EVGA P55 SLI manual

User ’s Guide EVGA P55 SLI Motherb oard[...]

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EVGA P55 SLI Motherboard Table of Contents User’s Guide ................................................................................................................. 1 EVGA P55 SLI Mot herboard ......................................................................................... 1 Before You Begin… ......................................[...]

Audio .............................................................................................................. 21 Expansion Slots ................................................................................................ . 22 PCI Slots ......................................................................................................[...]

EVGA P55 SLI Motherboard Palette Snooping ................................................................................................ 35 PCI IDE BusMaster ............................................................................................ 35 OffBoard PCI/ISA IDE Card ....................................................................[...]

List of Figures Figure 1. PW 1 Motherboard Con nector ................................................................ 16 Figure 2. CMOS Setup Utilit y Main Menu ............................................................. 27 Figure 3. Standard BIOS Features M enu .............................................................. 28 Figure 4. Advance [...]

EVGA P55 SLI Motherboard Before Y ou Begin… Parts NOT in the Kit This kit contains all the hardwa re necessary to instal l and connect your new EVGA P55 SLI Mother board. However, it doe s not conta in the following items that must be purchased separatel y to make the motherbo ard functional.  Intel Socket 1156 P rocessor  DDR3 System Me mo[...]

EVGA P55 SLI Motherboard Motherboard Spe cifications  Size ATX form factor of 12 inc h x 9.6 inch  Processor support Intel Socket 1156 C PU’s  Operating systems: Supports Windows X P 32bit/64bit, Window s Vista 32bit/64bit, a nd Windows 7 32bit/64bit  Intel P55 Express Chip set  System Memory support Supports dual channel DDR3- 160[...]

 Six (6) onboard Serial A TA II 300MBps data trans fer rate Six Serial ATA II con nectors with support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, and RAID 5 Supports hot plug an d NCQ (Native C ommand Queuing )  Dual Onboard LAN ’s Integrated LAN port ’s Supports 10/100/100 0 Mb/sec E thernet  Onboard IEEE 1394 a (Fi rewire) Support hot plug Two IEE[...]

Hardware Inst allation This section will g uide you through the ins tallation of the motherboard. The topics covered in thi s section are:  Preparing the motherboa rd  Installing the CPU  Installing the CPU fan  Installing the memory  Installing the mother board  Connecting cable s Safety Instru ctions To reduce the risk of fire, [...]

Preparing the Mo therboard Installing the CPU Be very careful whe n handling the C PU. Hold the processor only by the edge s and do not touch the contac ts on the motherboa rd or CPU. Any physical da mage to the motherbard pins w ill void the war ranty. Use the following p rocedure to instal l the CPU onto the mo therboard: Unhook the socket leve r[...]

Align the notche s in the processor wi th the notches on the socket. Lower the proces sor straight down into the socket without tilti ng or sliding it into the socket Note: Make sure the CPU is fully seated and level. Lower the load plate s o it is resting on the CPU. Pull back the socke t lever aga in to ensure the load plate tip engage s under th[...]

Installing System Memory (DIM Ms) Your new motherboa rd has four 240 -pin slots for D DR3 memory. These slots support 1G B , 2G B, 4GB DDR3 technologie s . There m ust be at least one memory bank populated t o ensure no rmal operation. U se the following the recommendations for installing memory.  One DIMM : If u sing 1 DIMM ( Single Cha nnel ) [...]

Installing the I/O Shield The motherboard kit co mes with an I/O s hield that is us ed to block radio frequency transmi ssions, protec ts internal component s from dust and foreign objects, and promotes co rrect airflow w ithin the chassi s. Before installing the mo therboard, in stall the I/O shield from the insid e of the chassis. Press the I /O [...]

Securing the Mot herboard into a System Case Most system case s have a base with mounting studs or spac ers to allow th e motherboard to be secu red to the chas sis and help to pre vent short circui ts. If there are studs that do not align with a moun ting hole on the motherboard, it i s recommended that y ou remove that stud to prevent the possibi[...]

24 -pin ATX Pow er (P W1 ) PW1 is the main power supply connector located alo ng the e dge of the board next to the DIMM slots. Make sure that the power suppl y cable a nd pins are properly aligned wit h the connector o n the motherboard . Firmly plug the power supply cable into the c onnector and make sure it is sec ure. Figure 1. PW1 Motherboard [...]

primary storage devices. The current Se rial ATA II interf ace allows up to 300MB/s data trans fer rate. There are six (6) internal serial ATA c onnectors on this mother board. These connections are de signed to be a ngled to not interfere w ith any expa nsions cards. These connecti on points support RAI D 0, RAID 1, and RAID 10 configurations. SAT[...]

Connecting Internal Headers Front Panel Hea der The front panel he ader on this motherb oard is one connec tor used to connect the following fou r cables. (see Table 2 for pin definitions) :  PWRLED Attach the front pane l power LED cable to these two pins of the connector. The Powe r LED indicates the system’s statu s. When the system is turn[...]

