Page 2 - Motherboard
Jun. 8, 2006 Motherboard GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard GA-M55SLI-S4 Jun. 8, 2006
Page 4 - Table of Contents
- 4 - Table of Contents Item Checklist ................................................................................................................. 6Optional Accessories ...................................................................................................... 6GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherbo...
Page 6 - IDE Cable x 1 & FDD Cable x 1
- 6 - Item Checklist * The items listed above are for reference only, and are subject to change without notice. Optional Accessories IDE Cable x 1 & FDD Cable x 1 Serial ATAII Cable x 2 I/O ShieldSLI Bridge (GC-DGBR2-RH) x 1Retention Bracket x 1 2 Ports USB2.0 Cable (Part Number: 12CR1-1UB030-...
Page 8 - Block Diagram
- 8 - Block Diagram Center/Subwoofer Spear Out AMD Socket AM2 CPU CPUCLK+/-(200MHz) Hyper Transport Bus nVIDIA ® nForce4 SLI DDRII 400/533/667/800MHz DIMM IT8716 4 SATA 3Gb/s ATA33/66/100/133 IDE Channels PCICLK (33MHz) 2 PCI PCI Bus 10 USB Ports Dual Channel Memory F l o p p y PS/2 KB/Mouse LPT Por...
Page 9 - Hardware Installation; English; Considerations Prior to Installation; Preparing Your Computer; Chapter 1 Hardware Installation
Hardware Installation - 9 - English 1-1 Considerations Prior to Installation Preparing Your Computer The motherboard contains numerous delicate electronic circuits and components which canbecome damaged as a result of electrostatic discharge (ESD). Thus, prior to installation, pleasefollow the instr...
Page 10 - Feature Summary
- 10 - English GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard 1-2 Feature Summary C P U Socket AM2 for AMD Athlon TM 64 FX / Athlon TM 64 X2 Dual-Core / Athlon TM 64 / Sempron TM processor Front Side Bus 2000MHz Chipset nVIDIA ® nForce4 SLI chipset LAN Onboard Marvell 88E1116 PHY(10/100/1000Mbit) Audio Onboard ...
Page 12 - Installation of the CPU and CPU Cooler; otherwise overheating and permanent damage of the CPU may occur.
- 12 - English GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard 1-3 Installation of the CPU and CPU Cooler Before installing the CPU, please comply with the following conditions:1 . Please make sure that the motherboard supports the CPU.2 . Please take note of the pin 1 marking (the small triangle) on the CPU. If you insta...
Page 14 - Installation of Memory; p o w e r i s s w i t c h e d o f f t o p r e v e n t h a r d w a r e d a m a g e .
- 14 - English GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard 1-4 Installation of Memory Notch DDR II B e f o r e i n s t a l l i n g t h e m e m o r y m o d u l e s , p l e a s e c o m p l y w i t h t h e f o l l o w i n g c o n d i t i o n s :1 . P l e a s e m a k e s u r e t h a t t h e m e m o r y u s e d i s s u p p...
Page 15 - Dual Channel Memory Configuration; follow the guidelines below:
Hardware Installation - 15 - English Dual Channel Memory Configuration The GA-M55SLI-S4 supports the Dual Channel Technology. After operatingthe Dual Channel Technology, the bandwidth of Memory Bus will add double.Due to CPU limitation, if you wish to operate the Dual Channel Technology, follow the ...
Page 16 - Installation of Expansion Cards; Installing a PCI Express x 16 expansion card:
- 16 - English GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard 1-5 Installation of Expansion Cards You can install your expansion card by following the steps outlined below:1. Read the related expansion card's instruction document before install the expansion card into the computer. 2. Remove your computer's chassis cover...
Page 17 - Setup of SLI (Scalable Link Interface) Configuration; the PCI Express
Hardware Installation - 17 - English 1-6 Setup of SLI (Scalable Link Interface) Configuration NVIDIA nForce4 SLI offers blistering graphics performance with the ability to bridge two NVIDIA SLI-ready PCI Express TM graphics cards! The SLI design takes advantage of the increased bandwidth of the PCI ...
Page 19 - Init Display First
Hardware Installation - 19 - English place this part on the top ofthe bridge connector. retention bracket Connecting Two Graphics Cards:Step 1: Observe the steps in "1-5 Installation of Expansion Cards" and install two SLI-ready graphics cards of the samemodel to the PCIE_16_1 and PCIE_16_2 ...
