GIGABYTE GV-N580SO-15I Owner's Manual
GV -N580SO-15I
NVIDIA® GeForceTM GTX 580 Graphics Accelerator
User's Manual
Rev. 101
12MM-N580SO-101R
Copyright
© 2011 GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD
Copyright by GIGA-BYTE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. ("GBT"). No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form without the expressed, written permission of GBT.
Trademarks
Third-party brands and names are the properties of their respective owners.
Notice
Please do not remove any labels on this graphics card. Doing so may void the warranty of this card.
Due to rapid change in technology, some of the specifications might be out of date before publication of this this manual.
The author assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions that may appear in this document nor does the author
make a commitment to update the information contained herein.
Rovi Product Notice:
This product incorporates copyright protection technology that is protected by U.S. patents and other intellectual property rights.
Use of this copyright protection technology must be authorized by Rovi Corporation, and is intended for home and other limited
viewing uses only unless otherwise authorized by Rovi Corporation. Reverse engineering or disassembly is prohibited.
Apr. 08, 2011
GV-N580SO-15I
VGA Card
Apr. 08, 2011
GV-N580SO-15I
VGA Card
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 4
1.1. Features .........................................................................................................................4
1.2. Minimum System Requirements .................................................................................... 4
2. Hardware Installation.................................................................................................. 5
2.1. Board Layout ................................................................................................................. 5
2.2. Hardware Installation......................................................................................................7
3. Software Installation.................................................................................................... 9
3.1. Driver and Utility Installation...........................................................................................9
3.1.1. Driver Installation ........................................................................................................... 9
3.1.2. GIGABYTE Extreme Dual BIOS technology..................................................15
3.2. Display Properties Pages ........................................................................................ 16
3.3. Accessing NVIDIA Control Panel............................................................................ 17
4. Troubleshooting Tips................................................................................................ 25
5. Appendix ................................................................................................................. 26
5.1. How to Reflash the BIOS in MS-DOS Mode.............................................................. 26
5.2. Resolutions and Color Depth T able (In Windows XP)................................................... 27
5.3. Regulatory Statements ................................................................................................. 29
- 3 -
1. Introduction
1.1. Features
• Powered by NVIDIA® GeForceTM GTX 580 Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)
• Supports PCI Express 2.0
• Integrated with 1536 MB GDDR5 memory
• Supports DirectX
• Supports NVIDIA
• Supports 2 Dual-Link DVI-I connectors
• Supports 1 mini HDMI connector
• Supports HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) technology
1.2. Minimum System Requirements
• Hardware
- 750-watt system power supply specification or above is recommended
- Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD AthlonTM XP class
- 2GB system memory (4GB recommended)
- Optical drive for software installation (CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive)
®
11
TM
®
SLI
(Scalable Link Interface) technology
(Note 1)
• Operating System
- Windows
- Windows
- Windows
• SLI
TM
®
7
®
Vista
®
XP
Configuration
If you are planning on using this graphics card as part of an SLI system, the following
are required:
- An SLI certified motherboard with two/three PCIe x16 slots and correct chipset driver
- T wo GV -N580SO-15I for SLI configuration;
Three GV-N580SO-15I for 3-way SLI configuration
- A power supply with 1200-watt or above is recommended
- An SLI bridge connector or 3-way SLI bridge connector
(Note 1) SLI technology requires a PCI Express motherboard with two/three x16 physical connectors.
Graphics cards working in an SLI configuration must be with the same model name
(e.g. GV-N580SO-15I) and from the same vendor (e.g. GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY).
- 4 -GV-N500 Series Graphics Accelerator
2.1. Board Layout
SLI Connector
Mini HDMI Connector
DVI-I Connector 1
DVI-I Connector 2
2. Hardware Installation
Power Connectors
HDMI TV
Digital LCD Monitor
Digital LCD Monitor
DVI Output
DVI Output
Mini HDMI to HDMI cable(optional)
DVI-I
Connector 1
DVI-I
Connector 2
- 5 - Hardware Installation
Mini HDMI
Connector
Expansion cards contain very delicate Integrated Circuit (IC) chips. To
protect them against damage from static electricity, you should follow some
precautions whenever you work on your computer.
