LANPARTY nF4 User Guide

System Board
User’s Manual

84750510

Copyright

This publication contains information that is protected by copyright.
No part of it may be reproduced in any form or by any means or
used to make any transformation/adaptation without the prior
written permission from the copyright holders.

This publication is provided for informational purposes only. The
manufacturer makes no representations or warranties with respect to
the contents or use of this manual and specifically disclaims any
express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any
particular purpose. The user will assume the entire risk of the use or
the results of the use of this document. Further, the manufacturer
reserves the right to revise this publication and make changes to its
contents at any time, without obligation to notify any person or
entity of such revisions or changes.

© 2005. All Rights Reserved.

Trademarks

Product names or trademarks appearing in this manual are for
identification purpose only and are the properties of the respective
owners.

Caution

To avoid damage to the system:

• Use the correct AC input voltage range

To reduce the risk of electric shock:

• Unplug the power cord before removing the system chassis
cover for installation or servicing. After installation or servicing,
cover the system chassis before plugging the power cord.

Battery:

• Danger of explosion if battery incorrectly replaced.

• Replace only with the same or equivalent type recommend
the manufacturer.

• Dispose of used batteries according to the battery
manufacturer’s

instructions.

..

.

..

by

FCC and DOC Statement on Class B

This equipment has been tested and found to comply 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 when the equipment is operated in a residential
installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio
frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with
the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference
will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause
harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be
determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is
encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the
following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

• Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver.

• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from
that to which the receiver is connected.

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for
help.

Notice:

1. The changes or modifications not expressly approved by the
party responsible for compliance could void the user's authority
to operate the equipment.

2. Shielded interface cables must be used in order to comply with
the emission limits.

About this Manual

This user’s manual contains detailed information about the system
board. If, in some cases, some information doesn’t match those
shown in the multilingual manual, the multilingual manual should al­ways be regarded as the most updated version. The multilingual
manual is included in the system board package.

To view the user’s manual, insert the CD into a CD-ROM drive. The
autorun screen (Mainboard Utility CD) will appear. Click the
“TOOLS” icon then click “Manual” on the main menu.

About the Package

The system board and accessories in the package may not come
similar to the information stated in this manual. This may differ in
accordance to the sales region or models in which it was sold. For
more information about the standard package in your region, please
contact your dealer or sales representative.

Warranty

1. Warranty does not cover damages or failures that arised from
misuse of the product, inability to use the product, unauthorized
replacement or alteration of components and product
specifications.

2. The warranty is void if the product has been subjected to
physical abuse, improper installation, modification, accidents or
unauthorized repair of the product.

3. Unless otherwise instructed in this user’s manual, the user may
not, under any circumstances, attempt to perform service,
adjustments or repairs on the product, whether in or out of
warranty. It must be returned to the purchase point, factory or
authorized service agency for all such work.

4. We will not be liable for any indirect, special, incidental or
consequencial damages to the product that has been modified
or altered.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Specifications...................................................................................................................................

Special Features of the System Board..................................................................

Package Checklist......................................................................................................................

Chapter 2 - Hardware Installation

System Board Layout ..........................................................................................................

System Memory..........................................................................................................................

CPU.......................................................................................................................................................

Jumper Settings............................................................................................................................

Rear Panel I/O Ports.............................................................................................................

I/O Connectors..........................................................................................................................

SLI Technology................................................................................................................................

Dual Xpress Graphics...........................................................................................................

Chapter 3 - BIOS Setup

Award BIOS Setup Utility.................................................................................................

NVRAID BIOS............................................................................................................................

Sil3114 SataRAID BIOS.....................................................................................................

Updating the BIOS..................................................................................................................

8
12
17

18
19
23
29
38
49
67
74

76

121
121
122

Chapter 4 - Supported Softwares

Drivers, Utilities and Software Applications......................................................

Installation Notes.......................................................................................................................

124
137

1

Introduction

Appendix A - System Error Messages

POST Beep.................................................................................................................................

Error Messages.........................................................................................................................

Appendix B - Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Checklist...............................................................................................

138
138

140

Notice

This user’s manual is for the following system boards.

• LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR

• LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR

• LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-D

• LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-DR

• LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D

• LANPARTY UT nF4-D

The differences between these boards are shown below.