Page 20 - NVIDIA Display; NVIDIA control panel will appear.; Apply; configuration is completed.
- 20 - English GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard Graphics Card Driver Setting:Step 1: After installing graphics card driver in operating system, right-click the NVIDIA icon in your sys-tem tray and then select NVIDIA Display . The NVIDIA control panel will appear. Step 2: Select SLI multi-GPU from the side m...
Page 21 - I/O Back Panel Introduction; Connects to serial-based mouse or data processing devices.
Hardware Installation - 21 - English 1-7 I/O Back Panel Introduction PS/2 Keyboard and PS/2 Mouse Connector To install a PS/2 port keyboard and mouse, plug the mouse to the upper port (green) and the keyboard to thelower port (purple). Parallel Port The parallel port allows connection of a printer, ...
Page 22 - Connectors Introduction; Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out
- 22 - English GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard 1-8 Connectors Introduction Please refer to the 2-/4-/6-/8- channel audio setup steps for detailed software configurationinformation. 1) ATX_12V2) ATX (Power Connector)3) PCIE_12V4) C P U _ F A N5) SYS_F AN6) P W R _ F A N7) F D D8) IDE1 / IDE29) SATAII0_1/ SA...
Page 33 - Main Menu; Chapter 2 BIOS Setup; CONTROL KEYS
BIOS Setup - 33 - English Main Menu The on-line description of the highlighted setup function is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Status Page Setup Menu / Option Page Setup Menu Press <F1> to pop up a small help window that describes the appropriate keys to use and the possibleselections...
Page 35 - Top Performance
BIOS Setup - 35 - English Standard CMOS Features This setup page includes all the items in standard compatible BIOS. Advanced BIOS Features This setup page includes all the items of Award special enhanced features. Integrated Peripherals This setup page includes all onb...
Page 36 - Standard CMOS Features; Date
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 36 - English 2-1 Standard CMOS Features Date The date format is <week>, <month>, <day>, <year>. Week The week, from Sun to Sat, determined by the BIOS and is display only Month The month, Jan. Through Dec. Day The day, from 1 to 31 (or the maximum a...
Page 37 - Drive A
BIOS Setup - 37 - English Cylinder Number of cylinders Head Number of heads Precomp Write precomp Landing Zone Landing zone Sector Number of sectors Drive A The category identifies the types of floppy disk drive A or drive B that has been installed in thecomputer. None No floppy drive installed 360K...
Page 38 - Advanced BIOS Features; Hard Disk Boot Priority
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 38 - English 2-2 Advanced BIOS Features Hard Disk Boot Priority Select boot sequence for onboard(or add-on cards) SCSI, RAID, etc.Use < > or < > to select a device, then press<+> to move it up, or <-> to move it down the list. Press<ESC> to ex...
Page 39 - Password Check
BIOS Setup - 39 - English Password Check System The system can not boot and can not access to Setup page will be denied if thecorrect password is not entered at the prompt. Setup The system will boot, but access to Setup will be denied if the correct password isnot entered at the prompt. (Default va...
Page 40 - Integrated Peripherals; IDE DMA transfer access
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 40 - English 2-3 Integrated Peripherals On-Chip IDE Channel0 Enabled Enable onboard 1st channel IDE port. (Default value) Disabled Disable onboard 1st channel IDE port. On-Chip IDE Channel1 Enabled Enable onboard 2nd channel IDE port. (Default value) Disabled Disable onboa...
Page 42 - SMART LAN (LAN Cable Diagnostic Function)
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 42 - English SMART LAN (LAN Cable Diagnostic Function) This motherboard incorporates cable diagnostic feature designed to detect the status of the attached LANcable. This feature will detect cabling issue and report the approximate distance to the fault or short.Refer to t...
Page 44 - Power Management Setup; ACPI Suspend Type
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 44 - English 2-4 Power Management Setup ACPI Suspend Type S1(POS) Set ACPI suspend type to S1/POS(Power On Suspend). (Default value) S3(STR) Set ACPI suspend type to S3/STR(Suspend To RAM). Soft-Off by Power button Instant-off Press power button then Power off instantly. (...
Page 45 - Power On By Mouse
BIOS Setup - 45 - English Power On By Mouse Disabled Disable this function. (Default value) Double Click Double click on PS/2 mouse left button to power on the system. Power On By Keyboard Disabled Disable this function. (Default value) Password Enter from 1 to 5 characters to set the Keyboard Power...
