User’s Guide

EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard

EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard

Table of Contents

User’s Guide.................................................................................................................1
EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard ........................................................................................1
Before You Begin… .....................................................................................................8
Parts NOT in the Kit ................................................................................................. 8
Intentions of the Kit .................................................................................................. 8
EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard .....................................................................................10
Motherboard Specifications................................................................................... 10
Unpacking and Parts Descriptions ..........................................................................12
Unpacking .............................................................................................................. 12
Equipment .............................................................................................................. 12
EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard .................................................................................. 14
Hardware Installation .................................................................................................17
Safety Instructions ................................................................................................. 17
Preparing the Motherboard.................................................................................... 18
Installing the CPU .............................................................................................. 18
Installing the CPU Fan ....................................................................................... 19
Installing System Memory (DIMMs) ................................................................... 20
Installing the Motherboard ..................................................................................... 21
Installing the I/O Shield ...................................................................................... 21
Securing the Motherboard into a System Case ................................................ 22
Connecting Cables ................................................................................................ 22
24-pin ATX Power (PW1) ............................................................................... 23
8-pin ATX 12V Power (PW12) ........................................................................ 24

Connecting IDE Hard Disk Drives ...................................................................... 24
Connecting Serial ATA Cables........................................................................... 25
Connecting Internal Headers ............................................................................. 26
Front Panel Header ........................................................................................ 26
IEEE1394a (Firewire) ...................................................................................... 27
USB Headers ................................................................................................. 28
Audio .............................................................................................................. 29
Fan Connections ................................................................................................ 30
COM1 ................................................................................................................. 31
Expansion Slots ................................................................................................. 31
PCI Slots ........................................................................................................ 32
PCI Express x1 Slots ..................................................................................... 32
PCI Express x16/x8 Slots .............................................................................. 32
Onboard Buttons ................................................................................................... 33
Clear CMOS Button ....................................................................................... 33
RESET and POWER Button ........................................................................... 33
Post Port Debug LED and LED Status Indicators ................................................. 34
Post Port Debug LED..................................................................................... 34
LED Status Indicators .................................................................................... 34
Configuring the BIOS .................................................................................................35
Enter BIOS Setup................................................................................................... 36
Main Menu ............................................................................................................. 36
Standard CMOS Features Menu ........................................................................... 39
Date and Time .................................................................................................... 40
SATA Channel .................................................................................................... 40
Halt On ............................................................................................................... 42
Memory .............................................................................................................. 42
Advanced BIOS Features ...................................................................................... 43

EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard

Hard Disk Boot Priority ...................................................................................... 44
CD-ROM Device Priority .................................................................................... 44
First/Second/Third Boot Device ........................................................................ 44
Boot Other Device.............................................................................................. 45
Boot Up NumLock Status .................................................................................. 45
Security Option .................................................................................................. 45
Integrated Peripherals Menu.................................................................................. 46
Legacy Devices .................................................................................................. 46
OnChip PATA/SATA Device............................................................................... 47
Onboard Device ................................................................................................. 48
USB Device Settings.......................................................................................... 49
Power Management Setup Menu .......................................................................... 50
ACPI Function .................................................................................................... 50
ACPI Suspend Type........................................................................................... 51
Run VGABIOS if S3 Resume.............................................................................. 51
Soft-Off by PWR-BTTN...................................................................................... 51
Wake-Up by PCI Card ....................................................................................... 51
USB KB Wake-Up From S3 ............................................................................... 51
Resume by Alarm............................................................................................... 51
POWER ON Function......................................................................................... 52
Hot Key Power On ............................................................................................. 52
PWRON After PWR-Fail ..................................................................................... 52
PnP/PCI Configuration Menu................................................................................. 53
Init Display First.................................................................................................. 53
Reset Configuration ........................................................................................... 54
Resources Controlled By ................................................................................... 54
IRQ Resources ................................................................................................... 54
PCI/VGA Palette Snoop ..................................................................................... 55

INT Pin 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 Assignment .................................................................. 55
Maximum Payload Size...................................................................................... 55
PC Health Status Menu ......................................................................................... 56
SmartFan Function............................................................................................. 57
Frequency/Voltage Control Menu.......................................................................... 58
Memory Feature ................................................................................................. 59
Voltage Control Menu ............................................................................................ 60
EVGA VDroop control ........................................................................................ 60
CPU VCore......................................................................................................... 60
CPU VTT Voltage ............................................................................................... 60
CPU PLL Vcore .................................................................................................. 60
DIMM Voltage .................................................................................................... 61
QPI PLL Vcore.................................................................................................... 64
IOH Vcore........................................................................................................... 64
IOH/ICH I/O Voltage........................................................................................... 64
ICH Vcore ........................................................................................................... 64
PWM Frequency ................................................................................................ 64
CPU Feature Menu ................................................................................................ 61
CPU Clock Ratio ................................................................................................ 63
Speedstep, CxE, Virtualization, Turbo Mode, QPI Control........................... 62-63
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............................................................................... 64
Spread Spectrum ............................................................................................... 64
Installing Drivers and Software ................................................................................65
Windows XP/Vista Driver Installation..................................................................... 65
Appendix A. POST Codes for the EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard ..............................66
EVGA Glossary of Terms ....................................................................................... 74

EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard

List of Figures

Figure 1.

EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard Layout..................................................... 14

Figure 2.

Chassis Backpanel Connectors ........................................................... 15

Figure 3.

PWR1 Motherboard Connector ........................................................... 22

Figure 4.

BIOS CMOS Setup Utility Main Menu.................................................. 36

Figure 5.

Standard CMOS Features Menu.......................................................... 38

Figure 6.

Advanced BIOS Features Menu........................................................... 42

Figure 7.

Integrated Peripherals Menu................................................................ 44

Figure 8.

Power Management Setup Menu ........................................................ 49

Figure 9.

PnP/PCI Configuration Menu............................................................... 52

Figure 10.

PC Health Status Menu........................................................................ 54

Figure 11.

Frequency/Voltage Control .................................................................. 57

Figure 12.

Memory Feature Menu ......................................................................... 58

Figure 13.

Voltage Control Menu .......................................................................... 60

Figure 14.

CPU Feature Menu............................................................................... 62

Before You Begin…

Parts NOT in the Kit
This kit contains all the hardware necessary to install and connect your new
EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard. However, it does not contain the following
items that must be purchased separately to make the motherboard functional.
Intel Microprocessor
System Memory
Cooling fan for the Microprocessor
Graphics Card
Power Supply

EVGA assumes you have purchased all the necessary parts needed to allow for
proper system functionality.

Intentions of the Kit
This kit provides you with the motherboard and all connecting cables necessary
to install the motherboard into a system case. If you are building a PC, you will
use most of the cables provided in the kit. If however, you are replacing amotherboard, you will not need many of the cables.
When replacing a motherboard in a system case, you will need to reinstall an
operating system even though the current Hard Disk Drive may already have an
operating system.

EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard

EVGA X58 SLI
Motherboard

Thank you for purchasing the EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard. This motherboard offers
enthusiast performance and when combined with two or three SLI-Ready NVIDIA®
GeForce® graphics cards, you get innovative NVIDIA® SLI® technology for enhanced
system performance.

Motherboard Specifications
Size
ATX form factor of 12 inch x 9.6 inch
Microprocessor support
Intel Core i7 processor
Operating systems:
Supports Windows XP 32bit/64bit and Windows Vista 32bit/64bit
Contains INTEL X58 and ICH10R chipset
System Memory support
Supports triple channel JEDEC DDR3-1333. Officially supports up to
12GBs of DDR3 memory.
USB 2.0 Ports
Supports hot plug
Twelve USB 2.0 ports (Eight rear panel ports, four onboard USB headers)
Supports wake-up from S1 and S3 mode
Supports USB 2.0 protocol up to a 480 Mbps transmission rate

EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard

Nine(9) onboard Serial ATA II + one(1) eSATA II
300MBps data transfer rate
Six Serial ATA II connectors from south bridge with support for RAID 0,
RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5, and JBOD
Two Serial ATA II connectors from JMicron’s JMB363 with support for
RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5, and JBOD
Two Serial ATA II connectors from JMicron’s JMB362 (one rear panel port
for eSATA, one onboard connector)
Supports hot plug and NCQ (Native Command Queuing )Onboard LAN
Integrated Dual LAN ports
Supports 10/100/1000 Mbit/sec Ethernet
Onboard IEEE1394a (Firewire)
Support hot plug
Two IEEE1394a ports (one rear panel port, one onboard header) with a ratetransmission of 400 Mbps
Onboard Audio
Realtek High-Definition audio
Supports 8-channel audio
Supports S/PDIF output (Optical and COAX)
Supports Jack-Sensing function
Triple PCI Express Support
Three (3) PCI-E 2.0 Slots
Supports 4 GB/sec (8 GB/sec concurrent) bandwidth
Low power consumption and power management features
Green Function
Supports ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface)
Supports S0 (normal), S1 (power on suspend), S3 (suspend to RAM), S4(Suspend to disk - depends on OS), and S5 (soft - off)
Expansion Slots
Two PCI slots
One PCI Express x1 slot
Three PCI Express x8/x16 slots

Unpacking andParts Descriptions

Unpacking
The EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard comes with all the necessary cables foradding a motherboard to a system case. If replacing a motherboard, you may
not need many of these cables.
All parts shipped in this kit are RoHS-compliant (lead-free) parts.