1. Turn off your computer and unplug power supply.
2. Use a grounded wrist strap before handling computer components. If you do not
have one, touch both of your hands to a safely grounded object or to a metal object,
such as the power supply case.
3. Place components on a grounded antistatic pad or on the bag that came with the
components whenever the components are separated from the system.
The card contains sensitive electric components, which can be easily damaged by static
electricity, so the card should be left in its original packing until it is installed.
Unpacking and installation should be done on a grounded anti-static mat. The operator
should be wearing an anti-static wristband, grounded at the same point as the anti-static
mat.
Inspect the card carton for obvious damage. Shipping and handling may cause damage
to your card. Be sure there are no shipping and handling damages on the card before
proceeding.
DO NOT APPLY POWER TO YOUR SYSTEM IF THE GRAPHICS CARD IS
DAMAGED.
In order to ensure that your graphics card can work correctly, please use
official GIGABYTE BIOS only. Using non-official GIGABYTE BIOS might
cause problem(s) on the graphics card.
- 6 -GV-N500 Series Graphics Accelerator
2.2. Hardware Installation
Now that you have prepared your computer, you are ready to install your graphics card.
Step 1.
Locate the PCI Express x16 slot. If necessary, remove the
metal cover from this slot; then align your graphics card with
the PCI Express x16 slot, and press it in firmly until the card is
fully seated.
Make sure that the gold edge connector of the graphics card is securely
inserted.
Step 2.
Replace the screw to fasten the card in place, and replace the
computer cover.
Step 3.
This graphics card provides two DVI-I digital connectors and
one mini HDMI connector. You can connect a monitor that supports DVI-I function. To connect a HDMI monitor,you need a
cable or adapter to connect from the mini-HDMI connector to a
HDMI monitor.
Connect a flat panel
T o HDMI Monitor
T o Flat Panel Display
Connect a HDMI monitor
- 7 - Hardware Installation
How NVIDIA® SLITM (Scalable Link Interface) technology works:
In an SLI configuration, two/three SLI-ready graphics cards of the same model and the same manufacturers are connected together via SLI bridge connector in a system that provides two/three x16 PCI
Express slots to scale graphics performance. The picture below shows that two and three graphics
cards are linked in parallel in an SLI configuration.
SLI Configuration:
SLI bridge connector
(provided by motherboard manufacturer)
3-Way SLI Configuration:
3-Way SLI bridge connector
(provided by motherboard manufacturer)
Two SLI-ready graphics
cards of the same type.
(Example:
GV-N28-1GH-B)
Three SLI-ready graphics
cards of the same type.
(Example:
GV-N28-1GH-B)
- 8 -GV-N500 Series Graphics Accelerator
3. Software Installation
Notice the following guidelines before installing the drivers:
1. First make sure your system has installed DirectX 9 or later version.
2. Make sure your system has installed the appropriate motherboard drivers (for the motherboard
drivers, please contact the motherboard manufacturer.)
3.1. Driver and Utility Installation
3.1.1. Driver Installation
After installing the operating system, insert the driver disk into your optical drive. The driver Autorun
screen is automatically displayed which looks like that shown in the screen shot below. (If the driver
Autorun screen does not appear automatically, go to My Computer, double-click the optical drive and
execute the setup.exe program.)
Step 1:
Click the Install Display Driver item.
Step 2:
Click the Next button.
For software MPEG support in Windows XP, you must install DirectX first. Users who run
Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or above do not need to install DirectX separately.
- 9 - Software Installation
Step 3:
Click the Yes button.
The system is installing the components.
Step 4:
Click the Finish button to restart the computer.
Then the driver installation is completed.
- 10 -GV-N500 Series Graphics Accelerator
Loading...