MSI MS-7320, P6N USER MANUAL

P6N Diamond series

MS-7320 (V1.X) Mainboard

G52-73201X1

i

Copyright Notice

The material in this document is the intellectual property of MICRO-STAR
INTERNATIONAL. We take every care in the preparation of this document, but no

guarantee is given as to the correctness of its contents. Our products are under
continual improvement and we reserve the right to make changes without notice.

Trademarks

All trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.
NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, DualNet, and nForce are registered trademarks or trade-

marks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
AMD, Athlon™ , Athlon™ XP, Thoroughbred™, and Duron™ are registered trade­marks of AMD Corporation.
Intel® and Pentium® are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.
PS/2 and OS®/2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines
Corporation.
Windows® 95/98/2000/NT/XP are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Netware® is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc.
Award® is a registered trademark of Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
AMI® is a registered trademark of American Megatrends Inc.

Revision History

Revision Revision History Date

V1.0 First release for PCB 1.0 March 2007

Technical Support

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

Contact our technical staff at: http://support.msi.com.tw/

ii

Safety Instructions

1. Always read the safety instructions carefully.

2. Keep this User’s Manual for future reference.

3. Keep this equipment away from humidity.

4. Lay this equipment on a reliable flat surface before setting it up.

5. The openings on the enclosure are for air convection hence protects the equip­ment from overheating. DO NOT COVER THE OPENINGS.

6. Make sure the voltage of the power source and adjust properly 110/220V be­fore connecting the equipment to the power inlet.

7. Place the power cord such a way that people can not step on it. Do not place
anything over the power cord.

8. Always Unplug the Power Cord before inserting any add-on card or module.

9. All cautions and warnings on the equipment should be noted.

10. Never pour any liquid into the opening that could damage or cause electrical
shock.

11. If any of the following situations arises, get the equipment checked by service
personnel:

† The power cord or plug is damaged.
† Liquid has penetrated into the equipment.
† The equipment has been exposed to moisture.
† The equipment does not work well or you can not get it work according to

User’s Manual.

† The equipment has dropped and damaged.
† The equipment has obvious sign of breakage.

12. DO NOT LEAVE THIS EQUIPMENT IN AN ENVIRONMENT UNCONDITIONED, STOR­AGE TEMPERATURE ABOVE 600 C (1400F), IT MAY DAMAGE THE EQUIPMENT.

CAUTION: Danger of explosion if battery is incorrectly replaced.
Replace only with the same or equivalent type recommended by the
manufacturer.

iii

FCC-B Radio Frequency Interference Statement

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 in a residential installation. This equipment generates,
uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accor­dance with the instructions, 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 measures listed
below.

† Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
† Increase the separation between the equipment and 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/television 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.

Notice 2

Shielded interface cables and A.C. power cord, if any, must be used in order to
comply with the emission limits.

VOIR LA NOTICE D’ INSTALLATION AVANT DE RACCORDER AU RESEAU.

Micro-Star International

MS-7320

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.

iv

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Statement

v

vi

vii

CONTENTS

Copyright Notice..............................................................................................................ii

Trademarks.......................................................................................................................ii

Revision History..............................................................................................................ii

Technical Support...........................................................................................................ii

Safety Instructions.........................................................................................................iii

FCC-B Radio Frequency Interference Statement........................................................iv

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Statement....................................v

Chapter 1 Getting Started.....................................................................................1-1

Mainboard Specifications...................................................................................1-2

Mainboard Layout................................................................................................1-4

Packing Checklist.................................................................................................1-5

Chapter 2 Hardware Setup...................................................................................2-1

Quick Components Guide....................................................................................2-2

CPU (Central Processing Unit)............................................................................2-3

Memory.................................................................................................................2-7

Power Supply......................................................................................................2-9

Back Panel...........................................................................................................2-11

Connectors........................................................................................................2-13

Button.................................................................................................................2-22

Slots....................................................................................................................2-23

Chapter 3 BIOS Setup.............................................................................................3-1

Entering Setup.....................................................................................................3-2

The Main Menu.....................................................................................................3-4

Standard CMOS Features...................................................................................3-6

Advanced BIOS Features...................................................................................3-8

Integrated Peripherals........................................................................................3-11

Power Management Setup...............................................................................3-13

PNP/PCI Configurations.....................................................................................3-16

H/W Monitor........................................................................................................3-18

Cell Menu............................................................................................................3-19

Load Fail-Safe/ Optimized Defaults.................................................................3-23

