MSI Creator 15M (Intel® 9th Gen) (GeForce ) CONTENT CREATION Owner's Manual

K9N4 SLI Series MS-7325 (V1.X) Mainboard i Copyright Notice T he material in this doc ument is the intellec tual property of M ICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL. We take every care in the preparation of this document, but no guarantee is given as to the correctness of its contents. Our products are under continual improvement and we reserve the right to make changes without notice. Trademarks All trademarks are the properties of their respective owners. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, DualNet, and nForce are registered trademarks or trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. AMD, Athlon™, Athlon™ XP, Thoroughbred™, and Duron™ are registered trademarks of AMD Corporation. Intel® and Pentium® are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. PS/2 and OS ® /2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. W indows ® 95/98/2000/NT/XP are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Netware® is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. Award® is a registered trademark of Phoenix Technologies Ltd. AMI® is a registered trademark of American Megatrends Inc. Revision History Revision Revision History Date V1.0 First release for PCB 1.X October 2006 Technical Support If a problem arises with your system and no solution can be obtained from the user’s manual, please contact your place of purchase or local distributor. Alternatively, please try the following help resources for further guidance. Visit the MSI website for FAQ, technical guide, BIOS updates, driver updates, and other information: http://www.msi.com.tw/program/service/faq/ faq/esc_faq_list.php Contact our technical staff at: http://support.msi.com.tw/ ii Safety Instructions 1. Always read the safety instructions carefully. 2. Keep this User’s Manual for future reference. 3. Keep this equipment away from humidity. 4. Lay this equipment on a reliable flat surface before setting it up. 5. The openings on the enclosure are for air convection hence protects the equipment from overheating. DO NOT COVER THE OPENINGS. 6. Make sure the voltage of the power source and adjust properly 110/220V before connecting the equipment to the power inlet. 7. Place the power cord such a way that people can not step on it. Do not place anything over the power cord. 8. Always Unplug the Power Cord before inserting any add-on card or module. 9. All cautions and warnings on the equipment should be noted. 10. Never pour any liquid into the opening that could damage or cause electrical shock. 11. If any of the following situations arises, get the equipment checked by service personnel: † † † † The power cord or plug is damaged. Liquid has penetrated into the equipment. The equipment has been exposed to moisture. The equipment does not work well or you can not get it work according to User’s Manual. † The equipment has dropped and damaged. † The equipment has obvious sign of breakage. 12. DO NOT LEAVE THIS EQUIPMENT IN AN ENVIRONMENT UNCONDITIONED, STORAGE TEMPERATURE ABOVE 600 C (1400F), IT MAY DAMAGE THE EQUIPMENT. CAUT ION: Danger of expl os i on if bat ter y i s i nc orrec tl y r epl ac ed. Replac e only with the same or equivalent type rec ommended by the manufacturer. iii FCC-B Radio Frequency Interference Statement T h is eq uip men t h as been tested and found to c omply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the measures listed below. † Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna. † Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver. † Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected. † Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television technician for help. Notice 1 The changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment. Notice 2 Shielded interface cables and A.C. power cord, if any, must be used in order to comply with the emission limits. VOIR LA NOTICE D’INSTALLATION AVANT DE RACCORDER AU RESEAU. Micro-Star International MS-7325 This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. iv WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Statement v vi vii CONTENTS Copyright Notice .............................................................................................................. ii Trademarks ....................................................................................................................... ii Revision History .............................................................................................................. ii Technical Support ........................................................................................................... ii Safety Instructions ......................................................................................................... iii FCC-B Radio Frequency Interference Statement ........................................................ iv W EEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Statement .................................... v Chapter 1. Getting Started .................................................................................... 1-1 Mainboard Specifications ................................................................................... 1-2 Mainboard Layout ................................................................................................ 1-4 Packing Checklist ................................................................................................. 1-5 Chapter 2. Hardware Setep .................................................................................. 2-1 Quick Components Guide .................................................................................... 2-2 CPU (Central Processing Unit) ............................................................................ 2-3 CPU Installation Procedures for Socket AM2 ............................................ 2-4 Installing AMD Socket AM2 CPU Cooler Set ............................................... 2-5 Memory ................................................................................................................. 2-6 Dual-Channel Memory Population Rules .................................................... 2-6 Installing DDRII Modules ............................................................................... 2-7 Power Supply ...................................................................................................... 2-8 ATX 24-Pin Power Connector: JPWR1 ...................................................... 2-8 ATX 12V Power Connector: JPW 1/ PCIE_PW1 ......................................... 2-8 Important Notification about Power Issue .................................................. 2-9 Back Panel .......................................................................................................... 2-10 Connectors ........................................................................................................ 2-12 Floppy Disk Drive Connector: FDD1 .......................................................... 2-12 ATA133 Hard Disk Connectors: IDE1/ IDE2 .............................................. 2-12 Serial ATA Connectors: SATA1~SATA4 ................................................... 2-13 Fan Power Connectors: CPUFAN1, SYSFAN1, NBFAN1 & SYSFAN2 .. 2-14 Chassis Intrusion Switch Connector: JCI1 .............................................. 2-14 Aux Line-In Connector: JCD1 ................................................................... 2-14 Front Panel Audio Connector: JAUD1 ...................................................... 2-15 IrDA Infrared Module Header: JIR1 ........................................................... 2-15 Front USB Connectors: JUSB1, JUSB2 & JUSB3 ................................... 2-16 SPDIF-Out Connector: JSPDO1 (Optional, for HDMI graphics card only) ..... 2-16 Front Panel Connectors: JFP1/ JFP2 ....................................................... 2-17 viii D-Bracket™ 2 Connector: JDB1 ............................................................... 2-18 Button ................................................................................................................. 2-19 Clear CMOS Button : SW1 ......................................................................... 2-19 Slots .................................................................................................................... 2-20 PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express Slots ....................... 2-20 NV SLI Technology .................................................................................... 2-21 PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Slots ...................................... 2-23 PCI Interrupt Request Routing ................................................................... 2-23 Chapter 3. BIOS Setup ............................................................................................ 3-1 Entering Setup ..................................................................................................... 3-2 Control Keys ................................................................................................ 3-3 Getting Help .................................................................................................. 3-3 General Help <F1> ....................................................................................... 3-3 The Main Menu ..................................................................................................... 3-4 Standard CMOS Features ................................................................................... 3-6 Advanced BIOS Features ................................................................................... 3-9 Advanced Chipset Features ............................................................................. 3-11 Integrated Peripherals ....................................................................................... 3-12 Power Management Setup ............................................................................... 3-15 PNP/PCI Configurations ..................................................................................... 3-18 H/W Monitor ........................................................................................................ 3-20 Cell Menu ............................................................................................................ 3-21 Load Optimized Defaults ................................................................................... 3-27 BIOS Setting Password ..................................................................................... 3-28 Appendix A. Realtek ALC850 Audio ................................................................... A-1 Installing the Audio Driver ................................................................................... A-2 Installation for W indows 2000/XP .............................................................. A-2 Software Configuration ...................................................................................... A-4 Sound Effect ................................................................................................ A-5 Speaker Configuration ................................................................................ A-7 3D Audio Demo ............................................................................................. A-9 General ....................................................................................................... A-10 SPDIF........................................................................................................... A-11 Hardware Setup ................................................................................................ A-12 Appendix B. Dual Core Center ............................................................................. B-1 Activating Dual Core Center ............................................................................... B-2 Main ...................................................................................................................... B-3 Introduction: ................................................................................................. B-3 ix DOT (Dynamic OverClocking) ............................................................................. B-5 Clock ..................................................................................................................... B-6 Voltage ................................................................................................................. B-7 FAN Speed ........................................................................................................... B-8 Temperature ......................................................................................................... B-9 User Profile ........................................................................................................ B-10 Appendix C. nVidia RAID ........................................................................................ C-1 Introduct ion ......................................................................................................... C-2 System Requirement ................................................................................... C-2 RAID Arrays ................................................................................................. C-2 Summary of RAID Configurations ............................................................... C-2 RAID Configuration .............................................................................................. C-3 Basic Configuration Instructions ................................................................ C-3 Setting Up the NVRAID BIOS ....................................................................... C-3 Installing the RAID Driver (for bootable RAID Array) ................................ C-7 NVIDIA RAID Utility Installation ............................................................................. C-9 Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under Windows (for Non-bootable RAID Arr ay) ........................................................................................................... C-9 Initializing and Using the Disk Array ......................................................... C-10 RAID Drives Management .................................................................................. C-12 Setting Up a Spare RAID Disk ................................................................... C-13 Hot Plug Array ............................................................................................ C-18 Initializing a RAID Array ............................................................................. C-19 Rebuilding a RAID Array ............................................................................ C-22 Synchronizing a RAID Array ..................................................................... C-25 Appendix D. nVidia System Driver ..................................................................... D-1 NVIDIA System Driver Installation ....................................................................... D-2 nVidia System Driver ........................................................................................... D-2 nVidia Utility Installaion ........................................................................................ D-5 x Getting Started Chapter 1 Getting Started Thank you for choosing the K9N4 SLI Series (MS-7325 v1.X) ATX mainboard. The K9N4 SLI Series mainboards are based on nVidia® nForce500 SLI chipsets for optimal system efficiency. Designed to fit the advanced AM D ® Ath l o n 64 X 2 / At h l o n 6 4 & S em p r o n processor, the K9N4 SLI Series deliver a high performance and professional desktop platform solution. 1-1 M S-7325 M ainboard Mainboard Specifications Processor Support - AMD® Athlon 64/ X2 and Sempron in the socket AM2 package (For the latest information about CPU, please visit http://www.msi. com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_cpu_support. php) Supported FSB - HyperTransport supporting speed up to 1 GHz (2000MT/s) Chipset - nVidia® nForce500 SLI chipset M emory Support - DDRII 533/667/800 SDRAM (8GB Max) - 4 DDRII DIMMs (240pin/ non-ECC) (For more information on compatible components, please visit http:/ / w w w .ms i . c om. tw / p r og r a m/ p r od u c t s /ma i n b oa r d/ mb d / pro_mbd_trp_list.php) LAN - Supports Giga LAN 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Vitesse VSC8601 Audio - Controlled by Realtek ALC850 - Supports 7.1 channels audio out - Compliant with AC’97 Rev 2.3 Spec IDE - 2 IDE ports - Supports Ultra DMA 66/100/133 mode - Supports PIO, Bus Master operation mode SATA - 4 SATA II ports - Supports storage and data transfers at up to 300 MB/s RAID - SATA1~4 supports RAID 0/ 1/ 0+1/ 5 or JBOD mode Floppy - 1 floppy port - Supports 1 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes 1-2 Getting Started Connectors Back panel - 1 PS/2 mouse port - 1 PS/2 keyboard port. - 1 Serial port - 1 Parallel port supporting SPP/EPP/ECP mode - 4 USB 2.0 Ports. - 1 LAN jack - 6 audio jacks On-Board Pinheaders - 1 D-Bracket 2 pinheader - 1 IrDA pinheader - 3 USB 2.0 pinheaders - 1 SPDIF-Out pinheader Slots - 2 PCI Express x 16 slots, compatible with PCI Express x 8 speed (Support SLI technology) - 2 PCI Express x 1 slots - 2 PCI slots, support 3.3V/ 5V PCI bus Interface Form Factor - ATX (30.5 cm X 24.5 cm) M ounting - 9 mounting holes 1-3 M S-7325 M ainboard SYSFAN1 Mainboard Layout JPW1 Winbond I/O JIR1 Top : mouse Bottom: keyboard JC I1 Top : Parallel Port FDD1 Bottom: Com Port VSC8601 PCI_E2 Nvidia nForc e500 SLI IDE1 IDE2 DIMM2 DIMM1 PCI_E1 DIMM4 DIMM3 CPUFAN1 T: Line-In M:Line-Out B: Mic T:RS-Out M:CS-Out B:SS-Out JPWR 1 Top: LAN Jack Bottom: USB ports PCIE_PW1 USB ports NBFAN1 PCI1 ALC850 BIOS SW1 BATT + PCI2 JFP2 JAUD1 J SP DO1 J CD1 SYSFAN2 JD B1 JUSB2 JU SB1 K9N4 SLI Series (MS-7325 v1.X) ATX Mainboard 1-4 JUSB3 JFP1 SATA2 SATA1 SATA3 PCI_E4 SATA4 PCI_E3 Getting Started Packing Checklist MSI motherboard Power Cable MSI Driver/Utility CD SATA Cable SLI Video Link Card Standard Cable for IDE Devices (Optional) D-Bracket 2 Back IO Shield (Optional) User’s Guide * The pictures are for reference only and may vary from the packing contents of the product you purchased. 1-5 Hardware Setup Chapter 2 Hardware Setup This chapter provides you with the information about hardware setup procedures. While doing the installation, be careful in holding the components and follow the installation procedures. For some components, if you install in the wrong orientation, the components will not work properly. Use a grounded wrist strap before handling computer c om ponen ts . S tatic elec tric ity m ay damage the components. 2-1 M S-7325 M ainboard Quick Components Guide CPUFAN1, p.2-14 JPWR1, p.2-8 CPU, p.2-3 JPW1, p.2-8 DDRII DIMMs, p.2-6 SYSFAN1, p.2-14 JCI1, p.2-14 JIR1, p.2-15 FDD1, p.2-12 Back Panel I/O, p.2-10 IDE1/2, p.2-12 PCIE_PW1, p.2-8 PCI Express slots, p.2-20 NBFAN1, p.2-14 SATA1~4, p.2-13 PCI Slots, SW1, p.2-19 p.2-23 JFP2, p.2-17 JFP1, p.2-17 JAUD1, p.2-15 JCD1, p.2-14 SYSFAN2, p.2-14 JUSB1~3, p.2-16 JDB1, p.2-18 JSPDO1, p.2-16 2-2 Hardware Setup CPU (Central Processing Unit) The mainboard supports AMD ® Athlon64/ X2 & Sempron processors. The mainboard uses a CPU socket called Socket AM2 for easy CPU installation. W hen you are installing the CPU, make sure the CPU has a heat sink and a cooling fan attached on the top to prevent overheating. If you do not have the heat sink and cooling fan, contact your dealer to purchase and install them before turning on the computer. For the latest information about CPU, please visit http://www.msi.com.tw/program/ products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_cpu_support.php Important 1. Overheating will seriously damage the CPU and system. Always make sure the cooling fan can work properly to protect the CPU from overheating. 2. Make sure that you apply an even layer of heat sink paste (or thermal tape) between the CPU and the heatsink to enhance heat dissipation. 3. While replacing the CPU, always turn off the ATX power supply or unplug the power supply’s power cord from the grounded outlet first to ensure the safety of CPU. 2-3 M S-7325 M ainboard CPU Installation Procedures for Socket AM2 1. Please turn off the power and unplug the power cord before installing the CPU. 2. Pull the lever s ideways away from the socket. Make sure to raise the lever up to a 90-degree angle. 3. Look for the gold arrow of the CPU. T he gold arrow s hould point as shown in the picture. The CPU can only fit in the correct orientation. 4. If the CPU is correctly installed, the pins should be completely embedded into the socket and can not be seen. Please note that any violation of the correct in s tal lati on p roc edur es m ay cause permanent damages to your mainboard. Open Lever Sliding Plate Gold arrow Correc t CP U placement Gold arrow Gold arrow 5. Press the CPU down firmly into the socket and close the lever. As the CPU is likely to move while the lever is being closed, always close the lever with your fingers pressing tightly on top of the CPU to make sure the CPU is properly and completely embedded into the socket. 2-4 90 degree O Hardware Setup Installing AMD Socket AM2 CPU Cooler Set W hen you are installing the CPU, make sure the CPU has a heat sink and a cooling fan attached on the top to prevent overheating. If you do not have the heat sink and cooling fan, contact your dealer to purchase and install them before turning on the computer. Important Mainboard photos shown in this section are for demonstration of the cooler installation for Socket AM2 CPUs only. The appearance of your mainboard may vary depending on the model you purchase. 1. Position the cooling set onto the retention mechanism. Hook one end of the clip to hook first. 2. Then press down the other end of the clip to fasten the cooling set on the top of the retention mechanism. Locate the Fix Lever and lift up it . Fixed Lever 3. Fasten down the lever. 4. Attach the CPU Fan cable to the CPU fan connector on the mainboard. 2-5 M S-7325 M ainboard Memory The mainboard provides four 240-pin non-ECC DDRII DIMMs and supports up to 8GB system memory. For more information on compatible components, please visit http://www.msi.com.tw/ program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_trp_list.php DDRII 240-pin, 1.8V 56x2=112 pin 64x2=128 pin Dual-Channel Memory Population Rules 1 DIMM3 DIMM4 DIMM1 DIMM2 2 DIMM3 DIMM4 DIMM1 DIMM2 3 DIMM3 DIMM4 DIMM1 DIMM2 2-6 Hardware Setup Installing DDRII Modules 1. The memory module has only one notch on the center and will only fit in the right orientation. 2. Insert the memory module vertically into the DIMM slot. Then push it in until the golden finger on the memory module is deeply inserted in the DIMM slot. Important You can barely see the golden finger if the module is properly inserted in the DIMM slot. 3. The plastic clip at each side of the DIMM slot will automatically close. Volt Notch Important - DDRII modules are not interchangeable with DDR and the DDRII standard is not backwards compatible. You should always install DDRII memory modules in the DDRII DIMMs and DDR memory modules in the DDR DIMMs. - In dual-channel mode, make sure that you install memory modules of the same type and density in different channel DDR DIMMs. - To enable successful system boot-up, always insert the memory modules into the DIM M1 first. - Due to the chipset resource deployment, the system density will only be detected up to 7+GB (not full 8GB) when each DIMM is installed with a 2GB memory module. 2-7 M S-7325 M ainboard Power Supply ATX 24-Pin Power Connector: JPWR1 This connector allows you to connect an ATX 24-pin power supply. To connect the ATX 24-pin power supply, make sure the plug of the power supply is inserted in the proper orientation and the pins are aligned. Then push down the power supply firmly into the connector. pin 13 You may use the 20-pin ATX power supply as you like. If you’d like to use the 20-pin ATX power supply, please plug your power supply along with pin 1 & pin 13 (refer to the image at the right hand). There is also a foolproof design on pin 11, 12, 23 & 24 to avoid wrong installation. pin 12 Pin Definition 24 12 JPWR1 1 13 PIN SIGNAL PIN SIGNAL 1 +3.3V 13 +3.3V 2 3 +3.3V GND 14 15 -12V GND 4 5 +5V GND 16 17 PS-ON# GND 6 7 +5V GND 18 19 GND GND 8 9 PWR OK 5VSB 20 21 Res +5V 10 11 +12V +12V 22 23 +5V +5V 12 +3.3V 24 GND ATX 12V Power Connector: JPW1/ PCIE_PW1 This 12V power connector JPW 1 is used to provide power to the CPU. This 12V power connector PCIE_PW 1 is used to provide power to stable the operation of graphics card. JPW1 3 1 4 2 JPW1 Pin Definition PIN SIGNAL 1 2 GND GND 3 4 12V 12V PCIE_PW1 1 PCIE_PW1 Pin Definition PIN SIGNAL 1 2 5V GND 3 4 GND 12V Important 1. Maker sure that all the connectors are connected to proper ATX power supplies to ensure stable operation of the mainboard. 2. Power supply of 450 watts (and above) is highly recommended for system stability. 2-8 Hardware Setup Important Notification about Power Issue NForce chipset is very sensitive to ESD (Electrostatic Discharge), therefore this issue mostly happens while the users intensively swap memory modules under S5 (power-off) states, and the power code is plugged while installing modules. Due to several pins are very sensitive to ESD, so this kind of memory-replacement actions might cause system chipset unable to boot. Please follow the following solution to avoid this situation. Unplug the AC power cable (shown in figure 1) or unplug the JPWR1/ PCIE_PW1 & JPW 1 power connectors (shown in figure 2 & figure 3) before the 1st installation or during system upgrade procedure. Figure 1: Unplug the AC power cable Figure 2: Unplug the JPWR1 power conn. Figure 3: Unplug the JPW1/ PCIE_PW1 power connectors 2-9 M S-7325 M ainboard Back Panel L-In RS-Out Parallel Port M ou se LAN USB Ports Keyboard Serial Port L-Out CS-Out Mic SS-Out M ouse/Keyboard Connector The standard PS/2® mouse/keyboard DIN connector is for a PS/2® mouse/keyboard. Parallel Port Connector A parallel port is a standard printer port that supports Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) and Extended Capabilities Parallel Port (ECP) mode. Serial Port Connector The serial port is a 16550A high speed communications port that sends/ receives 16 bytes FIFOs. You can attach a serial mouse or other serial devices directly to the connector. LAN (RJ-45) Jack The standard RJ-45 jack is for connection to single Local Area Network (LAN). You can connect a network cable to it. LED Color LED State Off Left Orange On (steady state) Activity Indicator Link Indicator condition LAN link is not established. LAN link is established. On (brighter & pulsing) The computer is communicating with another computer on the LAN. Green Right Orange 2-10 Off 10 Mbit/sec data rate is selected. On 100 Mbit/sec data rate is selected. On 1000 Mbit/sec data rate is selected. Hardware Setup USB Connectors The OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface) Universal Serial Bus root is for attaching USB devices such as keyboard, mouse, or other USB-compatible devices. Audio Port Connectors These audio connectors are used for audio devices. You can differentiate the color of the audio jacks for different audio sound effects. Blue audio jack - Line In, is used for external CD player, tapeplayer or other audio devices. Green audio jack - Line Out, is a connector for speakers or headphones. Pink audio jack - Mic In, is a connector for microphones. Black audio jack - Rear-Surround Out in 4/ 5.1/ 7.1 channel mode. Orange audio jack - Center/ Subwoofer Out in 5.1/ 7.1 channel mode. Gray audio jack - Side-Surround Out in 7.1 channel mode. 2-11 M S-7325 M ainboard Connectors Floppy Disk Drive Connector: FDD1 This standard FDD connector supports 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88M floppy disk types. FDD1 ATA133 Hard Disk Connectors: IDE1/ IDE2 The mainboard has a 32-bit Enhanced PCI IDE and Ultra DMA 66/100/133 controller that provides PIO mode 0~4, Bus Master, and Ultra DMA 66/ 100/133 function. You can connect hard disk drives, CD-ROM and other IDE devices. The Ultra ATA133 interface boosts data transfer rates between the computer and the hard drive up to 133 megabytes (MB) per second. The new interface is one-third faster than earlier record-breaking Ultra ATA/ 100 technology and is backwards compatible with the existing Ultra ATA interface. IDE1 (Primary IDE Connector) The first hard drive should always be connected to IDE1. IDE1 can connect a Master and a Slave drive. You must configure the second hard drive to Slave mode by setting the jumper accordingly. IDE2 (Secondary IDE Connector) IDE2 can also connect a Master and a Slave drive. Important If you install two hard disks on IDE cable, you must configure the second drive to Slave mode by setting its jumper. Refer to the hard disk documentation supplied by hard disk vendors for jumper setting instructions. 