Equipment
The following accessories are included with the EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard.
The EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard

This PCI Express motherboard contains the Intel X58 andICH10R chipset and is SLI-ready for both 2-Way and 3-Way
SLI configurations.
1 - Visual Guide
Helps to quickly and visually guide you through the hardware
installation of the motherboard.
1 - I/O Shield
Installs in the system case to block radio frequency
transmissions, protect internal components from dust, foreign
objects, and aids in proper airflow within the chassis.

EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard

3 - 2-Port SATA Power Cables
Allows a Molex power connector to adapt to a SATA power
connector.
1 - IEEE1394a (Firewire) Bracket
Provides one (1) additional IEEE1394a port to the back panelof the chassis.
1 - 4-Port USB 2.0 Bracket
Provides four additional USB ports to either the front or backpanels of the chassis.
6 - SATA Data Cables
Used to support the Serial ATA protocol and each one connects
a single drive to the motherboard.
1 - IDE Data Cable
Passes data between the IDE connection on the motherboard
and IDE device.
1 - 2-Way SLI Bridge
Bridges two (2) graphic cards together which allows for2-Way SLI.
1 - 3-Way SLI Bridge

Bridges three (3) graphic cards together which allows for3-Way SLI.
1 - Installation CD
Contains drivers and software needed to setup themotherboard.

EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard
The EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard with the Intel X58 and ICH10R chipset is a
PCI Express, SLI-ready motherboard. Figure 1 shows the motherboard andFigures 2 shows the back panel connectors.

EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard
22

18

18

20
21

19

19

19

8

17

23

16
24

15
14
1

13
12
11
2
25
4
4
10

3

8

9

8

7

4

6

5

4

1.

CPU Socket 1366

11. IEEE1394a Connector

21. Front Panel Audio Connector

2.

Intel X58 Chipset

12. USB Headers

22. Back Panel Connectors (Figure 2)

3.

DDR3 DIMM Slots 1 – 6

13. Clear CMOS Button

23. CPU Fan Connector

4.

Fan Connectors

14. Power Button

24. 8-pin ATX_12V Power Connector

5.

24-Pin ATX Power Connector

15. Reset Button

25. Motherboard Battery

6.

IDE Connector

16. Serial Connector

7.

Intel ICH10R Chipset

17. PC Speaker

8.

Serial-ATA (SATA) Connectors

18. PCI slots

9.

Debug LED Display - CPU Temperature
Monitor19. PCI Express 2.0 Slots

10. Front Panel Connector

20. PCI Express x1 Slot

Figure 1.

EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard Layout

1

4

8

8

2

2

6

2

3

5

2

7

9

1. PS/2 Keyboard Port
2. USB 2.0 Ports (Eight)
3. Clear CMOS Button
4. Coaxial SPDIF Output
5. Optical SPDIF Output
6. IEE1394a (Firewire) Port
7. eSATA Port
8. Dual LAN Ports with LEDs to indicate status:
Activity LED Status

Description

Speed/Link LED Status

Description

Off

No data transmission

Yellow1000 Mbps data rate

Data transmission

Green

100 Mbps data rate

Off

10 Mbps data rate

Blinking (Green)

9. Audio Port
Blue
Green
Pink
OrangeBlack
Grey

2-Channel
Line-In
Line-OutMic InFigure 2.

6-Channel
Line-In
Front Speaker Out
Mic InCenter/Subwoofer
Rear Speaker Out

8-Channel________
Line-In
Front Speaker Out
Mic InCenter/Subwoofer
Rear Speaker Out
Side Speaker Out

Chassis Back Panel Connectors

Hardware Installation

This section will guide you through the installation of the motherboard. The
topics covered in this section are:Preparing the motherboard
Installing the CPU
Installing the CPU fan
Installing the memory
Installing the motherboard
Connecting cables

Safety Instructions
To reduce the risk of fire, electric shock, and injury, always follow basic
safety precautions.
Remember to remove power from your computer by disconnecting the
AC main source before removing or installing any equipment from/to thecomputer chassis.

Preparing the Motherboard
Installing the CPU
Be very careful when handling the CPU. Hold the processor only by the edges
and do not touch the bottom of the processor.
Use the following procedure to install the
CPU onto the motherboard:
Unhook the socket lever by pushing down andaway from the socket.
Put your finger on the tail of the load plate
and press down with light pressure to lift
the load plate up.
Lift the load plate. There is a protective socket
cover within the CPU socket to protect
the socket when there is no CPU
installed.
Remove the protective socket cover from theCPU Socket.

Note:Remove the process from its protective cover, making sure you hold it
only by the edges. It is a good idea to save the cover so that whenever
you remove the CPU you have a safe place to store it.

Align the notches in the processor with thenotches on the socket.
Lower the processor straight down into thesocket with out tilting or sliding it into thesocketNote:

Make sure the CPU is fully seated andlevel in the socket.

Close the load plate over the CPU and press
down while you close and engage thesocket lever.

Align notches with notches on the CPU

The CPU installation is complete.

Installing the CPU Fan
There are many different fan types that can be used with this motherboard.
Follow the instruction that came with you fan assembly. Be sure that the fanorientation is correct for your chassis type and your fan assembly.

Installing System Memory (DIMMs)
Your new motherboard has six 240-pin slots for DDR3 memory. These slots
support 256 MB, 512 MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB DDR3 technologies. There must be
at least one memory bank populated to ensure normal operation. Use thefollowing the recommendations for installing memory. (See Figure 1 on page
15 for the location of the memory slots.)
One DIMM: If using 1 DIMM (Single Channel), install into: DIMM slot 1.
Two or Four DIMMs: If using 2 DIMMs (Dual Channel), install into: DIMM
slots 1 and 3. If using 4 DIMMs (Dual Channel), install into: DIMM slots
2, 1, 4, and 3.
Three DIMMs: If using 3 DIMMs (Triple Channel), install into: DIMM slots
1, 3 and 5.
Six DIMMs: If using more than 4 DIMMs, use: DIMM slots 2, 1, 4, and 3
then proceed to occupy the following DIMM slots in this order: 5 and 6.
DIMM Slot 2
DIMM Slot 1
DIMM Slot 4
DIMM Slot 3
DIMM Slot 6
DIMM Slot 5

Use the following procedure to install memory DIMMs. Note that there is only
one gap near the center of the DIMM slot. This slot matches the slot on thememory DIMM to ensure the component is installed properly.
1.

Unlock a DIMM slot by pressing the module clips outward.

Align the memory module to the DIMM slot, and insert the module verticallyinto the DIMM slot. The plastic clips at both sides of the DIMM slot
automatically lock the DIMM into the connector.

Installing the Motherboard
The sequence of installing the motherboard into a system case depends on the
chassis you are using and if you are replacing an existing motherboard or
working with an empty system case. Determine if it would be easier to make all
the connections prior to this step or to secure the motherboard and then makeall the connections. It is normally easier to secure the motherboard first.
Use the following procedure to install the I/O shield and secure themotherboard into the chassis.
Note:

Be sure that the CPU fan assembly has enough clearance for the systemcase covers to lock into place and for the expansion cards. Also make sure
the CPU Fan assembly is aligned with the vents on the covers. This will
depend on the system case being used.

Installing the I/O Shield

The motherboard kit comes with an I/O shield that is used to block radio
frequency transmissions, protects internal components from dust and foreign
objects, and promotes correct airflow within the chassis.
Before installing the motherboard, install the I/O shield from the inside of thechassis. Press the I/O shield into place and make sure it fits securely. If the
I/O shield does not fit into the chassis, you would need to obtain the proper
size from the chassis supplier.

