Asus Z87-PLUS User manual

Motherboard
Z87-PLUS

ii
E7831
First Edition
May 2013
Copyright©2013 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 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


Offer to Provide Source Code of Certain Software
This product contains copyrighted software that is licensed under the General Public License (“GPL”),
under the Lesser General Public License Version (“LGPL”) and/or other Free Open Source Software
Licenses. Such software in this product is distributed without any warranty to the extent permitted by the
applicable law. Copies of these licenses are included in this product.
Where the applicable license entitles you to the source code of such software and/or other additional data,
you may obtain it for a period of three years after our last shipment of the product, either
(1) for free by downloading it from http://support.asus.com/download
or
(2) for the cost of reproduction and shipment, which is dependent on the preferred carrier and the location
where you want to have it shipped to, by sending a request to:
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Legal Compliance Dept.
15 Li Te Rd.,
Beitou, Taipei 112
Taiwan
In your request please provide the name, model number and version, as stated in the About Box of the
product for which you wish to obtain the corresponding source code and your contact details so that we
can coordinate the terms and cost of shipment with you.
The source code will be distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY and licensed under the same license as
the corresponding binary/object code.
This offer is valid to anyone in receipt of this information.
ASUSTeK is eager to duly provide complete source code as required under various Free Open Source
Software licenses. If however you encounter any problems in obtaining the full corresponding source
[email protected], stating
the product and describing the problem (please DO NOT send large attachments such as source code
archives, etc. to this email address).

iii
Contents
Safety information...................................................................................................... vi
About this guide........................................................................................................ vii
Z87-PLUS specications summary .......................................................................... ix
Package contents..................................................................................................... xiv
Installation tools and components.......................................................................... xv
Chapter 1: Product Introduction
1.1 Special features.......................................................................................... 1-1
1.1.1 Product highlights........................................................................ 1-1
 ............... 1-2
1.1.3 ASUS Exclusive Features........................................................... 1-3
1.1.4 ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution..................................................... 1-4
1.1.5 ASUS EZ DIY.............................................................................. 1-4
1.1.6 Other special features................................................................. 1-5
1.2 Motherboard overview............................................................................... 1-6
1.2.1 Before you proceed..................................................................... 1-6
1.2.2 Motherboard layout ..................................................................... 1-7
1.2.3 Central Processing Unit (CPU) ................................................... 1-9
1.2.4 System memory ........................................................................ 1-10
1.2.5 Expansion slots ......................................................................... 1-24
1.2.6 Onboard buttons and switches..................................................1-26
1.2.7 Jumper ...................................................................................... 1-31
1.2.8 Onboard LEDs .......................................................................... 1-32
1.2.9 Internal connectors.................................................................... 1-34
Chapter 2: Basic installation
2.1 Building your PC system...........................................................................2-1
2.1.1 Motherboard installation.............................................................. 2-1
2.1.2 CPU installation........................................................................... 2-3
2.1.3 CPU heatsink and fan assembly installation............................... 2-4
2.1.4 DIMM installation......................................................................... 2-6
2.1.5 ATX Power connection................................................................ 2-7
2.1.6 SATA device connection.............................................................. 2-8
2.1.7 Front I/O Connectors...................................................................2-9
2.1.8 Expansion Card installation....................................................... 2-10
2.2 BIOS update utility................................................................................... 2-11
2.3 Motherboard rear and audio connections ............................................. 2-13
2.3.1 Rear I/O connection .................................................................. 2-13
2.3.2 Audio I/O connections............................................................... 2-15

iv
2.4 Starting up for the rst time.................................................................... 2-17
2.5 Turning off the computer......................................................................... 2-18
Chapter 3: BIOS setup
3.1 Knowing BIOS ............................................................................................ 3-1
3.2 BIOS setup program .................................................................................. 3-2
3.2.1 EZ Mode...................................................................................... 3-3
3.2.2 Advanced Mode .......................................................................... 3-4
3.3 My Favorites ............................................................................................... 3-6
3.4 Main menu .................................................................................................. 3-7
3.5 Ai Tweaker menu........................................................................................ 3-9
3.6 Advanced menu ....................................................................................... 3-24
  .................................................................... 3-25
  .................................................................... 3-28
  ................................................................... 3-29
 ...................................................... 3-31
  .................................................................... 3-33
 ...................................................... 3-34
 ................................................ 3-35
3.6.8 APM .......................................................................................... 3-37
3.6.9 Network Stack ........................................................................... 3-38
3.7 Monitor menu ........................................................................................... 3-39
3.8 Boot menu ................................................................................................ 3-42
3.9 Tools menu ............................................................................................... 3-48
3.9.1 ASUS EZ Flash 2 Utility ............................................................ 3-48
 ..................................................................... 3-48
3.9.3 ASUS SPD Information............................................................. 3-49
3.10 Exit menu .................................................................................................. 3-50
3.11 Updating BIOS.......................................................................................... 3-51
3.11.1 EZ Update ................................................................................. 3-51
3.11.2 ASUS EZ Flash 2 ...................................................................... 3-52
3.11.3 ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3.......................................................... 3-53
3.11.4 ASUS BIOS Updater................................................................. 3-54
Chapter 4: Software support
4.1 Installing an operating system ................................................................. 4-1
4.2 Support DVD information.......................................................................... 4-1
4.2.1 Running the support DVD ........................................................... 4-1
4.2.2 Obtaining the software manuals.................................................. 4-2

v
4.3 Software information ................................................................................. 4-3
4.3.1 AI Suite 3.....................................................................................4-3
4.3.2 Dual Intelligent Processors 4 ...................................................... 4-4
4.3.3 Remote GO! .............................................................................. 4-10
4.3.4 USB 3.0 Boost...........................................................................4-16
 .................................................... 4-17
4.3.6 Ai Charger+............................................................................... 4-19
4.3.7 EZ Update ................................................................................. 4-20
4.3.8 Network iControl........................................................................ 4-21
4.3.9 USB Charger+........................................................................... 4-22
4.3.10 System Information ................................................................... 4-23
 .................................................................. 4-24
Chapter 5: RAID support
5.1 RAID congurations .................................................................................. 5-1
  .......................................................................... 5-1
5.1.2 Installing Serial ATA hard disks ................................................... 5-2
5.1.3 Setting the RAID item in BIOS .................................................... 5-2
5.1.4 Intel®Rapid Storage Technology Option ROM utility .................. 5-3
5.2 Creating a RAID driver disk.......................................................................5-7
5.2.1 Creating a RAID driver disk without entering the OS.................. 5-7
5.2.2 Creating a RAID driver disk in Windows®.................................... 5-8
5.2.3 Installing the RAID driver during Windows®OS installation ........ 5-8
Appendices
Notices .................................................................................................................... A-1
ASUS contact information...................................................................................... A-4