iv
2.7 Expansion slot ..........................................................................................2-21
2.7.1 Installing an expansion card to the left PCIe riser card bracket 2-22
2.7.2 Installing an expansion card to the right PCIe riser card bracket 2-25
2.7.3 Installing an HBA/RAID card to the right PCIe riser card bracket 2-29
2.7.4 Installing an OCP 3.0 card to the OCP 3.0 slot ......................... 2-31
2.7.5 Installing an M.2 (NGFF) card ................................................... 2-32
2.7.6 (optional) Installing the PFR module ......................................... 2-33
2.7.7 Configuring an expansion card ................................................. 2-34
2.8 Cable connections ...................................................................................2-35
2.9 Backplane cabling ...................................................................................2-36
2.10 Storage device configuration and cabling ............................................2-37
2.10.1 24 x NVMe storage device configuration and cabling .............. 2-38
2.10.2 16 x NVMe and 8 x SAS/SATA storage device configuration
and cabling ................................................................................ 2-39
2.11 Removable/optional components ...........................................................2-40
2.11.1 System fans .............................................................................. 2-40
2.11.2 Redundant power supply module.............................................. 2-42
2.12 Rail Kit Options ........................................................................................2-43
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
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
4.2.8 Pop-up window............................................................................4-8
4.2.9 Scroll bar ..................................................................................... 4-8
4.3 Main menu ..................................................................................................4-9
4.4 Performance Tuning menu ......................................................................4-10