Acer ASPIRE G7700 User Manual

User's Guide

Copyright © 2008. Acer Incorporated.
All Rights Reserved.

Aspire G7700 Series User's Guide
Original Issue: 04 / 2008

Changes may be made periodically to the information in this publication without obligation
to notify any person of such revisions or changes. Such changes will be incorporated in new
editions of this manual or supplementary documents and publications. This company makes
no representations or warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to the contents
hereof and specifically disclaims the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a
particular purpose.

Record the model number, serial number, purchase date, and place of purchase information in
the space provided below. The serial number and model number are recorded on the label
affixed to your computer. All correspondence concerning your unit should include the serial
number, model number, and purchase information.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, electronically, mechanically, by photocopy, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of Acer Incorporated.

Aspire G7700 Series Desktop Computer

Model number: __________________________________

Serial number: ___________________________________

Purchase date: ___________________________________

Place of purchase: ________________________________

Acer and the Acer logo are registered trademarks of Acer Incorporated. Other companies'
product names or trademarks are used herein for identification purposes only and belong to
their respective companies.

Information for your safety and comfort

Safety instructions

Read these instructions carefully. Keep this document for future reference.
Follow all warnings and instructions marked on the product.

Turning the product off before cleaning

Unplug this product from the wall outlet before cleaning. Do not use liquid
cleaners or aerosol cleaners. Use a damp cloth for cleaning.

Warnings

• Do not use this product near water.

• Do not place this product on an unstable cart, stand or table. If the product

falls, it could be seriously damaged.

• Slots and openings are provided for ventilation to ensure reliable

operation of the product and to protect it from overheating. These
openings must not be blocked or covered. The openings should never be
blocked by placing the product on a bed, sofa, rug or other similar surface.
This product should never be placed near or over a radiator or heat
register, or in a built-in installation unless proper ventilation is provided.

• Never push objects of any kind into this product through cabinet slots as

they may touch dangerous voltage points or short-out parts that could
result in a fire or electric shock. Never spill liquid of any kind onto or into
the product.

• To avoid damage of internal components and to prevent battery leakage,

do not place the product on a vibrating surface.

iii

Using electrical power

• This product should be operated from the type of power indicated on the

marking label. If you are not sure of the type of power available, consult
your dealer or local power company.

• Do not allow anything to rest on the power cord. Do not locate this

product where people will walk on the cord.

• If an extension cord is used with this product, make sure that the total

ampere rating of the equipment plugged into the extension cord does not
exceed the extension cord ampere rating. Also, make sure that the total
rating of all products plugged into the wall outlet does not exceed the fuse
rating.

iv

• Do not overload a power outlet, strip or receptacle by plugging in too

many devices. The overall system load must not exceed 80% of the branch
circuit rating. If power strips are used, the load should not exceed 80% of
the power strip's input rating.

• This product's AC adapter is equipped with a three-wire grounded plug.

The plug only fits in a grounded power outlet. Make sure the power outlet
is properly grounded before inserting the AC adapter plug. Do not insert
the plug into a non-grounded power outlet. Contact your electrician for
details.

Warning! The grounding pin is a safety feature. Using a power
outlet that is not properly grounded may result in electric shock
and/or injury.

Note: The grounding pin also provides good protection from
unexpected noise produced by other nearby electrical devices that
may interfere with the performance of this product.

• Use the product only with the supplied power supply cord set. If you need

to replace the power cord set, make sure that the new power cord meets
the following requirements: detachable type, UL listed/CSA certified, type
SPT-2, rated 7 A 125 V minimum, VDE approved or its equivalent, 4.6
meters (15 feet) maximum length.

Product servicing

Do not attempt to service this product yourself, as opening or removing covers
may expose you to dangerous voltage points or other risks. Refer all servicing to
qualified service personnel.

Unplug this product from the wall outlet and refer servicing to qualified service
personnel when:

• The power cord or plug is damaged, cut or frayed

• Liquid was spilled into the product

• The product was exposed to rain or water

• The product has been dropped or the case has been damaged

• The product exhibits a distinct change in performance, indicating a need

for service

• The product does not operate normally after following the operating

instructions

Note: Adjust only those controls that are covered by the operating
instructions, since improper adjustment of other controls may
result in damage and will often require extensive work by a
qualified technician to restore the product to normal condition.

CAUTION: Danger of explosion if battery is incorrectly replaced.
Replace only with the same or equivalent type recommended by the
manufacturer. Dispose of used batteries according to the
manufacturer’s instructions.

Telephone line safety

• Disconnect all telephone lines from the equipment when not in use and/or

before servicing.

• To avoid the remote risk of electric shock from lightning, do not connect

the telephone line to this equipment during lightning or thunderstorms.