IEEE1394a (Firewire) Th is motherboar d has one IEEE 1394a onboard header. A lternatively, you can also connect this to your system case (if ap plicable). 1. Secure the bracket to either t he front or rear panel o f the system case (not all system cases are equippe d with the front panel optio n). Connect the end of the c able to the IEEE1 394 a he[...]

USB Headers This motherboard c ontains seven (7) US B 2.0 ports that are exposed on the rear panel of the chassis (Figure 2). The mothe rboard also contain s three (3) 10 - pin internal heade r connectors onboard that ca n be used to connect an optional e xternal bracket conta ining up to six (6) USB 2.0 port s. 1. Secure the bracket to either t he[...]

Audio The audio connec tor supports HD audio standard and provide s two kinds of audio output choice s: the Front Audio, the Rea r Audio. The f ront Audio supports re-tasking function. Table 5. Front Audio Connect or Connector Pin Signal Front Audi o Connector 1 PORT1_L 2 AUD_GND 3 PORT1_R 4 PRECENCE_J 5 PORT2_R 6 SENSE1_RETURN 7 SENSE_SEND 8 Empty[...]

Expansion Slots PCI Slots The PCI slot suppo rts many expa nsion cards such as a L AN card, USB card, SCSI card and other ca rds that comply w ith PCI specifications. Whe n installing a card into the PCI slot, be sure that it i s fully seated. Se cure the ca rd’s metal bracket to the c hassis back pane l with the screw used t o hold the blank cov[...]

Onboard Button s These onboard butt ons include RESET, POWER and Cle ar CMOS. These functions allow you t o easily reset t he system, turn on/of f the system, or clear the CMOS. Clear CMOS Butto n The motherboard u ses the CMOS RAM to store all the s et parameters. The CMOS can be clea red by pressing the Clea r CMOS button either on board or on th[...]

Post Port Debug LED and LED Status Indicators Post Port Debug LED Provides two-digit P OST codes to show why the sy stem may be failing to b oot . It is useful during tr oubleshooting situation s. This Debug LED will a lso display current CPU temperat ures after the system has fully bo oted into the Operating System. LED Status Indi cators The LEDs[...]

Configuring the B IOS This section discu sses how to change the system setting s through the BIOS Setup menus. Desc riptions of the BIOS parame ters are a lso provided. This section include s the following info rmation:  Enter BIOS Setup  Main Menu  Standard BIOS Feature s  Advanced BIOS Fea tures  Advanced Chipset Featu res  PCI/[...]

Enter BIOS Setu p The BIOS is the c ommunication bridge be tween hardware and software. Correctly setting the BIOS parameters i s critical to maint ain optimal system performance and stability . Use the following p rocedure to verify/chang e BIOS settings. 3. Power on the computer. 4. Press the Del key w hen the follow ing message briefly di splays[...]

Configuring the BIOS Figure 2. CMOS Setup Utility M ain Menu  Standard BIOS Featu res Use this menu to set up the basic system c onfiguration.  Advanced BIOS Fea tures Use this menu to set up the advance d system features and boot sequence.  Advanced Chipset Features Use this menu to set up onboard perip herals such as IDE, RAID, USB, LAN,[...]

Standard BIO S Features Menu The Standard CMO S Features menu is used to configure the sta ndard CMOS information, such as the date, time, a nd so on. Use the + and - keys to scroll through the options. Use t he  arrow ke ys to position t he selector in the option you choo se. To go bac k to the previous menu, pr ess Esc . Figure 3. Standard [...]

Configuring the BIOS System Time / Sy stem Date Using the arrow keys, position the c ursor over the mon th, day, a nd year. Use the + and - keys to sc roll through dates and times. Note that the w eekday (Sun through Sat) canno t be changed. This field changes to correspond to the da te you enter. Note that t he hour value is shown in a 24 -hour cl[...]

Figure 4. Advanced BIOS Fea tures IDE Configuration Use this to configure y our storage drivers and to enable RAID or switch between IDE and AHC I mode . Please note for Windows Vista / W indows 7, it is recommended to use AHCI mode f or new system ins tallation s. Boot Settings Configuration Use this option to c onfigure various syste m options, s[...]

Configuring the BIOS USB Configurati on Th is option menu a llows yo u to enable Legacy USB support, force US B 1.1 mode and more. Advanced Chipse t Features Select Advanc ed Chipset Features from the CMOS Setu p Utility menu and press Enter to change the settings. Figure 5. Advanced Chipset Fe atures North Bridge Confi guration This option menu wi[...]

PCI Express Con figuration This option menu will a llow you to set a dvanced PCI Ex press options, such a s Payload size. It is no t recommended to adju st these se ttings. Intel VT-d Configur ation This option will allow y ou to enable/disable the Intel VT-d fea ture. The Advanced Chip set Features menu also allows you t o enable/disable some onbo[...]

