MSI K9N Neo V2 Series User Manual
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MSI K9N Neo V2 Series User Manual

Ms-7369 v1.x mainboard
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K9N Neo V2/ V3 Series
MS-7369 (V1.X) Mainboard
G52-73691X1
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Summary of Contents for MSI K9N Neo V2 Series

  • Page 1 K9N Neo V2/ V3 Series MS-7369 (V1.X) Mainboard G52-73691X1...

  • Page 2: Copyright Notice

    Alternatively, please try the following help resources for further guidance. Visit the MSI website for FAQ, technical guide, BIOS updates, driver updates, an d ot h er i n f orm at i on: h t t p: / / g l o ba l .

  • Page 3: Safety Instructions

    Safety Instructions Always read the safety instructions carefully. Keep this User’s Manual for future reference. Keep this equipment away from humidity. Lay this equipment on a reliable flat surface before setting it up. The openings on the enclosure are for air convection hence protects the equip- ment from overheating.

  • Page 4: Fcc-B Radio Frequency Interference Statement

    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.

  • Page 5: Weee (Waste Electrical And Electronic Equipment) Statement

    WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Statement...

  • Page 8: Table Of Contents

    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 ...................
  • Page 9 Appendix B nVidia RAID ..................B-1 Introduction ......................B-2 RAID Configuration ....................B-3 NVIDIA RAID Utility Installation ................B-9 RAID Drives Management .................. B-12 Appendix C nVidia System Driver ..............C-1 nVidia System Driver Installation ................ C-2 nVidia Utility Installaion ..................C-5 Appendix D Dual Core Center ................

  • Page 10: Chapter 1 Getting Started

    Getting Started Chapter 1 Getting Started Thank you for choosing the K9N Neo V2/ V3 Series (MS-7369 v1.X) ATX mainboard. The K9N Neo V2/ V3 ® Series mainboards are based on nVidia nForce 520/ nForce 560 single chipset for optimal system efficiency. ®...

  • Page 11: Mainboard Specifications

    Mainboard Specifications Processor Support ® - AMD Athlon 64/ 64X2 & Sempron in the socket AM2 package (For the latest information about CPU, please visit http://global.msi. com.tw/index.php?func=cpuform) Supported FSB - HyperTransport supporting speed up to 1 GHz (2000MT/s) Chipset ®...
  • Page 12 Getting Started Floppy - 1 floppy port - Supports 1 FDD with 360KB, 720KB, 1.2MB, 1.44MB and 2.88MB Connectors Back panel - 1 PS/2 mouse port - 1 PS/2 keyboard port - 1 Serial port - 1 Parallel port support SPP/EPP/ECP mode - 4 USB 2.0 Ports - 1 LAN jack - 6 audio jacks...

  • Page 13: Mainboard Layout

    M S-7369 M ainboard Mainboard Layout CPUFAN1 Top : mouse Bottom: SYSFAN2 JPW1 keyboard Top : Parallel Port Bottom: COM portA USB ports Top: LAN Jack Bottom: USB ports Line-In Line-Out SYSFAN1 T:RS-Out M:CS-Out B:SS-Out nForce 520/ nForce 560 Chip PCI_E2 PCI_E1 JCI1...

  • Page 14: Packing Checklist

    Getting Started Packing Checklist Standard Cable for MSI Driver/Utility CD IDE Devices (Optional) MSI motherboard Back IO Shield SATA Cable Power Cable User’s Guide * The pictures are for reference only and may vary from the packing contents of the...

  • Page 15: Chapter 2 Hardware Setup

    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.

  • Page 16: Quick Components Guide

    M S-7369 M ainboard Quick Components Guide SYSFAN2, CPU, p.2-3 p.2-14 DDR2 DIMMs, p.2-6 JPW1, CPUFAN1, p.2-8 p.2-14 SYSFAN1, p.2-14 Back Panel I/O, p.2-10 ATX1, p.2-8 IDE1, p.2-12 PCIE x1 slot, p.2-19 JCI1, p.2-14 PCIE x16 slot, JBAT1, p.2-18 p.2-19 SATA1~4, p.2-13 JFP1, p.2-17...

  • Page 17: Cpu (Central Processing Unit)

    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://global.msi.com.tw/index.php? func=cpuform Important Overheating Overheating will seriously damage the CPU and system.

