated version will be available on ASRock’s
website without further notice. If you require technical support related to this mother-
board, please visit our website for specic information about the model you are using. You
may nd the latest VGA cards and CPU support list on ASRock’s website as well. ASRock
website http://www.asrock.com.

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1.2 Specications
Platform • ATX Form Factor
• Solid Capacitor design
CPU • Supports 6th Generation Intel® CoreTM i7/i5/i3/Pentium®/
Celeron® Processors (Socket 1151)
• 5 Power Phase design
• Supports Intel® Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology
Chipset • Intel® H170
• Supports Intel® Small Business Advantage 4.0
Memory • Dual Channel DDR4 Memory Technology
• 4 x DDR4 DIMM Slots
• Supports DDR4 2133 non-ECC, un-buered memory
• Supports ECC UDIMM memory modules (operate in non-
ECC mode)
• Max. capacity of system memory: 64GB
• Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Prole (XMP) 2.0
• 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots
Expansion
Slot
• 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE2: x16 mode; PCIE4: x4
mode)*
* Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
• 3 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 Slots (Flexible PCIe)
• Supports AMD Quad CrossFireXTM and CrossFireXTM
Graphics • Intel® HD Graphics Built-in Visuals and the VGA outputs
can be supported only with processors which are GPU
integrated.
• Supports Intel® HD Graphics Built-in Visuals : Intel® Quick
Sync Video with AVC, MVC (S3D) and MPEG-2 Full
HW Encode1, Intel® InTruTM 3D, Intel® Clear Video HD
Technology, Intel® InsiderTM, Intel® HD Graphics 510/530
• Pixel Shader 5.0, DirectX 12

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H170A-X1
• Supports DVI-D with max. resolution up to 1920x1200 @
60Hz
• Supports Accelerated Media Codecs: HEVC, VP8, VP9
• Supports HDCP with DVI-D Port
• Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) playback with DVI-D
Port
Audio • 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892
Audio Codec)
* To congure 7.1 CH HD Audio, it is required to use an HD
front panel audio module and enable the multi-channel audio
feature through the audio driver.
• Premium Blu-ray Audio support
• Supports Surge Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)
• ELNA Audio Caps
LAN • Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
• Giga PHY Intel® I219V
• Supports Wake-On-LAN
• Supports Lightning/ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike
Protection)
• Supports Energy Ecient Ethernet 802.3az
• Supports PXE
Rear Panel
I/O
• 1 x PS/2 Mouse Port
• 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port
• 1 x DVI-D Port
• 6 x USB 3.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full
Spike Protection))
• 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED
LED)
• HD Audio Jacks: Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone
Storage • 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0,
RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel Rapid Storage Technology
14 and Intel Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and
Hot Plug

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Connector • 1 x TPM Header
• 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
• 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)
• 2 x Chassis Fan Connectors (4-pin)
• 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector
• 1 x 8 pin 12V Power Connector
• 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector
• 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports
ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
• 1 x USB 3.0 Header (Supports 2 USB 3.0 ports) (Supports
ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
BIOS
Feature
• AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with multilingual GUI support
• ACPI 5.0 Compliant wake up events
• SMBIOS 2.7 Support
• CPU, GT_CPU, DRAM, VPPM, PCH 1.0V, VCCIO, VCCSA
Voltage Multi-adjustment
Hardware
Monitor
• CPU/Chassis temperature sensing
• CPU/Chassis Fan Tachometer
• CPU/Chassis Quiet Fan (Auto adjust chassis fan speed by
CPU temperature)
• CPU/Chassis Fan multi-speed control
• Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore
OS • Microso® Windows® 10 64-bit / 8.1 64-bit / 7 32-bit / 7 64-
bit
* To install Windows® 7 OS, a modied installation disk with
xHCI drivers packed into the ISO le is required. Please refer to
page 37 for more detailed instructions.
* For the updated Windows® 10 driver, please visit ASRock’s
website for details: http://www.asrock.com
Certica-
tions
• FCC, CE, WHQL
• ErP/EuP Ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)

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H170A-X1
Please realize that there is a certain risk involved with overclocking, including adjusting
the setting in the BIOS, applying Untied Overclocking Technology, or using third-party
overclocking tools. Overclocking may aect your system’s stability, or even cause damage to
the components and devices of your system. It should be done at your own risk and expense.
We are not responsible for possible damage caused by overclocking.
* For detailed product information, please visit our website: http://www.asrock.com

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Intel
H170
DDR4_A2 (64 bit, 288-pin module)
DDR4_A1 (64 bit, 288-pin module)
DDR4_B2 (64 bit, 288-pin module)
DDR4_B1 (64 bit, 288-pin module)
ATX12V1
ATXPWR1
LAN
PCIE2
Top:
RJ-45
USB 3.0
T: USB0
B: USB1
PCIE4
HDLED RESET
PLED PWRBTN
PANEL1
1
USB4_5
1
1
SPK_PLED1
1
HD_AUDIO1
PCIE1
CPU_FAN1
RoHS
5
7
8
9
10
11
12
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13
124
3
H170A-X1
CMOS
Battery
CLRMOS1
1
PCIE3
USB3_4_5
1
CHA_FAN1
CHA_FAN2
SATA3_2SATA3_4 SATA3_0
SATA3_3SATA3_5 SATA3_1
USB2_3
1
1
TPMS1
PCIE5
Front USB 3.0
PCI Express 3.0
BIOS
USB 3.0
T: USB0
B: USB1
USB 3.0
T: USB2
B: USB3
DVI1
Top:
LINE IN
Center:
FRONT
Bottom:
MIC IN
PS2
Keyboard
PS2
Mouse
6
AUDIO
CODEC
1.3 Motherboard Layout