Securing the Motherboard into a System Case
Most system cases have a base with mounting studs or spacers to allow themotherboard to be secured to the chassis and help to prevent short circuits. If
there are studs that do not align with a mounting hole on the motherboard, it isrecommended that you remove that stud to prevent the possibility of a shortcircuit. In most cases, it is recommended to secure the motherboard using aminimum of nine (9) spacers and screws.
1.

Carefully place the motherboard onto the stand off /spacers located inside
the chassis.

Align the mounting holes with the studs/spacers.
Align the connectors to the I/O shield.
Ensure that the fan assembly is aligned with the chassis vents according to the
fan assembly instruction.
Secure the motherboard with a recommended minimum of nine (9) screws.

Connecting Cables
This section takes you through all the necessary connections on themotherboard. This will include:
Power Connections
24-pin ATX power (PW1)8-pin ATX 12V power (PW12)Internal Headers
Front panel
IEEE 1394a
USB Headers
Audio
COM
IDE
Serial ATA II
Chassis Fans

USB 2.0
Expansion slots
CMOS Clear Button

24-pin ATX Power (PW1)
PW1 is the main power supply connector located along the edge of the board

next to the DIMM slots. Make sure that the power supply cable and pins areproperly aligned with the connector on the motherboard. Firmly plug the power
supply cable into the connector and make sure it is secure.

PW1 connector
Plug power cable from system
power supply to PW1Card edge

Figure 3.

PW1 Motherboard Connector

Table 1.

PW1 Pin Assignments

Connector

1

13

12

24

Pin

SignalPin

Signal

1

+3.3V

13

+3.3V

2

+3.3V

14

-12V

3

GND

15

GND

4

+5V

16

PS_ON

5

GND

17

GND

6

+5V

18

GND

7

GND

19

GND

8

PWROK

20

RSVD

9

+5V_AUX

21

+5V

10

+12V

22

+5V

11

+12V

23

+5V

12

+3.3V

24

GND

8-pin ATX 12V Power (PW12)
PW12, the 8-pin ATX 12V power connection, is used to provide power to theCPU. Align the pins to the connector and press firmly until seated.
12V

GroundConnecting IDE Hard Disk Drives
The IDE connector supports Ultra ATA 133/100 IDE hard disk drives.
1.

Connect the blue connector (the cable end with a single connector) to themotherboard.

2.

Connect the black connector (the cable with the two closely spaced blackand gray connectors) to the Ultra ATA master device.

3.

Connect the grey connector to a slave device.

If you install two hard disk drives, you must configure the second drive as aslave device by setting its jumper accordingly. Refer to the hard disk
documentation for the jumper settings.
Note:

If an ATA-100 disk drive and a disk drive using any other IDE transfer
protocol are attached to the same cable, the maximum transfer rate between
the drives may be reduced to that of the slowest drive.

Motherboard Edge
IDE Connector

Connecting Serial ATA Cables
The Serial ATA II connector is used to connect the Serial ATA II device to themotherboard. These connectors support the thin Serial ATA II cables forprimary storage devices. The current Serial ATA II interface allows up to
300MB/s data transfer rate.
There are nine (9) internal serial ATA connectors and one (1) e-SATA on thismotherboard. Connection points SATA0 - SATA5, are controlled by the South
Bridge Chipset. Connection points SATA8 - SATA9, are controlled by the
JMicron JMB363 chip. These connection points support RAID 0, RAID 1,
RAID 5, RAID 0+1 and JBOD configurations. SATA6 and SATA7 arecontrolled by the JMicron JMB362 chip.
RXTXRX+
TX+
GND
GND

SATA 5GND

SATA 4SATA 2 (bottom) SATA 0 (bottom) SATA 8 (bottom)
SATA 3 (top)SATA 1 (top)SATA 9 (top)Connect the locking cable end tothe motherboard connector.
Connect the end without the lockto the SATA device.

SATA 7SATA 6 (e-SATA)

Connecting Internal Headers
Front Panel Header
The front panel header on this motherboard is one connector used to connect
the following four cables.
(see Table 2 for pin definitions):
 PWRLED

Attach the front panel power LED
cable to these two pins of theconnector. The Power LED indicatesthe system’s status. When the system isturn on status, the LED is on. Whenthe system is turn off status, the LED
is off. When the system is in S1, S1, S3,
S4 status, the LED will blink.
Note:

Some system cases do not have all four cables. Be sure to match thename on the connectors to the corresponding pins.

PWRSW

Attach the power button cable fromthe case to these two pins. Pressing
the power button on the front panel
turns the system on and off rather
than using the onboard button.

Table 2.Front Panel Header Pins
Pin

SignalNo Connect

1
3
2
4
5
7
6
8
9

HD_PWRHD Active
PWR LEDSTBY LED
GroundRST BTNPWR BTN
Ground
+5V

Empty

10

Empty

HD_LED
HD_LED

Attach the hard disk drive indicator
LED cable to these two pins. The
HDD indicator LED indicates theactivity status of the hard disks.
RESET

Attach the Reset switch cable fromthe front panel of the case to thesetwo pins. The system restarts when
the RESET switch is pressed.

PWRLEDRESETPWRSWIEEE1394a (Firewire)
The IEEE 1394a expansion cable bracket is provided in the box but if you do
not require the additional external connections, you do not need to install it.
1.

Secure the bracket to either the front or rear panel of the system case (notall system cases are equipped with the front panel option).

Connect the end of the cable(s) to the IEEE1394a headers on the motherboard.

Table 3.

IEEE 1394a Connector Pins

Connector
IEEE 1394a Connector

10
8
6
4
2

9
7
5
3
1

Pin
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

SignalTPA+
TPAGNDGND
TPB+
TPB+12V
+12V
Empty
GND

Card
Edge

USB HeadersThis motherboard contains eight (8) USB 2.0
ports that are exposed on the rear panel of the chassis(Figure 2). The motherboard also contains two 10-pin
internal header connectors onboard that can be used toconnect an optional external bracket containing four (4)USB 2.0 ports.
1.

Secure the bracket to either the front or rear panelof your chassis (not all chassis are equipped with thefront panel option).

2.

Connect the two ends of the cables to the USB 2.0
headers on the motherboard.

Table 4. USB 2.0 Header Pins
Connector

Pin

SignalUSB 2.0 Header Connector

1

5V_DUAL

3

D-

5

D+

7

GND

9

Empty

Pin

Signal2

5V_DUAL

4

D-

6

D+

8

GND

10

No ConnectAudioThe audio connector supports HD audio standard and provides two kinds ofaudio output choices: the Front Audio, the Rear Audio. The front Audio
supports re-tasking function.

Table 5.

Front Audio Connector

Connector
Front Audio Connector

10
8
6
4
2

9
7
5
3
1

Pin
1

SignalPORT1_L2

AUD_GND

3

PORT1_R

4

PRECENCE_J

5

PORT2_R

6

SENSE1_RETURN7SENSE_SEND

8

Empty

9

PORT2_L10

SENSE2_RETURN

Card Edge

Fan Connections
There are six fan connections on the motherboard. The fan speed can bedetected and viewed in the PC Health Status section of the CMOS Setup. The
fans are automatically turned off after the system enters S3, S4 and S5 mode.

System Fan
Sense
+12V
GroundSense+12V
GroundChassis FanPower Fan
+12V
Sense Ground

Chipset Fan

AUX Fan+12V
Sense
Ground+12V
Sense
GroundCPU FanNote: the CPU fan
cable can be either
a 3-pin or a 4-pin
connector. Connect
a 3-pin connector
to pins 1, 2, and 3
on the motherboard
connector.

Ground+12V
Sense
Control

COM1
The motherboard kit provides an additional serial COM header for the system.
Connect one side of the cable to the headers on the motherboard then, attach
the serial COM device to the other side of the cable.

Expansion Slots
The EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard contains six (6) expansion slots, four (4) PCI
Express slots and two (2) PCI slots. For a full list of PCI Express graphic cards
supported by this motherboard, visit: www.EVGA.com/Products
6

5

4

3

2

1
Slot Listing
1 – PCI-E 2.0 x16 - Slot 1 (Primary)
2 – PCI-E x1 - Slot 1

3 – PCI-E 2.0 x8/x16 - Slot 2
4 – PCI - Slot 1
5 – PCI-E 2.0 x8 - Slot 3
6 – PCI - Slot 2

Note:

When using 1 Graphic Card in PCI-E: Slot 1, a speed of x16 will be used.
When using 2 Graphic Cards in PCI-E Slots: 1 and 3, a speed of x16/x16
will be used. When running 3 Graphic Cards in PCI-E Slots: 1, 3, and 5 a
speed of x16/x8/x8 will be used.

