Internal I/O
| Power fan connector |
Y |
| S/PDIF out connector |
Y |
| USB 2.0 connectors |
3 |
| Number of SATA III connectors |
6 |
| CPU fan connector |
Y |
| Number of COM connectors |
1 |
| Front panel audio connector |
Y |
| Number of EATX power connectors |
1 |
| Chassis intrusion connector |
Y |
| Number of chassis fan connectors |
2 |
Other features
| Controller interface type |
AMD SB950 |
| Manageability features |
WfM 2.0, DMI 2.0, WOL by PME, WOR by PME, PXE |
BIOS
| BIOS memory size |
32 MB |
| ACPI version |
2.0a |
Graphics
| On-board graphics adapter |
Y |
Memory
| Non-ECC |
Y |
| Supported memory module capacities |
4GB, 2GB, 1GB, 8GB, 512MB |
| Memory channels |
Dual |
| Number of memory slots |
4 |
| Maximum internal memory |
32 GB |
Expansion slots
| PCI slots |
2 |
| PCI Express x4 slots |
1 |
| PCI Express x16 slots |
1 |
| PCI Express x1 slots |
2 |
| PCI Express slots version |
2.0 |
Back panel I/O ports
| PS/2 ports quantity |
2 |
| S/PDIF out port |
Y |
| USB 3.0 (3.1 Gen 1) Type-A ports quantity |
2 |
| Digital audio optical out |
1 |
Performance
| Audio system |
Realtek ALC 887 |
| Component for |
PC |
Additionally
| Chipset |
AMD 970 |
| System bus data transfer rate |
4.8 GT/s |
| Ethernet LAN (RJ-45) ports quantity |
1 |
M5A97 - AMD AM3+ FX, AMD 970/SB950, 4 x DIMM, Max. 32GB, DDR3 2133MHz, 4.8 GT/s, AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX, 6 x SATA 6Gb/s, 2 x USB 3.0, 12 x USB 2.0, 32 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI BIOS
<b>Dual Intelligent Processors</b>
ASUS continues to put innovation at its forefront, launching the world’s first Dual Intelligent Processors technology. This exclusive design consists of the EPU (Energy Processing Unit), which automatically monitors power consumption system-wide to ensure efficiency, and the TPU (TurboV Processing Unit) - guaranteeing superior performance for every task, bringing users an unbeatable experience.
<b>TPU</b>
The Ultimate Turbo Processor
Unleash your performance with ASUS' simple onboard switch or AI Suite II utility. The TPU chip offers precise voltage control and advanced monitoring through Auto Tuning and TurboV functions. Auto Tuning offers a user friendly way to automatically optimize the system for fast, yet stable clock speeds, while TurboV enables unlimited freedom to adjust CPU frequencies and ratios for optimized performance in diverse situations.
<b>EPU</b>
Energy Efficiency All Around
Tap into the world's first real-time PC power saving chip through a simple onboard switch or AI Suite II utility. Get total system-wide energy optimization by automatically detecting current PC loadings and intelligently moderating power consumption. This also reduces fan noise and extends component longevity!
<b>Auto Tuning</b>
Auto System Level Up
Achieve extreme yet stable overclocking results automatically with Auto Tuning! With built-in stability testing, Auto Tuning allows beginners to easily upgrade their CPU performance at no extra cost.
<b>UEFI BIOS (EZ Mode)</b>
Flexible & Easy BIOS Interface
Exclusive to ASUS motherboards, its UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is the first ever mouse-controlled graphical BIOS interface designed with dual selectable modes. It delivers a user-friendly interface that goes beyond traditional keyboard-only BIOS controls to enable more flexible and convenient input with quick scrolling. Users can easily navigate the UEFI BIOS with the smoothness of their operating system. Quick and simple overclocking and setup sharing is facilitated by the F12 hotkey BIOS snapshot feature. The exclusive EZ Mode displays frequently-accessed setup info, while the Advanced Mode is for experienced performance enthusiasts that demand far more intricate system control, including detailed DRAM information.
Exclusive ASUS Interface
- EZ Mode - gives easy access to selectable, optimized system modes, clear system info display and drag and drop boot prioritizing
- Advanced Mode - for experienced performance enthusiasts that demand intricate system settings
<b>AI Suite II</b>
One-stop Access to Innovative ASUS Features
With its user-friendly interface, ASUS AI Suite II consolidates all exclusive ASUS features into one simple-to-use package. It allows users to supervise overclocking, energy management, fan speed, voltage, and sensor readings. This all-in-one software offers diverse and easy to use functions, with no need to switch back and forth between different utilities.
<b>SATA 6Gb/s Support</b>
AMD® SB950 Southbridge natively supports next-generation Serial ATA (SATA) storage interface, this motherboard delivers up to 6.0 Gb/s data transfer rates. Additionally, get enhanced scalability, faster data retrieval, double the bandwidth of current bus systems.
<b>USB 3.0 support</b>
Experience ultra-fast data transfers at 4.8 Gb/s with USB 3.0–the latest connectivity standard. Built to connect easily with next-generation components and peripherals, USB 3.0 transfers data 10X faster and is also backward compatible with USB 2.0 components.
<b>AMD® Socket AM3+ for AMD® FX Series CPU up to 8-core</b>
AMD® FX™-Series / Phenom™ II / Athlon™ II / Sempron™ 100 Series Processors (socket AM3+/AM3)
M5A97 supports AMD® AM3+/AM3 multi-core processors with unique L3 cache and delivers better overclocking capabilities with less power consumption. It features dual-channel DDR3 memory support and accelerates data transfer rate up to 4800MT/s via HyperTransport™ 3.0 based system bus. This motherboard also supports AMD® CPUs in the new 32nm manufacturing process.
<b>AMD® 970 Chipset</b>
AMD® 970 Chipset is designed to support up to 4800MT HyperTransport™ 3.0 (HT 3.0) interface speed and PCI Express™ 2.0 x16 graphics. It is optimized with AMD®’s latest AM3+ and multi-core CPUs to provide excellent system performance and overclocking capabilities.
<b>CrossFireX Support</b>
Flexible Multi-GPU solutions, Your Weapon of Choice!
ATI's CrossFireX™ boosts image quality along with rendering speed, eliminating the need to scale down screen resolution to get high quality images. CrossFireX™ allows higher antialiasing, anisotropic filtering, shading and texture settings. Adjust your display configurations, experiment with the 3D settings, and check the effects with a real-time 3D-rendered previews within ATI Catalyst™ Control Center.
<b>GreenASUS and ErP Ready</b>
The motherboard is European Union´s Energy-related Products (ErP) ready, and ErP requires products to meet certain energy efficiency requirements in regards to energy consumptions. This is in line with ASUS vision of creating environment-friendly and energy-efficient products through product design and innovation to reduce carbon footprint of the product and thus mitigate environmental impacts.