LP nF4 SLI-DR

LP UT nF4 SLI-DR

LP UT nF4 SLI-D

LP UT nF4 Ultra-DR

SLI Sil3114 FrontX

9

9

9

9

8

9

9

8

9

8

8

8

Diagnostic

LED

9

8

8

8

Marvell PCI

LAN

9

9

9

9

SATA

Speed

3Gb/s

3Gb/s

3Gb/s

3Gb/s

ActiveArmor

9

9

9

9

LP UT nF4 Ultra-D

LP UT nF4-D

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

9

8

3Gb/s

1.5Gb/s

9

8

6

Frequent Q&A on Memory Usage

Q: How can I manually enhance the compatibility of the system

memory?

A: 1. Leave JP17's jumper cap in its default setting, pins 1 and 2.

2. Set the "DRAM Voltage Control" field (in the Genie BIOS
Setting of the Award BIOS) to "2.8V".

3. Insert DIMMs in DIMM 2 and DIMM 4.

4. Always check DFI's website for the latest BIOS. Newer
updates may be available for enhancing memory compatibility.

Q: How can I obtain good performance on an overclocked system?
A: Insert two identical broad bandwidth memories in DIMM 2 and

DIMM 4.

Q: Why will the system board fail to boot when 3 DIMMs are

used?

A: The integrated memory controller in AMD's 64-bit Socket 939

series CPU supports dual channel however the controller is not
capable of accurately distinguishing between dual and single
channels resulting to boot up problem. If you have luckily
booted the system, the total memory size detected is from 2
DIMMs only, not 3. Therefore we do not suggest using 3
DIMMs.

Introduction

1

Q: Why won't the system boot when 4 single side DIMMs are

used?

A: Normally, the memory timing is set at 2T but to enhance system

performance, the default memory timing has been fixed at 1T
(Command Per Clock: Enabled) on all nF4 series system boards.
Therefore if you use 4 single side DIMMs, the load will exceed
the limit (DDR 400). Please refer to the steps below to solve
this problem.

1. Set the "DRAM Voltage Control" field (in the Genie BIOS
Setting of the Award BIOS) to "2.8V".

2. Set the memory timing to 2T by selecting Disabled in the
"Command Per Clock" field (in the Genie BIOS Setting of the
Award BIOS).

7

1

Introduction

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Specifications

Processor

• AMD AthlonTM 64 FX / AthlonTM 64 / Sempron

• Socket 939

Front Side Bus

• 2000MT/s HyperTransport interface

Chipset

TM

• NVIDIA nForce4

- Supports NVIDIA SLITM (Scalable Link Interface)

• NVIDIA nForce4TM Ultra (for “nF4 Ultra” models only)

• NVIDIA nForce4TM (for “nF4” model only)

SLI (for “nF4 SLI” models only)

TM

System Memory

• Four 184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMM sockets

• Supports dual channel (128-bit wide) memory interface

• Supports up to 4GB system memory

• Supports PC2100 (DDR266), PC2700 (DDR333) and PC3200
(DDR400) DDR SDRAM DIMM

• Supports x8/x16 non-ECC unbuffered DIMMs, up to 512Mb
DDR devices

Expansion Slots

• 2 PCI Express x16 slots

• 1 PCI Express x1 slot

• 1 PCI Express x4 slot

• 2 PCI slots

SLI Mode / Single VGA Mode (for “nF4 SLI” models only)

• SLI mode

- 2 SLI-ready graphics cards (use identical cards) on the PCI

Express x16 slots.

- The graphics cards are connected via the SLI bridge.

- The bandwidth of each slot is x8; when the graphics cards

are connected via the SLI bridge, it runs at x16 bandwidth.

• Single VGA mode

- 1 PCI Express graphics card on the PCIE1 slot will run at

x16 bandwidth.

8

Introduction

- The other PCI Express x16 slot (PCIE4) will run at x2
bandwidth.

Refer to chapter 2 for more information about NVIDIA SLI
technology.