PCI Slots
The two PCI slots support many expansion cards such as a LAN card, USB
card, SCSI card and other cards that comply with PCI specifications. Wheninstalling a card into the PCI slot, be sure that it is fully seated. Secure the card’s
metal bracket to the chassis back panel with the screw used to hold the blankcover.

PCI Express x1 Slots
There is one PCI Express x1 slot that is designed to accommodate lessbandwidth-intensive cards, such as a modem or LAN card. The x1 slots provide
250 MB/sec bandwidth.

PCI Express x16/x8 Slots
These PCI Express slots are reserved for Graphic Cards and PCI Express x1
and x4 devices. The design of this motherboard supports multiple Graphic Card
technology.
When installing a PCI Express Graphic Card, be sure the retention clip snaps
and locks the card into place. If the card is not seated properly, it could cause ashort across the pins. Secure the card’s metal bracket to the chassis back panel
with the screw used to hold the blank cover.

Onboard Buttons
These onboard buttons include RESET, POWER and Clear CMOS. These
functions allow you to easily reset the system, turn on/off the system, or clear
the CMOS.

Clear CMOS Button
The motherboard uses the CMOS
RAM to store all the set parameters.
The CMOS can be cleared by pressing
the Clear CMOS button either onboard
or on the external I/O Panel.

External Clear CMOS Button

RESET and POWER Button
These onboard buttons allow you to easily turn on/off the system. Thesebuttons allow for easy debugging and testing of the system during
troubleshooting situations.
The POWER button with LED indicates the system’s status. When the system
is powered on, the LED remains a solid green.
The RESET button with an integrated LED indicates the activity status of thehard disk drives and will flicker accordingly.

RESET
ButtonPOWER Clear CMOS
ButtonButtonPost Port Debug LED and
LED Status Indicators
Post Port Debug LED
Provides two-digit POST codes to show why the system may be failing to boot.
It is useful during troubleshooting situations. This Debug LED will also display
current CPU temperatures after the system has fully booted into the Operating
System.
Debug LED with CPU
Temperature Monitor

LED Status Indicators
Theses LEDs indicate the system’s status.
 POWER LED (Yellow):
When the System is powered on: This LED is on.
 DIMM LED (Green):
When the Memory slot is functional: This LED is on.
 STANDBY LED (Blue):
When the System is in Standby Mode: This LED is on. This LED willremain on as long as the motherboard is receiving constant power.

POWER LED
(YELLOW)DIMM LED(GREEN)STANDBY LED(BLUE)

Configuring the BIOS

This section discusses how to change the system settings through the BIOS
Setup menus. Descriptions of the BIOS parameters are also provided.
This section includes the following information:
Enter BIOS Setup
Main Menu
Standard CMOS Features
Advanced BIOS Features
Integrated Peripherals
Power Management Setup
PnP/PCI Configurations
PC Health Status
Frequency/Voltage Control

Enter BIOS Setup
The BIOS is the communication bridge between hardware and software.
Correctly setting the BIOS parameters is critical to maintain optimal system
performance.
Use the following procedure to verify/change BIOS settings.
3.

Power on the computer.

4.

Press the Del key when the following message briefly displays at the bottomof the screen during the Power On Self Test (POST).
Press F1 to continue, DEL to enter Setup.

Pressing Del takes you to the Phoenix-Award BIOS CMOS Setup Utility.
Note:

It is strongly recommended that you do not change the default BIOS settings.
Changing some settings could damage your computer.

Main Menu
The main menu allows you to select from the list of setup functions and two
exit choices. Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll through theoptions or press Enter to display the associated submenu. Use the  arrow
keys to position the selector in the option you choose. To go back to theprevious menu, press Esc.
Note:that on the BIOS screens all data in white is for information only, data inyellow is changeable, data in blue is non-changeable, and data in a
red box is highlighted for selection.

Configuring the BIOS

Phoenix – AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility

 Standard CMOS Features

 Frequency/Voltage Control

 Advanced BIOS Features

Load Defaults

 Integrated Peripherals

Set Supervisor Password

 Power Management Setup

Set User Password

 PnP/PCI Configurations

Save & Exit Setup

 PC Health Status

Exit Without Saving

Esc : Quit
F10 : Save & Exit Setup: Select Item

Time, Date, Hard Disk Type..,Figure 4.

BIOS CMOS Setup Utility Main Menu

Standard CMOS Features
Use this menu to set up the basic system configuration.
Advanced BIOS Features
Use this menu to set up the advanced system features and boot sequence.
Integrated Peripherals
Use this menu to set up onboard peripherals such as IDE, RAID, USB, LAN,and MAC control.
Power Management Setup
Use this menu to configure power management, power on, and sleep features.
PnP/PCI Configurations
Use this menu to modify the system’s Plug-and-Play and PCI configurations.
PC Health Status
Use this menu to monitor the real-time system status of your PC, including
temperature, voltages, and fan speed.

Frequency/Voltage Control
Use this menu to optimize system performance and configure clocks,
voltages, memory timings, and more.
The following items on the CMOS Setup Utility main menu are commands
rather than submenus:
Load Fail-Safe Defaults
Load Fail-Safe defaults system settings.
Load Optimized Defaults
Load Optimized defaults system settings.
Set Supervisor Password/Set User Password
Use this command to set, change, and disable the password used to access theBIOS menu.
Save & Exit Setup
Use this command to save settings to CMOS and exit setup.
Exit Without Saving
Use this command to abandon all setting changes and exit setup.

Configuring the BIOS

Standard CMOS FeaturesMenu
The Standard CMOS Features menu is used to configure the standard CMOS
information, such as the date, time, HDD model, and so on. Use the Page Up
and Page Down keys to scroll through the options or press Enter to display the
sub-menu. Use the  arrow keys to position the selector in the option you
choose. To go back to the previous menu, press Esc.
The information shown in Item Help corresponds to the option highlighted.
Phoenix – AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility
Standard CMOS Features
Date (mm:dd:yy)
Time (hh:mm:ss)
 SATA 0
 SATA 1
 SATA 2
 SATA 3
 SATA 4
 SATA 5

Thu, Oct 23 2008
12 : 48: 23[None][None][None][None][None][None]

Halt On[All , But Keyboard]

Base Memory
Extended Memory
Total Memory

640K
1047552K
1048576K

Item Help
Main Level

Change the day, month,year and century

:Move Enter:Select +/-/PU/PD:Value F10:Save ESC:Exit F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values
F6:Fail-Safe Defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

Figure 5.

Standard CMOS Features Menu

Note that all data in white is for information only, data in yellow is changeable, data inblue is non-changeable, and data in a red box is highlighted for selection.

Date and Time
Using the arrow keys, position the cursor over the month, day, and year. Use
the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll through dates and times. Note thatthe weekday (Sun through Sat) cannot be changed. This field changes tocorrespond to the date you enter. Note that the hour value is shown in a
24-hour clock format. Time is represented as hour : minute : second.
Date (mm:dd:yy)
Time (hh:mm:ss)

Sat, Jul 01 2006
14 : 48: 43

SATA Channel
Use these functions to detect and configure the SATA channels. Select achannel and press Enter to display the SATA sub-menu.
 SATA 0
 SATA 1
 SATA 2
 SATA 3
 SATA 4
 SATA 5[None][None][None][None][None][None]

Press ENTER to display
SATA Channel sub-menu
IDE Auto-Detect[Press Enter]

Extended IDE Drive
Access Mode

[None}
Auto

Capacity

0 MB

CylinderHead
PrecompLanding Zone
Sector00
0
00Configuring the BIOS

Press Enter to auto-detect IDE and SATA channels in the system. Once thechannel is detected, the values for Capacity, Cylinder, Heads, Precomp, Landing
Zone, and Sector are automatically filled in.
None
There is no HDD installed or set.
Auto
The system can auto-detect the hard disk when booting up.
ManualWhen you set the channel to [Manual] and change Access Mode to [CHS],
you can then enter the number of cylinders, heads, Precomp, landing zone,
and sector. You can manually enter the values or you can press Enter todisplay a window that tells you the min and max values.
IDE HDD Auto-Detect[Press Enter]

IDE Channel 0 Slave
Access Mode

[Manual}[CHS]

Capacity
CylinderHead
PrecompLanding Zone
Sector

0 MB.....0
[
0]
[
0]
[
0]
[
0]

Press ENTER to display sub-menu
or enter number manually

CylinderMin=

0

Max=65535
The BIOS supports the following HDD
Access Modes:
Key in a DEC number :CHS
For HDD less than 528 MB.
LBA
:Move
ENTER:Accept
For HDD greater than 528 MB andsupporting LBA (Logical Block
Addressing).
Large
For HDD greater than 528 MB but not supporting LBA.
Auto
Recommended mode.