BIOS Setting Password.....................................................................................3-24

Appendix A Creative Sound Blaster..................................................................A-1

Hardware Setup..................................................................................................A-2

Installing the Creative Audio Driver....................................................................A-6

Software Configuration......................................................................................A-8

viii

Appendix B nVidia RAID.........................................................................................B-1

Introduction..........................................................................................................B-2

RAID Configuration..............................................................................................B-3

NVIDIA RAID Utility Installation.............................................................................B-9

RAID Drives Management..................................................................................B-12

Appendix C nVidia System Driver......................................................................C-1

nVidia System Driver Installation........................................................................C-2

nVidia Utility Installation.......................................................................................C-5

Appendix D Dual Core Center..............................................................................D-1

Activating Dual Core Center...............................................................................D-2

Main......................................................................................................................D-3

DOT(Dynamic Over Clocking).............................................................................D-5

Clock.....................................................................................................................D-6

Voltage.................................................................................................................D-7

FAN Speed...........................................................................................................D-8

Temperature.........................................................................................................D-9

User Profile........................................................................................................D-10

ix

Getting Started

Chapter 1

Getting Started

Thank you for choosing the P6N Diamond Series (MS­7320 V1.X) ATX Mainboard. The P6N Diamond Series
mainboards are based on nVIDIA® nForce 680i SLI
& nForce 590i SLI chipsets for optimal system
efficiency. Designed to fit the advanced Intel® Core

2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Pentium XE
and Pentium D processor, the P6N Diamond Series

deliver a high performance and professional desktop
platform solution.

1-1

MS-7320 Mainboard

Mainboard Specifications

Processor Support

- Core 2 Extreme (dual and quad core), Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo,
Pentium XE & Pentium D

- Supports 3/4 pin CPU Fan Pin-Header

- Supports EIST Technology

- Supports Hyper-Threading (HT) Technology
(For the latest information about CPU, please visit http://www.msi.
com.tw/cpusupport.htm)

FSB

- 1333/ 1066/ 800/ 533 MHz

Chipset

- North Bridge: nVIDIA® NF680i SLI (C55XE) chipset

- South Bridge: nVIDIA® NF590i SLI (MCP55XE) chipset

Memory Support

- DDR2 533/667/800 SDRAM (8GB Max)

- 4 DDR2 DIMMs (240pin / 1.8V)
(For more information on compatible components, please visit http:/

/www.msi.com.tw/testreport.htm)

LAN

- Supports Daul 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Realtek® RTL8211B
phy

IEEE 1394

- Chip integrated by VIA® VT6308P

- Transfer rate is up to 400Mbps

Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme H/W Audio

- 24-bit / 96KHz audio quality

- 100dB SNR clarity

- Up to 7.1 CH EAX 5.0 Surround Sound

- Vista Premium Support

IDE

- 1 IDE controller on the nVIDIA® NF590i SLI chipset provides IDE
HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA133/100/66/33
operation modes

- Supports up to 2 IDE devices

SATA

- 5 SATA ports (SATA1~5) by nForce 590i SLI

- 2 SATA ports (SATA6~7) by Sil4723

- Supports transfer rate up to 300 MB/s

- 1 external-SATA port by Sil 3531 (back panel)

RAID

- SATA1~5 support RAID 0 or 1, 0+1, 5 or JBOD mode

SiliconImage Sil4723 Hardware RAID

- SATA6~7 support RAID 0 or RAID 1 mode

- Automatic Mirroring under RAID 1 mode (default)

1-2

Getting Started

Floppy

- 1 floppy port

- Supports 1 FDD with 360KB, 720KB, 1.2MB, 1.44MB and 2.88MB

Connectors
Back Panel

- 1 PS/2 Mouse Port

- 1 PS/2 Keyboard Port

- 1 eSATA Port

- 1 IEEE 1394 Port

- 2 LAN Jacks

- 4 USB 2.0 Ports

- 5 Audio Jacks

- 1 Optical SPDIF Jack

- 1 Coaxial SPDIF Jack

On-Board Pinheaders / Connectors

- 1 Chassis Intrusion switch pinheader

- 3 USB 2.0 pinheaders

- 1 D-Bracket 2 pinheader

- 1 IEEE 1394 pinheader

- 1 Serial Port pinheader

- 1 SPDIF pinheader (for HDMI VGA Card)

- 1 Front Panel Audio pinheader

- 2 hardware RAID Switch pinheaders

Slots

- 4 PCI Express x16 slots
a.4 PCIE x16 slots support the latest Quad SLI
* Quad SLI Mode: PCIE x16 lanes will auto arrange from X16, X0,
X16 and X8 to X8, X8, X16 and X8
b.if you intend to install only one PCIE x16 graphics card, please

intall it on PCIE_1 or PCIE_4 slot to operate full PCIE x16
speed for graphics card.
c.if you intend to install two PCIE x16 graphics card for SLI mode,
please intall it on PCIE_1 and PCIE_4 slots to operate full
PCIE x16 speed for graphics card.

