Asus Z10PH-D16 User manual

Z10PH-D16
Server Motherboard
User Guide

ii
E9425
First Edition
June 2014
Copyright © 2014 ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this manual, including the products and software described in it, may be reproduced, transmitted,
transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form or by any means,
except documentation kept by the purchaser for backup purposes, without the express written permission
of ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. (“ASUS”).
Product warranty or service will not be extended if: (1) the product is repaired, modied or altered, unless
such repair, modication of alteration is authorized in writing by ASUS; or (2) the serial number of the
product is defaced or missing.
ASUS PROVIDES THIS MANUAL “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL ASUS, ITS
DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL,
INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS,
LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF USE OR DATA, INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS AND THE LIKE),
EVEN IF ASUS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES ARISING FROM ANY
DEFECT OR ERROR IN THIS MANUAL OR PRODUCT.
SPECIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MANUAL ARE FURNISHED FOR
INFORMATIONAL USE ONLY, AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE,
AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY ASUS. ASUS ASSUMES NO
RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS OR INACCURACIES THAT MAY APPEAR IN THIS
MANUAL, INCLUDING THE PRODUCTS AND SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN IT.
Products and corporate names appearing in this manual 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.

iii
Contents
Notices ...................................................................................................................... vii
Federal Communications Commission Statement.........................................vii
Canadian Department of Communications Statement...................................vii
REACH ......................................................................................................vii
Australia statement notice............................................................................. viii
Safety information.................................................................................................... viii
Electrical safety............................................................................................. viii
Operation safety..............................................................................................ix
How this guide is organized ............................................................................ x
Where to nd more information....................................................................... x
Conventions used in this guide .......................................................................xi
Typography .....................................................................................................xi
Z10PH-D16 specifications summary ....................................................................... xii
Chapter 1: Product Introduction
1.1 Welcome! ....................................................................................................1-2
1.2 Package contents ...................................................................................... 1-2
1.3 Serial number label....................................................................................1-3
1.4 Special features..........................................................................................1-3
1.4.1 Product highlights........................................................................ 1-3
1.4.2 Innovative ASUS features........................................................... 1-4
Chapter 2: Hardware Information
2.1 Before you proceed ...................................................................................2-2
2.2 Motherboard overview............................................................................... 2-3
2.2.1 Placement direction..................................................................... 2-3
2.2.2 Screw holes................................................................................. 2-3
2.2.3 Z10PH-D16 Motherboard layout ................................................. 2-4
2.2.4 Layout contents........................................................................... 2-5
2.3 Central Processing Unit (CPU) ................................................................. 2-6
2.3.1 Installing the CPU ....................................................................... 2-7
2.3.2 Installing the CPU heatsink....................................................... 2-11
2.4 System memory .......................................................................................2-12
2.4.1 Overview ................................................................................... 2-12
2.4.2 Memory Congurations............................................................. 2-12
2.5 Expansion slots........................................................................................2-15
2.5.1 PCI Express x24 slot (Gen 3 x24 link) ...................................... 2-15
2.5.2 Installing the riser card.............................................................. 2-15
2.5.3 Installing an expansion card......................................................2-16
2.5.4 Conguring an expansion card ................................................. 2-18
2.5.5 Interrupt assignments................................................................ 2-18