BIOS

• Award BIOS

• CMOS Reloaded

• CPU/DRAM overclocking

• CPU/DRAM/Chipset overvoltage

• 4Mbit flash memory

Energy Efficient Design

• Supports ACPI specification and OS Directed Power
Management

• Supports ACPI STR (Suspend to RAM) function

• Wake-On-Events include:

- Wake-On-PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse

- Wake-On-USB Keyboard/Mouse

- Wake-On-LAN

- RTC timer to power-on the system

• AC power failure recovery

1

Hardware Monitor

• Monitors CPU/system/chipset temperature

• Monitors 12V/5V/3.3V/Vcore/Vbat/5Vsb/Vchipset/Vdram
voltages

• Monitors the speed of the CPU fan, Fan 2 and chipset fan

• CPU Overheat Protection function monitors CPU temperature
during system boot-up

Onboard Audio Features

• Karajan audio module

- Realtek ALC850 8-channel audio CODEC

- 6 audio jacks

- 1 CD-in connector

- 1 front audio connector

• True stereo line level outputs

• S/PDIF-in/out interface

9

1

Introduction

Onboard LAN Features

• Dual Gigabit LAN - Vitesse VSC8201 Gigabit Phy and Marvell
88E8001 Gigabit PCI (for “nF4 SLI” and “nF4 Ultra” models
only)
Single Gigabit LAN - Vitesse VSC8201 Gigabit Phy (for “nF4”
model only)

• Fully compliant to IEEE 802.3 (10BASE-T), 802.3u (100BASE-TX)
and 802.3ab (1000BASE-T) standards

• Integrated power management functions

• Supports IEEE 802.3u auto-negotiation

• Supports wire for management

IDE Interface with NVIDIA RAID

• nForce4 chip supports two IDE connectors that allows
connecting up to four UltraDMA 133Mbps hard drives

• NVIDIA RAID allows RAID arrays spanning across Serial ATA
and Parallel ATA

• RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 0+1

Serial ATA Interface with RAID

• Four Serial ATA ports supported by the nForce4 chip

- SATA speed up to 3Gb/s (for “nF4 SLI” and “nF4 Ultra”

models only)
SATA speed up to 1.5Gb/s (for “nF4” model only)

- RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 0+1

- NVIDIA RAID allows RAID arrays spanning across Serial

ATA and Parallel ATA

• Four Serial ATA ports supported by the Silicon Image Sil 3114
chip (for “DR” models only)

- SATA speed up to 1.5Gb/s

- RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 and RAID 5

IEEE 1394 Interface

• VIA VT6307

• Supports two 100/200/400 Mb/sec ports

Rear Panel I/O Ports

• 1 mini-DIN-6 PS/2 mouse port

• 1 mini-DIN-6 PS/2 keyboard port

• 2 S/PDIF RCA jacks (S/PDIF-in and S/PDIF-out)

• Karajan audio module (6 audio jacks)

• 1 IEEE 1394 port

10

Introduction

• 2 RJ45 LAN ports (for “nF4 SLI” and “nF4 Ultra” models only)
1 RJ45 LAN port (for “nF4” model only)

• 6 USB 2.0/1.1 ports

I/O Connectors

• 2 connectors for 4 additional external USB 2.0/1.1 ports

• 1 connector for 1 external IEEE 1394 port

• 1 connector for 1 external serial port

• 1 front audio connector for external line-out and mic-in jacks (on
the Karajan audio module)

• 1 CD-in internal audio connector (on the Karajan audio module)

• 1 S/PDIF connector for optical cable connection

• 1 IR connector

• 8 Serial ATA connectors (for “DR” models only)
4 Serial ATA connectors (for “D” models only)

• 2 IDE connectors

• 1 floppy connector

• 1 24-pin ATX power connector

• 1 4-pin ATX 12V power connector

• 2 4-pin 5V/12V power connectors (FDD-type and HDD type)

• 1 front panel connector

• 5 fan connectors

• 4 diagnostic LEDs

• 1 diagnostic LED connector for external 4 diagnostic LEDs
display (for LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR only)

• EZ touch switches (power switch and reset switch)

1

PCB

• ATX form factor

• 24cm (9.45") x 30.5cm (12")

11

1

Introduction

Special Features of the System Board

AMD Athlon

The system board supports the AMD Athlon
Athlon
applications by allowing both 32-bit and 64-bit applications to run
simultaneously on the same platform. The operating system and
software are able to process more data and access a tremendous
amount of memory which improves the overall system performance.

2T timing which provides better system stability is supported in CG
or later revisions of the AMD Athlon
the memory timing in the Genie BIOS Setting submenu (“DRAM
Configuration” section) of the BIOS.

NVIDIA
models only)

The NVIDIA
two SLI-ready PCI Express graphics cards in a single and scalable
system. The two identical graphics cards, which are connected via the
SLI bridge, will provide extreme performance allowing you to enjoy
games with the most visual effects and the most graphics
demanding multimedia utilities. Dual GPUs provide increased 3D
graphics and and doubles the graphics performance.