Page 46 - PnP/PCI Configurations; PCI 2 IRQ Assignment; PCI 1 IRQ Assignment; Auto
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 46 - English 2-5 PnP/PCI Configurations PCI 2 IRQ Assignment Auto Auto assign IRQ to PCI 2. (Default value) 3,4,5,7,9,10,11,12,14,15 Set IRQ 3,4,5,7,9,10,11,12,14,15 to PCI 2. PCI 1 IRQ Assignment Auto Auto assign IRQ to PCI 1. (Default value) 3,4,5,7,9,10,11,12,14,15 Set ...
Page 47 - PC Health Status; Reset Case Open Status; Case Opened; Current System / CPU Temperature
BIOS Setup - 47 - English 2-6 PC Health Status CMOS Setup Utility-Copyright (C) 1984-2006 Award Software PC Health Status Reset Case Open Status [Disabled] Case Opened Yes Vcore OK DDR18V OK +3.3V OK +12V OK Current System Temperature 34 o C Current CPU Temperature 48 o C Current CPU FAN Speed 3183 ...
Page 48 - CPU Warning Temperature
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 48 - English CPU Warning Temperature 60 o C / 140 o F Monitor CPU temperature at 60 o C / 140 o F. 70 o C / 158 o F Monitor CPU temperature at 70 o C / 158 o F. 80 o C / 176 o F Monitor CPU temperature at 80 o C / 176 o F. 90 o C / 194 o F Monitor CPU temperature at 90 o C...
Page 49 - BIOS Setup; DRAM Configuration; Set CPU frequency from 200Mhz to 456Mhz.; Timing Mode; Memory Clock
BIOS Setup - 49 - English 2-7 MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.) Incorrect using these features may cause your system broken. For power end-user useo n l y . CMOS Setup Utility-Copyright (C) 1984-2006 Award Software MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.) CPU Frequency [200] DRAM Configuration [Press Enter] CPU ...
Page 53 - -12 Exit Without Saving
BIOS Setup - 53 - English 2-11 Save & Exit Setup Type "Y" will quit the Setup Utility and save the user setup value to RTC CMOS.Type "N" will return to Setup Utility. 2-12 Exit Without Saving Type "Y" will quit the Setup Utility without saving to RTC CMOS.Type "N"...
Page 55 - Drivers Installation; Chapter 3 Drivers Installation; Install Chipset Drivers
Drivers Installation - 55 - English Pictures below are shown in Windows XP.Insert the driver CD-title that came with your motherboard into your CD-ROM drive, the driverCD-title will auto start and show the installation guide. If not, please double click the CD-ROMdevice icon in "My computer"...
Page 56 - Software Applications
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 56 - English 3-2 Software Applications This page displays all the tools that Gigabyte developed and some free software, you can choose anyoneyou want and press "install" to install them. 3-3 Driver CD Information This page lists the contents of software and drivers...
Page 57 - Hardware Information; This page lists all device you have for this motherboard.; Contact Us; Please see the last page for details.
Drivers Installation - 57 - English 3-4 Hardware Information This page lists all device you have for this motherboard. 3-5 Contact Us Please see the last page for details.
Page 59 - Chapter 4 Appendix; User Interface Overview
Appendix - 59 - English Chapter 4 Appendix 4-1-1 EasyTune 5 Introduction EasyTune 5 presents the most convenient Windows based system performance enhancement andmanageability utility. Featuring several powerful yet easy to use tools such as 1) Overclocking for enhancingsystem performance, 2) C.I.A. ...
Page 60 - How to use the Xpress Recovery2; Advanced BIOS Feature; enter Xpress Recovery2 by pressing the key in the future.
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 60 - English 4-1-2 Xpress Recovery2 Introduction Xpress Recovery2 is designed to provide quick backup and restora-tion of hard disk data. Supporting Microsoft operating systems includingWindows XP/2000/NT/98/Me and DOS, and file systems includingFAT16, FAT32, and NTFS, Xpr...
Page 61 - The Main Screen of Xpress Recovery2
Appendix - 61 - English 1. RESTORE: Restore the backed-up data to your hard disk.(This button will not appear if there is no backupfile.) 2. BACKUP: Back up data from hard disk. 3. REMOVE: Remove previously-created backup filesto release disk space.(This button will not appear if there is no backupf...
Page 62 - Utility; Del; Utility on Dual BIOS Motherboards.