Configuring the BIOS ME Subsystem Configuration Select this option to change a dvanced ME Subsystem set tings.[...]

PCI/PN P Resource Managemen t Select PCI/PNP Resource Manag ement from the CM OS Setup Utility menu and press Enter to display th e advanced settings . Figure 6. PCI/PNP Resource Management Clear NVRAM This function clears the NVRAM during Sy stem Boot. Plug & Play O/S This function se ts whether the O/S or B IOS configures Plug and Play device[...]

Configuring the BIOS Allocate IRQ to PCI VGA This function allows an IRQ to be as signed to a PCI VG A. Palette Snooping This function allows the BIOS to infor m the system tha t an ISA graphic s device is installed. PCI IDE BusMa ster This function allows the BIOS to use PCI BusMasterin g for reading or writing to IDE drives. OffBoard PCI/ISA IDE [...]

Boot Configuratio n Features Select Boot Configura tion Features from the C MOS Setup Utility menu and press Enter to display the settings. Figure 7. Boot Configuration Fea tures Boot Dev ice Priority This option menu will allow specification o f the boot devic e priority sequence. Hard Disk Driv es This option menu allow s you specification of the[...]

Configuring the BIOS CD/DVD Driv es This option menu allow s you specifica tion of the CD/DV D boot priority sequence. Power Managem ent Features Select Power Manage ment Fea tures from the CMOS Set up Utility menu and press Enter to display the settings . Figure 8. Power Management Features ACPI Configuration This menu will allow a djustment of A [...]

SLP_S4# Min. A ssertion Width This function allows adju stment of the SLP as sertion width. Restore on AC Pow er Loss This menu allows adjust ment of the AC Power Loss para meters. Hardware H ealth Configure Select Hardware He alth Configure from the CMOS Setu p Utility menu and press Enter to display the settings . Figure 9. Hardware Health Con fi[...]

Configuring the BIOS CPU Fan Mode Setting This function allows chang e of the fa n mode configuration. Frequency/Volta ge Control Menu Select Frequency /Voltage Control from the C MOS Setu p Utility menu and press Enter to display the settings . Figure 10 . Frequency/Voltage C ontrol Memory Configure This menu will allow t he configuration of adva [...]

CPU Configuration This menu will allow t he configuration of advance d CPU setting s, such as Virtualization Tec hnology, CPU Spee dStep, or CPU pow er saving options.[...]

Configuring the BIOS Inst alling Drivers a nd Sof tware The CD that has been shipped w ith the EVGA P55 SLI Motherboard contain s the following softwa re and drivers:  Chipset Driver s  Audio drivers  LAN Drivers  RAID Drivers  EVGA E-LEET Ove rclocking Utility  Adobe Acrobat Rea der  User ’ s Manual Windows XP/Vis ta /7 Driv[...]

Appendix A. POST Codes for the EVGA P55 SLI Motherboard This section provides t he AMI POST Codes (Table 6) for the EVGA P55 S LI Motherboard during system boot up. The POST Code s are display ed on the Debug LED readout located di rectly onboard the m otherboard. This Debug LED w ill also display current CPU temperatures afte r the system has full[...]

Configuring the BIOS Code Description 20 Relocate System Management interrupt vector 24 Uncompress and initialize BIOS module 2A Initialize devices primary 2C Initialize devices secondary 2E Initialize output devices 31 Allocate memory for ADM module 33 Initialize silent boot module 37 Display sign-on message 38 Initialize USB controller 39 Initial[...]

Code Description AA Uninstall POST vector AB Prepare BBS for Int 19 boot AC End of POST initialization B1 Save system context for ACPI 00 Pass control to OS (can vary) Show CPU Temp (if enabled) EVGA Glossary of Terms ACPI - Advanced C onfiguration an d Powe r Interface AFR – Alternate Fra me Rendering APIC - Advanced Programmable Interrupt Contr[...]

Configuring the BIOS HDD - Hard Disk Drive HDMI - High-D efinition Multimedia Interface HDR – High Dynamic Rang e Lighting HPET - High Preci sion Event Ti mer HT – Hyper-Thr eading HSF - Heat Sink Fan I/O - Input/Ou tput IDE - Integrated Drive Electron ics IEEE - Institute of Electrical an d Electroni cs Engineers IGP - Integrated Gra phics Pro[...]

QDR - Quad Data Rate QPI – Quick Path Interconnect RAID - Redundant Array of Inex pensive Di sks RGB - Red Gree n Blue SATA - Serial Adva nced Technolo gy Attachment SB - Southbridg e SCSI - Small Co mputer Syste m Interface SFR – Split Fra me Rendering SLI - Scalable L ink Interface SPD - Serial Pre sence Detect SPDIF - Sony/Ph ilips Digital I[...]