iv
Contents
2.6 Jumpers ....................................................................................................2-19
2.7 Connectors ...............................................................................................2-25
2.7.1 Rear panel connectors.............................................................. 2-25
2.7.2 Internal connectors.................................................................... 2-28
2.8 Internal LEDs............................................................................................2-34
2.8 Z10PH-D16 Golden Finger ......................................................................2-38
Chapter 3: Powering Up
3.1 Starting up for the first time...................................................................... 3-2
3.2 Powering off the computer........................................................................3-3
3.2.1 Using the OS shut down function................................................ 3-3
3.2.2 Using the dual function power switch.......................................... 3-3
Chapter 4: BIOS setup
4.1 Managing and updating your BIOS .......................................................... 4-2
4.1.1 ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 utility................................................... 4-2
4.1.2 ASUS EZ Flash Utility ................................................................. 4-3
4.1.3 BUPDATER utility ....................................................................... 4-4
4.2 BIOS setup program .................................................................................. 4-6
4.2.1 BIOS menu screen...................................................................... 4-7
4.2.2 Menu bar..................................................................................... 4-7
4.2.3 Menu items.................................................................................. 4-8
4.2.4 Submenu items ........................................................................... 4-8
4.2.5 Navigation keys........................................................................... 4-8
4.2.6 General help................................................................................ 4-8
4.2.7 Conguration elds ..................................................................... 4-8
4.2.8 Pop-up window............................................................................ 4-8
4.2.9 Scroll bar..................................................................................... 4-8
4.3 Main menu ..................................................................................................4-9
4.3.1 System Date [Day xx/xx/xxxx]..................................................... 4-9
4.3.2 System Time [xx:xx:xx] ............................................................... 4-9
4.4 Advanced menu .......................................................................................4-10
4.4.1 ACPI Settings............................................................................ 4-11
4.4.2 Smart Settings........................................................................... 4-11
4.4.3 NCT6779D Super IO Conguration .......................................... 4-12
4.4.4 Onboard LAN I210 Conguration ............................................. 4-13
4.4.5 Serial Port Console Redirection................................................ 4-14
4.4.6 APM .......................................................................................... 4-17
4.4.7 PCI Subsystem Settings ........................................................... 4-18
4.4.8 Network Stack Conguration..................................................... 4-19

v
Contents
4.4.9 CSM Conguration.................................................................... 4-20
4.4.10 Trusted Computing.................................................................... 4-21
4.4.11 USB Conguration .................................................................... 4-22
4.4.12 iSCSI Conguration................................................................... 4-23
4.5 IntelRCSetup menu.................................................................................. 4-24
4.5.1 Processor Conguration............................................................ 4-25
4.5.2 Advanced Power Management Conguration........................... 4-27
4.5.3 Common RefCode Conguration.............................................. 4-28
4.5.4 QPI Conguration...................................................................... 4-29
4.5.5 Memory Conguration............................................................... 4-30
4.5.6 IIO Conguration....................................................................... 4-33
4.5.7 PCH Conguration .................................................................... 4-34
4.5.8 Miscellaneous Conguration..................................................... 4-37
4.5.9 Server ME Conguration........................................................... 4-37
4.5.10 Runtime Error Logging Support ................................................ 4-37
4.6 Server Mgmt menu................................................................................... 4-38
4.7 Event Logs menu ..................................................................................... 4-43
4.7.1 Change Smbios Event Log Settings ......................................... 4-43
4.7.2 View Smbios Event Log ............................................................ 4-44
4.8 Monitor menu ...........................................................................................4-45
4.9 Security menu ..........................................................................................4-46
4.10 Boot menu ................................................................................................4-49
4.11 Tool menu.................................................................................................4-50
4.12 Exit menu..................................................................................................4-51
Chapter 5: RAID Configuration
5.1 Setting up RAID.......................................................................................... 5-2
5.1.1 RAID denitions .......................................................................... 5-2
5.1.2 Installing hard disk drives............................................................ 5-3
5.1.3 Setting the RAID item in BIOS .................................................... 5-3
5.1.4 RAID conguration utilities.......................................................... 5-3
5.2 LSI Software RAID Configuration Utility.................................................. 5-4
5.2.1 Creating a RAID set .................................................................... 5-5
5.2.2 Adding or viewing a RAID conguration.................................... 5-11
5.2.3 Initializing the virtual drives ....................................................... 5-12
5.2.4 Rebuilding failed drives............................................................. 5-16
5.2.5 Checking the drives for data consistency.................................. 5-18
5.2.6 Deleting a RAID conguration................................................... 5-21
5.2.7 Selecting the boot drive from a RAID set.................................. 5-22
5.2.8 Enabling WriteCache ................................................................ 5-23