  • Page 18: Cpu Installation Procedures For Socket Am2

    M S-7369 M ainboard CPU Installation Procedures for Socket AM2 1. Please turn off the power and unplug the power cord before Open Lever installing the CPU. Sliding 2. Pull the lever s ideways away 90 degree Plate from the socket. Make sure to raise the lever up to a 90-de- gree angle.

  • Page 19: Installing Amd Socket Am2 Cpu Cooler Set

    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.

  • Page 20: Memory

    M S-7369 M ainboard Memory These DIMM slots are used for installing memory modules. For more information on compatible components, please visit http://global.msi.com. tw/index.php?func=testreport DDR2 240-pin, 1.8V 56x2=112 pin 64x2=128 pin Dual-Channel mode Population Rule In Dual-Channel mode, the memory modules can transmit and receive data with two data bus lines simultaneously.

  • Page 21: Installing Memory Modules

    Hardware Setup Installing Memory 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.

  • Page 22: Power Supply

    M S-7369 M ainboard Power Supply ATX 24-Pin Power Connector: ATX1 This connector allows you to connect an ATX 24-pin power supply. pin 13 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.

  • Page 23: Important Notification About Power Issue

    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.

  • Page 24: Back Panel

    M S-7369 M ainboard Back Panel Parallel Port Mouse Line-In RS-Out Line-Out CS-Out SS-Out USB Port USB Port Keyboard Serial Port 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.
  • Page 25 Hardware Setup USB Port The USB (Universal Serial Bus) port is for attaching USB devices such as keyboard, mouse, or other USB-compatible devices. Audio Ports These audio connectors are used for audio devices. You can differentiate the color of the audio jacks for different audio sound effects. Line-In (Blue) - Line In, is used for external CD player, tapeplayer or other audio devices.

  • Page 26: Floppy Disk Drive Connector

    M S-7369 M ainboard Connectors Floppy Disk Drive Connector: FDD1 This connector supports 360KB, 720KB, 1.2MB, 1.44MB or 2.88MB floppy disk drive. FDD1 IDE Connector: IDE1 This connector supports IDE hard disk drives, optical disk drives and other IDE devices. IDE1 Important If you install two IDE devices on the same cable, you must configure the...
  • Page 27 Hardware Setup Serial ATA Connector: SATA1/ SATA2/ SATA3/ SATA4 This connector is a high-speed Serial ATA interface port. Each connector can con- nect to one Serial ATA device. SATA2 SATA4 SATA1 SATA3 Important Please do not fold the Serial ATA cable into 90-degree angle. Otherwise, data loss may occur during transmission.
  • Page 28 M S-7369 M ainboard Fan Power Connectors: CPUFAN1, SYSFAN1, SYSFAN2 The fan power connectors support system cooling fan with +12V. W hen connecting the wire to the connectors, always 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.
  • Page 29 Hardware Setup Front Panel Audio Connector: JAUD1 This connector allows you to connect the front panel audio and is compliant with ® Intel Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design Guide. JAUD1 HD Audio Pin Definition SIGNAL DESCRIPTION MIC_L Microphone - Left channel Ground MIC_R Microphone - Right channel...

  • Page 30: Front Usb Connector

    M S-7369 M ainboard Front USB Connector: JUSB1 / JUSB2 / JUSB3 ® This connector, compliant with Intel I/O Connectivity Design Guide, is ideal for con- necting high-speed USB interface peripherals such as USB HDD, digital cameras, M P3 players, printers, modems and the like. Pin Definition SIGNAL SIGNAL...

  • Page 31: Front Panel Connectors

    Hardware Setup Front Panel Connectors: JFP1, JFP2 These connectors are 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 Switch JFP1 Reset Switch JFP1 Pin Definition SIGNAL DESCRIPTION HD_LED +...

  • Page 32: Jumper

    M S-7369 M ainboard Jumper Clear CMOS Jumper: JBAT1 There is a CMOS RAM onboard that has a power supply from an external battery to keep the data of system configuration. W ith the CMOS RAM, the system can auto- matically boot OS every time it is turned on.