2-12 Hardware Setup Serial ATA Connectors: SATA1~SATA4 SATA1~SATA4 are high-speed SATAII interface ports. Each supports data rates of 300 MB/s and is fully compliant with Serial ATA specifications. Each Serial ATA connector can connect to 1 hard disk device. SATA3 SATA4 SATA1 SATA2 Serial ATA cable Take out the dust cover and connect to the hard disk devices Connect to SATA connector Important Please do not fold the Serial ATA cable into 90-degree angle. Otherwise, data loss may occur during transmission. 2-13 M S-7325 M ainboard Fan Power Connectors: CPUFAN1, SYSFAN1, NBFAN1 & SYSFAN2 GND +12V SENSOR Control CPUFAN1 NC +1 2V GND The fan power connectors support system cooling fan with +12V. W hen connecting the wire to the connectors, always take note that the red wire is the positive and should be connected to the +12V, the black wire is Ground and should be connected to GND. If the mainboard has a System Hardware Monitor chipset on-board, you must use a specially designed fan with speed sensor to take advantage of the CPU fan control. GND +12V SENSOR SYSFAN1 SYSFAN2 GND +12V SENSOR NBF AN1 Important 1. Please refer to the recommended CPU fans at AMD ® official website or consult the vendors for proper CPU cooling fan. 2. Always consult the vendors for proper CPU cooling fan. 3. Fan/heatsink with 3 or 4 pins are both available for CPUFAN1. 4. CPUFAN1 supports fan control. You can setup it in H/W Monitor of BIOS Setup. Chassis Intrusion Switch Connector: JCI1 This connector connects to a 2-pin chassis switch. If the chassis is opened, the switch will be short. The system will record this status and show a warning message on the screen. To clear the warning, you must enter the BIOS utility and clear the record. CINTRU GND 1 2 JCI1 Aux Line-In Connector: JCD1 The connector is for TV/ DVD add-on card with Line-in connector. JCD1 R L GND 2-14 Hardware Setup Front Panel Audio Connector: JAUD1 The JAUD1 front panel audio connector allows you to connect the front panel audio and is compliant with Intel® Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design Guide. JAUD1 10 9 2 1 Pin Definition PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION 1 2 AUD_MIC AUD_GND Front panel microphone input signal Ground used by analog audio circuits 3 4 AUD_MIC_BIAS AUD_VCC Microphone power Filtered +5V used by analog audio circuits 5 6 AUD_FPOUT_R AUD_RET_R Right channel audio signal to front panel Right channel audio signal return from front panel 7 8 HP_ON KEY Reserved for future use to control headphone amplifier No pin 9 10 AUD_FPOUT_L AUD_RET_L Left channel audio signal to front panel Left channel audio signal return from front panel Important If you don’t want to connect to the front audio header, pins 5 & 6, 9 & 10 have to be jumpered in order to have signal output directed to the rear audio ports. Otherwise, the Line-Out connector on the back panel will not function. 6 10 5 9 IrDA Infrared Module Header: JIR1 The connector allows you to connect to IrDA Infrared module. You must configure the setting through the BIOS setup to use the IR function. JIR1 is compliant with Intel® Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design Guide. Pin Definition 1 2 5 6 JIR1 Pin Signal 1 NC 2 3 NC VCC5 4 5 GND IRTX 6 IRRX 2-15 M S-7325 M ainboard Front USB Connectors: JUSB1, JUSB2 & JUSB3 The mainboard provides USB 2.0 pinheaders (optional USB 2.0 bracket available) that are compliant with Intel® I/O Connectivity Design Guide. USB 2.0 technology increases data transfer rate up to a maximum throughput of 480Mbps, which is 40 times faster than USB 1.1, and is ideal for connecting high-speed USB interface peripherals such as USB HDD, digital cameras, M P3 players, printers, modems and the like. Pin Definition JUSB1/2/3 2 1 10 9 PIN SIGNAL PIN SIGNAL 1 VCC 2 VCC 3 USB0- 4 USB1- 5 USB0+ 6 USB1+ 7 GND 8 GND 9 Key (no pin) 10 USBOC USB 2.0 Bracket (Optional) Connected to USB connector Important Note that the pins of VCC and GND must be connected correctly to avoid possible damage. SPDIF-Out Connector: JSPDO1 (Optional, for HDMI graphics card only) This connector is used to connect SPDIF (Sony & Philips Digital Interconnect Format) interface for digital audio transmission to the HDMI graphics card. SPDIFO GND JSPDO1 2-16 Hardware Setup Front Panel Connectors: JFP1/ JFP2 The mainboard provides two front panel connectors for electrical connection to the front panel switches and LEDs. The JFP1 is compliant with Intel® Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design Guide. Power Power LED Switch - + JFP1 2 1 10 9 + - - + HDD Reset LED Switch JFP1 Pin Definition PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION 1 HD_LED + Hard disk LED pull-up 2 3 FP PWR/SLP HD_LED - MSG LED pull-up Hard disk active LED 4 5 FP PWR/SLP RST_SW - MSG LED pull-up Reset Switch low reference pull-down to GND 6 7 PWR_SW RST_SW + Power Switch high reference pull-down to GND Reset Switch high reference pull-up 8 PWR_SW + Power Switch low reference pull-up 9 RSVD_DNU Reserved. Do not use. JFP2 2 1 Speaker + + - 8 7 Power LED JFP2 Pin Definition PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION 1 2 GND SPK- Ground Speaker- 3 4 SLED BUZ+ Suspend LED Buzzer+ 5 6 PLED BUZ- Power LED Buzzer- 7 8 NC SPK+ No connection Speaker+ 2-17 M S-7325 M ainboard D-Bracket™ 2 Connector: JDB1 The mainboard comes with a JDB1 connector for you to connect to D-Bracket™ 2. DBracket™ 2 is an external USB Bracket that supports both USB1.1 & 2.0 specs. It integrates four LEDs and allows users to identify system problems through 16 various combinations of LED signals. D-Bracket™ 2 (Optional) DBR1 DBR2 DBR3 DBR4 NC Connected to JDB1 10 9 DBG1 DBG2 DBG3 DBG4 Key (no-pin) 2 1 Red 1 3 2 4 LEDs Green LED Signal 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 2-18 Connected to USB connector Description System Power ON The D-LED will hang here if the processor is damaged or not installed properly. LED Signal 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Decompressing BIOS image to RAM for fast booting. 1 2 3 4 Initializing Keyboard Controller. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Early Chipset Initialization Memory Detection Test Testing onboard memory size. The D-LED will hang if the memory module is damaged or not installed properly. Testing VGA BIOS This will start writing VGA sign-on message to the screen. Processor Initialization This will show information regarding the processor (like brand name, system bus, etc...) Testing RTC (Real Time Clock) Description Initializing Video Interface This will start detecting CPU clock, checking type of video onboard. Then, detect and initialize the video adapter. BIOS Sign On This will start showing information about logo, processor brand name, etc... Testing Base and Extended Memory Testing base memory from 240K to 640K and extended memory above 1MB using various patterns. Assign Resources to all ISA. Initializing Hard Drive Controller This will initialize IDE drive and controller. Initializing Floppy Drive Controller This will initialize Floppy Drive and controller. BootAttempt This will set low stack and boot via INT 19h. Operating System Booting Hardware Setup Button The motherboard provides the following button for you to set the computer’s function. This section will explain how to change your motherboard’s function through the use of button. Clear CMOS Button : SW1 There is a CMOS RAM on board that has a power supply from external battery to keep the system configuration data. With the CMOS RAM, the system can automatically boot OS every time it is turned on. If you want to clear the system configuration, use the SW 1 (Clear CMOS Button) to clear data. Press the button to clear the data. SW1 2-19 M S-7325 M ainboard Slots PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express Slots PCI Express architecture provides a high performance I/O infrastructure for Desktop Platforms with transfer rates starting at 2.5 Giga transfers per second over a PCI Express x1 lane for Gigabit Ethernet, TV Tuners, 1394 controllers, and general purpose I/O. Also, desktop platforms with PCI Express Architecture will be designed to deliver highest performance in video, graphics, multimedia and other sophisticated applications. Moreover, PCI Express architecture provides a high performance graphics infrastructure for Desktop Platforms doubling the capability of existing AGP 8x designs with transfer rates of 4.0 GB/s over a PCI Express x16 lane for graphics controllers, while PCI Express x1 supports transfer rate of 250 MB/s. PCI Express x16 Slot (com patible with PCIExpress x 8 speed only) PCI Express x1 Slot Important 1. When adding or removing expansion cards, make sure that you unplug the power supply first. Meanwhile, read the documentation for the expansion card to configure any necessary hardware or software settings for the ex pansion card, such as jumpers, switches or BIOS configuration. 2. The mainboard supports SLI technology with two PCI Express X 16 slots. 2-20 Hardware Setup NV SLI Technology NVIDIA SLI (Scalable Link Interface) technology allows two GPUs to run in tandem within a system to achieve up to twice the performance of a single graphics card. To utilize this technology, the two GPU cards must be connected by an SLI Video Link card. SLI Video Link Card If you intend to use the SLI mode for better graphics performance, please refer to the following instructions. 1.Install two graphics cards on PCI Express x16 slots. W ith two cards installed, an SLI bridge card is required to connect the atop golden fingers of these two graphics cards (refer to the picture below). Please note that although you have installed two graphics cards, only the video outputs on the first card will work. Hence, you only need to connect a monitor to the first PCI Express card. SLI Video Link Card Important 1. Mainboard photos shown in this section are for demonstration only. The appearance of your mainboard may vary depending on the model you purchase. 2. If you intend to install TWO x16 graphics cards for SLI, make sure that, these two graphics cards are of the same brand and specifications. 3. If you intend to install one PCIE x16 graphics card, please always install it into the PCI_E1 slot to ensure the performance of graphics card 4. Make sure that you connect an adequate power supply to the PCIE_PW1 connector (or to the power connection on the graphics card) to ensure stable operation of the graphics card. 2-21 M S-7325 M ainboard 2. After the hardware installation is completed, restart the system and install the NV SLI driver/utility. A configuration panel will be provided for Multi-GPU control. Check the Enable multi-GPU box to enable the SLI function for the onboard graphics cards (concerning the details of multi-GPU settings, please refer to your graphics card manual) . Check the box 3. Restart your system and a pop-up will show in the system tray confirming that M ulti-GPU has been enabled. Important If you want to remove one graphics card and quit the SLI function, make sure the "MultiGPU" function is disabled. 2-22 Hardware Setup PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Slots The PCI slots support LAN cards, SCSI cards, USB cards, and other add-on cards that comply with PCI specifications. At 32 bits and 33 MHz, it yields a throughput rate of 133 MBps. 32-bit PCI Slot PCI Interrupt Request Routing The IRQ, acronym of interrupt request line and pronounced I-R-Q, are hardware lines over which devices can send interrupt signals to the microprocessor. The PCI IRQ pins are typically connected to the PCI bus pins as follows: Order 1 Order 2 Order 3 Order 4 PCI Slot 1 INT Y# INT Z# INT W# INT X# PCI Slot 2 INT Z# INT W# INT X# INT Y# 2-23 BIOS Setup Chapter 3 BIOS Setup This chapter provides information on the BIOS Setup program and allows you to configure the system for optimum use. You may need to run the Setup program when: ² An error message appears on the screen during the system booting up, and requests you to run SETUP. ² You want to change the default settings for customized features. 3-1 M S-7325 M ainboard Entering Setup Power on the computer and the system will start POST (Power On Self Test) process. W hen the message below appears on the screen, press <DEL> key to enter Setup. Press DEL to enter SETUP If the message disappears before you respond and you still wish to enter Setup, restart the system by turning it OFF and On or pressing the RESET button. You may also restart the system by simultaneously pressing <Ctrl>, <Alt>, and <Delete> keys. Important 1. The items under each BIOS category described in this chapter are under continuous update for better system performance. Therefore, the description may be slightly different from the latest BIOS and should be held for reference only. 2. Upon boot-up, the 1st line appearing after the memory count is the BIOS version. It is usually in the format: A7325NMS V1.0 102006 where: 1st digit refers to BIOS maker as A = AMI, W = AWARD, and P = PHOENIX. 2nd - 5th digit refers to the model number. 