HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Motherboard Specifications, M2N78-LA (Violet)

Figure 1: The M2N78-LA (Violet) motherboard

Motherboard description

Manufacturer's motherboard name: Pegatron M2N78-LA
HP/Compaq name: Violet-GL8E

Form Factor

Micro-ATX: 24.4 cm (9.6 inches) x 24.4 cm (9.6 inches)

Chipset

NVIDIA GeForce 9100

Front-side bus speed

5200MT/s (5.2 GT/s)

Processor upgrade information

Socket type: AM2

TDP:

Motherboard supports the following processor upgrades:

AMD Athlon X2 (Bt)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 up to 6000+ (W)
AMD Phenom Triple-Core up to 8xxx (AM2+) (Toliman)
AMD Phenom Quad-Core 9xxx series (AM2+) up to 9850 (Agena)

Memory upgrade information

Dual channel memory architecture
Four DDR2 SO-DIMM (240-pin) sockets
Supported DIMM types:
- PC2-6400 (800 MHz)
- PC2-5300 (667 MHz)
Non-ECC memory only, unbuffered
Supports 4GB DDR2 DIMMs
Supports up to 16 GB on 64-bit PCs
Supports up to 4 GB* on 32-bit PCs
- 32 bit PCs cannot address a full 4.0 GB of memory.

Video

Integrated graphics using nVidia GeForce 9100

*Integrated video is not available if a graphics card is installed.

Integrated graphics using nVidia GeForce 9100.
Supports concurrent use of dual displays connected to onboard DVI and VGA connectors.
Also supports PCI Express x16 graphics cards as independent graphics adapters.*

Audio

Integrated Realtek ALC888S Audio

*Integrated audio is not available if a sound card is installed.

Audio CODEC: Realtek ALC888S
High Definition 8 channel audio
Supports one S/PDIF digital connection

Network

LAN: 10-Base-T

Interface: Integrated into motherboard
Technology: Realtek RTL8201N
Data transfer speeds: up to 10/100Mb/s
Transmission standards:10-Base-T Ethernet

Expansion Slots

One PCI Express x16
Three PCI Express x1

I/O Ports

Back I/O ports

Figure 2: Back I/O pane

1 - PS/2 mouse (green)

2 - S/PDIF coaxial out

3 - Video Graphics Adapter

4 - IEEE 1394

5 - RJ-45 Network (LAN)

6 - Audio: Center/Subwoofer (yellow orange)

7 - Audio: Rear Speaker Out (black)

8 - Audio: Line In (light blue)

9 - Audio: Line Out (lime)

10 - Audio: Microphone (pink)

11 - Audio: Side Speaker Out (gray)

12 - USB 2.0: 4

13 - DVI

14 - PS/2 keyboard (purple)

Internal Connectors

One 24-pin ATX power connector
One 4-pin ATX power connector
Four SATA connectors
One floppy drive connector
Two 12V fan connectors for CPU fan and chassis fan
One 9-pin header for power button, reset button, power LED, and HDD LED
One S/PDIF digital audio output header
One front line input connector
One 9-pin audio header for headphone-out and microphone-in (yellow, requires matching front audio jack module)
Six USB headers supporting sight USB 2.0 ports or devices
One 1394a header
One SPI (ROM programming) connector
One jumper for resetting BIOS settings
One jumper to disable BIOS password checking

Motherboard layout

Figure 3: layout

Clearing the CMOS settings

CAUTION:

Do not change any jumper setting while the computer is on. Damage to the motherboard can result.

This motherboard has a jumper to clear the Real Time Clock (RTC) RAM in CMOS.

To clear CMOS, follow these steps:

Temporarily set jumper CLEAR_CMOS to pins 1-2.
Wait 5-10 seconds and then return the jumper to pins 2-3.
When you start the PC you will need to enter BIOS setup to reset any custom BIOS settings.

Clearing the BIOS password

The BIOS password is used to protect BIOS settings from unwanted changes. If you have forgotten your password you may disable password checking.

To erase the BIOS password follow these steps:

Turn OFF the computer and unplug the power cord.
Locate the jumper labeled CLEAR_PW.
Move the jumper CLEAR_PW to pins 1-2.
Plug in the power cord and turn ON the computer.
Hold down the F10 key during the startup process and enter BIOS setup to change or clear the password.
After changing or clearing the BIOS passwords, remember to reset the jumper to pins 2-3.

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HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Motherboard Specifications, M2N78-LA (Violet)