  • Page 33: Slots

    Hardware Setup Slots PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express Slot The PCI Express slot supports the PCI Express interface expansion card. The PCI Express x 16 supports up to 4.0 GB/s transfer rate. The PCI Express x 8 supports up to 2.0 GB/s transfer rate. The PCI Express x 4 supports up to 1.0 GB/s transfer rate.

  • Page 34: Chapter 3 Bios Setup

    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.

  • Page 35: Entering Setup

    M S-7369 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.

  • Page 36: Control Keys

    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>...

  • Page 37: The Main Menu

    M S-7369 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. Integrated Peripherals Use this menu to specify your settings for integrated peripherals.
  • Page 38 BIOS Setup Load Optimized Defaults Use this menu to load the default values set by the mainboard manufacturer specifi- cally 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.

  • Page 39: Standard Cmos Features

    M S-7369 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).
  • Page 40 BIOS Setup Device/ Vendor/ Size It will showing the device information that you connected to the IDE/SATA connectors. 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.

  • Page 41: Advanced Bios Features

    M S-7369 M ainboard Advanced BIOS Features Boot Sector Protection This function protects the BIOS from accidental corruption by unauthorized users or computer viruses. W hen enabled, the BIOS’ data cannot be changed when attempt- ing to update the BIOS with a Flash utility. To successfully update the BIOS, you’ll need to disable this Flash BIOS Protection function.
  • Page 42 BIOS Setup MPS Table Version This field allows you to select which MPS (Multi-Processor Specification) version to be used for the operating system. You need to select the MPS version supported by your operating system. To find out which version to use, consult the vendor of your operating system.

  • Page 43: Integrated Peripherals

    M S-7369 M ainboard Integrated Peripherals USB Controller This setting allows you to enable/disable the onboard USB controller. USB Device Legacy Support Select [Enabled] if you need to use a USB-interfaced device in the operating system. Onboard LAN Controller This item is used to enable/disable the onboard LAN controller. LAN Option ROM This item is used to decide whether to invoke the Boot ROM of the LAN controller.
  • Page 44 BIOS Setup On-Chip IDE Controller This item allows you to enable/ disable the IDE controller. PCI IDE BusMaster This item allows you to enable/ disable BIOS to used PCI busmastering for reading/ writing to IDE drives. On-Chip SATA Controller This item allows you to enable/ disable the SATA controller. RAID mode Select [RAID] will enable RAID function.

  • Page 45: Power Management Setup

    M S-7369 M ainboard 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].
  • Page 46 BIOS Setup Power Button Function This feature sets the function of the power button. Settings are: [Power 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.

  • Page 47: Pnp/Pci Configurations

    M S-7369 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.
  • Page 48 BIOS Setup IRQ Resource Setup Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears. 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 avail- able IRQs passed to devices that are configurable by the system BIOS.

  • Page 49: H/W Monitor

    M S-7369 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.

  • Page 50: Frequency/Voltage Control

    BIOS Setup Frequency/Voltage Control Current CPU/ DRAM Frequency These items show the current clocks of CPU and Memory speed. Read-only. AMD 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 ac- tivated and will be working properly, it is required to double confirm that: 1.
  • Page 51 M S-7369 M ainboard Important Change these settings only if you are familiar with the chipset. Adjust CPU FSB Frequency This item allows you to select the CPU Front Side Bus clock frequency (in MHz). Adjust CPU Ratio This item allows you to set the CPU ratio. Advance DRAM Configuration Press <Enter>...
  • Page 52 BIOS Setup 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.

  • Page 53: Load Fail-Safe/ Optimized Defaults

    M S-7369 M ainboard Load Fail-Safe/ Optimized Defaults The two options on the main menu allow users to restore all of the BIOS settings to the default Fail-Safe or Optimized values. The Optimized Defaults are the default values set by the mainboard manufacturer specifically for optimal performance of the mainboard.

  • Page 54: Bios Setting Password

    BIOS Setup 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.

  • Page 55: Appendix A Realtek Alc888 Audio

    Realtek ALC888 Audio Appendix A Realtek ALC888 Audio The Realtek ALC888 provides 10-channel DAC that si- multaneously supports 7.1 sound playback and 2 chan- nels of independent s tereo s ound output (multiple streaming) through the Front-Out-Left and Front-Out- Right channels.