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H170A-X1
No. Description
1 ATX 12V Power Connector (ATX12V1)
2 CPU Fan Connector (CPU_FAN1)
3 2 x 288-pin DDR4 DIMM Slots (DDR4_A1, DDR4_B1)
4 2 x 288-pin DDR4 DIMM Slots (DDR4_A2, DDR4_B2)
5 ATX Power Connector (ATXPWR1)
6 USB 3.0 Header (USB3_4_5)
7 Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN1)
8 Clear CMOS Jumper (CLRMOS1)
9 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_2)
10 Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN2)
11 Power LED and Speaker Header (SPK_PLED1)
12 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_0)
13 System Panel Header (PANEL1)
14 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_1)
15 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_3)
16 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_5)
17 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_4)
18 USB 2.0 Header (USB2_3)
19 USB 2.0 Header (USB4_5)
20 TPM Header (TPMS1)
21 Front Panel Audio Header (HD_AUDIO1)

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1.4 I/O Panel
No. Description No. Description
1 PS/2 Mouse Port 6 USB 3.0 Ports (USB_01)
2 LAN RJ-45 Port* 7 USB 3.0 Ports (USB3_23)
3 Line In (Light Blue) 8 USB 3.0 Ports (USB3_01)
4 Front Speaker (Lime)** 9 DVI-D Port
5Microphone (Pink) 10 PS/2 Keyboard Port
* ere are two LEDs on the LAN port. Please refer to the table below for the LAN port LED indications.
Activity / Link LED Speed LED
Status Description Status Description
O No Link O 10Mbps connection
Blinking Data Activity Orange 100Mbps connection
On Link Green 1Gbps connection
ACT/LINK LED
SPEED LED
LAN Port
1
10 6789
2
5
4
3

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H170A-X1
** To congure 7.1 CH HD Audio, it is required to use an HD front panel audio module and enable the multi-
channel audio feature through the audio driver.
Please set Speaker Conguration to “7.1 Speaker”in the Realtek HD Audio Manager.
Function of the Audio Ports in 7.1-channel Conguration:
Port Function
Light Blue (Rear panel) Rear Speaker Out
Lime (Rear panel) Front Speaker Out
Pink (Rear panel) Central /Subwoofer Speaker Out
Lime (Front panel) Side Speaker Out

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is is an ATX form factor motherboard. Before you install the motherboard, study
the conguration of your chassis to ensure that the motherboard ts into it.
Pre-installation Precautions
Take note of the following precautions before you install motherboard components
or change any motherboard settings.
• Make sure to unplug the power cord before installing or removing the motherboard
components. Failure to do so may cause physical injuries and damages to motherboard
components.
• In order to avoid damage from static electricity to the motherboard’s components,
NEVER place your motherboard directly on a carpet. Also remember to use a grounded
wrist strap or touch a safety grounded object before you handle the components.
• Hold components by the edges and do not touch the ICs.
• Whenever you uninstall any components, place them on a grounded anti-static pad or
in the bag that comes with the components.
• When placing screws to secure the motherboard to the chassis, please do not over-
tighten the screws! Doing so may damage the motherboard.
Chapter 2 Installation

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H170A-X1
2.1 Installing the CPU
1. Before you insert the 1151-Pin CPU into the socket, please check if the PnP cap is on the
socket, if the CPU surface is unclean, or if there are any bent pins in the socket. Do not
force to insert the CPU into the socket if above situation is found. Otherwise, the CPU
will be seriously damaged.
2. Unplug all power cables before installing the CPU.
1
2
A
B

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4
5
3

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H170A-X1
Please save and replace the cover if the processor is removed. e cover must be placed if
you wish to return the motherboard for aer service.

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2.2 Installing the CPU Fan and Heatsink
1 2
CPU_FAN

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H170A-X1
2.3 Installing Memory Modules (DIMM)
is motherboard provides four 288-pin DDR4 (Double Data Rate 4) DIMM slots,
and supports Dual Channel Memory Technology.
Dual Channel Memory Conguration
e DIMM only ts in one correct orientation. It will cause permanent damage to the
motherboard and the DIMM if you force the DIMM into the slot at incorrect orientation.
Priority DDR4_A1 DDR4_A2 DDR4_B1 DDR4_B2
1Populated Populated
2Populated Populated
3Populated Populated Populated Populated
1. For dual channel conguration, you always need to install identical (the same brand,
speed, size and chip-type) DDR4 DIMM pairs.
2. It is unable to activate Dual Channel Memory Technology with only one or three memory
module installed.
3. It is not allowed to install a DDR, DDR2 or DDR3 memory module into a DDR4 slot;
otherwise, this motherboard and DIMM may be damaged.

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1
2
3