Award BIOS motherboards identification

Recommended by Wim's BIOS...

Many users don't know the name of their clone motherboard. This is because the company name is not mentioned anywhere in the manual, or on the motherboard. If you want to upgrade your BIOS you really have to know the motherboard manufacturer, because if you flash the wrong BIOS upgrade your system could stop booting.

Luckily, Award and AMI BIOS have a unique BIOS ID (= BIOS Number) which identifies the manufacturer and chipset of the board. Phoenix BIOSs, in most cases, do NOT.

The AMI or Award BIOS id appears at the bottom of your screen after power on, during memory count up. The PAUSE key should work at that point, allowing you to write down the BIOS number, the BIOS date, and the version. You must copy it exactly.

Another (easier) way to get the Award/AMI BIOS ID is by downloading the BIOS Agent Plus software which will scan your PC and return your BIOS ID among other hardware information.

If you have an AMI BIOS you can also try the AMIBIOS Motherboard ID Utility (written by AMI) (Click here to visit the AMI BIOS number page.)

Let's show you an example of an Award BIOS id: 2A59IZ1DC-00

The first 5 characters identify the chipset. 2A59I stands for the Intel Triton TX chipset. You can find an extensive list of chipsets if you scroll down a bit.

The sixth & seventh character identify the manufacturer: in this case it's Z1. If you look at the Award Hardware Vendors list (see below) you'll find that the manufacturer is Zida/Tomato

The 8th character (most of the times, not always!) identifies the model. I say 'most of the times' because the manufacturer can use the same 8th character for all models based on a particular chipset!.

The C-00 at the end doesn't mean much.

Identifying the chipset

As noted above the first part of the Award BIOS Number identifies the chipset used. The following is a list of all the ids and their corresponding chipsets. Follow the links to get a list of known BIOS numbers for a particular chipset.

Note that when the BIOS begins with a 2 then the Award BIOS core version is 4.50 or 4.51. If it starts with a 3 this means the BIOS core is version 4.60. BIOS Numbers that start with a 6 have a Award BIOS V6.00 core