  • Page 56: Installing The Realtek Hd Audio Driver

    M S-7369 M ainboard Installing the Realtek HD Audio Driver You need to install the driver for Realtek ALC888 codec to function properly before you can get access to 2-, 4-, 6-, 8- channel or 7.1+2 channel audio operations. Follow the procedures described below to install the drivers for different operating systems.
  • Page 57 Realtek ALC888 Audio 3. Click Next to install the Realtek High Definition Audio Driver. Click here 4. Click Finish to restart the system. S el ec t t hi s option Click here...

  • Page 58: Software Configuration

    M S-7369 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 HD Audio Configuration. It is also available to enable the audio driver by clicking the Azalia HD Sound Effect M anager from the Control Panel.

  • Page 59: Sound Effect

    Realtek ALC888 Audio Sound Effect Here you can select a sound effect you like from the Environment list. Environment Simulation You will be able to enjoy different sound experience by pulling down the arrow, totally 23 kinds of sound effect will be shown for selection. Realtek HD Audio Sound Manager also provides five popular settings “Stone Corridor”, “Bathroom”, “Sewer pipe”, “Arena”...
  • Page 60 M S-7369 M ainboard Equalizer Selection Equalizer frees users from default settings; users may create their owned preferred settings by utilizing this tool. 10 bands of equalizer, ranging from 100Hz to 16KHz. Save Reset The settings are saved 10 bands of equalizer permanently for future would go back to the de- fault setting...
  • Page 61 Realtek ALC888 Audio Frequently Used Equalizer Setting Realtek recognizes the needs that you might have. By leveraging our long experience at audio field, Realtek HD Audio Sound Manager provides you certain optimized equal- izer settings that are frequently used for your quick enjoyment. [How to Use It] Other than the buttons “Pop”...
  • Page 62 M S-7369 M ainboard Mixer In the Mixer part, you may adjust the volumes of the rear and front panels individually. 1. Adjust Volume You can adjust the volume of the speakers that you pluged in front or rear panel. Important Before set up, please make sure the playback devices are well plugged in the jacks on the rear or front panel.
  • Page 63 Realtek ALC888 Audio W hen you are playing the first audio source (for example: use W indows Media Player to play DVD/VCD), the output will be played from the rear panel, which is the default setting. Then you must to select the Realtek HD Audio 2nd output from the scroll list first, and use a different program to play the second audio source (for example: use Winamp to play MP3 files).
  • Page 64 M S-7369 M ainboard 3. Playback control Playback device Tool Mute This function is to let you freely decide which ports to output the sound. And this is essential when multi- streaming playback enabled. - Realtek HD Audio Output - Realtek HD Audio 2nd Output M u te You may choose to mute single or multiple volume controls or to completely mute sound output.
  • Page 65 Realtek ALC888 Audio 4. Recording control Tool Mute Recording device -Realtek HDA Primary input -Mic in at front panel (Green) M u te You may choose to mute single or multiple volume controls or to completely mute sound input. Tool - Show the following volume controls This is to let you freely decide which volume control items to be displayed.
  • Page 66 M S-7369 M ainboard Audio I/O In this tab, you can easily configure your multi-channel audio function and speakers. You can choose 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.
  • Page 67 Realtek ALC888 Audio Connector Settings Click to access connector settings. Disable front panel jack detection (option) Jack detection function only works with HD audio front panel. M ute rear panel output when front headphone plugged in. Enable auto popup dialogue, when device has been plugged in Once this item checked, the dialog “Connected device”...
  • Page 68 M S-7369 M ainboard S/PDIF (optional, for HDMI graphics card only) Short for Sony/Philips Digital Interface, a standard audio file transfer format. S/PDIF allows the transfer of digital audio signals from one device to another without having to be converted first to an analog format. Maintaining the viability of a digital signal prevents the quality of the signal from degrading when it is converted to analog.
  • Page 69 Realtek ALC888 Audio Test Speakers You can 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.
  • Page 70 M S-7369 M ainboard Microphone In this tab you may set the function of the microphone. Select the Noise Suppres- sion to remove the possible noise during recording, or select Acoustic Echo Cancelltion to cancel the acoustic echo druing recording. Acoustic Echo Cancelltion prevents playback sound from being recorded by mi- crophone together with your sound.

