ASRock. ASRock assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions that may appear in this manual. With respect to the contents of this manual, ASRock does not provide warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warran- ties or conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
In case any modifications of this manual occur, the updated version will be available on ASRock website without further notice. You may find the latest VGA cards and CPU support lists on ASRock website as well. ASRock website http://www.asrock.com If you require technical support related to this motherboard, please visit our website for specific information about the model you are using.
Specifications Platform - Micro ATX Form Factor - All Solid Capacitor design (H61M-VG3) - Solid Capacitor for CPU power (H61M-VS3) ® - Supports 3 and 2 Generation Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3 in LGA1155 Package ® - Supports Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology...
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- ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events - Supports jumperfree - SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support Support CD - Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, ASRock MAGIX Multimedia Suite - OEM, Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar Hardware - CPU Temperature Sensing...
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4GB for the reservation for system usage ® ® under Windows 8 / 7 / Vista / XP. For Windows OS with 64- bit CPU, there is no such limitation. You can use ASRock XFast ® RAM to utilize the memory that Windows cannot use.
OS 32-bit CPU. ASRock Instant Boot ASRock Instant Boot allows you to turn on your PC in just a few seconds, provides a much more efficient way to save energy, time, money, and improves system running speed for your sys- tem.
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ASRock XFast RAM ASRock XFast RAM is a new function that is included into AS- Rock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU). It fully utilizes the memory ® space that cannot be used under Windows OS 32-bit CPU.
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ASRock Crashless BIOS ASRock Crashless BIOS allows users to update their BIOS without fear of failing. If power loss occurs during the BIOS up- date process, ASRock Crashless BIOS will automatically finish the BIOS update procedure after regaining power. Please note that BIOS files need to be placed in the root directory of your USB disk.
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ASRock Good Night LED ASRock Good Night LED technology can offer you a better en- vironment by extinguishing the unessential LED. By enabling Good Night LED in BIOS, the Power / HDD / LAN LED will be switched off when system is on.
1.4 I/O Panel (H61M-VG3) PS/2 Mouse Port (Green) USB 2.0 Ports (USB23) LAN RJ-45 Port USB 2.0 Ports (USB01) Line In (Light Blue) VGA Port ** 4 Front Speaker (Lime) PS/2 Keyboard Port (Purple) Microphone (Pink) * There are two LED next to the LAN port. Please refer to the table below for the LAN port LED indications.
1.5 I/O Panel (H61M-VS3) PS/2 Mouse Port (Green) USB 2.0 Ports (USB23) LAN RJ-45 Port USB 2.0 Ports (USB01) Line In (Light Blue) VGA Port ** 4 Front Speaker (Lime) PS/2 Keyboard Port (Purple) Microphone (Pink) * There are two LED next to the LAN port. Please refer to the table below for the LAN port LED indications.
Chapter 2: Installation This is a Micro ATX form factor motherboard. Before you install the motherboard, study the configuration of your chassis to ensure that the motherboard fits into it. Make sure to unplug the power cord before installing or removing the motherboard.
2.3 CPU Installation For the installation of Intel 1155-Pin CPU, please follow the steps below. Load Plate Load Lever Socket Body Contact Array 1155-Pin Socket Overview Before you insert the 1155-Pin CPU into the socket, please check if the CPU surface is unclean or if there is any bent pin on the socket. Do not force to insert the CPU into the socket if above situation is found.
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Step 3. Insert the 1155-Pin CPU: Step 3-1. Hold the CPU by the edge where is marked with black line. Step 3-2. Orient the CPU with IHS (Integrated Heat Sink) up. Locate Pin1 and the two orientation key notches. orientation key notch alignment key Pin1 Pin1...
Installation of CPU Fan and Heatsink This motherboard is equipped with 1155-Pin socket that supports Intel 1155-Pin CPU. Please adopt the type of heatsink and cooling fan compliant with Intel 1155- Pin CPU to dissipate heat. Before you installed the heatsink, you need to spray thermal interface material between the CPU and the heatsink to improve heat dis- sipation.
2.5 Installation of Memory Modules (DIMM) This motherboard provides two 240-pin DDR3 (Double Data Rate 3) DIMM slots, and supports Dual Channel Memory Technology. For dual channel configuration, you always need to install two identical (the same brand, speed, size and chip- type) memory modules in the DDR3 DIMM slots to activate Dual Channel Memory Technology.