vi
Contents
5.3 Intel®Rapid Storage Technology enterprise
SATA Option ROM Utility......................................................................... 5-24
5.3.1 Creating a RAID set .................................................................. 5-25
5.3.2 Deleting a RAID set...................................................................5-27
5.3.3 Resetting disks to Non-RAID .................................................... 5-28
5.3.4 Exiting the Intel®Rapid Storage Technology enterprise
SATA Option ROM utility........................................................... 5-29
5.3.5 Rebuilding the RAID..................................................................5-29
5.3.6 Setting the Boot array in the BIOS Setup Utility........................ 5-31
5.4 Intel®Rapid Storage Technology enterprise (Windows)...................... 5-32
5.4.1 Creating a RAID set .................................................................. 5-33
5.4.2 Changing a Volume Type..........................................................5-35
5.4.3 Deleting a volume ..................................................................... 5-36
5.4.4 Preferences............................................................................... 5-37
Chapter 6: Driver installation
6.1 RAID driver installation .............................................................................6-2
6.1.1 Creating a RAID driver disk......................................................... 6-2
6.1.2 Installing the RAID controller driver............................................. 6-3
6.2 Management applications and utilities installation .............................. 6-13
6.3 Running the Support DVD ......................................................................6-13
6.4 Intel®chipset device software installation ............................................ 6-17
6.5 Installing the Intel®I210 Gigabit Adapters driver.................................. 6-19
6.6 VGA driver installation ............................................................................ 6-22
6.7 Intel®Rapid Storage Technology enterprise 4.0 installation ............... 6-24
Appendices
A.1 Z10PH-D16 block diagram ............................................................................... A-2
ASUS contact information.......................................................................................... 1

vii
Notices
Federal Communications Commission Statement
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two
conditions:
• This device may not cause harmful interference, and
• This device must accept any interference received including interference that may cause
undesired operation.
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital
device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide
reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment
generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used
in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular
installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception,
which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try
to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
• Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
• Connect the equipment to an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is
connected.
• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
Canadian Department of Communications Statement
This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class B limits for radio noise emissions from
digital apparatus set out in the Radio Interference Regulations of the Canadian Department of
Communications.
This class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003.
The use of shielded cables for connection of the monitor to the graphics card is required
to assure compliance with FCC regulations. Changes or modications to this unit not
expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority
to operate this equipment.
REACH
Complying with the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of
Chemicals) regulatory framework, we publish the chemical substances in our products at
ASUS REACH website at http://csr.asus.com/english/REACH.htm.

viii
Australia statement notice
From 1 January 2014 updated warranties apply to all ASUS products, consistent with
the Australian Consumer Law. For the latest product warranty details please visit http://
support.asus.com. Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the
Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and
compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled
to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the
failure does not amount to a major failure.
If you require assistance please call ASUS Customer Service 1300 2787 88 or visit us at
http://support.asus.com
Safety information
Electrical safety
• To prevent electrical shock hazard, disconnect the power cable from the electrical
outlet before relocating the system.
• When adding or removing devices to or from the system, ensure that the power cables
for the devices are unplugged before the signal cables are connected. If possible,
disconnect all power cables from the existing system before you add a device.
• Before connecting or removing signal cables from the motherboard, ensure that all
power cables are unplugged.
• Seek professional assistance before using an adapter or extension cord. These
devices could interrupt the grounding circuit.
• Make sure that your power supply is set to the correct voltage in your area. If you are
not sure about the voltage of the electrical outlet you are using, contact your local
power company.
• If the power supply is broken, do not try to x it by yourself. Contact a qualied service
technician or your retailer.

ix
Operation safety
• Before installing the motherboard and adding devices on it, carefully read all the manuals
that came with the package.
• Before using the product, make sure all cables are correctly connected and the power
cables are not damaged. If you detect any damage, contact your dealer immediately.
• To avoid short circuits, keep paper clips, screws, and staples away from connectors,
slots, sockets and circuitry.
• Avoid dust, humidity, and temperature extremes. Do not place the product in any area
where it may become wet.
• Place the product on a stable surface.
• If you encounter technical problems with the product, contact a qualied service
technician or your retailer.
DO NOT throw the motherboard in municipal waste. This product has been designed to
enable proper reuse of parts and recycling. This symbol of the crossed out wheeled bin
indicates that the product (electrical and electronic equipment) should not be placed in
municipal waste. Check local regulations for disposal of electronic products.
DO NOT throw the mercury-containing button cell battery in municipal waste. This symbol
of the crossed out wheeled bin indicates that the battery should not be placed in municipal
waste.