  • Page 71: D Audio Demo

    Realtek ALC888 Audio 3D Audio Demo In this tab you may adjust your 3D positional audio before playing 3D audio applica- tions like gaming. You may also select different environment to choose the most suitable environment you like. A-17...
  • Page 72 M S-7369 M ainboard Information In this tab it provides some information about this HD Audio Configuration utility, including Audio Driver Version, DirectX Version, Audio Controller & Audio 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.

  • Page 73: Hardware Setup

    Realtek ALC888 Audio 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 Line In Line Out (Front channels) No function...
  • Page 74 M S-7369 M ainboard n 4-Channel M ode for 4-Speaker Output Line In Line Out (Front channels) Line Out (Rear channels) No function No function A-20...
  • Page 75 Realtek ALC888 Audio n 6-Channel M ode for 6-Speaker Output Line In Line Out (Front channels) Line Out (Rear channels) Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channel) No function A-21...
  • Page 76 M S-7369 M ainboard n 8-Channel M ode for 8-Speaker Output Line In Line Out (Front channels) Line Out (Rear channels) Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channel) Line Out (Side channels) A-22...

  • Page 77: Appendix B Nvidia Raid

    nVidia RAID Appendix B nVidia RAID NVIDIA brings Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) technology—which is used by the world’s lead- ing businesses—to the common PC desktop. This tech- nology 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.

  • Page 78: Introduction

    M S-7369 M ainboard Introduction System Requirement Operating System Support NVRAID supports the following operating systems: W indows XP/2000 & Vista 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.

  • Page 79: Raid Configuration

    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. (Refer the bios section for details.) 2.
  • Page 80 M S-7369 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.
  • Page 81 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].
  • Page 82 M S-7369 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.

  • Page 83: Installing The Raid Driver (For Bootable Raid Array)

    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 \MCP65 \IDE \WinXP \sataraid to a formatted floppy disk.
  • Page 84 M S-7369 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.

  • Page 85: Nvidia Raid Utility Installation

    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).

  • Page 86: Initializing And Using The Disk Array

    M S-7369 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”.
  • Page 87 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.

  • Page 88: Raid Drives Management

    M S-7369 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 sup- ported combination) •...

  • Page 89: Setting Up A Spare Raid Disk

    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: •...
  • Page 90 M S-7369 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.
  • Page 91 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.
  • Page 92 M S-7369 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...”.

  • Page 93: Morphing From One Raid Array To Another

    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.

  • Page 94: Hot Plug Array

    M S-7369 M ainboard From New Array Disk Requirements m >= n2 m > n RAID 0 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 RAID 0+1 ** Not a valid combination **...

  • Page 95: Initializing A Raid Array

    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.
  • Page 96 M S-7369 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.
  • Page 97 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.

  • Page 98: Rebuilding A Raid Array

    M S-7369 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.
  • Page 99 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.
  • Page 100 M S-7369 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.

  • Page 101: Synchronizing A Raid Array

    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, •...

  • Page 102: Appendix C Nvidia System Driver

    System Driver Appendix C 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 work-...

  • Page 103: Nvidia System Driver Installation

    M S-7369 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.
  • Page 104 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.
  • Page 105 M S-7369 M ainboard 5. Then the following screen displays the installation of NVIDIA IDE SW Driver. Click Yes to continue. 6. The following screen indicates that the installation is complete. Click Yes to restart your computer or click No to restart it later.

  • Page 106: Nvidia Utility Installaion

    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.

  • Page 107: Appendix D Dual Core Center

    Dual Core Center Dual Core Center, 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 hard- ware status of MSI Mainboard & MSI Graphics card in windows, such as CPU/GPU clock, voltage, fan speed and temperature.

  • Page 108: Activating Dual Core Center

    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”...

  • Page 109: Main

    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.
  • Page 110 M S-7369 M ainboard 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.

  • Page 111: Dot(Dynamic Over Clocking

    Dynamic Overclocking Technology is an automatic overclocking function, included in ’s newly developed Dual CoreCenter Technology. It is designed to detect the the MSI 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.

  • Page 112: Clock

    M S-7369 M ainboard 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.

  • Page 113: Voltage

    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.

  • Page 114: Fan Speed

    M S-7369 M ainboard 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.

  • Page 115: Temperature

    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.

  • Page 116: User Profile

    M S-7369 M ainboard 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...
  • Page 117 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.

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