- 1 PCI Express x1 Slot

- 2 PCI Slots (Support 3.3V / 5V PCI bus Interface)

Form Factor

- ATX (30.5cm X 24.5cm)

Mounting

- 9 mounting holes

1-3

MS-7320 Mainboard

Audio

BATT

PWRFAN1

Silicon

Sil4723

Mainboard Layout

Top: Mouse
Bottom: Keyboard

eSATA Port

1394 Port

S/PDIF_out (coaxial)

T: LAN Jack
B: USB Ports

T: LAN Jack
B: USB Ports

T: SS

-Out

M:

Line-Out

B:

Mic/Line-In

T: RS-Out
M: CS

-Out
B: S/PDIF-Out
(optical)

LAN chip

LAN chip

PCI _E1

PCI _E2

PCI _E3

PCI 1

JPW1

CPUFAN1

NBFAN1

nVIDIA

Nf680i SLI

nVIDIA

Nf590i SLI

JCI1

FDD1

DIMM1

DIMM3

DIMM2

DIMM4

SATA4

ATX1

IDE1

SATA3

SATA5

PCI _E4

PCI 2

PCI _E5

chip

JAUD1

1-4

+

VT6308P

JUSB3

JDB1 JUSB2

SPDO1

SYSFAN1

JCOM1

VIA

J1394_1

P6N Diamond Series

(MS-7320 V1.X) ATX Mainboard

SW3

SATA7

SATA6

JUSB1

JFP1

JFP2

SATA2

SATA1

Packing Checklist

Getting Started

MSI motherboard

Power Cable

Round Cable of

Floppy Disk (Optional)

MSI Driver/Utility CD

SATA Cable

D-Bracket 2 (Optional)

SLI Video Link Cable

Round Cable of

IDE Devices

1394 Bracket (Optional)

external SATA Cable

(Optional)

* The pictures are for reference only and may vary from the packing contents of the
product you purchased.

User’s Guide

Back IO Shield

1-5

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.
Use a grounded wrist strap before handling computer
components. Static electricity may damage the
components.

2-1

MS-7320 Mainboard

Quick Components Guide

Back Panel

I/O, p.2-11

JPW1,

p.2-9

CPUFAN1,

p.2-16

NBFAN1,

p.2-16

PCI Express

Slots, p.2-23

CPU, p.2-3

DDR2 DIMMs, p.2-7

JCI1, p.2-16

FDD1, p.2-13

ATX1, p.2-9

IDE1, p.2-13

JP1~2,

p.2-15

SATA1~7,

p.2-14

PCI Slots,

p.2-26

2-2

SPDO1,

p.2-17

JAUD1,

p.2-17

SYSFAN1,

p.2-16

JCOM1,

p.2-19

J1394_1,

p.2-19

JDB1,

p.2-21

SW3,

p.2-22

JFP1~2,

p.2-20

PWRFAN1,

p.2-16

JUSB1~3,

p.2-18

Hardware Setup

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

This mainboard supports Intel® Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Pentium XE
and Pentium D processor in LGA 775 package. When you are installing the CPU,
make sure to install the cooler to prevent overheating. If you do not have the
CPU cooler, consult your dealer before turning on the computer. For the latest infor­mation about CPU, please visit http://www.msi.com.tw/cpusupport.htm

Important

Overheating

Overheating will seriously damage the CPU and system. Always make sure
the cooling fan can work properly to protect the CPU from overheating. Make
sure that you apply an even layer of thermal paste (or thermal tape) between
the CPU and the heatsink to enhance heat dissipation.

Replaceing the CPU

While replacing the CPU, always turn off the ATX power supply or unplug the
power supply’s power cord from the grounded outlet first to ensure the safety
of CPU.

Overclocking

This mainboard is designed to support overclocking. However, please make
sure your components are able to tolerate such abnormal setting, while
doing overclocking. Any attempt to operate beyond product specifications is
not recommended. We do not guarantee the damages or risks caused

by inadequate operation or beyond product specifications.