TM

TM

64

TM

64 processor. AMD

64 provides superior computing for many software

TM

64 processor. You can select

®

SLITM (Scalable Link Interface) Technology (for “nF4 SLI”

®

SLITM (Scalable Link Interface) technology connects

12

PCI Express

PCI Express is a high bandwidth I/O infrastructure that possesses
the ability to scale speeds by forming multiple lanes. The system
board currently supports the physical layer of x1 and x16 lane
widths.

The x1 PCI Express lane supports transfer rate of 2.5 Gigabytes
(250MBbps) per second. The PCI Express architecture also provides
a high performance graphics infrastructure by doubling the capability
of the existing AGP 8x designs over a x16 PCI Express lane that
provides 4 Gigabytes per second transfer rate.

Introduction

1

NVIDIA® ActiveArmor

NVIDIA® ActiveArmorTM is built into the chipset to enhance network

security. It protects the system’s networking connection especially during
large file downloads. ActiveArmor is activated the minute you turn on
the PC. It performs a thorough inspection of the data packets that
flow in and out of your network connection and only allows good
packets to pass through the firewall. ActiveArmor performs network
and security processing in the chipset, leaving the CPU free for other
important application processing.

CPU Overheat Protection

CPU Overheat Protection has the capability of monitoring the CPU’s
temperature during system boot up. Once the CPU’s temperature
exceeded the temperature limit pre-defined by the CPU, the system
will automatically shutdown. This preventive measure has been added
to protect the CPU from damage and insure a safe computing
environment.

TM

DDR

Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM) is a type of SDRAM
that doubles the data rate through reading and writing at both the
rising and falling edge of each clock. This effectively doubles the
speed of operation therefore doubling the speed of data transfer.

CMOS Reloaded

CMOS Reloaded is a technology that allows storing multiple user­defined BIOS settings by using the BIOS utility to save, load and
name the settings. This is especially useful to overclockers who
require saving a variety of overclocked settings and being able to
conveniently switch between these settings simultaneously.

Karajan Audio Module

The Karajan audio module at the rear I/O panel supports 8-channel
audio output via the audio jacks on the module. It is also equipped
with a CD-in and front audio connector.

13

1

Introduction

S/PDIF

S/PDIF is a standard audio file transfer format that transfers digital
audio signals to a device without having to be converted first to an
analog format. This prevents the quality of the audio signal from
degrading whenever it is converted to analog. S/PDIF is usually
found on digital audio equipment such as a DAT machine or audio
processing device. The S/PDIF connector on the system board sends
surround sound and 3D audio signal outputs to amplifiers and
speakers and to digital recording devices like CD recorders.

Serial ATA Interface

Serial ATA is a storage interface that is compliant with SATA 1.0
specification. nForce4 SLI and nForce4 Ultra support 4 Serial ATA
ports with speed of up to 3Gb/s which is twice as fast as the
standard 1.5Gb/s speed supported by Silicon Image that controls
another 4 Serial ATA por ts. Serial ATA it improves hard drive
performance faster than the standard parallel ATA whose data
transfer rate is 100MB/s.

RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disk)

The NVIDIA nForce4 chipset supports NVIDIA RAID that allows
RAID arrays spanning across 4 Serial ATA and Parallel ATA drives. It
supports RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 0+1.

The Silicon Image Sil 3114 chip (for “DR” models only) allows
configuring RAID on another 4 Serial ATA ports. It supports RAID
0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 and RAID 5.

IEEE 1394 Interface

IEEE 1394 is fully compliant with the 1394 OHCI (Open Host
Controller Interface) 1.1 specification. It supports up to 63 devices
that can run simultaneously on a system. 1394 is a fast external bus
standard that supports data transfer rates of up to 400Mbps. In
addition to its high speed, it also supports isochronous data transfer
which is ideal for video devices that need to transfer high levels of
data in real-time. 1394 supports both Plug-and-Play and hot
plugging.

14

Introduction

IrDA Interface

The system board is equipped with an IrDA connector for wireless
connectivity between your computer and peripheral devices. The
IRDA (Infrared Data Association) specification supports data
transfers of 115K baud at a distance of 1 meter.

USB Ports

The system board supports USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 ports. USB 1.1
supports 12Mb/second bandwidth while USB 2.0 supports 480Mb/
second bandwidth providing a marked improvement in device
transfer speeds between your computer and a wide range of
simultaneously accessible external Plug and Play peripherals.