x
About this guide
This user guide contains the information you need when installing and conguring the
motherboard.
How this guide is organized
This user guide contains the following parts:
• Chapter1:Productintroduction
This chapter describes the features of the motherboard and the new technologies it
supports.
• Chapter2:Hardwareinformation
This chapter lists the hardware setup procedures that you have to perform when
installing system components. It includes description of the switches, jumpers, and
connectors on the motherboard.
• Chapter3:Poweringup
This chapter describes the power up sequence and ways of shutting down the system.
• Chapter4:BIOSsetup
This chapter tells how to change system settings through the BIOS Setup menus.
Detailed descriptions of the BIOS parameters are also provided.
• Chapter5:RAIDconfiguration
This chapter provides instructions for setting up, creating, and conguring RAID sets
using the available utilities.
• Chapter6:Driverinstallation
This chapter provides instructions for installing the necessary drivers for different
system components.
• Appendix:Referenceinformation
This appendix includes additional information that you may refer to when conguring
the motherboard.
Where to find more information
Refer to the following sources for additional information and for product and software updates.
1. ASUS websites
The ASUS website provides updated information on ASUS hardware and software
products. Refer to the ASUS contact information.
2. Optional documentation
Your product package may include optional documentation, such as warranty yers,
that may have been added by your dealer. These documents are not part of the
standard package.

xi
Conventions used in this guide
To make sure that you perform certain tasks properly, take note of the following symbols
used throughout this manual.
Typography
Bold text Indicates a menu or an item to select.
Italics Used to emphasize a word or a phrase.
<Key> Keys enclosed in the less-than and greater-
than sign means that you must press the
enclosed key.
Example: <Enter> means that you must press
the Enter or Return key.
<Key1>+<Key2>+<Key3> If you must press two or more keys
simultaneously, the key names are linked with
a plus sign (+).
Example: <Ctrl>+<Alt>+<Del>
Command Means that you must type the command
exactly as shown, then supply the required
item or value enclosed in brackets.
Example: At the DOS prompt, type the
command line: format A:/S
DANGER/WARNING: Information to prevent injury to yourself
when trying to complete a task.
CAUTION: Information to prevent damage to the components
when trying to complete a task.
NOTE: Tips and additional information to help you complete a
task.
IMPORTANT: Instructions that you MUST follow to complete a
task.

xii
Z10PH-D16 specifications summary
Model Name Z10PH-D16
Processor Support / System Bus
2 x Socket R3 (LGA 2011-3)
Intel®Xeon®processor E5-2600 v3 product family
QPI 6.4 / 8.0 / 9.6 GT/s
Core Logic Intel®C612 PCH
Form Factor Proprietary, 18.035 in. x 6.855 in.
ASUS Features
Fan Speed Control P
Rack Optimized
(Dedicated for Rack) P
ASWM Enterprise P
Memory
Total Slots 16 (4-channel per CPU, 8 DIMM per CPU)
Voltage 1.2V
Capacity Maximum up to 1024 GB
Memory Type
DDR4 2133/ 1866/ 1600/ 1333* RDIMM/LR-DIMM/
NVDIMM
* Please refer to www.asus.com for latest momory AVL update
* 2133 MT/s at 1 DPC only
Memory Size 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB (RDIMM)
32 GB and 64 GB (LRDIMM)
Expansion
Slots
Total PCI/PCI-X/PCI-E
Slots
1
Slot Location
1 x PCI-E X24 (X16 + X8 Gen3 Link)
With a Riser card* installed, can support 1 x PCI-E x16 (X16
Gen3 Link) and 1 x PCI-E x8 (X8 Gen3 Link)**.
* Z10PH-D16 motherboard ships with one Riser card.
** Support InfiniBand and 10G upgrade kit (Optional) such as
PEM-FDR, PEB-10G/57840-2S, and PEB-10G/57811-1S.
Storage
SATA Controller
Intel®C612
- 6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports or 5 x SATA 6Gb/s ports with 1 x
M.2 connector (support both SATA and PCI-E interface)
Intel® RSTe (for Windows only; support software RAID 0, 1,
10, and 5)
LSI MegaRAID driver supports software RAID 0, 1, and 10
(Windows & Linux)
* 3 x SATA 6Gb/s ports switch to golden finger (for system
design)
SAS upgrade
Optional kits:
ASUS PIKE II 3008 8-port SAS 12G RAID card
ASUS PIKE II 3108 8-port SAS 12G HW RAID card
Networking LAN
2 x Intel I210AT
1 x Management Port
Graphic VGA Aspeed AST2400 32MB
(continued on the next page)