2.6 Expansion Slots (PCI Express Slots) There are 2 PCI Express slots on this motherboard. PCIE slots: PCIE1 (PCIE 2.0 x1 slot) is used for PCI Express cards with x1 lane width cards, such as Gigabit LAN card, SATA2 card, etc. PCIE2 (PCIE 3.0 x16 slot) is used for PCI Express x16 lane width graphics cards.
2.7 Multi Monitor Feature This motherboard supports multi monitor upgrade. With the internal VGA output sup- port and external add-on PCI Express VGA cards, you can easily enjoy the benefits of multi monitor feature. Please refer to the following steps to set up a multi monitor environment: 1.
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C. Select the display icon identified by the number 2. D. Click “Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor”. E. Right-click the display icon and select “Attached”, if necessary. F. Set the “Screen Resolution” and “Color Quality” as appropriate for the second monitor.
2.8 Jumpers Setup The illustration shows how jumpers are setup. When the jumper cap is placed on pins, the jumper is “Short”. If no jumper cap is placed on pins, the jumper is “Open”. The illustration shows a 3-pin jumper whose pin1 and pin2 are “Short”...
2.9 Onboard Headers and Connectors Onboard headers and connectors are NOT jumpers. Do NOT place jumper caps over these headers and connectors. Placing jumper caps over the headers and connectors will cause permanent damage of the motherboard! Serial ATA2 Connectors These four Serial ATA2 (SATA2) connectors support (SATA_0 (PORT 0):...
Front Panel Audio Header This is an interface for front PRESENCE# panel audio cable that allows (9-pin HD_AUDIO1) MIC_RET OUT_RET convenient connection and (see p.13 No. 17) control of audio devices. OUT2_L J_SENSE OUT2_R MIC2_R MIC2_L 1. High Definition Audio supports Jack Sensing, but the panel wire on the chassis must support HDA to function correctly.
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is on when the system is operating. The LED keeps blinking when the sys- tem is in S1 sleep state. The LED is off when the system is in S3/S4 sleep state or powered off (S5). HDLED (Hard Drive Activity LED): Connect to the hard drive activity LED on the chassis front panel.
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ATX Power Connector Please connect an ATX power supply to this connector. (24-pin ATXPWR1) (see p.13 No. 8) Though this motherboard provides 24-pin ATX power connector, it can still work if you adopt a traditional 20-pin ATX power supply. To use the 20-pin ATX power supply, please plug your power supply along with Pin 1 and Pin 13.
2.10 Serial ATA (SATA) / Serial ATA2 (SATA2) Hard Disks Installation ® This motherboard adopts Intel H61 chipset that supports Serial ATA (SATA) / Serial ATA2 (SATA2) hard disks. You may install SATA / SATA2 hard disks on this mother- board for internal storage devices.
3. Please make sure the SATA / SATA2 driver is installed into system properly. The latest SATA / SATA2 driver is available on our support website: www.asrock.com 4. Make sure to use the SATA power cable & data cable, which are from our motherboard package.
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How to Hot Plug a SATA / SATA2 HDD: Points of attention, before you process the Hot Plug: Please do follow below instruction sequence to process the Hot Plug, improper procedure will cause the SATA / SATA2 HDD damage and data loss. Step 1 Step 2 Please connect SATA power cable 1x4-pin end...
2.13 Driver Installation Guide To install the drivers to your system, please insert the support CD to your optical drive first. Then, the drivers compatible to your system can be auto-detected and listed on the support CD driver page. Please follow the order from up to bottom side to install those required drivers.
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® STEP 3: Install Windows XP / XP 64-bit OS on your system. ® After making a SATA / SATA2 driver diskette, you can start to install Windows ® / XP 64-bit on your system. At the beginning of Windows setup, press F6 to install a third-party AHCI driver.
2.15 ASRock XFast 555 ASRock’s unique XFast 555 Technology includes three tools that allow users to experience huge performance boosts. There is XFast RAM for 5 times better system speed, XFast LAN for 5 times faster LAN speed and XFast USB for 5 times faster...
2.15.1 ASRock XFast RAM ASRock XFast RAM is a new function that is included in ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU). It fully utilizes the memory space that cannot be used under Win- ® dows 32-bit OS. ASRock XFast RAM shortens the loading time of previously visited websites, making web surfing faster than ever.
XFast RAM Settings You may find the XFast RAM setup page in the left panel of ASRock Extreme Tun- ing utility. First select the desired drive and disk size to create a virtual drive. ® To access more than 4GB of RAM in Windows 32-bit OS, please leave PAE mode set to ON.
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Lastly, select the files that are supposed to go in the virtual drive to speed up the system’s performance. Such as temporary files created by computer programs when they cannot allocate enough memory for its tasks. Or internet cache files including html, images, Cascading Style Sheets and JavaScript scripts from IE, Firefox and Google Chrome.