Dual Function Power Button

1

Depending on the setting in the “Soft-Off By PBTN” field of the
Power Management Setup, this switch will allow the system to enter
the Soft-Off or Suspend mode.

Wake-On-LAN

This feature allows the network to remotely wake up a Soft Power
Down (Soft-Off) PC. It is supported via the onboard LAN por t or
via a PCI LAN card that uses the PCI PME (Power Management
Event) signal. However, if your system is in the Suspend mode, you
can power-on the system only through an IRQ or DMA interrupt.

Important:

The 5VSB power source of your power supply must support

≥

720mA.

Wake-On-PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse

This function allows you to use the PS/2 keyboard or PS/2 mouse
to power-on the system.

Important:

The 5VSB power source of your power supply must support

≥

720mA.

15

1

Introduction

RTC Timer to Power-on the System

The RTC installed on the system board allows your system to
automatically power-on on the set date and time.

ACPI STR

The system board is designed to meet the ACPI (Advanced
Configuration and Power Interface) specification. ACPI has energy
saving features that enables PCs to implement Power Management
and Plug-and-Play with operating systems that support OS Direct
Power Management. Currently, only Windows
the ACPI function. ACPI when enabled in the Power Management
Setup will allow you to use the Suspend to RAM function.

With the Suspend to RAM function enabled, you can power-off the
system at once by pressing the power button or selecting “Standby”
when you shut down Windows
through the sometimes tiresome process of closing files, applications
and operating system. This is because the system is capable of
storing all programs and data files during the entire operating session
into RAM (Random Access Memory) when it powers-off. The
operating session will resume exactly where you left off the next time
you power-on the system.

®®

®

®®

2000/XP supports

®®

®

®®

2000/XP without having to go

Important:

The 5VSB power source of your power supply must support

≥

1A.

AC Power Failure Recovery

When power returns after an AC power failure, you may choose to
either power-on the system manually, let the system power-on
automatically or return to the state where you left off before power
failure occurs.

16

Package Checklist

; One system board
; One Karajan audio module
; One SLI bridge (for “nF4 SLI” models only)
; Two IDE round cables
; One floppy round cable
; Four Serial ATA data cables (for “DR” models only)

Two Serial ATA data cables (for “D” models only)

; One Serial ATA power cable
; One I/O shield
; One SATA driver diskette (for NVRAID and Silicon Image Sil

3114 RAID)

; One “Mainboard Utility” CD
; One user’s manual

Introduction

1

The following are included in LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR only.

; One FrontX device equipped with:

- 4 diagnostic LEDs, 1 S/PDIF-out, 1 mini 1394 port and 1
Serial ATA port

; One I/O shield label sticker
; One thermal paste
; One PC Transpo kit
; One LANPARTY sticker
; One case badge
; One UV sleeve
; One LANPARTY Features User’s Manual
; One Quick Installation Guide
; One CMOS Reloaded User Guide

If any of these items are missing or damaged, please contact your
dealer or sales representative for assistance.

Please refer to the LANPARTY Features manual for more informa­tion on the FrontX device.

17

2

Hardware Installation

Chapter 2 - Hardware Installation

System Board Layout

Mouse

KB

1

S/PDIF-

S/PDIF-out

Line-in,
Center/

Subwoofer

Front R/L,
Rear R/L

Mic-in,

Side R/L

IEEE 1394_1

USB 2
USB 1

LAN 1

(Gigabit Phy)

USB 4
USB 3

LAN 2

(Gigabit PCI)

USB 6
USB 5

VT6307

Marvell

88E8001

Gigabit

PCI

Diagnostic LEDs

Ext. diagnostic LED

in

1

S/PDIF
select (JP52)

S/PDIF

Karajan audio

VIA

ITE

IT8712F

1

Fan 2

CPU fan

Karajan

audio module

1

IrDA

1

1

1

1394_2

1

PS/2 power
select (JP7)

1

USB 1-6 power
select (JP5)

1

VSC8201

VITESSE

Gigabit Phy

PCIE3

1

COM

PCIE2

PCI 1

PCI 2

Standby Power LED

1

5V/12V power

PCIE1

SLI / Single VGA select

PCIE4

Fan 5

Socket 939

1
2
3

1
2
3

USB 7-10 power

select (JP6)