xiii
Z10PH-D16 specifications summary
*Refer to ASUS Server AVL for latest update.
**Specifications are subject to change without notice.
Onboard I/O
Connectors
TPM Header 1
PSU Connector 1 x 20-pin power connector
Management
Connector Onboard ASMB8-iKVM
USB Connectors 1 x USB 2.0 connector (Type A USB socket)
1 x USB 2.0 pin header (up to 1 device)
Fan Header 4 x 4-pin
SMBus 1 (Integrated in golden nger)
Chassis Intruder 1
Front LAN LED 2
Serial Port Header 1
Device Power
Connector 1 x 4-pin Power connector
M.2 Connector 1 (NGFF Type 2242, Capacity 16 ~ 128 GB)
Rear I/O
Connectors
External USB Port 2 x USB 3.0
VGA Port 1
RJ-45 2 x GbE LAN
1 x Mgmt LAN
Management
Solution
Software ASWM Enterprise
Out of Band Remote
Management ASMB8-iKVM for KVM-over-Internet
Monitoring CPU Temperature P
FAN RPM P
Environment
Operation temperature: 10°C ~ 35°C
Non operation temperature: -40°C ~ 70°C
Non operation humidity: 20% ~ 90% ( Non condensing)

xiv

1
Product introduction
This chapter describes the motherboard features and the new
technologies it supports.
Chapter 1: Product Introduction

1-2 Chapter 1: Product introduction
1.1 Welcome!
Thank you for buying an ASUS®Z10PH-D16 motherboard!
The motherboard delivers a host of new features and latest technologies, making it another
standout in the long line of ASUS quality motherboards!
Before you start installing the motherboard, and hardware devices on it, check the items in
your package with the list below.
1.2 Package contents
Check your motherboard package for the following items.
The golden nger of Z10PH-D16 ships with a cap to protect the pins. Ensure to remove the
cap before using the golden nger.
If any of the above items is damaged or missing, contact your retailer.
Standard Gift Box Pack Standard Bulk Pack
Riser card 1 1
Cables SATA 6G cable 6 -
Application CD
Support DVD 1 1 piece per carton
ASWM Enterprise DVD 1 1 piece per carton
ASMB8-iKVM DVD 1 1 piece per carton
Packaging Quantity 1 piece per carton 10 pieces per carton
Optional items Description
PIKE II 3008 LSI 8-port SAS 12G RAID card
PIKE II 3108 LSI 8-port SAS 12G HW RAID card
PEM-FDR Mellanox ConnectX-3 FDR card
PEB-10G/57840-2S Dual port 10G SFP+ Ethernet Adapter
PEB-10G/57811-1S Single port 10G SFP+ Ethernet Adapter
• The ASUS PIKE II 3008, PIKE II 3108, and PEM-FDR cards must be installed on on
the default riser card that is bundled with the Z10PH-D16 motherboard.
• PIKE II 3008/3108 must be installed on the PCI-E X16 slot of the default riser card.