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 62 - English 4-1-3 Flash BIOS Method Introduction Method 1 : Q-Flash TM Utility Q-Flash TM is a BIOS flash utility embedded in Flash ROM. With this utility, users only have to stay in the BIOS menu when they want to updateBIOS. Q-Flash TM allows users to flash BIOS without...
Page 63 - Appendix; button on your keyboard and then; in the boot screen to enter BIOS menu.; Exploring the Q-Flash; / Dual BIOS utility screen
Appendix - 63 - English Entering the Q-Flash TM utility: CMOS Setup Utility-Copyright (C) 1984-2004 Award Software Standard CMOS FeaturesAdvanced BIOS FeaturesIntegrated PeripheralsPower Management SetupPnP/PCI ConfigurationsPC Health StatusMB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.) Select LanguageLoad Fail-Saf...
Page 64 - Move to the BIOS file you want to flash and press; After pressing; Enter
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 64 - English Dual BIOS Utility Boot From......................................... Main Bios Main ROM Type/Size.............................SST 49LF003A 512K Backup ROM Type/Size.........................SST 49LF003A 512K Wide Range Protection Disable Boot From Main Bios Aut...
Page 65 - Please do not take out the floppy disk when it begins flashing BIOS.
Appendix - 65 - English 3. Press Y button on your keyboard after you are sure to update BIOS. Then it will begin to update BIOS. The progress of updating BIOS will be displayed. Dual BIOS Utility Boot From......................................... Main Bios Main ROM Type/Size............................
Page 67 - utility screen; Move to the BIOS file you want to flash and press Enter.
Appendix - 67 - English Exploring the Q-Flash TM utility screen The Q-FlashBIOS utility screen consists of the following key components. Task menu for Q-Flash utility: Contains the names of three tasks. Blocking a task and pressing Enter key on your keyboard to enableexecution of the task. Action ba...
Page 68 - Press Y button on your keyboard after you are sure to update BIOS.; to Load BIOS Fail-Safe Defaults, please kindly refer to Step 6 to 7 in; Part One
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 68 - English 3. Press Y button on your keyboard after you are sure to update BIOS. Then it will begin to update BIOS. The progress of updating BIOS will be shown at the same time. Q-Flash Utility V1.30 Flash Type/Size.................................SST 49LF003A 256K Keep ...
Page 70 - III. In method I, if the BIOS file you need cannot be found in @BIOS; server, please go onto
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 70 - English III. Save BIOSIn the very beginning, there is "Save Current BIOS" icon shown in dialog box. It means to save thecurrent BIOS version. IV. Check out supported motherboard and Flash ROM:In the very beginning, there is "About this program" icon sh...
Page 71 - Before you begin
Appendix - 71 - English "*" Skip this step if you do not want to create RAID array on the SATA controller. To configure SATA hard drive(s), follow the steps below: (1) Install SATA hard drive(s) in your system.(2) Configure SATA controller mode and boot sequence in BIOS Setup.(3)* Configure ...
Page 72 - Figure 1; NV SATA RAID function; under the; menu is enabled; NV SATA 1 Primary/Secondary RAID/SATA 2 Primary/Secondary RAID; is enabled and; Secondary RAID
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 72 - English Figure 1 The BIOS Setup menus described in this section may not show the exact settings for yourmotherboard. The actual BIOS Setup menu options you will see shall depend on the motherboardyou have and the BIOS version. (2) Configuring SATA controller mode and ...
Page 74 - First Boot Device; Advanced BIOS; menu to
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 74 - English Step 3:To boot from W indows installation CD-ROM, set First Boot Device under the Advanced BIOS Features menu to CD-ROM (Figure 4). Step 4:Save and exit BIOS Setup. Figure 4 CMOS Setup Utility-Copyright (C) 1984-2005 Award Software Advanced BIOS Features Hard ...
Page 75 - key to enter the RAID BIOS
Appendix - 75 - English (3) Configuring RAID set in RAID BIOS Enter the RAID BIOS setup utility to configure a RAID array. Skip this step and proceed to Section 4 ifyou do not want to create RAID. Step 1:After the POST memory test begins and before the operating system boot begins, look for a messag...
Page 76 - Figure 8
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 76 - English Step 6:Press F7 after selecting the target hard disks. A message which says "Clear disk data?" will appear.If you are sure to clear the data in the selected hard drives, press Y. (If the hard drives containpreviously created RAID array, you need to pre...