1

Silicon

Image

Sil 3114

NVIDIA

nForce4

USB 7-8 USB 9-10

1 1

1

USB

SATA 8

SATA 7

SATA 6

SATA 5

Fan 4

1

1

1

1

DDR 1

DDR 2

DDR 3

DDR 4

Fan 3

1

5V/12V power

1

Reset

Power

BIOS

DRAM 4V

select (JP17)

DRAM
Power LED

+12V power

1

1

Safe
boot (JP1)

Front panel

ATX po we r

1

1

IDE 21IDE 1

SATA 3

1 1

SATA 1

1 1

Battery

1

Speaker
on/off (JP8)

1

2

3

1

FDD

SATA 4

Clear

CMOS

(JP2)

SATA 2

1

1

18

SLI / Single VGA Select jumper - for “nF4 SLI” models only.
Marvell 88E8001 Gigabit PCI - for “nF4 SLI” and “nF4 Ultra” models
only.
Silicon Image Sil3114 and SATA 5 to SATA 8 - for “DR” models only.
Diagnostic LED connector - for LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR only.

.

.

.

Warning:

.

.

.

.

.

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can damage your system board,
processor, disk drives, add-in boards, and other components. Perform
the upgrade instruction procedures described at an ESD workstation
only. If such a station is not available, you can provide some ESD
protection by wearing an antistatic wrist strap and attaching it to a
metal part of the system chassis. If a wrist strap is unavailable,
establish and maintain contact with the system chassis throughout
any procedures requiring ESD protection.

2.2 System Memory

Hardware Installation

2

DDR 1
DDR 2

DDR 3

DDR 4

1

Channel A

Channel B

The system board supports DDR SDRAM DIMM. Double Data
Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM) is a type of SDRAM that doubles the
data rate through reading and writing at both the rising and falling
edge of each clock. This effectively doubles the speed of operation
therefore doubling the speed of data transfer.

Refer to chapter 1 (System Memory section) for detailed specifica­tion of the memory supported by the system board. The four DDR
DIMM sockets on the system board are divided into 2 channels:

Channel A - DDR 1 and DDR 2
Channel B - DDR 3 and DDR 4

19

2

Hardware Installation

The system board supports the following memory interface.

Single Channel (SC)

Data will be accessed in chunks of 64 bits (8B) from the memory
channels.

Dual Channel (DC)

Data will be accessed in chunks of 128 bits from the memory
channels. Dual channel provides better system performance because
it doubles the data transfer rate.

Single Channel

Dual Channel

BIOS Setting

Configure the system memory in the Genie BIOS Setting submenu
(“DRAM Configuration” section) of the BIOS.

• DIMMs are on the same channel.

• DIMMs in a channel can be identical or

completely different. However, we highly
recommend using identical DIMMs.

• Not all slots need to be populated.

• DIMMs of the same memory configura-

tion are on different channels.

20

Hardware Installation

The integrated memory controller in AMD's 64-bit Socket 939
series CPU will directly catch data transmission from DDR RAM
without passing through the Northbridge. Therefore when using 4
identical double side DIMMs or using 2 DIMMs in non-dual channels,
the memory speed will reduce to DDR333. Please refer to the
detailed memory speed shown below.

2

Memory Speed

DDR400

DDR400

DDR400

DDR400

DDR400

DDR400

DDR400

DDR333

DDR400

DDR333

"S": Single side DIMM
"D": Double side DIMM

DIMM 1

S

D

S

D

S

D

S

D

DIMM 2

S

D

S

D

DIMM 3

S

D

S

D

S

D

DIMM 4

S

D

A DIMM's SPD is originally fixed at 1T. When modules are inserted
in DIMM 1 and DIMM 3, the SPD must be 2T for better system
stability. We recommend inserting DIMMs in DIMM 2 and DIMM 4.

21

2

Hardware Installation

2.2.1 Installing the DIM Module

A DIM module simply snaps into a DIMM socket on the system
board. Pin 1 of the DIM module must correspond with Pin 1 of the
socket.

Notch

Key

Tab

Pin 1

1. Pull the “tabs” which are at the ends of the socket to the side.

2. Position the DIMM above the socket with the “notch” in the
module aligned with the “key” on the socket.

3. Seat the module vertically into the socket. Make sure it is
completely seated. The tabs will hold the DIMM in place.

Tab

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CPU

Overview

The system board is equipped with a surface mount 939-pin CPU
socket. This socket is exclusively designed for installing an AMD CPU.