6th digit refers to the chipset as I = Intel, N = nVidia, and V = VIA. 7th - 8th digit refers to the customer as MS = all standard customers. V1.0 refers to the BIOS version. 102006 refers to the date this BIOS was released. 3-2 BIOS Setup Control Keys < ↑> Move to the previous item < ↓> Move to the next item < ←> Move to the item in the left hand < →> Move to the item in the right hand <Enter> Select the item <Esc> Jumps to the Exit menu or returns to the main menu from a submenu <+/PU> Increase the numeric value or make changes <-/PD> Decrease the numeric value or make changes <F6> Load Optimized Defaults <F10> Save all the CMOS changes and exit Getting Help After entering the Setup menu, the first menu you will see is the Main Menu. M ain M enu The main menu lists the setup functions you can make changes to. You can use the arrow keys ( ↑↓ ) to select the item. The on-line description of the highlighted setup function is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Sub-M enu If you find a right pointer symbol (as shown in the right view) appears to the left of certain fields that means a sub-menu can be launched from this field. A sub-menu contains additional options for a field parameter. You can use arrow keys ( ↑↓ ) to highlight the field and press <Enter> to call up the sub-menu. Then you can use the control keys to enter values and move from field to field within a sub-menu. If you want to return to the main menu, just press the <Esc >. General Help <F1> The BIOS setup program provides a General Help screen. You can call up this screen from any menu by simply pressing <F1>. The Help screen lists the appropriate keys to use and the possible selections for the highlighted item. Press <Esc> to exit the Help screen. 3-3 M S-7325 M ainboard The Main Menu Standard CM OS Features Use this menu for basic system configurations, such as time, date etc. Advanced BIOS Features Use this menu to setup the items of AMI® special enhanced features. Advanced Chipset Features Use this menu to change the values in the chipset registers and optimize your system’s performance. Integrated Peripherals Use this menu to specify your settings for integrated peripherals. Power M anagement Features Use this menu to specify your settings for power management. PNP/PCI Configurations This entry appears if your system supports PnP/PCI. H/W M onitor This entry shows your PC health status. Cell M enu Use this menu to specify your settings for frequency/voltage control and overclocking. 3-4 BIOS Setup Load Optimized Defaults Use this menu to load the default values set by the mainboard manufacturer specifically for optimal performance of the mainboard. BIOS Setting Password Use this menu to set the password for BIOS. Save & Exit Setup Save changes to CMOS and exit setup. Exit Without Saving Abandon all changes and exit setup. 3-5 M S-7325 M ainboard Standard CMOS Features The items in Standard CMOS Features Menu includes some basic setup items. Use the arrow keys to highlight the item and then use the <PgUp> or <PgDn> keys to select the value you want in each item. Date (MM:DD:YY) This allows you to set the system to the date that you want (usually the current date). The format is <day><month> <date> <year>. day Day of the week, from Sun to Sat, determined by BIOS. Read-only. mon th The month from Jan. through Dec. date The date from 1 to 31 can be keyed by numeric function keys. year The year can be adjusted by users. Time (HH:MM :SS) This allows you to set the system time that you want (usually the current time). The time format is <hour> <minute> <second>. Primary/ Secondary IDE Master/ Slave, Serial-ATA 0/1 Primary/ Secondary Channel Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu, and the following screen appears. 3-6 BIOS Setup Device/ Vender/ Size/ LBA Mode/ Block M ode/ PIO Mode/ Async DM A/ Ultra DMA/ S.M.A.R.T. It will showing the device information that you connected to the IDE/SATA connector . Type Define the HDD parameters. LBA/Large M ode This allows you to enable or disable the LBA Mode. Setting to Auto enables LBA mode if the device supports it and the devices is not already formatted with LBA mode disabled. DM A M ode Select DMA Mode. Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T. This allows you to activate the S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis & Reporting Technology) capability for the hard disks. S.M.A.R.T is a utility that monitors your disk status to predict hard disk failure. This gives you an opportunity to move data from a hard disk that is going to fail to a safe place before the hard disk becomes offline. Important Primary/ Secondary IDE M aster/ Slave, Serial-ATA 1/ 2 Primary/ Secondary Channel are appearing when you connect the HD devices to the IDE/ SATA connector on the mainboard. 3-7 M S-7325 M ainboard Floppy Drive A This item allows you to set the type of floppy drives installed. Available options: [None], [360K, 5.25 in.], [1.2M, 5.25 in.], [720K, 3.5 in.], [1.44M, 3.5 in.], [2.88M, 3.5 in.]. Halt On The setting determines whether the system will stop if an error is detected at boot. Available options are: [No Errors] The system doesn’t stop for any detected error. [All, But Keyboard] The system doesn’t stop for a keyboard error. System Information Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu, and the following screen appears. This sub-menu shows the CPU information, BIOS version and memory status of your system (read only). 3-8 BIOS Setup Advanced BIOS Features Quick Boot Setting the item to [Enabled] allows the system to boot within 10 seconds since it will skip some check items. Full Screen LOGO Display This item enables you to show the company logo on the bootup screen. Settings are: [Enabled] Shows a still image (logo) on the full screen at boot. [Disabled] Shows the POST messages at boot. Boot to OS/2 This allows you to run the OS/2 operatiing system with DRAM larger than 64MB. W hen you choose No, you cannot run the OS/2 operating system with DRAM larger than 64MB. But it is possible if you choose Yes. Boot Up Num Lock LED This setting is to set the Num Lock status when the system is powered on. Setting to [On] will turn on the Num Lock key when the system is powered on. Setting to [Off] will allow users to use the arrow keys on the numeric keypad. 3-9 M S-7325 M ainboard IOAPIC Function This field is used to enable or disable the APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller). Due to compliance with PC2001 design guide, the system is able to run in APIC mode. Enabling APIC mode will expand available IRQ resources for the system. Boot Sequence Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears: 1st/2nd Device The items allow you to set the sequence of boot devices where BIOS attempts to load the disk operating system. Hard Disk Drives This feature allows you to specify the hard disk boot priority. Removable Drives This feature allows you to specify the removable device boot priority. CD/DVD Drives This feature allows you to specify the CD/DVD device boot priority. Other Drives This feature allows you to specify the other device boot priority. 3-10 BIOS Setup Advanced Chipset Features Hyper Transport nFocre500 SLI Configuration NF500 to AM2 (CPU) Freq Auto [Enabled] Auto Detect HT frequency. [Disabled] Manual to setting HT frequency. NF500 to AM2 (CPU) LinkWidth This item allows you to select the HT width between SB and CPU. 3-11 M S-7325 M ainboard Integrated Peripherals USB Controller This setting allows you to enable/disable the onboard USB 1.1/ 2.0 controller. USB Device Legacy Support Select [Auto] if you need to use a USB-interfaced device in the operating system. Onboard Audio Controller This setting is used to enable/disable the onboard audio controller. Onboard LAN Controller These items are used to enable/disable the onboard LAN controller. Onboard LAN Option ROM This item is used to decide whether to invoke the Boot ROM of the onboard LAN controller. I/O Device Configuration Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears: 3-12 BIOS Setup Onboard Floppy Controller Select [Enabled] if your system has a floppy disk controller (FDD) installed on the system board and you wish to use it. If you install add-on FDC or the system has no floppy drive, select [Disabled] in this field. COM Port 1 Select an address and corresponding interrupt for the first serial port. IR Function This setting allows you to enable or disable the IR function. Parallel Port There is a built-in parallel port on the on-board Super I/O chipset that provides Standard, ECP, and EPP features. It has the following options: [Disabled] [3BC] Line Printer port 0 [278] Line Printer port 2 [378] Line Printer port 1 Parallel Port M ode [Normal] Stardand Parallel Port [EPP] Enhanced Parallel Port [ECP] Extended Capability Port [ECP + EPP] Extended Capability Port + Enhanced Parallel Port [Bi-Directional] To operate the onboard parallel port as Standard Parallel Port only, choose [SPP]. To operate the onboard parallel port in the EPP mode simultaneously, choose [EPP]. By choosing [ECP], the onboard parallel port will operate in ECP mode only. Choosing [ECP + EPP] will allow the onboard parallel port to support both the ECP and EPP modes simultaneously. Parallel Port IRQ This item allows you to set parallel port IRQ. IDE Devices Configuration Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears: PCI IDE BusMaster This item allows you to enable/ disable BIOS to used PCI busmastering for reading/ writing to IDE drives. On-Chip IDE Controller This item allows you to enable/ disable IDE Controller. 3-13 M S-7325 M ainboard SATA Devices Configuration Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears: Serial-ATA 0/ 1 These items allow users to enable or disable the SATA controllers. S nVidia RAID Controller This item is used to enable/disable the nVidia RAID function for SATA devices. SATA 0/ SATA 1 Primary/ Secondary Channel W hen the nVidia RAID Controller sets to “Enable”, these items will appear. These items allow users to enable or disable the RAID function for each SATA hard disk drive. 3-14 BIOS Setup Power Management Setup Important S3-related functions described in this section are available only when your BIOS supports S3 sleep mode. ACPI Function This item is to activate the ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Management Interface) Function. If your operating system is ACPI-aware, such as W indows 2000/ XP, select [Enabled]. ACPI Standby State This item specifies the power saving modes for ACPI function. If your operating system supports ACPI, such as W indows 2000/ XP , you can choose to enter the Standby mode in S1(POS) or S3(STR) fashion through the setting of this field. Settings are: [S1/POS] The S1 sleep mode is a low power state. In this state, no system context is lost (CPU or chipset) and hardware maintains all system context. [S3/STR] The S3 sleep mode is a lower power s tate where the in formation of system configuration and open applications/files is saved to main memory that remains powered while most other hardware components turn off to save energy. The information stored in memory will be used to restore the system when a “wake up” event occurs. 3-15 M S-7325 M ainboard Re-Call VGA BIOS From S3 W hen ACPI Standby State is set to [S3/STR], users can select the options in this field. Selecting [Yes] allows BIOS to call VGABIOS to initialize the VGA card when system wakes up (resumes) from S3 sleep state. The system resume time is shortened when you disable the function, but system will need an VGA driver to initialize the VGA card. Therefore, if the VGA driver of the card does not support the initialization feature, the display may work abnormally or not function after resuming from S3. Power Button Function This feature sets the function of the power button. Settings are: [On/ Off] The power button functions as normal power off button. [Suspend] W hen you press the power button, the computer enters the suspend/sleep mode, but if the button is pressed for more than four seconds, the computer is turned off. Restore On AC Power Loss This item specifies whether your system will reboot after a power failure or interrupt occurs. Settings are: [Power Off] Always leaves the computer in the power off state. [Power On] Always leaves the computer in the power on state. [Last State] Restores the system to the status before power failure or interrupt occurred. Wakeup Event Setup Press <Enter> and the following sub-menu appears. Resume From S3 By PS/2 KB This setting determines whether the system will be awakened from what power saving modes when input signal of the PS/2 keyboard is detected. Resume From S3 By PS/2 MS This setting determines whether the system will be awakened from what power saving modes when input signal of the PS/2 mouse is detected. Resume by PCI Device (PME#) W hen set to [Enabled], the feature allows your system to be awakened from the power saving modes through any event on PME (Power Management Event). 