Award Chipset Code	Chipset name
154I5	SiS 85C431/85C420/85C411/85C406/85C405
213V1	SARC RC2018
21480	HiNT SC9204 (Sierra), HMC82C206
214D1	HiNT SC9204 (Sierra), HMC82C206
214I8	SiS 85C471
214I9	SiS 85C471E
214K6	ALi M1419
214L2	VIA VT82C486A
214L6	VIA Venus VT82C486A/VT82C495/VT82C496G
214UE	OPTi 495SLC
214W3	VD 88C898
214X2	UMC 491
215UM	OPTi 82C546/82C597
21917	ALD
219K3	ALI M1217
219V0	SARC RC2016
2A431	Cyrix MediaGx Cx5510
2A432	Cyrix GXi Cx5520
2A433	Cyrix GXm Cx5520
2A434	Cyrix GXm Cx5530
2A496	Intel Saturn
2A498	Intel Saturn II
2A499	Intel Aries
2A4H2	Contaq 82C596-9
2A4h4	Contaq 82C596/82C599
2A4IB	SiS 496/497
2A4J6	Winbond W83C491(SL82C491 Symphony Wagner)
2A4KA	ALi ?
2A4KC	ALi 1439/45/31
2A4KD	ALi 1487/1489
2A4L4	VIA 486A/482/505
2A4L6	VIA 496/406/505
2A4O3	EFAR EC802GL, EC100G
2A4UK	OPTI-802G-822
2A4X5	UMC 8881E/8886B
2A4Z0	?
2A4Z0	Integrated Micro Solutions IMS8848 / IMS8849
2A597	Intel Mercury
2A59A	Intel Natoma (Neptune)
2A59B	Intel Mercury
2A59C	Intel i430FX Triton
2A59F	Intel i430HX Triton II
2A59G	Intel Triton VX
2A59H	Intel Triton VX with an illegal BIOS
2A59I	Intel Triton TX
2A5C7	VIA VT82C570
2A5G7	VLSI VL82C594
2A5GB	VLSI Lynx VL82C541/VL82C543
2A5IA	SiS 501/02/03
2A5IC	SiS 5501/02/03
2A5ID	SiS 5511/12/13
2A5IE	SiS 5101-5103
2A5IF	SiS 5596/5597 or 5596/5513
2A5IH	SiS 5571
2A5II	SiS 5582/5597/5598
2A5IJ	SiS 5120 Mobile
2A5IK	SiS 5591
2A5IM	SiS 530
2A5IO	SIS 530/960 · Audio/LAN 10/100MBit/VGA onboard
2A5KB	Ali 1449/61/51
2A5KE	ALI 1511
2A5KF	ALI 1521/23
2A5KI	ALI IV+ M1531/M1543
2A5KK	Ali Aladdin V
2A5L5	VIA ?
2A5L7	VIA VT82C570
2A5L9	VIA VT82C570M
2A5LA	VIA Apollo VP1 (VT82C580VP)
2A5LC	VIA Apollo VP2
2A5LD	VIA VPX
2A5LE	VIA Apollo (M)VP3
2A5LH	VIA Apollo VP4
2A5R5	Forex FRX58C613/601A
2A5R6	Forex FRX58C613A/602B/601B
2A5T6	ACC Micro 2278/2188 (Auctor)
2A5UI	Opti 82C822/596/597 or OPTi 596/546/82
2A5UL	Opti 82C822/571/572
2A5UM	Opti 82C822/546/547
2A5UN	Opti Viper-M 82C556/557/558 or Opti Viper 82C556/557/558
2A5UP	Opti Viper Max
2A5UQ	Opti Firebridge II
2A5X7	UMC 82C890
2A5X8	UMC UM8886BF/UM8891BF/UM8892BF
2A5XA	UMC 890C
2A5XC	ITE-8330G
2A69D	Intel Orion EISA
2A69H	Intel 440FX
2A69J	Intel 440LX/EX
2A69K	Intel 440BX/ZX/GX
2A69L	Intel (Camino) 820
2A69M	Intel (Whitney) 810
2A69N	Intel i440MX 'Banister'
2A69T	Intel® 440GX
2A69V	Intel i845/i845E with Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
2A6IL	SiS 5600
2A6IN	SiS 620
2A6IR	SiS 630
2A6KL	Ali 1621/1543C
2A6KO	ALi M1631/M1535D
2A6LF	Via Apollo Pro (691/596)