Introduction to LGA 775 CPU

The pin-pad side of LGA 775
CPU.

Alignment Key Alignment Key

Yellow triangle is the Pin 1 indicator

The surface of LGA 775 CPU.
Remember to apply some ther­mal paste on it for better heat
dispersion.

Yellow triangle is the Pin 1 indicator

2-3

MS-7320 Mainboard

CPU & Cooler Installation

When you are installing the CPU, make sure the CPU has a cooler attached on
the top to prevent overheating. Meanwhile, do not forget to apply some thermal

paste on CPU before installing the heat sink/cooler fan for better heat dispersion.
Follow the steps below to install the CPU & cooler correctly. Wrong installation will
cause the damage of your CPU & mainboard.

1.The CPU socket has a plastic cap
on it to protect the contact from
damage. Before you install the CPU,
always cover it to protect the socket
pin.

3.The pins of socket reveal.

2.Remove the cap from lever hinge
side (as the arrow shows).

4.Open the load lever.

Important

1.Confirm if your CPU cooler is firmly installed before turning on your system.

2. Do not touch the CPU socket pins to avoid damaging.

3. The availability of the CPU land side cover depends on your CPU packing.

2-4

Hardware Setup

5.Lift the load lever up and open the
load plate.

6.After confirming the CPU direction
for correct mating, put down the
CPU in the socket housing frame.
Be sure to grasp on the edge of
the CPU base. Note that the align­ment keys are matched.

alignment

key

7.Visually inspect if the CPU is
seated well into the socket. If not,
take out the CPU with pure vertical
motion and reinstall.

8.Cover the load plate onto the
package.

2-5

MS-7320 Mainboard

9.Press down the load lever lightly
onto the load plate, and then se­cure the lever with the hook under
retention tab.

11.Press the four hooks down to fas-

ten the cooler. Then rotate the lock­ing switch (refer to the correct di­rection marked on it) to lock the
hooks.

10. Align the holes on the mainboard
with the heatsink. Push down the
cooler until its four clips get
wedged into the holes of the
mainboard.

12.Turn over the mainboard to con­firm that the clip-ends are cor­rectly inserted.

locking

switch

Important

1. Read the CPU status in BIOS (Chapter 3).

2. Whenever CPU is not installed, always protect your CPU socket pin with the
plastic cap covered (shown in Figure 1) to avoid damaging.

3. Mainboard photos shown in this section are for demonstration of the CPU/
cooler installation only. The appearance of your mainboard may vary depend­ing on the model you purchase.

2-6

Hardware Setup

1

2

3

Installed

Memory

These DIMM slots are used for installing memory modules.
For more information on compatible components, please visit http://www.msi.com.tw/

testreport.htm

DDR2

240-pin, 1.8V

64x2=128 pin56x2=112 pin

Dual-Channel Memory Population Rules

In Dual-Channel mode, the memory modules can transmit and receive data with two
data bus lines simultaneously. Enabling Dual-Channel mode can enhance the system
performance. Please refer to the following illustrations for population rules under
Dual-Channel mode.

DIMM1
DIMM2
DIMM3
DIMM4

DIMM1
DIMM2
DIMM3
DIMM4

DIMM1
DIMM2
DIMM3
DIMM4

Empty

2-7

MS-7320 Mainboard

Installing DDR2 Modules

1. The memory module has only one notch on the center and will only fit in the right
orientation.

2. Insert the memory module vertically into the DIMM slot. Then push it in until the
golden finger on the memory module is deeply inserted in the DIMM slot.

Important

You can barely see the golden finger if the module is properly inserted in the
DIMM slot.

3. The plastic clip at each side of the DIMM slot will automatically close.

Volt

Notch

Important

-DDR2 memory modules are not interchangeable with DDR and the DDR2
standard is not backwards compatible. You should always install DDR2
memory modules in the DDR2 DIMM slots.

-In Dual-Channel mode, make sure that you install memory modules of the
same type and density in different channel DIMM slots.

-To enable successful system boot-up, always insert the memory modules
into the DIMM1 first.

- Due to the chipset resource deployment, the system density will only be
detected up to 7+GB (not full 8GB) when each DIMM is installed with a 2GB
memory module.

2-8

Hardware Setup

Power Supply

ATX 24-Pin Power Connector: ATX1

This connector allows you to connect an ATX 24-pin power supply.
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. Then push down the power supply firmly into the connector.