ESC:AbortHalt On
Halt On determines whether or not the computer stops if an error is detectedduring power on. Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll through theoptions or press Enter to display the Halt On sub-menu. Use the  arrow keys
to position the selector in the option you choose. Press Enter to accept thechanges and return to the Standard CMOS Features menu.
Halt On[All , But Keyboard]

All Errors
Whenever the BIOS detects a nonfatal
error, the system stops and prompts you.
No Errors
System boot does not stop for any detected
errors.
All, But Keyboard
System boot does not stop for keyboard
errors, but does stop for all other errors.

Press ENTER to display sub-menu
Halt OnAll Errors
No Errors
All , But Keyboard

:Move..... [ ]..... [ ]..... [ ]ENTER:Accept

ESC:Abort

MemoryThese settings are display-only values that are determined by the BIOS POST
(Power-On Self Test).
Base Memory
640K
Extended Memory
1047552K
Base Memory
Total Memory
1048576K
BIOS POST determines theamount of base (or conventional) memory installed in the system.
Extended Memory
BIOS determines how much extended memory is present during the POST.
Total Memory
This value represents the total memory of the system.

Configuring the BIOS

Advanced BIOS Features
Access the Advanced BIOS Features menu from the CMOS Utility Setup
screen. Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll through the options orpress Enter to display the sub-menu. Use the  arrow keys to position theselector in the option you choose. To go back to the previous menu, press Esc.
The options that have associated sub-menus are designated by a , which precedes
the option. Press Enter to display the sub-menus.
Phoenix – AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility
Advanced BIOS Features
 Hard Disk Boot Priority
 CD-ROM Boot Priority
First Boot Device
Second Boot Device
Third Boot Device
Boot Other Device
Boot Up NumLock Status
Security Option
Full Screen LOGO Show

[Press Enter][Press Enter][Removable][CDROM][Hard Disk][Enabled][On][Setup][Disabled]

Item Help
Main Level

Select Removable Boot
Device Priority

:Move Enter:Select +/-/PU/PD:Value F10:Save ESC:Exit F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values
F6:Fail-Safe Defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

Figure 6.
Note:

Advanced BIOS Features Menu

That all data in white is for information only, data in yellow is changeable,
data in blue is non-changeable, and data in a red box is highlighted forselection.

Hard Disk Boot Priority
Use this option to select the priority for HDD startup. Press Enter to see thelist of bootable devices in your system. Use the  arrow keys to go to thevarious devices. Then use the + or – keys to move the device priority up or
down in the list. To go back to the previous menu, press Esc.
1. Ch0.
:
ST3802110A
2. Bootable Add-in Cards

Use the + and – keys to movethe priority of the device within
the list

CD-ROM Device Priority
Use this option to select the priority for CD-ROM startup. Press Enter to see
the list of removable devices in your system. Use the  arrow keys to go to thevarious devices. Then use the + or – keys to move the device priority up or
down in the list. To go back to the previous menu, press Esc.
1. Ch0 M.

: BENQ DVD DC DW1810

First/Second/Third Boot Device
Use this option to set the priority sequence of the devices booted at power on.
Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll through the options or press
Enter to display the sub-menu. Use the  arrow keys to position the selector
in the option you choose.
First Boot Device
Removable
Hard Disk
CDROM
Legacy LAN
Disabled

:Move..... [ ]..... [ ]..... [ ]..... [ ]..... [ ]ENTER:Accept

ESC:AbortConfiguring the BIOS

Boot Other Device
With the option set to Enable, the system boots from some other device if thefirst/second/third boot devices fail.

Boot Up NumLock Status
This option allows you to select the power-on state of NumLock. Select On to
activate the keyboard NumLock when the system is started. Select Off to disable
the NumLock key.

Security Option
The Security Options allows you to require a password every time the systemboots or only when you enter setup. Select Setup to require a password to gain
access to the CMOS Setup screen. Select System to require a password toaccess the CMOS Setup screen and when the system boots.

Integrated Peripherals
Menu
Select Integrated Peripherals from the CMOS Setup Utility menu andpress Enter to display the Integrated Peripherals menu.
Phoenix – AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility
Integrated Peripherals
 Legacy Devices
 Onboard PATA/SATA Device
 Onboard Device
 USB Device Setting[Press Enter][Press Enter][Press Enter][Press Enter]

Item Help

Main Level:Move Enter:Select +/-/PU/PD:Value F10:Save ESC:Exit F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values
F6:Fail-Safe Defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

Figure 7.

Integrated Peripherals Menu

Legacy Devices
Press Enter to display the Legacy Devices menu.
Onboard Serial Port 1[3F8/IRQ4]

Configuring the BIOS

Onboard Serial Port 1
This function on the Integrated Peripherals menu allows you to select the
onboard serial port 1 function. Options are [3F8/IRQ4], [2E8/IRQ3],[3E8/IRQ4], [Auto], and [Disabled]

OnChip PATA/SATA Device
Press Enter to display the OnChip PATA/SATA Device menu.
 AHCI Configurations
SATA Mode
LEGACY Mode Support[Press Enter][IDE][Disabled]

JMB362 SATA Controller[Auto]JMB363 SATA/PATA Controller [Auto]JMB363 Mode
[IDE]

SATA Mode
This is allows you set the onboard Serial SATA mode.
IDE: Use the Serial ATA hard disk drivers as Parallel ATA storage devices.
RAID: Create a RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and JBOD configuration
AHCI: Use the AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) to enables
advanced SATA features for improved performance with NCQ and
Hot-plug features
LEGACY Mode Support
This function allows the SATA controller to operate in LEGACY mode.
Selected Disabled if you install operating system that support Native mode.
JMB362 SATA Controller
This function allows you to enable JMB362 SATA Controller for SATA port
6/7 control. The options are Auto, Enabled and Disabled.
JMB363 SATA/PATA Controller
This function allows you to enable JMB363 SATA Controller for IDE &SATA port control. The options are Auto, Enabled and Disabled.
JM363 Mode
This function allows you set the onboard Serial JM363 mode. The options are
IDE, RAID and AHCI.

Onboard Device
Press Enter to display the Onboard Device menu.
Realtek GigaLan (LAN1)
Realtek GigaLan (LAN2)[Auto][Auto]

PE4 Slot (PCIE x1)
Realtek Lan PXE Boot ROM
TI 1394 SettingHigh Definition Audio
P80 Show CPU Temp.

[Auto][Disabled][Enabled][Enabled][Enabled]

Realtek GigaLan (LAN1)
Use this function to set the onboard Realtek GigaLan function for LAN1.
The options are Auto, Enabled and Disabled.
Realtek GigaLan (LAN2)
Use this function to set the onboard Realtek GigaLan function for LAN2.
The options are Auto, Enabled and Disabled.
 PE4 Slot (PCIE x1)
Use this function to set the PCI-e x1 Slot function. The options are Auto,
Enabled and Disabled.
Realtek Lan PXE Boot ROM
This function allows you to enable or disable the onboard Realtek Lan PXE
Boot ROM for booting from LAN.
 High Definition Audio

This function allows you to enable or disable the onboard Realtek HighDefinition Audio.
TI 1394 SettingThis function allows you to enable or disable the IEEE1394 (Firewire)interface.
P80 Show CPU Temp.
When this function is enabled the onboard Post Port LED will display the
CPU temperature.

Configuring the BIOS

USB Device Settings
Press Enter to display the USB Device Settings menu.
USB 1.0 Controller
USB 2.0 Controller
USB Operation Mode
USB Keyboard Function
USB Mouse Function
USB Storage Function[Enabled][Enabled][High Speed][Enabled][Enabled][Enabled]*** USB Mass Storage Device Boot Setting ***USB 1.0 Controller
Use this function to enable the USB 1.0 controller.
USB 2.0 Controller
Use this function to enable the USB 2.0 (EHCI) controller.
USB Operation Mode
Select the USB Operation Mode for USB device. Options are Full/Low
Speed and High Speed.
USB Keyboard Function
Use this function to enable or disable support for USB keyboard under DOS.
USB Mouse Function
Use this function to enable or disable support for USB mouse under DOS
USB Storage Function
Use this function to enable or disable legacy support of USB Mass Storage

Power Management Setup
Menu
Select Power Management Setup from the CMOS Setup Utility menu andpress Enter to display the Power Management Setup menu.