3-16 BIOS Setup Resume by PCIE Device W hen set to [Enabled], the feature allows your system to be awakened from the power saving modes through any event on PCIE device. Resume by RTC Alarm The field is used to enable or disable the feature of booting up the system on a scheduled time/date. 3-17 M S-7325 M ainboard PNP/PCI Configurations This section describes configuring the PCI bus system and PnP (Plug & Play) feature. PCI, or Peripheral Component Interconnect, is a system which allows I/O devices to operate at speeds nearing the speed the CPU itself uses when communicating with its special components. This section covers some very technical items and it is strongly recommended that only experienced users should make any changes to the default settings. Primary Graphics Adapter This setting specifies which graphics card is your primary graphics adapter. PCI Latency Timer This item controls how long each PCI device can hold the bus before another takes over. W hen set to higher values, every PCI device can conduct transactions for a longer time and thus improve the effective PCI bandwidth. For better PCI performance, you should set the item to higher values. PCI Slot 1/2 IRQ These items specify the IRQ line for each PCI slot. IRQ Resource Setup Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears. 3-18 BIOS Setup IRQ 3/4/5/7/9/10/11/14/15 These items specify the bus where the specified IRQ line is used. The settings determine if AMIBIOS should remove an IRQ from the pool of available IRQs passed to devices that are configurable by the system BIOS. The available IRQ pool is determined by reading the ESCD NVRAM. If more IRQs must be removed from the IRQ pool, the end user can use these settings to reserve the IRQ by assigning an [Reserved] setting to it. Onboard I/O is configured by AMIBIOS. All IRQs used by onboard I/O are configured as [Available]. If all IRQs are set to [Reserved], and IRQ 14/15 are allocated to the onboard PCI IDE, IRQ 9 will still be available for PCI and PnP devices. Important IRQ (Interrupt Request) lines are system resources allocated to I/O devices. When an I/O device needs to gain attention of the operating system, it signals this by causing an IRQ to occur. After receiving the signal, when the operating system is ready, the system will interrupt itself and perform the service required by the I/O device. DM A Resource Setup Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears. DMA Channel 0/1/3/5/6/7 The settings determine if AMIBIOS should remove a DMA (Direct Memory Access) from the available DMAs passed to devices that are configurable by the system BIOS. The available DMA pool is determined by reading the ESCD NVRAM. If more DMAs must be removed from the pool, the end user can reserve the DMA. 3-19 M S-7325 M ainboard H/W Monitor Chassis Intrusion The field enables or disables the feature of recording the chassis intrusion status and issuing a warning message if the chassis is once opened. To clear the warning message, set the field to [Reset]. The setting of the field will automatically return to [Enabled] later. CPU FAN PIN Select This item is available for you to choose the CPU fan pin number of your system. Be sure to select the correct pin number identical to the pin of the CPU fan you purchase. Smart FAN Target The mainboard provides the Smart Fan function which can control the fan speed automatically depending on the current temperature to keep it with in a specific range. You can select a fan target value here. If the current CPU fan temperature reaches to the target value, the smart fan function will be activated. It provides several sections to speed up for cooling down automaticlly . System/ CPU Temperature, SYS FAN/ CPU FAN/ NB FAN Speed, CPU Vcore, +12.0V, +5.0V, +3.3V, These items display the current status of all of the monitored hardware devices/ components such as CPU voltage, temperatures and all fans’ speeds. 3-20 BIOS Setup Cell Menu Cool’n’Quiet The Cool’n’ Quiet technology can effectively and dynamically lower CPU speed and power consumption. Important To ensure that Cool’n’Quiet function is activated and will be working properly, it is required to double confirm that: 1. Run BIOS Setup, and select Cell Menu. Under Cell M enu, find Cool’n’Quiet, and set this item to “Enable.” 2. Enter Windows , and select [Start]-> [Settings]->[Control Pannel]->[Power Options]. Enter Power Options Properties tag, and select Minimal Power Management under Power schemes. 3-21 M S-7325 M ainboard Important Change these settings only if you are familiar with the chipset. Current CPU Clock/ FSB M ultiplier/ Memory Speed/ CPU Voltage These items show the current CPU Clock/ FSB Multiplier/ Memory Speed/ CPU Voltage. Read-only. Adjust Extra CPU Voltage (V) This item allows you to overclock the CPU voltage. CPU Frequency (MHz) This item allows you to select the CPU Front Side Bus clock frequency (in MHz). CPU Dynamic OverClocking Dynamic Overclocking Technology is the automatic overclocking function, included in the MSITM ’s newly developed CoreCellTM Technology. It is designed to detect the load balance of CPU while running programs, and to adjust the best CPU frequency automatically. W hen the motherboard detects CPU is running programs, it will speed up CPU automatically to make the program run smoothly and faster. W hen the CPU is temporarily suspending or staying in the low load balance, it will restore the default settings instead. Usually the Dynamic Overclocking Technology will be powered only when users' PC need to run huge amount of data like 3D games or the video process, and the CPU frequency need to be boosted up to enhance the overall performance. Settings are: [Disabled] Disable Dynamic Overclocking. [Private] 1st level of overclocking, increasing the frequency by 1%. [Sergeant] 2nd level of overclocking, increasing the frequency by 3%. [Captain] 3rd level of overclocking, increasing the frequency by 5%. [Colonel] 4th level of overclocking, increasing the frequency by 7%. [General] 5th level of overclocking, increasing the frequency by 10%. [Commander] 6th level of overclocking, increasing the frequency by 15%. Important Even though the Dynamic Overclocking Technology is more stable than manual overclocking, basically, it is still risky. We suggest user to make sure that your CPU can afford to overclocking regularly first. If you find the PC appears to be unstable or reboot incidentally, it's better to disable the Dynamic Overclocking or to lower the level of overclocking options. By the way, if you need to conduct overclocking manually, you also need to disable the Dynamic OverClocking first. 3-22 BIOS Setup CPU Frequency Configuration Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears. Adjust CPU Ratio This item allows you to set the CPU ratio. CPU Voltage This item allows you to set the CPU voltage. M emclock M ode Setting to Auto, the system will auto detect the memory clock. Setting to Manual, the “Memory Value” item will appear and allows you to select the memory clock. M emory Value This item allows you to select the memory clock. Adjust DDR Voltage (V) Adjusting the DDR2 voltage can increase the DDR speed. M emory Configuration Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears. MCT Timing M ode This field has the capacity to automatically detect all of the DRAM timing. If you set this field to [Manual], the following fields will be selectable. CAS# Latency (TCL) W hen the M CT Timing M ode sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable.This controls the CAS latency, which determines the timing delay (in clock cycles) before SDRAM starts a read command after receiving it. 3-23 M S-7325 M ainboard Min RAS# Active Time (TRAS) W hen the M CT Timing Mode sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable. This setting determines the time RAS takes to read from and write to a memory cell. RAS# Precharge Time (TRP) W hen the MCT Timing Mode sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable. This item controls the number of cycles for Row Address Strobe (RAS) to be allowed to precharge. If insufficient time is allowed for the RAS to accumulate its charge before DRAM refresh, refreshing may be incomplete and DRAM may fail to retain data. This item applies only when synchronous DRAM is installed in the system. RAS# to CAS# Delay (TRCD) W hen the MCT Timing Mode sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable. W hen DRAM is refreshed, both rows and columns are addressed separately. This setup item allows you to determine the timing of the transition from RAS (row address strobe) to CAS (column address strobe). The less the clock cycles, the faster the DRAM performance. ROW to ROW Delay (TRRD) W hen the MCT Timing Mode sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable. Specifies the active-to-active delay of different banks. ROW Cycle Time (TRC) W hen the MCT Timing Mode sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable. The row cycle time determines the minimum number of clock cycles a memory row takes to complete a full cycle, from row activation up to the precharging of the active r ow. Bank Interleaveing This field selects 2-bank or 4-bank interleave for the installed SDRAM. Disable the function if 16MB SDRAM is installed. Enable Clock to All DIMMs Enable unused clocks to all DIMMs even memory DIMMs are not populated. 1T/2T Timing M ode This field controls the SDRAM command rate. Selecting [1T] makes SDRAM signal controller to run at 1T (T=clock cycles) rate. Selecting [2T] makes SDRAM signal controller run at 2T rate. SoftWare M emory hole Enable Memory Remapping Around Memory Hole. Adjust Chipset Voltage Allows to adjust the chipset voltage. 3-24 BIOS Setup Important The settings shown in different color in Adjust chipset Voltage item helps to verify if your setting is proper for your system. G ray: Default setting. Yellow: High performance setting. Red: Not recommended setting and the system may be unstable. Changing any Voltage item may result in the instability of the system; therefore, it is NOT recommended to change the default setting for long-term usage. PCIE Frequency (MHz) This item allows you to select the PCIE frequency (in MHz). Spread Spectrum Configuration Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears. CPU Spread Spectrum This setting is used to enable or disable the CPU Spread Spectrum feature. W hen overclocking the CPU, always set it to [Disabled]. PCIE / LDT / SATA Spread Spectrum These settings are used to enable or disable the PCIE/ LDT (HT Bus multiplier)/ SATA Spread Spectrum feature. Important 1. If you do not have any EMI problem, leave the setting at [Disabled] for optimal system stability and performance. But if you are plagued by EMI, select the value of Spread Spectrum for EMI reduction. 2. The greater the Spread Spectrum value is, the greater the EMI is reduced, and the system will become less stable. For the most suitable Spread Spectrum value, please consult your local EMI regulation. 3. Remember to disable Spread Spectrum if you are overclocking because even a slight jitter can introduce a temporary boost in clock speed which may just cause your overclocked processor to lock up. 3-25 M S-7325 M ainboard CPU and Memory Clock Overclocking The CPU Frequency / CPU Dynamic OverClocking / Adjust CPU Ratio/ Memory Clock are the items for you to overclock the CPU and the Memory. Please refer to the descriptions of these fields for more information. Important 1. CPU Speed = CPU Frequency * CPU Ratio 2. This motherboard supports overclocking greatly. However, please make sure your peripherals and components are bearable for some special s ettings . Any operation that ex c eeds produc t spec ific ation is not recommended. Any risk or damge resulting from improper operation will not be under our product warranty. Two ways to save your system from failed overclocking... Reboot 1. Press the Power button to reboot the system three times. Please note that, to avoid electric current to affect other devices or components, we suggest an interval of more than 10 seconds among the reboot actions. 2. At the fourth reboot, BIOS will determine that the previous overclocking is failed and restore the default settings automatically. Please press any key to boot the system normally when the following message appears on screen. W arning !!! The previous performance of overclocking is failed, and the system is restored to the defaults setting. Please press any key to continue... Clear CM OS - Please refer to “chapter 2” for more information about how to clear CMOS data. 3-26 BIOS Setup Load Optimized Defaults The option on the main menu allow users to restore all of the BIOS settings to the default Optimized values. The Optimized Defaults are the default values set by the mainboard manufacturer specifically for optimal performance of the mainboard. W hen you select Load Optimized Defaults, a message as below appears: Pressing Y loads the default factory settings for optimal system performance. 3-27 M S-7325 M ainboard BIOS Setting Password W hen you select this function, a message as below will appear on the screen: Type the password, up to six characters in length, and press <Enter>. The password typed now will replace any previously set password from CMOS memory. You will be prompted to confirm the password. Retype the password and press <Enter>. You may also press <Esc> to abort the selection and not enter a password. To clear a set password, just press <Enter> when you are prompted to enter the password. A message will show up confirming the password will be disabled. Once the password is disabled, the system will boot and you can enter Setup without entering any password. W hen a password has been set, you will be prompted to enter it every time you try to enter Setup. This prevents an unauthorized person from changing any part of your system configuration. 3-28 Realtek ALC850 Audio Appendix A Realtek ALC850 Audio The Realtek ALC850 supports 8-channel audio output, including 2 Front, 2 Rear, 1 Center and 1 Subwoofer channel. It enables connection to 2, 4, 6 or 8 speakers for better surround sound effect. This section tells you how to install and use 2-, 4-, 6- or 8-channel audio function on the board. A-1 M S-7325 M ainboard Installing the Audio Driver You need to install the driver for Realtek ALC850 codec to function properly before you can get access to 2-, 4-, 6- or 8- channel audio operations. Follow the procedures described below to install the drivers for different operating systems. Installation for Windows 2000/XP For W indows ® 2000, you must install W indows ® 2000 Service Pack2 or later before installing the driver. The following illustrations are based on W indows ® XP environment and could look slightly different if you install the drivers in different operating systems. 1. Insert the application CD into the CD-ROM drive. The setup screen will automatically appear. 