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...
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.
VOIR LA NOTICE D’INSTALLATION AVANT DE RACCORDER AU RESEAU. Micro-Star International MS-7260 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.
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 ...................
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Slots ........................2-19 PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express Slots ....... 2-19 PCI Interrupt Request Routing ..............2-20 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 .....................
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NVIDIA IDE Drive/ RAID Utility Installation ............B-9 Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under W indows ......B-9 (for Non-bootable RAID Array) ..............B-9 Initializing and Using the Disk Array ............B-10 NVRAID Management Utility ................B-12 Viewing RAID Array Configurations ............B-12 Setting Up a Spare RAID Disk ..............
Getting Started Chapter 1 Getting Started Thank you for choosing the K9N Neo Series (MS-7260 v1.X) ATX mainboard. The K9N Neo Series mainboards ® are based on nVIDIA nForce 550 chipsets for optimal ® system efficiency. Designed to fit the advanced AMD Athlon 64/ X2 &...
M S-7260 M ainboard Mainboard Specifications Processor Support ® - AMD Athlon 64/ X2 & 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 1GHz (2000MT/s) Chipset ®...
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- 2 PCI Express x 1 slots - 3 PCI slots, support 3.3V/ 5V PCI bus Interface, includes one orange slot which supports 2 master for MSI special PCI function card (ex. wireless LAN and bluetooth combo card.). Form Factor - ATX (20.0 cm X 30.5 cm)
Getting Started Packing Checklist Power Cable MSI Driver/Utility CD MSI motherboard Standard Cable for Standard Cable for SATA Cable IDE Devices Floppy Disk Back IO Shield User’s Guide * The pictures are for reference only and may vary from the packing contents of the...
M S-7260 M ainboard MSI Special Feature Core Center The Core Center is a new utility you can find in the CD-ROM disk. The utility is just like your PC doctor that can detect, view and adjust the PC hardware and system status during real time operation.
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Getting Started Left-side: Current system status In the left sub-menu, you can configure the settings of FSB, Vcore, Memory Voltage and AGP Voltage by clicking the radio button in front of each item and make it available (the radio button will be lighted as yellow when selected), use the “+” and “-” buttons to adjust, then click “OK”...
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.
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.
M S-7260 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.
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.
M S-7260 M ainboard Memory The mainboard provides four 240-pin non-ECC DDRII DIMMs and supports up to 4GB 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...
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 DIMM memory module vertically into the DIMM slot. Then push it in until the golden finger on the memory module is deeply inserted in the socket.
M S-7260 M ainboard Power Supply ATX 24-Pin Power Connector: ATX2 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.
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.
M S-7260 M ainboard Back Panel L-In RS-Out Parallel Port M ou se L-Out CS-Out USB Ports Keyboard Serial Port 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.
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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.
M S-7260 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 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.
Hardware Setup Serial ATA II 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 con- nector can connect to 1 hard disk device. SATA4 Pin Definition SIGNAL...
M S-7260 M ainboard Fan Power Connectors: CPUFAN1, SYSFAN1 & NBFAN1 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.
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 JAUD1 Pin Definition SIGNAL DESCRIPTION PORT 1L Analog Port 1 - Left channel Ground PORT 1R...
M S-7260 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.
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. JFP1 Power Reset Switch Switch Power JFP1 Pin Definition...
M S-7260 M ainboard Jumper The motherboard provides the following jumper for you to set the computer’s function. This section will explain how to change your motherboard’s function through the use of jumper. Clear CMOS Jumper: JBAT1 There is a CMOS RAM onboard that has a power supply from external battery to keep the data of system configuration.
Hardware Setup 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 pur- pose I/O.
M S-7260 M ainboard 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...
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.
M S-7260 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.
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 Jumps to the Exit menu or returns to the main menu from a <Esc>...
M S-7260 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.
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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.
M S-7260 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).
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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. 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.
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M S-7260 M ainboard 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>...
BIOS Setup Advanced BIOS Features Quick Booting Setting the item to [Enabled] allows the system to boot within 5 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.
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M S-7260 M ainboard 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.
BIOS Setup Advanced Chipset Features M emory Configuration Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears: M emclock M ode Select the DRAM frequency programming method. If set to “Auto”, the DRAM speed will be based on SPDs. If set to “Limit”, the DRAM speed will not exceed the specified value.
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M S-7260 M ainboard M emory Hole In order to improve performance, certain space in memory can be reserved for ISA peripherals. This memory must be mapped into the memory space below 16MB. W hen this area is reserved, it cannot be cached. Settings: Disabled, 15MB-16MB.
BIOS Setup Integrated Peripherals USB / 2.0 Controller This setting allows you to enable/disable the onboard USB 1.1/ 2.0 controller. USB Device Legacy Support Select [Enabled] if you need to use a USB-interfaced device in the operating system. Onboard LAN Controller These items are used to enable/disable the onboard LAN controller.