ACPI function
APCI Suspend TypeRun VGABIOS if S3 ResumeSoft-Off by PWR-BTTN
Wake-Up by PCI Card
USB KB Wake-Up From S3Resume by Alarmx Day of Month Alarmx Time (hh:mm:ss) Alarm
POWER ON Function
x Hot Key Power On
PWRON After PWR-Fail[Enabled][S3(STR)][Auto][Instant-Off][Enabled][Disabled][Disabled]0
0 : 0 : 0
[Disabled]
Ctrl-F1[Off]

Item Help

Main Level:Move Enter:Select +/-/PU/PD:Value F10:Save ESC:Exit F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values
F6:Fail-Safe Defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

Figure 8.

Power Management Setup Menu

ACPI Function
This function on the Power Management Setup menu allows you to enable ordisable the ACPI function.

Configuring the BIOS

ACPI Suspend Type
This function on the Power Management Setup menu allows you to select an
ACPI Suspend Type. Types to select from are [S1&S3], [S1(POS)], and[S3(STR)].

Run VGABIOS if S3 Resume
This function on the Power Management Setup menu allows you determines
whether or not to enable the system to run the VGA BIOS when resumingfrom S3(STR) or S1&S3. The Options are Auto, Yes and No.

Soft-Off by PWR-BTTN
This function on the Power Management Setup menu allows you to set SoftOff by PBNT to [Instant-Off] or [Delay 4 Sec].

Wake-Up by PCI Card
This function on the Power Management Setup menu allows PCI Card to wakeup the system from Soft-off state.

USB KB Wake-Up From S3This function on the Power Management Setup menu allows a USB keyboard
device to wake-up the system from S3 state.

Resume by Alarm
This function on the Power Management Setup menu allows you to enable ordisable the Power-on by alarm function. Set to [Disable] to prevent poweron by alarm. When set to [Enable], you can manually put in the day of themonth and the time of the alarm.

Day of Month Alarm
Time (hh:mm:ss) Alarm[ 0][0 : 0 : 0]

To enter a day or time, use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll throughnumbers or enter the number using the keyboard number or the + and – keys.

POWER ON Function
This function on the Power Management Setup menu allows you to define thepower-on function. Options for this function are:
Disabled
Keyboard

Hot Key Power On
Use this function with the above “POWER ON Function” to set a combinationof keys that can be used to power on the system. Options for this function are:Ctrl-Esc
Ctrl-F1
Ctrl-Space
AnykeyPWRON after PWR-Fail
This function enables your computer to automatically restart or return to its lastoperating status after power returns from a power failure.
Off: The system stays off after a power failure.
On: The system stays on after a power failurePnP/PCI Configuration
Menu
Select PnP/PCI Configuration from the CMOS Setup Utility menu and press
Enter to display the PnP/PCI Configuration menu.
Phoenix – AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility
PnP/PCI Configurationx

Init Display First
Reset Configuration[PCI Slot][Disabled]

Resources Controlled By
IRQ Resources[Auto(ESCD)]
Press Enter

PCI/VGA Palette Snoop
INT Pin 1 Assignment
INT Pin 2 Assignment
INT Pin 3 Assignment
INT Pin 4 Assignment
INT Pin 5 Assignment
INT Pin 6 Assignment
INT Pin 7 Assignment
INT Pin 8 Assignment[Disabled][Auto][Auto][Auto][Auto][Auto][10][Auto][7]

Item Help
Main Level

** PCI Express relative items **Maximum Payload Size[128]
:Move Enter:Select +/-/PU/PD:Value F10:Save ESC:Exit F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values
F6:Fail-Safe Defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

Figure 9.

PnP/PCI Configuration Menu

Init Display First
This function on the PnP/PCI Configuration menu allows you to define if theinitial display is in the PCI slot or in the PCI Express slot. Options are[PCI Slot] and [PCIEx].

Reset Configuration
This function on the PnP/PCI Configuration menu allows you to enable ordisable the resetting of Extended System Configuration Data (ESCD) when you
exit Setup. Set this to [Enabled] if you have installed a new add-on and thesystem reconfiguration has caused a serious conflict that prevents the OS frombooting. The default setting is [Disabled].

Resources Controlled By
This function on the PnP/PCI Configuration menu allows you to define if theBIOS can automatically configure all the boot and plug-and-play compatible
devices or if you can manually select IRQ, DMA, and memory base address
fields. Select [Auto(ESCD)] if you want the BIOS to automatically populatethese fields. If you select [Manual] so you can assign the resources, IRQ
Resources is enabled for input.
Resources Controlled By [Auto(ESCD)]x IRQ Resources
Press Enter
Resources Controlled By [Manual)]
IRQ Resources[Press Enter]

IRQ Resources
To enable this field for input, set Resources Controlled By to[Manual]. With this field enabled, press Enter to see options.
IRQ-5 assigned toIRQ-9 assigned toIRQ-10 assigned toIRQ-11 assigned toIRQ-14 assigned toIRQ-15 assigned to[PCI Device][Reserved][PCI Device][PCI Device][PCI Device][PCI Device]Configuring the BIOS

Use Legacy ISA for devices compliant with the original PC AT Bus
specification. Use PCI/ISA PnP for devices compliant with the plug-and-playstandard, whether designed for PCI or ISA Bus architecture.

PCI/VGA Palette Snoop
This item is designed to overcome problems that may be caused by some
nonstandard VGA cards..

INT Pin 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 Assignment
This function on the PnP/PCI Configuration menu allows you to set the INT
Pin 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 Assignment.

Maximum Payload Size
This function on the PnP/PCI Configuration menu allows you to set the
maximum TLP payload size (in bytes) for the PCI Express devices. Use thePage Up and Page Down keys to scroll through sizes or enter the number using
the keyboard numbers or use the + and – keys to go up and down the list of
sizes.

PC Health Status Menu
Select PC Health Status from the CMOS Setup Utility menu and press Enterto display the PC Health Status menu.
Phoenix – AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility
PC Health Status
 SmartFan Function
VCC 3.3V
CPU Vcore
DIMM Voltage
CPU VTT Voltage
IOH Vcore
VCC
+12V
3VSB
VBT
CPU temperature
NB temperature
VREG temperature
System temperature
CPU Fan Speed
Power Fan Speed
Chassis Fan Speed
AUX Fan Speed[Press Enter]
3.28V
1.19V
1.48V
1.23V
1.08V
4.96V
12.10V
3.23V
3.15V
31oC
55oC
50oC
33oC
3054 RPM
0 RPM
0 RPM
0 RPM

Item Help

Main Level:Move Enter:Select +/-/PU/PD:Value F10:Save ESC:Exit F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values
F6:Fail-Safe Defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

Figure 10.

PC Health Status Menu

All of the values shown in Blue are dynamic and change as the speed andvoltages of the various components change with system usage.

Configuring the BIOS

SmartFan Function
Press Enter to display the SmartFan Function menu.

x

x

x

CPU Speed Control[SmartFan]
Manual Fan Speed, %100
If temp > 100ºC, Set Fan Speed 100%
If temp < 30ºC, Set Fan Speed
50%
Power Speed Control[SmartFan]
Manual Fan Speed, %100
If temp > 100ºC, Set Fan Speed 100%
If temp < 30ºC, Set Fan Speed 50%
Chassis Speed Control[SmartFan]
Manual Fan Speed, %100
If temp > 100ºC, Set Fan Speed 100%
If temp < 30ºC, Set Fan Speed50%

Use this menu to control the speed of the various fans on the motherboard. Set
CPU fan speed to [SmartFan] when you want the speed of the fansautomatically controlled based on temperature. To set the fan speed to a
constant rate, select [Manual] and then enter the speed from 0% to 100%.
Set the desired speed for the Power and Chassis fans from 0% to 100%. The
system defaults to 100%.

Frequency/Voltage Control
Menu
Select Frequency/Voltage Control from the CMOS Setup Utility menu andpress Enter to display the Frequency/Voltage Control menu.
Phoenix – AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility
Frequency/Voltage Control
Dummy O.C.
[Disabled]
Extreme Cooling[Disabled] Memory Feature[Press Enter] Voltage Control[Press Enter] CPU Feature[Press Enter]
CPU Clock Ratio[22X]
CPU Host Frequency(Mhz) [133]Spread Spectrum[Disabled]
PCIE Frequency(Mhz)[100]
Save Profile
Load Profile

Item Help

Main Level

[Press Enter][Press Enter]:Move Enter:Select +/-/PU/PD:Value F10:Save ESC:Exit F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values
F6:Fail-Safe Defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

Figure 11.