2A6LG	Via Apollo Pro Plus (692/596)
2A6LI	Via MVP4 VIA 601(Trident video on-chip)/686A (Modem on-chip, Sound on-chip)
2A6LJ	VIA 694X/596B and VIA 694X/686A(Modem on-chip, Sound on-chip)
2A6LK	VIA VT8371 (KX-133)
2A9KG	ALi M6117/M1521/M1523
2A9KH	ALi M6117C
2AG9H	Intel Neptune ISA
2B496	Intel Saturn I EISA
2B597	Intel Mercury EISA
2B59A	Intel Neptune EISA
2B59F	Intel 430HX EISA
2B69D	Intel Orion EISA
2C460	UNIchip U4800-VLX
2C470	HYF82481
2C4D2	HiNT SC8006 (Sierra), HMC82C206
2C4I7	SiS 461
2C4I8	SiS 85C471B
2C4I9	SiS 85C471B/E/G
2C4J6	Winbond W83C491(SL82C491 Symphony Wagner)
2C4K9	ALI 14296
2C4KC	Ali 1439/45/31 Chipset
2C4L2	VIA 82C486A Chipset
2C4L6	VIA VT496G Chipset
2C4L8	VIA VT425MV chipset
2C4O3	EFAR EC802G-B Chipset
2C4S0	AMD Elan 470
2C4T7	ACC Micro 2048 (Auctor)
2C4UK	OPTI 82C895/82C602
2C4X2	UMC UM82C491/82C493
2C4X6	UMC UM498F/496F
2C4Y1	Samsung KS82C884
2C917	ALD
2C9V0	SARC RC2016
3A69K	Intel 440BX/440ZX
3A6LF	Via Apollo Pro (691/596) with Award BIOS v4.60PGA
6A439	AMD Geode CS5535
6A43A	AMD Geode GX3 (CS5536)
6A450	STMicroelectronics PC Client ST86 processor
6A451	ST Microelectronics PC Client ST86 processor
6A522	Transmeta Crusoe + VIA® VG82C686A/B
6A5IV	SiS 550 SoC (System-on-Chip)
6A5KP	ATI ArtX A7
6A5LE	VIA Apollo (M)VP3
6A5LH	VIA MVP4 with Award 6.00 bios
6A601	ServerWorks ServerSet III LE
6A602	ServerWorks LC-T
6A61A	Nvidia nForce
6A61B	Nvidia nForce 2
6A61C	nVidia nForce3 150 / nForce3 250Gb
6A61E	NVIDIA nForce4 SLI Intel Edition
6A61F	NVidia nForce4
6A61H	NVIDIA® GeForce6100 or nVidia nForce 590 SLI
6A61I	NVIDIA nForce 680i
6A61J	NVIDIA® nForce 4 MCP
6A61K	NVIDIA® GeForce 6100 / nForce 430
6A61N	NVIDIA® nForce2 SPP-128 + nForce2 MCP-T
6A660	ATI A3 (Radeon IGP320)
6A661	ATI A3 (Radeon IGP320) with VIA VT82686B
6A662	ATI A4 (Radeon IGP340)
6A664	ATi R9100 Pro IGP
6A665	ATI RS400
6A666	ATI RS480 (XPRESS 200) (SB400) / ATI RX480 (XPRESS 200P) (SB400)
6A667	ATI RD600
6A668	ATI® CrossFire? Xpress 3200 + SB450
6A669	AMD 690G/V
6A66A	AMD 790FX
6A682	Intel 82443BX + SLC90E66 (SMSC)
6A69K	Intel 440BX/ZX/GX chipset (with Award BIOS v6.00)
6A69L	Intel Camino i820 with Award BIOS v6.00
6A69M	Intel i810(E) chipset with Award BIOS v6.00
6A69N	Intel 440MX
6A69P	Intel 840
6A69R	Intel Solano i815(E) with Award BIOS v6.00
6A69S	Intel i850 chipset with Award BIOS v6.00
6A69T	Intel i845G/i845GL
6A69V	Intel i845/i845E with Award BIOS v6.00
6A69W	Intel E7205 / E7505
6A69X	Intel i845GE
6A69Y	Intel i845PE / i855
6A69Z	Intel i845GV
6A6IR	SiS 630