2.15.2 ASRock XFast LAN ASRock XFast LAN provides several special features for faster internet access. For example, LAN Application Prioritization allows you to configure your application’s pri- ority ideally or add new programs to the priority list. Traffic Shaping helps you watch Youtube HD videos and download files simultaneously without hiccups.
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ASRock XFast LAN UI Overview The default status window Low Latency Mode switch arrow down = currently Open slot on (if needed) configuration arrow up = always on Download activity display dialog no arrow = off Open Current TX shaping...
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Close Windows Hides the status window. Can also be done by double clicking on the status window. Reopen by right clicking on the XFast LAN icon on the bottom right and selecting Open windows. Window settings Users may configure the skin and effects of the user interface. Make the keyboard LEDs display Traffic Shaping information.
Adding a new application and changing its priority Click search and choose a new program you wish to add. You can also type in a short description for the program. Set the priority for the program and TX Limit then click Add to confirm. Hit the switch button to change configurations or Delete to remove the application from the priority list.
2.15.3 ASRock XFast USB Not only does ASRock XFast USB boost up the performance of USB 2.0 storage devices, but also USB 3.0 devices. Users may experience up to five times faster USB data transfer speed!
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ASRock XFast USB UI Overview Hide the XFast USB window Select your language Select a connected USB Click to activate/ storage device deactivate Turbo mode Click to safely remove Select Normal mode or the USB hard drive Turbo mode Plug in your USB storage device and XFast USB automatically sets it to Turbo...
Chapter 3: UEFI SETUP UTILITY Introduction This section explains how to use the UEFI SETUP UTILITY to configure your system. The UEFI chip on the motherboard stores the UEFI SETUP UTILITY. You may run the UEFI SETUP UTILITY when you start up the computer. Please press <F2>...
Save changes and exit the UEFI SETUP UTILITY <F12> Print screen <ESC> Jump to the Exit Screen or exit the current screen 3.2 Main Screen When you enter the UEFI SETUP UTILITY, the Main screen will appear and display the system overview. H61M-VG3...
3.3 OC Tweaker Screen In the OC Tweaker screen, you can set up overclocking features. CPU Configuration CPU Ratio Use this item to change the ratio value of this motherboard. Intel SpeedStep Technology Intel SpeedStep technology is Intel’s new power saving technology. Pro- cessors can switch between multiple frequencies and voltage points to en- able power saving.
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Short Duration Power Limit Use this item to configure short duration power limit in watts. The default value is [Auto]. Primary Plane Current Limit Use this item to configure the maximum instantaneous current allowed for the primary plane. The default value is [Auto]. Secondary Plane Current Limit Use this item to configure the maximum instantaneous current allowed for the secondary plane.
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DRAM tRP Use this item to change Row Precharge Time (tRP) Auto/Manual setting. The default is [Auto]. DRAM tRAS Use this item to change RAS# Active Time (tRAS) Auto/Manual setting. The default is [Auto]. Command Rate (CR) Use this item to change Command Rate (CR) Auto/Manual setting. The default is [Auto].
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MRC Fast Boot Use this item to enable or disable MRC Fast Boot. The default is [Enabled]. Voltage Configuration DRAM Voltage Use this to select DRAM Voltage. The default value is [Auto].
3.4 Advanced Screen In this section, you may set the configurations for the following items: CPU Configu- ration, North Bridge Configuration, South Bridge Configuration, Storage Configura- tion, Intel(R) Rapid Start Technology, Intel(R) Smart Connect Technology, ACPI Configuration and USB Configuration. Setting wrong values in this section may cause the system to malfunction.
3.4.1 CPU Configuration Intel Hyper Threading Technology To enable this feature, a computer system with an Intel processor that sup- ports Hyper-Threading technology and an operating system that includes ® ® optimization for this technology, such as Microsoft Windows XP / Vista ®...
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to the IA-32 Intel Architecture. An IA-32 processor with “No Execute (NX) Memory Protection” can prevent data pages from being used by malicious software to execute codes. This option will be hidden if the current CPU does not support No-Excute Memory Protection. Intel Virtualization Technology When this option is set to [Enabled], a VMM (Virtual Machine Architecture) can utilize the additional hardware capabilities provided by Vanderpool...
3.4.2 North Bridge Configuration Primary Graphics Adapter This allows you to select [Onboard] or [PCI Express] as the boot graphic adapter priority. The default value is [PCI Express]. VT-d ® ® Use this to enable or disable Intel VT-d technology (Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O).