Frequency/Voltage Control Menu

Configuring the BIOS

Memory Feature
Select Memory Feature from the Frequency/Voltage Control menu and press
Enter to display the Memory Feature menu.
Phoenix – AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility
Memory Feature
Memory Control Setting
Memory Frequency
Channel Interleave Setting
Rank Interleave Setting[Disabled][Auto][6 way][4 way]Parameters
SettingtCL Setting[Auto]
tRCD Setting[Auto]tRP Setting[Auto][Auto]tRAS Setting
tRFC Setting[Auto]
Command Rate
[Auto][Auto]tRRD Setting
tFAW Setting[Auto]tRTP Setting[Auto]tWR Setting[Auto]
Round Trip Latency [Auto]
tddWrTRd Setting[Auto][Auto]
tdrWrTRd Setting
tsrWrTRd Setting[Auto]
tddRdTWr Setting[Auto]

Current
8
8
8
19
59
1T
4
20
4
8
52
5
5
14
10

Item Help

Main Level:Move Enter:Select +/-/PU/PD:Value F10:Save ESC:Exit F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values
F6:Fail-Safe Defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

Figure 12.

Memory Feature Menu

Memory Control SettingThis function is allows you to select the Memory Control Setting.
Memory Frequency
This function is allows you to select the Memory Frequency. The options are
Auto, 800Mhz, 1067Mhz, 1333Mhz, and 1600Mhz.
Channel Interleave SettingThis function is allows you to select the Channel Interleave Setting. The
options are 1 way, 2 way, 3 way, 4 way, 5 way and 6 way.

Rank Interleave SettingThis function is allows you to select the Rank Interleave Setting. The options
are 1 way, 2 way and 4 way.
tCL SettingThis function is set the CAS latency. The options are 0 through 18.
tRCD SettingThis function is set the RAS to CAS Delay for Read/Write commands to thesame bank. The options are 0 through 15.
tRP SettingThis function is set the Row Precharge time. This is the Precharge-to-Activeor Auto-to-Refresh of the same bank. The options are 0 through 15.
tRAS SettingThis function is set the minimum RAS# active time. The options are 0
through 31.
Command Rate
This function is set the command timing setting on a per clock unit basis.
The options are Auto, 1T and 2T.

Configuring the BIOS

Voltage Control
Select Voltage Control from the Frequency/Voltage Control menu and press
Enter to display the Voltage Control menu.
Phoenix – AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility
Voltage Control
EVGA VDroop control
CPU VCoreCPU VTT Voltage
CPU PLL Vcore
DIMM Voltage
DIMM DQ Vref
QPI PLL Vcore
IOH Vcore
IOH/ICH I/O Voltage
ICH Vcore
PWM Frequency[With VDroop][Auto]
1.2750V[Auto]+0mv[Auto]
1.800V[Auto]
1.500V[+0mv]+0mv[Auto]
1.100V[Auto]
1.100V[Auto]
1.500V[Auto]
1.050V[800 KHz]
800 KHz

Item Help
Main Level

Users should exercise caution when overvoltaging, as it can cause system instability
or even void warranties and damage components.

:Move Enter:Select +/-/PU/PD:Value F10:Save ESC:Exit F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values
F6:Fail-Safe Defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

Figure 13.

Voltage Control

EVGA VDroop Control
EVGA VDroop control is a safety measure by motherboards to protect theCPU. Select [With VDroop] to calibrate CPU VDroop or select [Without
VDroop] to disable this function
CPU VCore
Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll through the voltages or
select [Auto] to automatically set the voltage level for the CPU Core.
CPU VTT Voltage
Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll through the voltages or
select [Auto] to automatically set the voltage level for the CPU VTT Voltage.

CPU PLL VCore
Use the Page Up and Page Down to scroll through the voltages or select[Auto] to automatically set the voltage level for the CPU PLL Voltage.
DIMM Voltage
This function defines the voltage level for the DRAM. Use the Page Up andPage Down keys to select a voltage or select [Auto] to automatically set thevoltage.
DIMM DQ Vref
This function defines the voltage level for the DRAM DQ Vref. Use thePage Up and Page Down keys to select and set the voltage.
QPI PLL VCore
Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll through the voltages or
select [Auto] to automatically set the voltage level for the QPI PLL voltage.
IOH VCore
This function defines the core voltage level for the Intel IOH chip. Use thePage Up and Page Down keys to select a voltage or select [Auto] toautomatically set the voltage.
IOH/ICH I/O Voltage
This function defines the core voltage level for the Intel IOH/ICH I/O
voltage. Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to select a voltage or select[Auto] to automatically set the voltage.
ICH VCore
This function defines the core voltage level for the Intel ICH chip. Use thePage Up and Page Down keys to select a voltage or select [Auto] toautomatically set the voltage.
PWM Frequency
This function allows you to select the PWM frequency. For the following
options, higher is cleaner, lower is more energy efficient: 800 KHz, 933 KHz,
and 1066 KHz.

CPU Feature
Select CPU Feature from the Frequency/Voltage Control menu and press
Enter to display the CPU Feature menu.

Configuring the BIOS

Phoenix – AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility
CPU FeatureIntel SpeedStep
Turbo Mode Function
CxE Function
Execute Disable Bit
Virtualization Technology[Enabled][Enabled][Auto][Enabled][Enabled]

Item Help

Main Level***** Logical Processor Setting *****
Intel HT Technology[Enabled]
Active Processor Cores[All]***** QPI Controller Setting *****QPI Controller Setting[Enabled]
QPI Link Fast Mode
[Enabled]
QPI Frequency Selection[Auto]

:Move Enter:Select +/-/PU/PD:Value F10:Save ESC:Exit F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values
F6:Fail-Safe Defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

Figure 14.

CPU Feature Menu

Intel SpeedStep
Use this function to enable the Intel SpeedStep technology (EIST). The
options are Enabled and Disabled.
Turbo Mode Function
Use this function to enable the Intel Turbo Mode Function. The options are
Enabled and Disabled.
CxE Function
This function allows you to select the lowest C state supported according as
CPU and MB. The options are Auto, Disabled, C1, C1E, C3 and C6.
Execute Disable Bit
When this function is disabled, it forces the XD feature flag to always returnto zero (0).

Virtualization Technology
When this function is enabled, it allows a VMM to utilize the additional
hardware capabilities provided by Intel Virtualization Technology.

Logical Processor SettingIntel HT Technology
This function is allows you to enable the Intel HT Technology. The options
are Enabled and Disabled.
Active Processor Cores
This function active number of cores to enable in each processor package.
The options are All, 1 and 2.

QPI Controller Setting
QPI Controller SettingThis function is allows you to enable the QPI (QuickPath Interconnect)
Controller Setting. The options are Enabled and Disabled.
QPI Link Fast Mode
This function is allows you to enable the QPI Link Fast Mode. The options
are Enabled and Disabled.
QPI Frequency Selection
This function is allows you to select the QPI Frequency. The options are
Auto, 4.800 GT/s, 5.866 GT/s and 6.400 GT/s.

Configuring the BIOS

Installing Drivers andSoftwareNote:

It is important to remember that before installing the driver CD that is shippedin the kit, you need to load your operating system. The motherboard supports
Windows XP 32bit and 64bit and is Vista-capable.

The kit comes with a CD that contains utilities, drivers, and additional software.
The CD that has been shipped with the EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard contains
the following software and drivers:
Chipset Drivers
Audio drivers
RAID drivers
LAN Drivers
Matrix Storage
JMicron SATA Drivers
EVGA E-LEET
NVIDIA SLI Drivers
Adobe Acrobat Reader
User’s Manual

Windows XP/Vista Driver
Installation
5.

Insert the Intel X58 Express installation CD for the motherboard includedin the kit.

6.

The CD will autorun, install the drivers and utilities listed on the install
screen.

If the CD does not run, go to My Computer and click on the CD to open.

Appendix A. POST Codes for the EVGAX58 SLI Motherboard

This section provides the Award POST Codes (Table
6) for the EVGA X58 SLI Motherboard duringsystem boot up.
The POST Codes are displayed on the Debug LED
readout located directly onboard the motherboard.
This Debug LED will also display current CPU
temperatures after the system has fully booted
into the Operating System.

Table 6.