2. Click Realtek AC97 Audio Drivers. Click here Important The AC97 Audio Configuration software utility is under continuous update to enhance audio applications. Hence, the program screens shown here in this appendix may be slightly different from the latest software utility and shall be held for reference only. A-2 Realtek ALC850 Audio 3. Click Next to install the AC’97 Audio software. Click here 4. Click Finish to restart the system. S el ec t t hi s option Click here A-3 M S-7325 M ainboard Software Configuration After installing the audio driver, you are able to use the 2-, 4-, 6- or 8- channel audio feature now. Click the audio icon from the system tray at the lower-right corner of the screen to activate the AC97 Audio Configuration. It is also available to enable the audio driver by clicking the Sound Effect M anager from the Control Panel. A-4 Realtek ALC850 Audio Sound Effect Here you can select a sound effect you like from the Environment list. You may also edit the properties for an environment as you wish by clicking the “Edit” button, then just scroll the bar in the bottom for each property to adjust. A-5 M S-7325 M ainboard You may choose the provided sound effects, and the equalizer will adjust automatically. If you like, you may also load an equalizer setting or make an new equalizer setting to save as an new one by using the “Load EQ Setting” and “Save Preset” button, click “Reset EQ Setting” button to use the default value, or click “Delete EQ Setting” button to remove a preset EQ setting. There are also other pre-set equalizer models for you to choose by clicking “Others” under the Equalizer part. Load EQ Setting Reset EQ Setting EQ Setting On/Off Save Preset Delete EQ Setting Here it provides the Karaoke function which will automatically remove human voice (lyrics) and leave melody for you to sing the song. You may use the “up arrow” and “down arrow” button to raise/lower the key, and press the lower button to remove the human voice. Raise the key Remov e the human voice A-6 Lower the key Realtek ALC850 Audio Speaker Configuration In this tab, you can easily configure your multi-channel audio function and speakers. 1. First you have to select the audio configuration below which is identical to the audio jack on your mainboard. In this model it uses Realtek ALC850 codec which supports 8-channel, therefore you should choose 8CH audio out. 2 1 3 2. Select a desired multi-channel operation here. a. Headphone for the common headphone b. 2CH Speaker for Stereo-Speaker Output c. 4CH Speaker for 4-Speaker Output d. 6CH Speaker for 5.1-Speaker Output e. 8CH Speaker for 8-Speaker Output A-7 M S-7325 M ainboard Select the speaker by clicking it to test its functionality. The one you select will light up and make testing sound. If any speaker fails to make sound, then check whether the cable is inserted firmly to the connector or replace the bad speakers with good ones. Or you may click the “Auto Test” button to test the sounds of each speaker automatically. Center Front Left Front Right Subwoof er Side Left Rear Left Side Right Rear Right 3. W hile you are testing the speakers in 8-Channel / 6-Channel Mode, if the sound coming from the center speaker and subwoofer is swapped, you should select Swap Center/Subwoofer Output to readjust these two channels. A-8 Realtek ALC850 Audio 3D Audio Demo In this tab you may adjust your 3D positional audio before playing 3D audio applications like gaming. You may also select different environment to choose the most suitable environment you like. A-9 M S-7325 M ainboard General In this tab it provides some information about this AC97 Audio Configuration utility, including Audio Driver Version, DirectX Version, Audio Controller & AC97 Codec. You may also select the language of this utility by choosing from the Language list. Also there is a selection Show icon in system tray. Switch it on and an icon will show in the system tray. Right-click on the icon and the Audio Accessories dialogue box will appear which provides several multimedia features for you to take advantage of. A-10 Realtek ALC850 Audio SPDIF In this tab it provides options about SPDIF-Out for you to configure. † No Output: W ith this option, there is no S/PDIF output signal while playing analog and digital audio. † Output digital only: W ith this option, only digital audio will be allowed to play via SPDIF out while playing analog and digital audio. † Output digital and analog: W ith this option, both digital and analog audio will be allowed to play via SPDIF out while playing analog and digital audio. A-11 M S-7325 M ainboard Hardware Setup Connecting the Speakers W hen you have set the Multi-Channel Audio Function mode properly in the software utility, connect your speakers to the correct phone jacks in accordance with the setting in software utility. n 2-Channel M ode for Stereo-Speaker Output Refer to the following diagram and caption for the function of each phone jack on the back panel when 2-Channel Mode is selected. Back Panel 1 4 2 5 3 6 1 Line In 2 Line Out (Front channels) 3 MIC 4 Line Out (Rear surround channels, but no functioning in this mode) 5 Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channel, but no functioning in this mode) 6 Line Out (Side surround channels, but no functioning in this mode) A-12 Realtek ALC850 Audio n 4-Channel M ode for 4-Speaker Output Back Panel 1 4 2 5 3 6 Description: Connect two speakers to back panel’s front-channel Line Out connector and two speakers to t he r eal- c h an n el L in e O u t connector. 4-Channel Analog Audio Output 1 Line In 2 Line Out (Front channels) 3 MIC 4 Line Out (Rear surround channels) 5 Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channel, but no functioning in this mode) 6 Line Out (Side surround channels, but no functioning in this mode) A-13 M S-7325 M ainboard n 6-Channel M ode for 6-Speaker Output Back Panel 1 2 4 5 3 6 6-Channel Analog Audio Output Description: Connect two speakers to back panel’s Line Out connector, two speakers to the rear-channel Line out connec tor and two s peaker s t o t he c ent er / subwoofer-channel Line Out connector. 1 Line In 2 Line Out (Front channels) 3 MIC 4 Line Out (Rear surround channels) 5 Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channel) 6 Line Out (Side surround channels, but no functioning in this mode) A-14 Realtek ALC850 Audio n 8-Channel M ode for 8-Speaker Output 1 4 2 5 3 6 8-Channel Analog Audio Output 1 Line In 2 Line Out (Front channels) 3 MIC 4 Line Out (Rear surround channels) 5 Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channel) 6 Line Out (Side channels) Description: Connect two speakers to back panel’s Line Out connector, two speakers to the rear-channel Line out connector, two speakers to the center/subwooferchannel Line Out connector and two speakers to the side-channel Line Out connector. A-15 Dual Core Center Appendix B Dual Core Center Dual CoreCenter, the most useful and powerful utility that MSI has spent muc h researc h and ef forts to develop, helps users to monitor or configure the hardware status of MSI Mainboard & MSI Graphics card in windows, such as CPU/GPU clock, voltage, fan speed and temperature. Before you install the Dual CoreCenter, please make sure the system has meet the following requirements: 1. Intel Pentium4 / Celeron, AMD Athlon XP/ Sempron or compatible CPU with PCI Express slot. 2. 256MB system memory. 3. CD-ROM drive for software installation. 4. Operation system: W indows XP. 5. DotNet Frame Work 2.0 B-1 M S-7325 M ainboard 25 Activating Dual Core Center Once you have your Dual Core Center installed (locate the setup source file in the setup CD accompanying with your mainboard, path: Utility --> MSI Utility --> Dual Core Center), it will have an icon in the system tray, a short cut icon on the desktop, and a short cut path in your “Start-up” menu. You may double-click on each icon to enable Dual Core Center. short-cut icon in the system tray short-cut path in the start-up menu ( path: S t ar t- - >P r ograms - - >MSI - - > DualCoreCenter-->DualCoreCenter) B-2 Dual Core Center Main Before using this utility, we have to remind you: only when installing the MSI V044 (V044 has to install with the version 8.26 or newer driver)/ V046 or V060 graphics card can activate the full function of this utility. If you install a graphics card of other brand, only hardware status of the MSI mainboard would be available. Introduction: Click each button appearing above to enter sub-menu to make further configuration or to execute the function. MB Click MB button to read current CPU temperature, FSB and CPU clock of mainboard will show below. VGA Click VGA button to read current GPU temperature, GPU clock and memory clock of graphics card will show below. DO T Click DOT button to enable or disable the Dynamic Overclocking Technology. B-3 M S-7325 M ainboard 25 AV/ Game/ Office/ Silence/ Cool MSI provides five common settings for different environments. The settings had been set to optimal values to reac h better performanc e in eac h environment. Click the button you need. Important Before clicking the AV/ Game/ Office/ Silence or Cool button, select Smooth mode or Sharp mode to decide whether you want the system to reach the optimal values smoothly or quickly. Sharp mode Smooth mode Clock In this sub-menu, you can adjust and monitor the clocks of MB and graphics card. Voltage In this sub-menu, you can adjust and monitor the voltages of MB and graphics card. FAN Speed In this sub-menu, you can adjust and monitor the fan speeds of MB and graphics card. Temperature In this sub-menu, you can monitor the temperatures of MB and graphics card. User Profile In this sub-menu, you can set the values of clock, voltage and fan speed by your need and save them in a profile. You can save 3 profiles for further use. Important Click on the icon , the clock, voltage, fan, and temperature buttons will appear beside the icon. B-4 Dual Core Center DOT (Dynamic OverClocking) Dynamic Overclocking Technology is an automatic overclocking function, included in the MSITM ’s newly developed Dual CoreCenter Technology. It is designed to detect the loading of CPU/ GPU while running programs, and to over-clock automatically. When the motherboard detects that the loading of CPU is exceed the default threshold for a time, it will speed up the CPU and fan automatically to make the system run smoother and faster. W hen the graphics card detects that the loading of GPU is exceed the default threshold for a time, it will speed up the GPU, memory, fan and voltage automatically to make the system run smoother and faster. W hen the CPU/ GPU is temporarily suspending or staying in low loading balance, it will restore the default settings instead. Usually the Dynamic Overclocking Technology will be powered only when users' PC runs huge amount of data, like 3D games or video process, and the motherboard/ graphicd card need to be boosted up to enhance the overall performance. There will be several selections when you click the DOT rate button (include increase rate and decrease rate buttons), to select the DOT level, then you have to click the DOT button to apply the DOT function. DOT FSB-UP Rate button DOT FSB-DOWN Rate button Important Even though the Dynamic Overclocking Technology is more stable than manual overclocking, basically, it is still risky. We suggest user to make sure that your CPU can afford to overclock regularly first. If you find the PC appears to be unstable or reboot incidentally, it's better to lower the level of overclocking options. By the way, if you need to conduct overclocking manually, please do not to apply the DOT function. B-5 M S-7325 M ainboard 25 Clock In the Clock sub-menu, you can see clock status (including FSB/ CPU clock of mainboard and GPU/ memory clock of graphics card) of your system. And you can select desired value for overclocking. There will be several items for you to select for overclocking after you click button. You can click the plus sign button to increase the clock, or click the minus sign button to decrease the clock. And finally, click the Apply button to apply the values adjusted. If you do not want to apply the adjustments, click the Cancel button to cancel. Or click the Default button to restore the default values. On the underside, it shows the graphs of the clocks. Only the curves of the item which the button is lit up with red color will be shown. Important In the user profile, clicking the Save button can save the changes to it. In the default profile, the Save button is not available. B-6 Dual Core Center Voltage In the Voltage sub-menu, you can see voltage status (including Vcore, memory, GPU voltage... etc.) of your system, and you can select desired value for overclocking. It will show several items to select for overclocking after you click the button. You can click the plus sign button to increase the voltage, or click the minus sign button to decrease. And finally, click the Apply button to apply the adjustments. If you do not want to apply the adjustments, click the Cancel button to cancel. Or click the Default button to restore the default values. On the underside, it shows the graphs of the voltages. Only the curves of the item which the button is lit up with red color will be shown. Important In the user profile, clicking the Save button can save the changes to it. In the default profile, the Save button is not available. B-7 I M S-7325 M ainboard 25 FAN Speed In the FAN Speed sub-menu, you can read fan status of your system. Select higher speed for better cooling effect. There are several sections for you to change the fan speed to a section after clicking button. Click the plus sign button to increase the fan speed to a section, or click the minus sign button to decrease. Or click the Default button to restore the default values. On the underside, it shows the graphs of the fan speed. Only the curves of the item which the button is lit up with red color will be shown. Important 1. When you set the fan speed manually, please make sure to disabled the “Smart FAN Target” item in the BIOS. 2. In the user profile, clicking the Save button can save the changes to it. In the default profile, the Save button is not available. B-8 Dual Core Center Temperature In the Temperature sub-menu, you can see temperature status of your system. On the underside, it shows the graphs of the