6A6IS	SiS 730 chipset with Award BIOS v6.00
6A6IT	SiS 635
6A6IU	SiS 733 chipset with Award BIOS v6.00
6A6IX	SIS650
6A6IY	SiS 740
6A6IZ	SiS 745
6A6KT	ALi MAGiK 1 (M1647/M1535D+) / ALi M1649/M1535D
6A6KU	ALi M1651/M1535D+
6A6KX	ALi M1671 (ALADDiN-P4)
6A6LG	VIA VT82C693A VT82C694A
6A6LI	VIA Apollo PLE133T
6A6LJ	VIA 694X/686A (Apollo Pro 133A)
6A6LK	VIA VT8371 (KX-133) with Award BIOS v6.00
6A6LL	VIA ProSavage PN133T (VT8605)
6A6LM	VIA VT8363 (KT-133)
6A6LN	VIA VT8365 (KM-133) / VT8364 (KL-133) / 8361/686 KLE133
6A6LO	VIA PLE-133/8231
6A6LP	VIA Apollo Pro 133T
6A6LS	VIA® VT8363 (KT133A) / VT8231
6A6LU	VIA Apollo Pro266 / VIA CLE266
6A6LV	VIA KT333
6A6LW	VIA P4X266 (VT8753+VT8233)
6A6LX	VIA Apollo P4X400 / VIA PT800
6A6LY	VIA KT400 / VIA KT600 / VIA KM400 / KM266Pro / KM400A
6A6S2	AMD-751
6A6S6	AMD-760/761
6A6S7	AMD-762
6A79A	Intel i865/i865P/i865PE/i865G/i848P
6A79B	Intel 875P 'Canterwood'
6A79C	Intel E7230
6A79D	Intel i915/i915G/915P & ICH6R chipset
6A79E	Intel® E7221 (Copper River)
6A79F	Intel i925
6A79G	Intel 915GM
6A79H	Intel 945P & ICH7/945G & ICH7
6A79I	Intel i955X
6A79K	Intel® 945GM Express
6A79L	Intel® P965 Express
6A79O	Intel X38 chipset
6A79R	Intel® 975X Express
6A79T	Intel 945P Express
6A79U	Intel 915G
6A79V	Intel 915P Express
6A79W	Intel i865GV
6A79X	Intel i848P
6A79Y	Intel i865P
6A79Z	Intel i865PE
6A7I0	SIS648
6A7I1	SiS748
6A7I3	SiS755
6A7I4	SiS 661FX
6A7I5	SiS655FX
6A7I7	SiS-755 or SiS-760 chipset
6A7I8	SiS-741 chipset
6A7IA	SiS 651
6A7IB	SiS 649 & 965(L)
6A7IC	SiS® 756
6A7ID	SiS® 761GX
6A7IE	SiS® 662
6A7IY	SiS 740
6A7K0	ALi M1563/AMD-8131 chipset
6A7K1	ALi M1683/ALi M1563
6A7K2	ALi M1683+M1563
6A7K4	ULi M1689 (Single chip)
6A7K6	ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 (RS480)
6A7K8	ULi M1687
6A7K9	ATI® Radeon XPRESS 3200 (RD580)
6A7L0	VIA K8T800 / VIA K8HTB-8235
6A7L1	VIA K8M800 and K8T800Pro
6A7L2	VIA PT800 / PT880 / P4X533 / PM880 / PM800 / P4M800
6A7L3	VIA KT880
6A7L4	VIA PT880 Pro
6A7L5	VIA K8T890 + VT8237
6A7L6	VIA P4M800Pro / VIA CN700 + VT8237RP
6A7L7	VIA® K8T890 with VT8237R chipset (duplicate code, same as 6A7L5 code)
6A7L8	VIA® P4M890
6A7L9	VIA CX700
7A69P	Intel P43 + ICH10
9A69V	Intel i845PE Chipset (used on some Epox motherboards)
9A69V	Intel i845PE Chipset
IA6LJ	VIA 694X/686A (Apollo Pro 133A) (on Chaintech motherboards)
IL6IX	SiS 645 + SiS 961 chipset (on Chaintech motherboards)
JA6LM	VIA VT8363 (KT-133) (only used on Matsonic m/b)
TA6LK	VIA VT8371 (KX-133) with Award BIOS v6.00 (used by some Chaintech motherboards)