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M S-7260 M ainboard On-Chip IDE Controller This item allows you to enable/ disable IDE Controller. Serial-ATA Devices These items allow users to enable or disable the SATA controller. I/O Devices Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears: 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.
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BIOS Setup 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.
M S-7260 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 Windows 98SE/ 2000/ME, select [Enabled].
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BIOS Setup 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.
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M S-7260 M ainboard Resume by RTC Alarm The field is used to enable or disable the feature of booting up the system on a scheduled time/date. 3-18...
BIOS Setup 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.
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M S-7260 M ainboard 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.
BIOS Setup H/W Monitor 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 Spread Spectrum This setting is used to enable or disable the PCIE Spread Spectrum feature. SATA Spread Spectrum This setting is used to enable or disable the SATA Spread Spectrum feature.
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M S-7260 M ainboard 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.
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BIOS Setup PC Health Status Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears. System/ CPU Temperature, CPUFAN/System FAN Speed, CPU Vcore, +12.0V, +3.3V, +5.0V, 3VSB These items display the current status of all of the monitored hardware devices/ components such as CPU voltage, temperatures and all fans’...
CPU Dynamic OverClocking Dynamic Overclocking Technology is the automatic overclocking function, included in ’s newly developed CoreCell the MSI Technology. It is designed to detect the load balance of CPU while running programs, and to adjust the best CPU frequency automatically.
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BIOS Setup [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%.
M S-7260 M ainboard Load Optimized Defaults The option on the main menu allows 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.
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.
Realtek ALC883 Audio Appendix A Realtek ALC883 Audio The Realtek ALC883 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.
M S-7260 M ainboard Installing the Realtek HD Audio Driver You need to install the driver for Realtek ALC883 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.
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Realtek ALC883 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...
M S-7260 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.
Realtek ALC883 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”...
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M S-7260 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...
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Realtek ALC883 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”...
M S-7260 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 by select the Realtek HD Audio rear output or Realtek HD Audio front output items.
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Realtek ALC883 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 front 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).
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M S-7260 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.
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Realtek ALC883 Audio 4. Recording control Recording device Tool Mute -Back Line in/Mic, Front Lin in -Realtek HD Audio Input 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.
M S-7260 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.
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Realtek ALC883 Audio Connector Settings Click to access connector settings. Disable front panel jack detection (option) Find no function on front panel jacks? Please check if front jacks on your system are so-called AC’97 jacks. If so, please check this item to disable front panel jack detection. M ute rear panel output when front headphone plugged in.
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M S-7260 M ainboard 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.
Realtek ALC883 Audio 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.
M S-7260 M ainboard 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-16...
Realtek ALC883 Audio 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.
M S-7260 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.
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Realtek ALC883 Audio n 4-Channel M ode for 4-Speaker Output Back Panel 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.
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M S-7260 M ainboard n 6-Channel M ode for 6-Speaker Output Back Panel Description: Connect two speakers to back panel’s Line Out connector, two speakers to the rear-channel Line out connec tor and two s p e a k e r s t o t h e c e n t e r / subwoofer-channel Line Out 6-Channel Analog Audio Output connector.
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Realtek ALC883 Audio n 8-Channel M ode for 8-Speaker Output Description: Connect two speakers to back panel’s Line Out connector, two speakers to the rear-channel Line out connector, two speak- ers to the center/subwoofer- channel Line Out connector and 8-Channel Analog Audio Output two speakers to the side-chan- nel Line Out connector.
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.
M S-7260 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.
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 SATA 0/ 1 Primary/ Secondary Channel in nVidia RAID Setup of Inte- grated Peripherals in BIOS.) 2.
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M S-7260 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.
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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], [Spanning], or [Stripe Mirroring].
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M S-7260 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.
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 \M CP55 \IDE \Win XP\sataraid to a formatted floppy disk.
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M S-7260 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.
nVidia RAID NVIDIA IDE Drive/ 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).
M S-7260 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”.
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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.
M S-7260 M ainboard NVRAID Management Utility 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) •...
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 or RAID 0+1 array. The spare drive can take over for a failed disk. NVRAID supports two types of spare drives: •...
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M S-7260 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.
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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.
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M S-7260 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...”.
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.
M S-7260 M ainboard 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.
nVidia RAID 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.
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M S-7260 M ainboard 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.
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nVidia RAID 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.
M S-7260 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 and RAID 0+1. For example, assuming you have a two disk RAID 1 array, and one of the drives fail, then you need the lost data on the newly added drive.
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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.
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M S-7260 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.
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 and RAUD 0+1. • For RAID1 and RAID 0+1, “sync” results in copying the data to the redundancy disk, To sync an array, do the following (This example assumes you have already created a fault tolerant array such as RAID 1): 1.
Installation of nVidia 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-...
M S-7260 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.
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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.
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M S-7260 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.
Installation of nVidia System Driver nVidia Utility Installation 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. NVIDIA nTune Utility - provides a safe and easy way to optimize PC performance.
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