temperatures. Only the curves of the item which the button is lit up with red color will be shown. B-9 M S-7325 M ainboard 25 User Profile In the User Profile sub-menu, click the setting button that besides the user profile bar, and the next screen will appear. Here you can define the clock/ fan speed/ voltage by your need, click the button to choose a value quickly, or click the plus / minus sign button to increase/ decrease the value. B-10 Dual Core Center Use the draw bar to set the max system temperature. W hen the system temperature exceeds the threshold you defined, the system will pop up a warning message and shut down the system. Use the draw bar to set the minimal fan speed. When the fan speed is lower than the threshold you defined, the system will pop up a warning message. After setting all values you need, you can change the user profile name in the box then click the save button to save all changes in a profile. Finally, you can choose the user profile by click the button in the left side and click the Apply button to load the user profile. B-11 nVidia RAID Appendix C nVidia RAID NVIDIA brings Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) technology—which is used by the world’s leading businesses—to the common PC desktop. This technology uses multiple drives to either increase total disk space or to offer data protection. For all levels, RAID techniques optimize storage solutions by using multiple disks grouped together and treating them as a single storage resource. C-1 M S-7325 M ainboard Introduct ion System Requirement Operating System Support NVRAID supports the following operating systems: W indows XP RAID Arrays NVRAID supports the following types of RAID arrays described in this section: RAID 0: RAID 0 defines a disk striping scheme that improves the disk read and write times for many applications. RAID 1: RAID 1 defines techniques for mirroring data. RAID 0+1: RAID 0+1 combines the techniques used in RAID 0 and RAID 1 arrays. RAID 5: RAID 5 defines techniques for parity data. Spanning (JBOD): JBOD provides a method for combining drives of different sizes into one large disk Summary of RAID Configurations Array Uses Advantages Drawbacks # Hard Disks Fault Tolerance RAID 0 Non-critical data requiring high performance. High data throughput. No fault tolerance. multiple None RAID 1 Small databases or any other small capacity environment requiring fault tolerance. 100% data redundancy. Requires 2 drives for the storage space of 1 drive. 2 Yes RAID 0+1 Critical data requiring high performance. Optimized for both 100% data redundancy and performance. Allows spare disks. Requires 2 drives for the storage space of 1 drive—the same as RAID level 1. 4+ Yes RAID 5 Critical data and reasonable level of performance. Fault tolerance and better utilization of disk space. Decreased write performance due to parity calculations. Requires at least three drives. 3+ Yes JBOD Combining odd size drives into one big drive Combines and uses the capacity of odd size drives. Decreases performance because of the difficulty in using drives concurrently or to optimize drives for different uses. Multiple No C-2 nVidia RAID RAID Configuration Basic Configuration Instructions The following are the basic steps for configuring NVRAID: Non-Bootable RAID Array 1. Choose the hard disks that are to be RAID enabled in the system BIOS. (To enable the OnChip RAID Controller and SATA0/ SATA1 Primary/ Secondary Channel in SATA Devices Configuration of Integrated Peripherals in BIOS.) 2. Specify the RAID level, either Mirroring (RAID 1), Striping (RAID 0), Striping and Mirroring (RAID 0+1), RAID 5 or JBOD and create the desired RAID array. 3. Enter the W indows OS, run the W indows nForce Setup application and install the RAID software. (Check p.C-9 for details.) 4. Initialize the NVRAID Array Disks. Bootable RAID Array 1. Choose the hard disks that are to be RAID enabled in the system BIOS. (To enable the OnChip RAID Controller and SATA0/ SATA1 Primary/ Secondary Channel in SATA Devices Configuration of Integrated Peripherals in BIOS.) 2. Specify the RAID level, either Mirroring (RAID 1), Striping (RAID 0), Striping and Mirroring (RAID 0+1), RAID 5 or JBOD and create the desired RAID array. 3. Boot from the W indows CD, use the floppy disk that has the RAID driver to copy and install the nForce RAID software. (Check p.C-7 for details.) 4. Initialize the NVRAID Array Disks. Setting Up the NVRAID BIOS Be sure to enable the OnChip RAID Controller and SATA0/ SATA1 Primary/ Secondary Channel in SATA Devices Configuration of Integrated Peripherals in BIOS before configuring the NVRAID BIOS. After that press F10 to save the configuration and exit. The PC will reboot right away. Then enter the RAID BIOS Setup by pressing F10 when prompted, and follow the procedures described below to set up the NVRAID BIOS. NVRAID BIOS setup lets you choose the RAID array type and which hard drives you want to make part of the array. Entering the RAID BIOS Setup 1. After rebooting your PC, wait until yo u s e e t h e R A I D s of t w ar e prompting you to press F10. The RAID prompt appears as part of the system POST and boot process prior to loading the OS. 2. Press F10, and the NVIDIA RAID Utility --- Define a New Array window will appear. The default RAID M ode is set to Mirroring and Striping Block is set to Optimal. C-3 M S-7325 M ainboard Understanding the “Define a New Array” Window Use the Define a New Array window to • Select the RAID Mode • Set up the Striping Block • Specify which disks to use for the RAID Array Depending on the platform used, the system can have one or more channels. In a typical system there is usually one controller and multiple channels, and each channel has a slave and a master. The channel/controller/master/slave status of each hard disk is given in the Loc (location) columns of the Free Disks and Array Disks lists. In the example above, 1.0.M means the hard drive is attached to Controller 1, Channel 0, and the drive is set to Master. The following is a list of all possible combinations: Serial ATA 1.0.M Controller 1, Channel 0, 1.1.M Controller 1, Channel 1, 2.0.M Controller 2, Channel 0, 2.1.M Controller 2, Channel 1, Master Master Master Master (SATA1) (SATA2) (SATA3) (SATA4) Important There is no such thing as Slave drive in Serial ATA. All drives are considered to be Master since there is a one to one connection between the drive and the controller. C-4 nVidia RAID Using the Define a New Array Window If necessary, press the tab key to move from field to field until the appropriate field is highlighted. • Selecting the RAID Mode By default, this is set to [Mirroring]. To change to a different RAID mode, press the down arrow key until the mode that you want appears in the RAID Mode box—either [Mirroring], [Striping], [RAID5], [Spanning], or [Stripe Mirroring]. • Selecting the Striping Block Size Striping Block size is given in kilobytes, and affects how data is arranged on the disk. It is recommended to leave this value at the default [Optimal], which is 32KB, but the values can be between [4 KB] and [128 KB]. • Assigning the Disks The disks that you enabled from the RAID Config BIOS setup page appear in the Free Disks block. These are the drives that are available for use as RAID array disks. To designate a free disk to be used as a RAID array disk, 1. Tab to the Free Disks section. The first disk in the list is selected. 2. Move it from the Free Disks block to the Array Disks block by pressing the right arrow key (-->). The first disk in the list is moved, and the next disk in the list is selected and ready to be moved. 3. Continue pressing the right-arrow key (<-- ) until all the disks that you want to use as RAID array disks appear in the Array Disks block. It shows that two disks have been assigned as RAID1 array disks in the figure above. - Define a New Array - C-5 M S-7325 M ainboard Completing the RAID BIOS Setup 1. After assigning your RAID array disks, press F7. The Clear disk data prompt appears. 2. Press Y if you want to wipe out all the data from the RAID array, otherwise press N. You must choose Yes if the drives were previously used as RAID drives. The Array List window appears, where you can review the RAID arrays that you have set up. 3. Use the arrow keys to select the array that you want to set up, then press Enter. The Array Detail window appears. 4. If you want to mark this disk as empty and wipe out all its contents then press C. 5. At the prompt, press Y to wipe out all the data, otherwise press N. 6. Press Enter again to go back to the previous window and then press Ctrl+X to exit the RAID setup. Now that the RAID setup has been configured from the RAID BIOS, the next step is to configure and load NVRAID drivers under W indows, as explained in “Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under W indows” on p.C-9. C-6 nVidia RAID Installing the RAID Driver (for bootable RAID Array) 1. After you complete the RAID BIOS setup, boot from the W indows CD, and the W indows Setup program starts. 2. Press F6 and wait for the W indows Setup screen to appear. 3. Specify the NVIDIA drivers: (1) Insert the floppy that has the RAID driver, press S, then press Enter. The W indows Setup screen appears as below: Important Please follow the instruction below to make an nVIDIA Serial ATA RAID driver for yourself. 1. Insert the MSI CD into the CD-ROM drive. 2. Click the “Browse CD” on the Setup screen. 3. Copy all the contents in the :\\nVidia \System \CK804 \IDE \Win XP or Win2K \SATARAID to a formatted floppy disk. 4. The driver disk for nVIDIA RAID controller is done. (2) Select “NVIDIA RAID CLASS DRIVER” and then press Enter. (3) Press S again at the Specify Devices screen, then press Enter. (4) Select “NVIDIA NForce Storage Controller” and then press Enter. The following W indows Setup screen appears listing both drivers: C-7 M S-7325 M ainboard 4. Press Enter to continue with W indows XP Installation. Be sure to leave the floppy disk inserted in the floppy drive until the blue screen portion of W indows XP installation is completed, then take out the floppy. 5. Follow the instructions on how to install W indows XP. After W indows XP is completely installed, it is recommended that you install the the RAID management tool. Important Each time you add a new hard drive to a RAID array, the RAID driver will have to be installed under Windows once for that hard drive. After that, the driver will not have to be installed. C-8 nVidia RAID NVIDIA RAID Utility Installation Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under Windows (for Non-bootable RAID Array) The existing W indows IDE Parallel ATA driver (as well as the Serial ATA driver if SATA is enabled) must be upgraded to use the NVIDIA IDE Parallel ATA driver (as well as the NV Serial ATA driver if SATA is enabled). This section describes how to run the setup application and install the RAID software which will upgrade the W indows IDE driver and install the RAID software. 1. Start the NVIDIA nForce Drivers installation program to open the NVIDIA W indows nForce Drivers page. 2. Select the modules that you want to install. Make sure that the “NVIDIA IDE Driver” is selected. Important You must install the NVIDIA IDE driver in order to enable NVIDIA RAID. If you do not install the NVIDIA IDE driver, NVIDIA RAID will not be worked. 3. Click Next and then follow the instructions. 4. After the installation is completed, be sure to reboot the PC. 5. After the reboot, initialize the newly created array. C-9 M S-7325 M ainboard Initializing and Using the Disk Array The RAID array is now ready to be initialized under W indows. 1. Launch Computer Management by clicking “Start” --> “Settings” --> “Control Panel” then open the “Administrative Tools” folder and double click on “Computer Management”. 2. Click “Disk Management” (under the “Storage” section). The Initialize and Convert Disk W izards appears. 3. Click Next. The Select Disks to Initialize window appears. The disks listed depend on how many arrays you have configured. 4. Click Next. The Select Disks to Convert window appears. C-10 nVidia RAID 5. Check the disk in the list if you want to make the array a dynamic disk, then click Next. The Completing the Initialize and Convert Disk W izard window appears. 6. Click Finish. The “Computer Management” window appears. The actual disks listed will depend on your system, and the unallocated partition is the total combined storage of two hard disks. You must format the unallocated disk space in order to use it. 7. Format the unallocated disk space. Right click “Unallocated space”, select “New Partition…” and follow the wizard. After the drive has been formatted, it is ready for use. C-11 M S-7325 M ainboard RAID Drives Management There is an application called NVRAIDMAN which helps you perform the following tasks of nVDIA RAID. • Viewing RAID Array Configurations View an array configuration (mirrored, striped, mirror-striped, JBOD, or any supported combination) • Setting Up a Spare RAID Disk • View free and/or dedicated free disks • Designate a free disk to a particular array • Creating RAID Arrays • Deleting a RAID Array • Morphing From One RAID Array to Another • Hot Plug Array • Initializing a RAID Array • Erase the data on the array by writing all zeros to the sectors of each hard disk. • Rebuilding a RAID Mirrored Array • Rebuild a broken mirrored array • W atch the progress of rebuilding an array • Only applies to RAID 1, RAID 0+1, and RAID 5 arrays • Synchronizing a RAID Array • Rebuild the redundancy in RAID 1 or RAID 0+1 arrays (copy the data to the redundant disk—the same operation as rebuilding) • Rebuild the parity in RAID 5 arrays Viewing RAID Array Configurations To view your RAID configuration from W indows, launch the NVRAID Management utility by double-clicking NvRaidMan.exe . The RAID configuration information appears in the right-side pane, as shown below. Important The information in the figures in this part may very from what it is shown in your system. C-12 nVidia RAID Setting Up a Spare RAID Disk You can designate a hard drive to be used as a spare drive for a RAID 1, RAID 0+1 or RAID 5 array. The spare drive can take over for a failed disk. NVRAID supports two types of spare drives: • Free Disk A free disk is a disk that is not part of any RAID array, but can be used by any available RAID 1 or RAID 0+1 array that requires a particular disk when one of its disks crashes or becomes unusable. The process is automatic and doesn’t require any user interaction. For example, if you have a system with four hard disks where one disk is used to boot the OS, two hard drives are set up in a mirrored array, and a fourth hard disk is set up as a free disk, then if one of the mirrored array drives fails, the free disk will be automatically assigned to the mirrored array to be used instead of the failed disk. • Dedicated Disk A dedicated free disk is a disk that is assigned to a RAID 1, RAID 0+1 or RAID 5 array and that disk is used by that array only when needed, for example during a system crash where a RAID mirrored drive is broken. The dedicated disk can be used only by the array that it is assigned to and not by any other array, unlike a free disk which can be used by any available RAID 1, RAID 0+1 or RAID 5 array. Note: You must have at least two RAID arrays to use this feature. Assigning a Free Disk To mark a disk as free, or not a part of any array, 1. Enter the system BIOS setup and make sure that the drive that you want to mark as free is RAID enabled. 