Identifying the motherboard manufacturer

The two characters following the last character of the chipset identification identify the motherboard manufacturer.The following is a list of all the ids and their corresponding manufacturers. Follow the links to go to the individual company pages on my website. Those individual company pages will list all Award BIOS Numbers for that company.

Award Vendor Code	Motherboard manufacturer
A0	Asus
A1	Abit
A2	Atrend
A3	Bcom Technology
A7	AVT
A8	Adcom
AB	AOpen
AD	Amaquest
AK	Advantech
AK	Aaeon
AM	Achme
AN	ADI
AT	ASK Technology
AW	Acer
AW	AOpen (with AW)
AX	Achitec
B0	Biostar
B1	BEK-Tronic Technology
B2	Boser
B3	BCM
BK	Albatron (with BK)
BK	Magic-Pro (with BK)
C0	Matsonic
C1	Clevo
C2	Chicony
C3	Chaintech
C4	CMC
C5	Chaplet
C9	Computrend
CF	Flagpoint
CS	Gainward
CV	California Graphics
CZ	Powercolor
D0	Dataexpert
D1	DTK
D2	Digital
D3	Digicom
D4	DFI
D7	Daewoo
D8	Nature Worldwide Technology Corp
DE	Dual Tech
DI	Domex (DTC)
DJ	Darter
DL	Delta Electronics
E0	Evalue Technology Inc
E1	ECS (Elitegroup)
E3	EFA
E4	ESPCo
E6	Elonex
E7	Expen Tech
EC	ENPC
EM	LiPPERT Automationstechnik (with EM)
EO	Evalue Technology Inc
F0	FIC (FICA)
F1	Flytech Group International
F2	Free Tech
F3	Full Yes
F5	Fugutech
F8	Formosa Industrial Computing
F9	Ford Lian
F9	Aprocom
F9	Redfox
F9	Polaris
F9	Acorp (with F9)
FG	Fastfame Technology Co., Ltd.
FK	Foxconn / Hoxtek (with FK)
FL	Foxconn / Hoxtek (with FL)
G0	Gigabyte
G0	Magic-Pro (with G0)
G3	Gemlight
G5	GVC
G9	Global Circuit Technology (GCT)
GA	Giantec
GE	Globe Legate
H0	PC Chips (Hsin Tech)
H2	Shuttle (Holco)
HE	Seavo (with HE)
HH	HighTech Information System
HJ	Sono Computer
I2	Iston (FIC)
I3	Iwill
I4	Inventa
I5	Informtech International
I7	Inlog Microsystem
I9	ICP
IC	Inventec
IE	Industrial Technology Research Institute
IX	IPOX Technology
J1	Jetway
J1	J-Mark
J1	Acorp (with J1)
J1	Magic-Pro (with J1)
J2	Jamicon
J3	J-Bond
J4	Jetta
J6	Joss Technology
J7	J&J Technology
K0	Kapok
K1	Kaimei
KF	KINPO Electronic
KH	Albatron
L1	Lucky Star
L7	Lanner Electronics
L9	Lucky Tiger
LB	Leadtek
LE	LiPPERT Automationstechnik
LF	LeadTek/Foxconn
LG	Lian Guan
M0	Matra
M2	TMC (Taiwan MyComp Corporation)
M3	Mitac
M4	Microstar
M8	Mustek
M9	Micro Leader Enterprises
MC	ENMIC
MH	Macrotek
MP	Maxtium Computer
N0	Nexcom
N5	Nec
NM	NMC
NX	Nexar
O0	Octek (Ocean Office Automation)
P0	Puretek
P6	Protech Systems
P8	Azza
P8	Acorp (with P8)
P9	Powertech
PA	EPoX
PC	Pine Technology
PF	President Technology Inc
PK	ALD Technology
PN	Procomp Informatics
PR	Super Grace Electronics
PS	Palmax
PX	Pionix
Q0	Quanta Computer
Q1	QDI
R0	Rise Computer
R2	Rectron
R3	Datavan International
R9	RSAP Technology
RA	RioWorks Solutions
RM	Zillion
S2	Soyo
S3	Smart D&M Technology
S5	Holco Enterprise
S9	Spring Circle
SA	Seanix
SC	Sukjung
SE	New Tech
SH	Luckytech Technology
SH	Acorp (with SH)
SJ	Sowah
SM	Hope Vision
SM	SuperPower
SM	San Li
SM	Acorp (with SM)
SN	Soltek
SN	Magic-Pro (with SN)
SV	Seavo
SW	S&D
SW	Acorp (with SW)
SX	Supermicro
T0	Twinhead
T1	Trangg Bow
T4	Taken
T5	Tyan
T6	Trigem
T7	Tatung
TB	Tae Il Media
TG	Tekram
TJ	Totem Technology
TL	Transcend
TP	Commate
TR	Top Star
TW	T&W Electronics
TX	Tsann Kuen (EUPA)
TY	Aeton Technology
U0	U-Board
U1	Universal Scientific Industrial
U2	UHC Advanced Integration Research
U3	Umax
U4	Unicorn
U6	Unitron
U9	Warp Speed
UK	Nexcom (with UK)
V3	VTech
V5	Vision Top
V6	Vobis
V7	YKM (Dayton Micro)
W0	WinTechnologies (Edom)
W1	Well Join Industry
W5	Winco
W7	Win Lan
W9	Weal Union Development
WB	Aotexin
X3	Acorp
X5	Arima
XA	ADLink Technology Inc.
Y2	Yamashita
YN	Pine Technology (with YN)
Z1	Zida
Z3	ShenZhen Zeling

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