Disposal instructions

Do not throw this electronic device into the trash when discarding.
To minimize pollution and ensure utmost protection of the global environment,
please recycle. For more information on the Waste from Electrical and
Electronics Equipment (WEEE) regulations, visit
http://global.acer.com/about/

sustainability.htm.

v

Mercury advisory

For projectors or electronic products containing an LCD/CRT monitor or display:
Lamp(s) inside this product contain mercury and must be recycled or disposed of
according to local, state or federal laws. For more information, contact the
Electronic Industries Alliance at www.eiae.org
information, check www.lamprecycle.org

. For lamp-specific disposal

.

vi

Tips and information for comfortable use

Computer users may complain of eyestrain and headaches after prolonged use.
Users are also at risk of physical injury after long hours of working in front of a
computer. Long work periods, bad posture, poor work habits, stress,
inadequate working conditions, personal health and other factors greatly
increase the risk of physical injury.

Incorrect computer usage may lead to carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis,
tenosynovitis or other musculoskeletal disorders. The following symptoms may
appear in the hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, neck or back:

• numbness, or a burning or tingling sensation

• aching, soreness or tenderness

• pain, swelling or throbbing

• stiffness or tightness

• coldness or weakness

If you have these symptoms, or any other recurring or persistent discomfort
and/or pain related to computer use, consult a physician immediately and
inform your company's health and safety department.

The following section provides tips for more comfortable computer use.

Finding your comfort zone

Find your comfort zone by adjusting the viewing angle of the monitor, using a
footrest, or raising your sitting height to achieve maximum comfort. Observe
the following tips:

• refrain from staying too long in one fixed posture

• avoid slouching forward and/or leaning backward

• stand up and walk around regularly to remove the strain on your leg

muscles

• take short rests to relax your neck and shoulders

• avoid tensing your muscles or shrugging your shoulders

• install the external display, keyboard and mouse properly and within

comfortable reach

• if you view your monitor more than your documents, place the display at

the center of your desk to minimize neck strain

Taking care of your vision

Long viewing hours, wearing incorrect glasses or contact lenses, glare, excessive
room lighting, poorly focused screens, very small typefaces and low-contrast
displays could stress your eyes. The following sections provide suggestions on
how to reduce eyestrain.

Eyes

• Rest your eyes frequently.

vii

• Give your eyes regular breaks by looking away from the monitor and

focusing on a distant point.

• Blink frequently to keep your eyes from drying out.

Display

• Keep your display clean.

• Keep your head at a higher level than the top edge of the display so your

eyes point downward when looking at the middle of the display.

• Adjust the display brightness and/or contrast to a comfortable level for

enhanced text readability and graphics clarity.

• Eliminate glare and reflections by:

• placing your display in such a way that the side faces the window or

any light source

• minimizing room light by using drapes, shades or blinds

• using a task light

• changing the display's viewing angle

• using a glare-reduction filter

• using a display visor, such as a piece of cardboard extended from the

display's top front edge

• Avoid adjusting your display to an awkward viewing angle.

• Avoid looking at bright light sources, such as open windows, for extended

periods of time.

Developing good work habits

Develop the following work habits to make your computer use more relaxing
and productive:

• Take short breaks regularly and often.

• Perform some stretching exercises.

• Breathe fresh air as often as possible.

• Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy body.

Warning! We do not recommend using the computer on a couch
or bed. If this is unavoidable, work for only short periods, take
breaks regularly, and do some stretching exercises.

Note: For more information, please refer to “FCC notice” on page

112.

viii

Information for your safety and comfort iii

Safety instructions iii
Disposal instructions v
Tips and information for comfortable use vi

1 First things first 1

Specifications 2
Package contents 5
Accessing the User's Guide 5

2 System tour 7

External and internal structure 8

Closed front panel 8
Front panel 10

Using the memory card reader 12
Rear panel 14
Internal components 16

System board 18

Mainboard 18
Audio card (optional) 21

System board switches and connectors 22

Power button 22
Reset button 22
IDE connector 23
Serial ATA connector: SATA1~6 23
Fan power connectors 24
Front panel connectors 24
Serial port connector 25

System LED indicators 26

Front and rear panel LED indicators 26
Mainboard LED indicators 27

Contents

3 Setting up your computer 29

Arranging a comfortable work area 30

Adjusting your chair 30
Positioning your PC 30
Positioning your monitor 31
Positioning your keyboard 31

x

Positioning your mouse 31

Connecting the computer 32

Connect your mouse and keyboard 32

PS/2 interface 32
Connect a monitor 33
Connect to a broadband network 34

Individual network configuration 34

Combined network configuration 35
Connect to power 35

Turning on your computer 36
Turning off your computer 38

4 Using your desktop 39

Using the keyboard 40
Using the mouse 42
Using the optical drive 43

Taking care of your optical disks 44

Connecting options 45

Printer 45
IEEE 1394 devices 45
eSATA devices 46
Audio devices 46
Audio devices to an optional audio card 50
USB devices 55
Connecting a video game console 56