ASUS Z10PH-D16 1-3
1.3 Serial number label
Before requesting support from the ASUS Technical Support team, you must take note of the
motherboard's serial number containing 12 characters xxS2xxxxxxxx shown as the gure
below. With the correct serial number of the product, ASUS Technical Support team members
can then offer a quicker and satisfying solution to your problems.
xxS2xxxxxxxx
Z10PH-D16
合格
1.4 Special features
1.4.1 Product highlights
Latest Processor Technology
The motherboard supports Intel Xeon® processor E5-2600 V3 product family which provides
compelling IPC increases for legacy performance improvements, oating point improvement,
easire multi-core programming, and with next-generation processor power management.
Intel ® Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family also improve the I/O capabilities and
support QPI link speed of up to 9.6GT/s.
Intel®AVX 2.0
Intel® AVX 2.0 extends 256-bit vector support for integer vector operations, doubles
xed point arithmetic throughput, adds support for new vector gather, permutes/blend,
vector shifts resulting in xed and oating-point algorithm improvements. Also, Intel's new
microarchitecture doubles the cache bandwidth at L1/L2 to support higher FLOPS and
contributes to greater performance in signal and image processing applications.
Next Generation of processor power management
Intel ® Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family enhances the processor power
management with the features of Energy Efcient Turbo, Uncore Frequency Scaling, and
Per-Core P-state. Also, the Integrated Voltage Regulator enables generational performance
and power improvements that the standard VR solutions cannot provide.
DDR4 memory support
The motherboard supports DDR4 memory that features faster clock frequencies and higher
data transfer rates of 1333 MT/s to 2133 MT/s (million transfers per second). DDR4 offers a
lower voltage standard of 1.2V that reduces memory power demand and provides improved
performance.

1-4 Chapter 1: Product introduction
PCI Express 3.0
PCI Express 3.0 (PCIe 3.0) is the PCI Express bus standard that provides twice the
performance and speed of PCIe 2.0. It provides optimal graphics performance, unprecedented
data speed, and seamless transition with its complete backward compatibility to PCIe 2.0
devices.
M.2 Support
This motherboard features the M.2 slot which shares bandwidth with the SATA 6Gb/s port and
PCI-E Gen3 x4 and is dedicated only to the operating system.
Intel®C612 Series Chipset
The Intel®C612 series chipset has enterprise class features targeted for Cloud and Storage
applications. It is optimized and validated to work with the latest Xeon® processor E5-2600 v3
product family. It reduces thermal design power (TDP) and supports USB 3.0 and SATA III
ports thus bringing more features and benets to target users.
Intel®I210AT LAN Solution
The motherboard comes with two Gigabit LAN controllers and ports which provide a total
solution for your networking needs. The onboard Intel® I210AT Gigabit LAN controllers use the
PCI Express interface and could achieve network throughput close to Gigabit bandwidth.
Serial ATA III technology
The motherboard supports the Serial ATA III technology through the Serial ATA interface and
Intel® C612 chipset, delivering up to 6 Gb/s data transfer rates. It also provides enhanced
scalability, faster data retrieval, and double the bandwidth of current bus systems.
Temperature, fan, and voltage monitoring
The CPU temperature is monitored to prevent overheating and damage. The system fan
rotations per minute (RPM) is monitored for timely failure detection. The chip monitors the
voltage levels to ensure a stable supply of current for critical components.
1.4.2 Innovative ASUS features
ASUS Fan Speed control technology
The ASUS Fan Speed control technology smartly adjusts the fan speeds according to the
system loading to ensure a quiet, cool, and efcient operation.

2
Hardware Information
This chapter lists the hardware setup procedures that you have
to perform when installing system components. It includes
description of the jumpers and connectors on the motherboard.
Chapter 2: Hardware Information

2-2 Chapter 2: Hardware information
2.1 Before you proceed
Take note of the following precautions before you install motherboard components or change
any motherboard settings.
• Unplugthepowercordfromthewallsocketbeforetouchinganycomponent.
• Useagroundedwriststraportouchasafelygroundedobjectorametalobject,such
asthepowersupplycase,beforehandlingcomponentstoavoiddamagingthemdue
to static electricity.
• HoldcomponentsbytheedgestoavoidtouchingtheICsonthem.
• Wheneveryouuninstallanycomponent,placeitonagroundedantistaticpadorinthe
bag that came with the component.
• Beforeyouinstallorremoveanycomponent,ensurethatthepowersupplyisswitched
off or the power cord is detached from the power supply. Failure to do so may cause
severedamagetothemotherboard,peripherals,and/orcomponents.