Page 77 - Figure 9; Boot; section will show; Yes
Appendix - 77 - English To read more information about the RAID array, press ENTER to enter the Array Detail screen (Figure10), where you should see detailed information about RAID mode, disk block size, disk model name,and disk capacity, etc. Figure 10 Figure 9 After that, the Array List screen dis...
Page 78 - file in the; BootDrv; A command prompt window will open similar to that in Figure 12.
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 78 - English (Note 1) For users without a startup disk: Use an alternative system and insert the GIGABYTE motherboard driver CD-ROM. From theCD-ROM drive folder, double click the MENU.exe file in the BootDrv folder (Figure 13). A command prompt window will open similar to ...
Page 79 - (5) Installing SATA controller driver during OS installation; as soon as
Appendix - 79 - English Figure 14 Windows Setup Press F6 if you need to install a 3rd party SCSI or RAID driver. Figure 15 Windows Setup S=Specify Additional Device ENTER=Continue F3=Exit Setup could not determine the type of one or more mass storage devicesinstalled in your system, or you have chos...
Page 80 - If you want to create RAID, select both
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 80 - English Step 3:If Setup correctly recognizes the driver in the floppy disk, a controller menu similar to Figure 16 belowwill appear. Use the ARROW keys to select NVIDIA RAID CLASS DRIVER* and press ENTER. Later, when a screen similar to Figure 17 appears, you must pre...
Page 82 - (6) Configuring a bootable RAID array with Microsoft Windows 2000; menu assure the SATA port connecting the SATA hard disk (the one; Enabled
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 82 - English (6) Configuring a bootable RAID array with Microsoft Windows 2000 Problem: Users cannot install Windows 2000 with Service Pack 2 (or previous versions) to a bootable RAID volume.There are two solutions to resolve this issue. Solutions 1: Use the NVRAID tool (n...
Page 83 - Clear Disk Data
Appendix - 83 - English Step 3:After system restarts, press F10 to enter the NVIDIA RAID setup utility. Select Striping in the RAID Modefiled (Figure 21). Move to the Free Disks section with the TAB key. Select the desired disk and use theRIGHT ARROW key to add it to Array Disks menu. Figure 21 Step...
Page 85 - Introduction; Line Out; Stereo Speakers Connection and Settings:; Sound Effect; Introduction of audio connectors:
Appendix - 85 - English 4-1-5 2- / 4- / 6- / 8- Channel Audio Function Introduction Line Out Stereo Speakers Connection and Settings: We recommend that you use the speaker with amplifier to acquire the best sound effect if the stereooutput is applied. STEP 1:Connect the stereo speakers or earphone t...
Page 86 - Channel Audio Setup
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 86 - English STEP 3:Click "Speaker Configuration" then click on theleft selection bar and select "2CH Speaker" tocomplete 2 channel audio configuration. 4 Channel Audio Setup STEP 1 :Connect the front channels to "Front Speaker Out",the rear channel...
Page 87 - Channel Audio Setup
Appendix - 87 - English 6 Channel Audio Setup STEP 1 :Connect the front channels to "Front Speaker Out",the rear channels to "Rear Speaker Out", and theCenter/Subwoofer channels to "Center/SubwooferSpeaker Out". STEP 2 :Following installation of the audio driver, you find a S...
Page 88 - Channel Audio Setup
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 88 - English 8 Channel Audio Setup STEP 1 :Connect the front channels to "Front Speaker Out",the rear channels to "Rear Speaker Out", the Cen-t e r / S u b w o o f e r c h a n n e l s t o " C e n t e r / S u b w o o f e rS p e a k e r O u t " , a n ...
Page 89 - Troubleshooting; (Or you can use a metal object
Appendix - 89 - English 4-2 Troubleshooting Below is a collection of general asked questions. To check general asked questions based on a specificmotherboard model, please log on to www.gigabyte.com.tw Question 1: I cannot see some options that were included in previous BIOS after updating BIOS. Why...
Page 96 - yy; GIGABYTE Global Service System
GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard - 96 - English y yy y y Germany G.B.T. TECHNOLOGY TRADING GMBHWEB address : http://www.gigabyte.de y yy y y U.K. G.B.T. TECH. CO., LTD.WEB address : http://www.giga-byte.co.uk y yy y y The Netherlands GIGA-BYTE TECHNOLOGY B.V.WEB address : http://www.giga-byte.nl y yy y y F ...