Installing the CPU

1. Make sure the PC and all other peripheral devices connected to
it has been powered down.

2. Disconnect all power cords and cables.

3. Locate the 939-pin CPU socket on the system board.

Hardware Installation

2

X

1

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2

Hardware Installation

4. Unlock the socket by pushing the lever sideways, away from the
socket, then lifting it up to a 90
to at least this angle otherwise the CPU will not fit in properly.

Lever

o

angle. Make sure the lever is lifted

5. Position the CPU above the socket. The gold mark on the CPU
must align with the corner of the CPU socket (refer to the
enlarged view) shown below.

Important:

Handle the CPU by its edges and avoid touching the pins.

Gold mark

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Hardware Installation

6. Insert the CPU into the socket until it is seated in place. The
CPU will fit in only one orientation and can easily be inserted
without exerting any force.

Important:

Do not force the CPU into the socket. Forcing the CPU into
the socket may bend the pins and damage the CPU.

2

7. Once the CPU is in place, push down the lever to lock the
socket. The lever should click on the side tab to indicate that the
CPU is completely secured in the socket.

Side tab

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2

Hardware Installation

Installing the Fan and Heat Sink

The CPU must be kept cool by using a CPU fan with heat sink.
Without sufficient air circulation across the CPU and heat sink, the
CPU will overheat damaging both the CPU and system board.

Note:

• Use only certified fan and heat sink.

• The fan and heat sink package usually contains the fan and

heat sink assembly, and an installation guide. If the
installation procedure in the installation guide differs from
the one in this section, please follow the installation guide in
the package.

1. Before you install the fan / heat sink, you must apply a thermal
paste onto the top of the CPU. The thermal paste is usually
supplied when you purchase the CPU or fan heat sink assembly.
Do not spread the paste all over the surface. When you later
place the heat sink on top of the CPU, the compound will
disperse evenly.

Do not apply the paste if the fan / heat sink already has a patch
of thermal paste on its underside. Peel the strip that covers the
paste before you place the fan / heat sink on top of the CPU.

2. The system board comes with the retention module base already
installed.

Retention
module base

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Hardware Installation

3. Place the heat sink on top of the CPU. Now hook one side of
the retention clip onto the retention module base by fitting the
holes on the retention clip into the retaining tabs of the retention
module base.

Retaining
tab

Retention clip

Retention module base

Side View

2

Retaining

tabs

Retaining
tabs

Top View

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2

Hardware Installation

4. Hook the other side of the retention clip (the one near the
retention lever) so that the holes on the retention clip also fit
into the retaining tabs of the retention module base.

Note:

You will not be able to secure the fan and heat sink
assembly in place if it did not fit properly onto the
retention module base.

Retention lever

5. Move the retention lever to its opposite side then push it down
to lock the fan and heat sink assembly to the retention module
base.

Note:

Make sure there is sufficient air circulation across the CPU
fan and heat sink.

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6. Connect the CPU fan’s cable connector to the CPU fan connec­tor on the system board.

Jumper Settings

Clear CMOS Data

Hardware Installation

2

JP2

X

1-2 On: Normal

1

(default)

3

2

1

Clear CMOS Data

3

2

1

2-3 On:

If you encounter the following,

a) CMOS data becomes corrupted.
b) You forgot the supervisor or user password.
c) You are unable to boot-up the computer system because the

processor’s ratio/clock was incorrectly set in the BIOS.

you can reconfigure the system with the default values stored in the
ROM BIOS.

To load the default values stored in the ROM BIOS, please follow
the steps below.

1. Power-off the system.

2. Set JP2 pins 2 and 3 to On. Wait for a few seconds and set JP2
back to its default setting, pins 1 and 2 On.

3. Now power-on the system.

If your reason for clearing the CMOS data is due to incorrect
setting of the processor’s ratio/clock in the BIOS, please proceed
to step 4.

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2

Hardware Installation

4. After powering-on the system, press <Del> to enter the main
menu of the BIOS.

5. Select the Genie BIOS Setting submenu and press <Enter>.

6. Set the processor’s clock/ratio to its default setting or an appro­priate bus clock or ratio. Refer to the Genie BIOS Setting section
in chapter 3 for more information.

7. Press <Esc> to return to the main menu of the BIOS setup
utility. Select “Save & Exit Setup” and press <Enter>.

8. Type <Y> and press <Enter>.

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