3.4.3 South Bridge Configuration Onboard HD Audio Select [Auto], [Enabled] or [Disabled] for the onboard HD Audio feature. If you select [Auto], the onboard HD Audio will be disabled when PCI Sound Card is plugged. Front Panel Select [Auto] or [Disabled] for the onboard HD Audio Front Panel. Onboard LAN This allows you to enable or disable the Onboard LAN feature.
3.4.4 Storage Configuration SATA Controller(s) Use this item to enable or disable the SATA Controller feature. SATA Mode Selection Use this to select SATA mode. Configuration options: [IDE Mode], [AHCI Mode] and [Disabled]. The default value is [AHCI Mode]. AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) supports NCQ and other new features that will improve SATA disk performance but IDE mode does not have these advantages.
3.4.5 Intel(R) Rapid Start Technology Intel(R) Rapid Start Technology Use this item to enable or disable Intel(R) Rapid Start Technology. Intel(R) Rapid Start Technology is a new zero power hibernation mode which al- lows users to resume in just 5-6 seconds. The default is [Enabled]. Entry After Select a time to enable RTC wake timer at S3 entry.
3.4.6 Intel(R) Smart Connect Technology Intel(R) Smart Connect Technology Use this item to enable or disable Intel(R) Smart Connect Technology. Intel(R) Smart Connect Technology keeps your e-mail and social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. updated automatically while the computer is in sleep mode.
3.4.7 ACPI Configuration Suspend to RAM Use this item to select whether to auto-detect or disable the Suspend-to- RAM feature. Selecting [Auto] will enable this feature if the OS supports it. Check Ready Bit Use this item to enable or disable the feature Check Ready Bit. ACPI HPET Table Use this item to enable or disable ACPI HPET Table.
Please disable CSM when you enable Fast Boot option. The default value is [Enabled]. 3.4.8 USB Configuration USB 2.0 Controller Use this item to enable or disable the use of USB 2.0 controller. Legacy USB Support Use this option to select legacy support for USB devices. There are four configuration options: [Enabled], [Auto], [Disabled] and [UEFI Setup Only].
3.5 Tool OMG(Online Management Guard) Administrators are able to establish an internet curfew or restrict internet access at specified times via OMG. You may schedule the starting and ending hours of internet access granted to other users. In order to prevent users from bypassing OMG, guest accounts without permission to modify the system time are required.
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Network Configuration Internet Setting Use this item to set up the internet connection mode. Configuration options: [DHCP (Auto IP)] and [PPPOE]. UEFI Download Server Use this item to select UEFI firmware download server for Internet Flash. Configuration options: [Asia], [Europe], [USA] and [China]. Dehumidifier Function Users may prevent motherboard damages due to dampness by enabling “Dehumidifier Function”.
3.6 Hardware Health Event Monitoring Screen In this section, it allows you to monitor the status of the hardware on your system, including the parameters of the CPU temperature, motherboard temperature, CPU fan speed, chassis fan speed, and the critical voltage. CPU Fan Setting This allows you to set the CPU fan speed.
3.7 Boot Screen In this section, it will display the available devices on your system for you to config- ure the boot settings and the boot priority. Fast Boot Fast Boot minimizes your computer’s boot time. There are three con- figuration options: [Disabled], [Fast] and [Ultra Fast].
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Full Screen Logo Use this item to enable or disable OEM Logo. The default value is [En- abled]. AddOn ROM Display Use this option to adjust AddOn ROM Display. If you enable the option “Full Screen Logo” but you want to see the AddOn ROM information when the system boots, please select [Enabled].
3.8 Security Screen In this section, you may set or change the supervisor/user password for the system. For the user password, you may also clear it. Secure Boot Use this to enable or disable Secure Boot. The default value is [Disabled].
3.9 Exit Screen Save Changes and Exit When you select this option, the following message “Save configuration changes and exit setup?” will pop-out. Select [Yes] to save the changes and exit the UEFI SETUP UTILITY. Discard Changes and Exit When you select this option, the following message “Discard changes and exit setup?”...
Click on a specific item then follow the installation wizard to install it. 4.2.4 Contact Information If you need to contact ASRock or want to know more about ASRock, welcome to visit ASRock’s website at http://www.asrock.com; or you may contact your dealer for further information.
Installing OS on a HDD Larger Than 2TB ® This motherboard is adopting UEFI BIOS that allows Windows OS to be installed on a large size HDD (>2TB). Please follow below procedure to install the operating system. ® 1. Please make sure to use Windows Vista 64-bit (with SP1 or above), ®...
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