5 Advanced hardware setup 57

Video card configuration 58

Enabling SLI Antialiasing 58
Setting up an SLI configuration 60
Setting up multiple monitors 61

Setting up the multichannel audio output
(optional) 62
Setting up RAID 63

RAID arrays 63
Enabling RAID 64
Creating a RAID array 66
Installing the RAID drivers 72

Overclocking the CPU 74

Clearing the CMOS settings 76
Adjusting event logging and monitoring settings77
System tuning 79
Acer Empowering Technology 80

Empowering Technology password 80
Acer eRecovery Management 80

6 Upgrading your computer 83

Installation precautions 84

ESD precautions 84
Preinstallation instructions 84
Post-installation instructions 85

Opening your Aspire G7700 86

Removing and installing the bezel door 86
Removing and installing the side panel 88

Removing and installing a hard drive 90
Removing and installing an optical drive 93
Upgrading the system memory 95

System memory interface 95
System memory configuration guidelines 96

Installing an expansion card 99

PCI bus slots interface 99

xi

7 Frequently asked questions 103

Frequently asked questions 104

Recovering your system 106

8 Regulations and safety notices 111

Regulations and safety notices 112

FCC notice 112
Modem notices 113
Laser compliance statement 115
LCD pixel statement 116
Radio device regulatory notice 116
General 116
European Union (EU) 116
The FCC RF safety requirement 118
Canada — Low-power license-exempt radio

xii

communication devices (RSS-210) 118
Federal Communications Commission
Declaration of Conformity 119

Index 123

1 First things

first

Specifications

1 First things first2

English

Operating
system

Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate (32/64-bit)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (32/64-bit)

Processor Intel® Core™2 Extreme quad-core processor (up to

1333 MHz FSB)
Intel® Core™2 Quad processor
Overclock capable (CPU, RAM, and GPU)

Chipset

NVIDIA® nForce® 780i SLI

®

System memory Up to 8 GB DDR2 800/1066 MHz SDRAM (dual-channel

support on four DIMMs)

Hard drives Serial ATA hard disk up to 1 TB

RAID 0, 1, 5, 0+1— capable with NVIDIA® MediaShield™
Storage Technology

1

Four 3.5" Easy-swap HDD drive bays

Optical drive Two 5.25" drive bays

Optical drive options:

• BD/HD DVD reader + SuperMulti DVD burner

•SuperMulti

Card reader Multi-in-one card reader, supporting:

®

• CompactFlash

™

•CF+

Microdrive

(Type I and II)

• MultiMediaCard (MMC)

™

•MMC

mobile

• Reduced-Size MultiMediaCard (RS-MMC)

™

Card

™

(SD) Card

™

®

™

™

™

• Secure Digital

• miniSD

• xD-Picture Card

• Memory Stick

• Memory Stick PRO

• Memory Stick Duo

• Memory Stick PRO Duo

3

Graphics

Enabled NVIDIA

®

3-way SLI®, Enabled NVIDIA® 2-way SLI

PCI Express® 2.0 x16 graphics card support

2

TV-tuner card

Hybrid analog (NTSC/PAL/SECAM) and digital (DVB-T or
ATSC format) TV-tuner card, supporting software MPEG-2
stream encoding

Audio

Dolby

®

system

Embedded high-definition audio with 7.1-channel and EAX

4.0 audio support
Optional Creative

®

Sound Blaster® X-Fi audio card

S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) support

Networking Gigabit Ethernet, Wake-on-LAN ready

WLAN: IEEE 802.11b/g
Modem: 56K ITU V.92, Wake-on-Ring ready

I/O ports Front I/O ports:

• Four USB 2.0 ports

• Multi-in-one card reader
[one USB 2.0 port and one IEEE 1394 port (4-pin)
included]

• Headphone and microphone jacks

Rear I/O ports:

• Four USB 2.0 ports

• IEEE 1394 port (6-pin)

• PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports

• Two Ethernet (RJ-45) ports

• Two eSATA ports

• Six audio jacks

• S/PDIF jack

• Clear CMOS button

®

English

I/O ports Graphics card I/O ports (each card):

• Two DVI ports (up to six with three-way SLI

• TV-out port (optional)

®

)

1 First things first4

English

I/O expansion

Three PCI Express

®

x16 slots (including two PCI Express® 2.0

with 5 Gb/s)