Debug LED with CPU
Temperature Monitor

Award POST CodeAward POST Codes
Code

Name

01

Reserved

02

Jumps to E000
segment

Execution of POST routines in E000

03

Early SuperIO

Init Early Initialized the super IO

04

Reserved

05

Blank video

06

Reserved

07

Init KBC

Keyboard controller init

08

KB test

Test the Keyboard

09

Reserved

0A

Mouse Init

0B

Reserved

0C

Reserved

0D

Reserved

0E

CheckSum

Description

Reset Video controller

Initialized the mouse

Check the integrity of the ROM,BIOS and message

Configuring the BIOS

Award POST Codes
Code

Name

Description

Check
0F

Reserved

10

Autodetect
EEPROM

11

Reserved

12

Test CMOS

13

Reserved

14

Load Chipset

15

Reserved

16

Init Clock17

Reserved

18

Init CPU

19

Reserved

1A

Reserved

1B

Setup Interrupt
Vector Table

Initialize first 120 interrupt vectors withSPURIOUS_INT_HDLR and initialize INT 00h-1Fhaccording to INT_TBL

1C

CMOS Battery
Check

Test CMOS and check Battery Fail

1D

Early PM

Early PM initialization

1E

Reserved

1F

Re-initial KB

20

Reserved

21

HPM init

22

Reserved

23

ProgramchipsetEarly Programming of chipset registers

24

Init PNP

Init PNP

25

Shadow VBIOS

Shadow system/video BIOS

26

Clock Gen

Init onboard clock generator and sensor

27

Setup BDA

Setup BIOS DATA AREA (BDA)

28

Reserved

Check Flash type and copy flash write/erase routines

Test and Reset CMOS

Load Chipset Defaults
Initialize onboard clock generator
CPU ID and initialize L1/L2 cache

Load keyboard matrix

Init Heuristic Power Management (HPM)Award POST Codes
Code

Name

Description

29

CPU SpeeddetectChipset programming and CPU Speed detect

2A

Reserved

2B

Init video

2C

Reserved

2D

Video memory
test

2E

Reserved

2F

Reserved

30

Reserved

31

Reserved

32

Reserved

33

Early keyboard
reset

34

Reserved

35

Test DMA
Controller 0

36

Reserved

37

Test DMA
Controller 1

38

Reserved

39

Test DMA Page
Registers

3A

Reserved

3B

Reserved

3C

Test Timer

3D

Reserved

3E

Test 8259-1
Mask

3F

Reserved

40

Test 8259-2
Mask

41

Reserved

42

Reserved

Initialize Video
Test Video Memory and display Logos

Early Keyboard Reset

Test DMA channel 0

Test DMA channel 1

Test DMA Page Registers

Test 8254 Timer 0 Counter 2.

Verify 8259 Channel 1 masked interrupts byalternately turning off and on the interrupt lines.

Verify 8259 Channel 2 masked interrupts byalternately turning off and on the interrupt lines.

Configuring the BIOS

Award POST Codes
Code

Name

Description

43

Test Stuck
Interrupt

Turn off interrupts then verify no 8259's interrupt
mask register is on. Test 8259 Force an interrupt andverify the interrupt occurred.

44

Reserved

45

Reinit serial
port

46

Reserved

47

EISA Test

48

Reserved

49

Size Memory

4A

Reserved

4B

Reserved

4C

Reserved

4D

Reserved

4E

Init APIC

4F

Reserved

50

USB init

51

Reserved

52

Memory Test

53

Reserved

54

Reserved

55

CPU display

56

Reserved

57

PnP Init
Display

58

Reserved

59

Setup Virus

5A

Reserved

Reinitialize Preboot agent serial port

If EISA non-volatile memory checksum is good,
execute EISA initialization. If not, execute ISA tests
and clear EISA mode flag.
Size base memory from 256K to 640K and extended
memory above 1MB.

Initialize APIC and set MTRR

Initialize USB controller

Test all memory of memory above 1MB using Virtual
8086 mode, page mode and clear the memory

Detect CPU speed and display CPU vendor specificversion string and turn on all necessary CPU features
PnP logo and PnP early init

Setup virus protect according to Protect Setup

Award POST Codes
Code

Name

Description

If required, will auto load Awdflash.exe in POST

5B

Awdflash Load

5C

Reserved

5D

Onboard I/O

5E

Reserved

5F

Reserved

60

Setup enable

61

Reserved

62

Reserved

63

Initialize
Mouse

64

Reserved

65

PS2 Mousespecial66

Reserved

67

ACPI init

68

Reserved

69

Init Cache

6A

Reserved

6B

Setup

6C

Reserved

6D

Initialize
Floppy6E

Reserved

6F

FDD install

70

Reserved

71

Reserved

72

Reserved

73

Initialize Hard
Drive

74

Reserved

75

Detect HDD

76

Reserved

77

Detect serial

Init Initializing onboard superIO

Display setup message and enable setup functions

Detect if mouse is present, initialize mouse, installinterrupt vectors.
Special treatment to PS2 Mouse port

ACPI sub-system initializing
Initialize cache controllerEnter setup check and autoconfiguration check up

Initialize floppy disk drive

Install FDD and setup BIOS data area parameters

Initialize hard drive controller

IDE device detection
Initialize serial ports.

Configuring the BIOS

Award POST Codes
Code

Name

Description

ports
78

Reserved

79

Reserved

7A

Detect parallel
ports

7B

Reserved

7C

HDD Write
Protect

7D

Reserved

7E

Reserved

7F

POST error
check

80

Reserved

81

Reserved

82

Security Check

Ask password security.

83

Write CMOS

Write all CMOS values back to RAM and clear screen.

84

Display PNP

Display PNP devices

85

USB Final Init

Final USB initialization

86

Reserved

87

Reserved

88

Reserved

89

Setup ACPI
tables8A

Reserved

8B

Option ROM
Detect8C

Reserved

8D

Enable Parity
Check

8E

Reserved

8F

IRQ12 Enable

90

Reserved

Initialize parallel ports.

HDD check for write protection

Check POST error and display them and ask for userintervention

Setup ACPI tables

Scan for Option ROMs

Enable Parity Check

Enable IRQ12 if mouse presentAward POST Codes
Code

Name

91

Reserved

92

Reserved

93

Boot Medium
Read

Detect and store boot partition head and cylinders
values in RAM

94

Final Init

Final init for last micro details before boot95

NumLock

Set NumLock status according to Setup

96

Boot Attempt

Set low stack Boot via INT 19h.

C0

Base CPU test

Read/Write CPU registers

C1

MemoryPresence

Base memory detect

C2

Early Memory

Board Initialization

C3

ExtendMemoryTurn on extended memory, cache initialization

C4

Special Display

First display initialization

C5

Early Shadow

Early shadow enable for fast boot

C6

Cache
presence

External cache size detection

CF

CMOS Check

CMOS checkup

B0

Spurious

If interrupt occurs in protected mode.

B1

Unclaimed NMI

If unmasked NMI occurs, display Press F1 to disable
NMI, F2 reboot.

BF

Program MCP

To program chipset from defaults values

Setup Pages

E1- Page 1, E2 - Page 2, etc.

E1-EF
FF

Boot

Description

Configuring the BIOSEVGA Glossary of Terms

ACPI - Advanced Configuration and Power Interface
AFR – Alternate Frame Rendering
APIC - Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller
BIOS - Basic Input Output System
CD-ROM - Compact Disc Read-Only Memory
CMOS - Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
CPU – Central Processing Unit
D-ICE – Dry Ice Cooling
DDR2 - Double Data Rate 2
DDR3 - Double Data Rate 3
DIMM - Dual In-line Memory Module
DRAM - Dynamic random access memory
DVD - Digital Versatile Disc
DVI – Digital Video Interface
FDC - Floppy Disk Controller
FSB – Front Side Bus
FTW – For The Win!
GHz – Gigahertz
GPU – Graphics Processing Unit
HDD - Hard Disk Drive
HDMI - High-Definition Multimedia Interface
HDR – High Dynamic Range Lighting
HPET - High Precision Event Timer
HT – Hyper-Threading
HSF - Heat Sink Fan
I/O - Input/Output
IDE - Integrated Drive Electronics
IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IGP - Integrated Graphics Processors
IRQ - Interrupt Request
JBOD - Just a Bunch of DisksJEDEC - Joint Electron Device Engineering Council
LAN - Local Area Network
LCD - Liquid Crystal Display
LGA – Land Grid Array
LN2 – Liquid Nitrogen Cooling
MAC - Media Access Control
MCP - Media and Communications Processor
MHz - Megahertz
NB - Northbridge
NCQ - Native Command Queuing
NIC - Network Interface Card
NTFS - New Technology File System
OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer
PATA - Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment
PCB - Printed Circuit Board
PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect
PCIe - Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
PCI-x - Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended
POST – Power on Self Test
PWM – Pulse Width Modulation
QDR - Quad Data Rate
QPI – Quick Path Interconnect
RAID - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks
RGB - Red Green BlueSATA - Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
SB - Southbridge
SCSI - Small Computer System Interface
SFR – Split Frame Rendering
SLI - Scalable Link Interface
SPD - Serial Presence Detect
SPDIF - Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format

Configuring the BIOS

SPP - System Platform Processors
TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
USB - Universal Serial Bus
VDroop - V-core Voltage Drop
VGA - Video Graphics Array