2. Enter the RAID BIOS and make sure that the drive is not part of any array (if one exists). 3. Boot into W indows and run the NVRAIDMAN program. The drive appears under the Free Disk section. The figure below shows an example of the NVRAIDMAN display if you have a mirror array and one free disk. C-13 M S-7325 M ainboard Assigning a Dedicated Disk To mark a disk as dedicated, or reserve it for use by a specific array, Step 1: Mark the Disk as a Free Disk 1. Enter the system BIOS setup and make sure that the drive that you want to mark as free is RAID enabled. 2. Boot into W indows and run the NVRAIDMAN program. If the disk is not part of any RAID array, then it will appear under the Free Disk section of the RAID GUI. Step 2: Dedicate the Free Disk to an Array W hile running NVRAIDMAN, dedicate the free disk to an array by doing the following: 1. Right click one of the two Mirrored arrays as shown below. 2. Select Designate Spare from the menu to launch the Spare Disk Allocation Wizard. C-14 nVidia RAID 3. Click Next. The RAID Array Selection page appears. 4. From the Free Disk Selection page, select one of the two free disks available. This would be the disk that will be designated to the mirror array. 5. Click Next. The Completing the NVIDIA Spare Disk Allocation page appears. 6. Click Finish. As shown in figure below, the ST380011A drive is now a dedicated free disk in the mirrored array. If a system crash occurs that causes any of the two W D360GD drives to fail, the ST380011A hard drive will take over and be used in the newly formed mirrored array. C-15 M S-7325 M ainboard Removing a Dedicated Disk Once a dedicated disk has been assigned to a particular array, it can be removed at any time. To remove the disk, right click on the dedicated disk and select “Remove Disk...” to remove it. In the previous example, simply right click on the ST380011A drive and select “Remove Disk...”. as shown in the screen shot below: C-16 nVidia RAID Morphing From One RAID Array to Another In a traditional RAID environment, when a user wants to change the current state of a disk or a current array to a new RAID configuration, the process of reconfiguring the new array involves multiple steps. The user must back up the data, delete the array, re-boot the PC, and then reconfigure the new array. NVIDIA RAID allows the end user to change the current state of the disk or array to another with a one-step process called .Morphing.. This section describes the NVIDIA Morphing process and explains how to use Morphing to convert from one RAID array type to another. General M orphing Principles NVIDIA RAID includes extensive support for morphing, a process of converting from one RAID mode to another RAID mode. General Requirements and Limitations • The new array capacity must be equal to or greater than the previous array. For example, it is possible to morph from a RAID 1 array to a RAID 0 array as long as the RAID 0 array is the same size as (or larger than) the RAID 1 array. • You can’t morph - To or from a JBOD (Spanning) array - From RAID 1 to RAID 1 - From RAID 0+1 to RAID 1 - From RAID 5 to 1 Specific M orphing Requirements The following table lists the disk requirements for a new RAID array for various morphing combinations. From To RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 0 RAID 0+1 RAID 1 New Array Disk Requirements m>n Number of disks in the new array must be greater than the original array. m =2, n =1 RAID 1 array must include two disks, converted from a one disk RAID 0 array. m >= 2 x n Number of RAID 0+1 disks must be equal to or greater than twice the number of RAID 0 disks. RAID5 m >= n+1 RAID 0 No additional restrictions. RAID 1 ** Not a valid combination ** RAID 0+1 No additional restrictions. RAID 5 m >= 3 C-17 M S-7325 M ainboard From RAID 0+1 RAID 5 To New Array Disk Requirements RAID 0 m >= > nn2 Number of RAID 0 disks must be equal to or greater than half the number of RAID 0+1 disks. RAID 1 ** Not a valid combination ** RAID 0+1 ** Not a valid combination ** RAID 5 m >= (n/2 + 1) RAID 0 m >= n - 1 RAID 1 ** Not a valid combination ** RAID 0+1 m >= 2 x (n -1) ; where m is an even number of disks. RAID 5 m >= n Hot Plug Array W ith respect to RAID, hot plugging is the ability to add a disk to a system safely and without causing problems for the RAID software. For example, when a drive in a mirrored array fails, the user can launch the Hot Plug Array W izard which instructs the user as to when a drive can be safely added to the system. As soon as the drive is added, the user can then finish running the RAID wizard and the drive becomes usable by the system. Hot Plug Array allows the user to add or remove an entire array without degrading the array in the process. NVRAIDMAN can be used to hot plug a RAID disk. To hot plug a disk, simply do the following: 1 Launch NVRAIDMAN and click on “Hot Plug Array” and the following screen shot will appear: C-18 nVidia RAID 2 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear: 3 Connect the RAID disk that you want to use with any given RAID array. 4 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear: 5 Click Finish. Initializing a RAID Array Initializing a RAID array erases all the data that is stored on that array, and writes all zeros to the disks. Initialization of newly configured RAID arrays is recommended to ensure consistency and reliable performance on any supported fault tolerant array such asRAID 5, RAID 0, and RAID 0+1. Use this feature only if you are absolutely sure that you want to wipe out all the data on that array. Initialization of a fault tolerant array can only be done when the array is being created. To initialize an array, perform the following steps: Note: In this example, a mirror array is initialized. C-19 M S-7325 M ainboard 1 From the NVRAIDMAN window, right click on any available free disk and select Create Array as show in Figure below. 2 The Create Array W izard opens. Follow the W izard to create a Mirror array. 3 At the Create Array W izard Welcome screen, click Next. 4 At the RAID Array Selection page, make sure that RAID Mode is set to “Mirroring” and Stripe Size is set to its default value of 64K, then click Next. 5 At the Free Disk Selection page, select the two drives that you want to Mirror and click Next. 6 Click Next again and the following screen shot will appear: 7 Check “Intialize Array” and then click Next. The Initialization Warning dialog appears. C-20 nVidia RAID 8 Click OK. The Clearing System Data screen appears again with the Initialize Array check box checked as shown below. 9 Click Next, then click Finish at the Completing the NVIDIA Create Array W izard screen. The NVRAIDMAN windows shows the created RAID array as shown below. The Initialization Process As you can see from the screen shot above, the initialization process has started and it will be completed in a short period of time. As soon as the Initialization process starts, a popup window similar to the following will appear: followed by the following pop-up window: C-21 M S-7325 M ainboard Rebuilding a RAID Array Rebuilding is the process of restoring data to a hard drive from other drives in the array. This applies only to fault tolerant arrays such as RAID 1, RAID 0+1, as well as a RAID 5. For example, assuming you have a three disk RAID 5 array, and one of the drives fail, then you need the lost data on the newly added drive. Rebuilding Instructions After creating a mirrored array, you can rebuild the array using the following steps: 1. Go to W indows and run the NVIDIA RAID Management utility. The picture below shows an example of a system with one mirrored array and two free disks. 2. Right-click on Mirroring. The popup menu appears. 3. From the popup menu, click Rebuild Array. The NVIDIA Rebuild Array W izard appears. C-22 nVidia RAID 4. Click Next. The Disk Selection page appears. 5. Select the drive that you want to rebuild by clicking it from the list, then click Next. The Completing the NVIDIA Rebuild Array page appears. 6. Click Finish. The array rebuilding starts after a few seconds, and a small pop-up message appears towards the bottom right corner of the screen as shown in the figure below. W hen the rebuilding process is finished you will see the pop up box shown in Figure below. C-23 M S-7325 M ainboard During the rebuilding process, the NVRAID Management utility screen shows the status under the System Tasks and Details sections. M ore About Rebuilding Arrays • Rebuilding Occurs in the Background The rebuilding process is very slow (it can take up to a day) and occurs in the background so as not to affect the performance of the system. • Rebuilding Applies Only to RAID 1/ RAID 0+1 or RAID 5 Arrays Rebuilding an array works only when using RAID 1 , RAID 0+1, or RAID 5. Rebuilding does not apply to RAID 0 and JBOD arrays. • Rebuilding applies to a degraded fault tolerant array You can rebuild a degraded mirrored array using any available Free Disk or Dedicated Disk. For example, Figure below shows a mirrored array using two 34.48 GB drives while having two Free Disks each 55.90 GB large. To use one of these available free disks to rebuild your array, follow the same steps as explained in “Rebuilding a RAID Array” on p.C-22, except when prompted to select a disk, choose one of the two available free disks. C-24 nVidia RAID Synchronizing a RAID Array Synchronizing an array will force a rebuild of redundancy or parity. The operation is applicable to any fault tolerant array such as RAID 1, 0+1 and RAID 5. • For RAID1 and RAID 0+1, “sync” results in copying the data to the redundancy disk, • For RAID 5, “sync” results in rebuilding the parity To sync an array, do the following (This example assumes you have already created a fault tolerant array such as RAID 1): 1. Right click on “Mirroring” and select Synchronize Array as shown in Figure below. 2. The Synchronize Array W izard Welcome screen appears. 3. Click on Next and then click Finish at the W izard Completion screen. The NVRAIDMAN window indicates that the array is synchronizing, as shown in Figure below. As you can see from the screen shot above, the synchronization process has started and it will be completed in a short period of time. C-25 Installation of nVidia System Driver Appendix D nVidia System Driver MSI provides a setup CD along with your mainboard, which contains the required drivers for your system, and many other useful and powerful utility to bring you the best experience for your office professional working and for your home leisure entertainment. D-1 M S-7325 M ainboard nVidia System Driver Installation Click on the Driver tab and the screen below will display. NVIDIA System Driver This driver is only available for W indows 2000 and W indows XP operating system. Please follow the following step to install the driver correctly. 1. Click on the NVIDIA nForce4 System Driver button to install the NVIDIA System Drivers for your Windows OS. Then the welcome dialogue will display. Click Next to continue. D-2 Installation of nVidia System Driver 2. Then the following screen displays the available components to install. All the components shown here will be selected to be installed by default. Then click Next. 3. The system will start installing the selected driver components automatically. 4. Then the following screen displays the information for the NVIDIA IDE SW Driver installation. Click Next to continue. D-3 M S-7325 M ainboard 5. Then the following screen displays the installation of NVIDIA IDE SW Driver. Click Yes to continue. Important The installation of NVIDIA Firewall and ForceWare Network Access Manager. It is a software firewall to protect the softwares from hacking. However, it is strongly suggested that you do not install this component.Please follow the instruction below to make a software firewall CD for yourself. 1. Insert the MSI CD into the CD-ROM drive. 2. Ignore the Setup screen and use “Explorer” to browse the CD. 3. In the \\nVidia\Firewall , double clicking the “NAMSetup” file to install the software. 4. The driver disk for software firewall CD is done. 6. The following screen indicates that the installation is complete. Click Yes to restart your computer or click No to restart it later. D-4 Installation of nVidia System Driver nVidia Utility Installaion 1. Click on the Utility tab and the screen below will display. 2. Then click on the NVIDIA Utility tab and the screen below will display. 3. Click the nTune Utility icon to install it. nTune Utility - provides a safe and easy way to optimize PC performance. D-5
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Related manuals
Download PDF
advertisement