®

x8 slot

®

x1 slots

Two PCI Express
PCI Express

PCI 2.3 5V slot

Software Acer Empowering Technology (Acer eRecovery

Management)

™

Acer Arcade
McAfee
Adobe

™

eSobi
NTI MediaMaker

Live

®

Internet Security Suite 2008 Trial version

®

Reader

®

™

Dimensions 490 (L) x 430 (H) x 190 (W) mm

BIOS AMI PnP BIOS compatible with SMBIOS 2.4

Power supply 1000 W/750 W

System

PC 2001

compliance

Certification FCC, CE, BSMI, CCC, C-tick, Nemko (CB & Bauart), UL, VCC1

Optional
accessories

Logitech
Acer G series LCD monitor

®

G11 gaming keyboard and G5 gaming mouse

Acer stereo speakers
Remote control

1 Support for RAID 0 and 1 requires two hard drives, RAID 5 requires three, RAID

0+1 requires four or more (in multiple drives of two).

2 Optional.

Note: The specifications listed above are for reference only. The exact
configuration of your PC depends on the model purchased.

5

Package contents

Before you unpack your computer, make sure that you have enough space to
set up your computer.

Carefully unpack the carton and remove the contents. If any of the following
items are missing or damaged, contact your dealer immediately:

• Aspire G7700

• Items contained in the accessory box

• USB keyboard

• USB mouse

• User's Guide and installation poster

• Other user documentation and third-party software

Accessing the User's Guide

This User's Guide is also available on your computer as an Adobe Acrobat
PDF file.

To access the User's Guide

1 On the Windows Vista taskbar, click on the Start button then select All

Programs.

2 Double-click AcerSystem User’s Guide.

English

English

1 First things first6

2 System tour

2 System tour8

External and internal structure

English

Closed front panel

No Component
1 Hinge screws x 4
2 Door hinges x 4
3 Bezel door

9

English

English

2 System tour10

Front panel

11

No Icon Component
1 USB 2.0 ports

2 Microphone/line-in jack

3 Headphone/line-out jack

4 Power button/power indicator

5 Optical disk drives
6 XD (eXtreme Digital) slot

7 USB 2.0 port

8 IEEE 1394 port (4-pin)

9 CF I/II (CompactFlash Type I/II) slot

10 Drive bay door
11 Easy-swap hard disk drive (1~4)
12 SD/MMC (SecureDigital/MultimediaCard) slot

13 MS/MS Pro (Memory Stick/Memory Stick Pro Duo) slot

14 Optical disk drive eject buttons

English

English

2 System tour12

Using the memory card reader

Your computer supports multi-media card slots.

These slots are useful for transferring data to and from the following memory
cards to your computer.

™

®

™

™

Card

®

(Type I and II)

(SD) Card

™

™

™

™

• CompactFlash

•CF+

™

Microdrive

• MultiMediaCard (MMC)

•MMC

mobile

• Reduced-Size MultiMediaCard (RS-MMC)

•Secure Digital

• miniSD

•xD-Picture Card

• Memory Stick

• Memory Stick PRO

• Memory Stick Duo

• Memory Stick PRO Duo

Memory cards are used in a variety of digital devices such as digital camera,
digital camcorders, handheld game consoles, and mobile phones.

To insert a memory card:

1 Hold the card label-side up with the card facing the computer.
2 Slide the card into the slot until it is seated.

13

To remove a memory card:

1 Before ejecting a card:

• Exit the application using the card.

• Left-click on the Safely Remove Hardware icon on the Windows
taskbar and stop the card operation.

2 Gently press the card further into the slot to pop it out.
3 Pull out the card from the slot.

English

English

2 System tour14

Rear panel

No Icon Component
1 Power supply
2 PS/2 mouse port

3 System fan
4 Network ports

5 Rear speaker jack

6 Center speaker/subwoofer jack

7 Expansion slot locks
8 S-video port
9DVI port
10 Audio-in/line-in jack

11 Headphone/line-out/front speaker jack

12 Microphone/line-in jack

15

English

13 Side speaker/line-out jack

14 USB ports

15 eSATA (External Serial Advanced Technology

Attachment) ports

16 CL_CMOS CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor)

reset button

17 IEEE 1394 port (6-pin)

18 PS/2 keyboard port

19 Power connector
20 Main power switch

English

2 System tour16

Internal components

No Component
1 Liquid cooling
2 Mainboard
3 System memory
4 Release sliders for optical drives
5 Hard drive backplane board
6 Release sliders for HDD drives
7 Expansion slot lock levers
8 Expansion card
9 System fan
10 Power supply module

17

English

System board

2 System tour18

English

Mainboard