iv
2.7 Expansion slots ........................................................................................2-17
2.7.1 Installing an expansion card to the riser card bracket ............... 2-18
2.7.2 Installing an expansion card to the butterfly riser card bracket . 2-20
2.7.3 Installing an HBA/RAID card ..................................................... 2-22
2.7.4 Installing the Cache Vault Power Module ................................. 2-24
2.7.5 Installing M.2 (NGFF) cards ...................................................... 2-26
2.7.6 Installing an OCP 3.0 card ........................................................ 2-28
2.7.7 Configuring an expansion card ................................................. 2-29
2.8 Cable connections ...................................................................................2-30
2.9 SATA/SAS backplane cabling .................................................................2-31
2.10 Storage device configuration and cabling ............................................2-32
2.10.1 4 x SATA storage device configuration and cabling ................. 2-32
2.10.2 4 x NVMe storage device configuration and cabling ................. 2-34
2.10.3 4 x SAS storage device configuration and cabling .................... 2-36
2.10.4 4 x NVMe and 4 x SATA storage device configuration and
cabling ....................................................................................... 2-38
2.11 Optional components ..............................................................................2-40
2.12 Rail Kit Options ........................................................................................2-42
Chapter 3: Motherboard Information
3.1 Motherboard layout ....................................................................................3-2
3.2 Central Processing Unit (CPU) .................................................................3-5
3.3 Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) ..........................................................3-5
3.4 Jumpers ......................................................................................................3-6
3.5 Internal LEDs ............................................................................................ 3-11
3.6 Internal connectors ..................................................................................3-14
Chapter 4: BIOS Setup
4.1 Managing and updating your BIOS ..........................................................4-2
4.1.1 ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 utility................................................... 4-2
4.1.2 ASUS EZ Flash Utility ................................................................. 4-3
4.1.3 BUPDATER utility ....................................................................... 4-4
4.2 BIOS setup program ..................................................................................4-6
4.2.1 BIOS menu screen ...................................................................... 4-7
4.2.2 Menu bar ..................................................................................... 4-7
4.2.3 Menu items..................................................................................4-8
4.2.4 Submenu items ........................................................................... 4-8
4.2.5 Navigation keys ........................................................................... 4-8
4.2.6 General help................................................................................4-8
4.2.7 Configuration fields ..................................................................... 4-8