You may use the 20-pin ATX power supply as you like. If you’d like
to use the 20-pin ATX power supply, please plug your power sup­ply along with pin 1 & pin 13 (refer to the image at the right hand).
There is also a foolproof design on pin 11, 12, 23 & 24 to avoid
wrong installation.

Pin Definition

pin 13

pin 12

PIN SIGNAL

13 +3.3V
14 -12V
15 GND
16 PS-ON#
17 GND
18 GND
19 GND
20 Res
21 +5V
22 +5V
23 +5V
24 GND

ATX1

12

1

24

13

PIN SIGNAL

1 +3.3V
2 +3.3V
3 GND
4 +5V
5 GND
6 +5V
7 GND
8 PWR OK
9 5VSB
10 +12V
11 +12V
12 +3.3V

ATX 12V Power Connector: JPW1

This power connector is used to provide power to the CPU.

4

1

JPW1

8

5

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL

1 GND
2 GND
3 GND
4 GND

PIN SIGNAL

5 +12V
6 +12V
7 +12V
8 +12V

Important

1. Make sure that all the connectors are connected to proper ATX power sup­plies to ensure stable operation of the mainboard.

2. Power supply of 450 watts (and above) is highly recommended for system
stability.

2-9

MS-7320 Mainboard

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. Please follow the following solution to
avoid this situation.

Unplug the AC power cable (shown in figure 1) or unplug the power connectors
(shown in figure 2 & figure 3) before the 1st installation or during system upgrade
procedure.

Figure 1:

Unplug the AC power cable

Figure 2:

Unplug the power connector

Important

Mainboard photos shown in this section are for demonstration only. The
appearance of your mainboard may vary depending on the model you purchase.

2-10

Figure 3:

Unplug the power connectors

Back Panel

Hardware Setup

Mouse

Keyboard

1394 PorteSATA Port S/PDIF-Out

(Coaxial)

LAN

USB Ports Mic/Line-In

SS-Out

Line-Out

RS-Out

CS-Out

S/PDIF-Out
(Optical)

Mouse / Keyboard

The standard PS/2® mouse/keyboard DIN connector is for a PS/2® mouse/keyboard.

eSATA Port

This eSATA (External Serial ATA) port is used to connect the external SATA device.
You can also use the optional external SATA cable to connect SATA device and
eSATA port.

1394 Port
The IEEE1394 port on the back panel provides connection to IEEE1394 devices.

S/PDIF-Out(Coaxial)
This SPDIF (Sony & Philips Digital Interconnect Format) connector is provided for
digital audio transmission to external speakers through a coaxial cable.

LAN
The standard RJ-45 LAN jack is for con­nection to the Local Area Network (LAN).

Link IndicatorActivity Indicator

You can connect a network cable to it.

LED Color LED State condition

Off LAN link is not established.

Left Orange On (steady state) LAN link is established.

On (brighter & pulsing)The computer is communicating with another computer on the LAN.

Green Off 10 Mbit/sec data rate is selected.

Right On 100 Mbit/sec data rate is selected.

Orange On 1000 Mbit/sec data rate is selected.

USB Port
The USB (Universal Serial Bus) port is for attaching USB devices such as keyboard,
mouse, or other USB-compatible devices.

2-11

MS-7320 Mainboard

Audio Ports
These audio connectors are used for audio devices. You can differentiate the color
of the audio jacks for different audio sound effects.

SS-Out (Gray) - Side-Surround Out 7.1 channel mode.
RS-Out (Black) - Rear-Surround Out in 4/ 5.1/ 7.1 channel mode.
Line-Out (Green) - Line Out, is a connector for speakers or headphones.
CS-Out (Orange) - Center/ Subwoofer Out in 5.1/ 7.1 channel mode.
Mic/ Line-In (Pink) - Mic, is a connector for microphones. Line In, is used

for external CD player, tapeplayer or other audio
devices.

S/PDIF-Out (Optical)
This SPDIF (Sony & Philips Digital Interconnect Format) connector is provided for
digital audio transmission to external speakers through an optical fiber cable.

Important

Use only one of the three types of S/PDIF-out, optical S/PDIF-out, coaxial S/
PDIF-out, or onboard 2-pin S/PDIF-out connector for HDMI graphics card,
otherwise the audio transmission will be distorted.

2-12

Hardware Setup

Connectors

Floppy Disk Drive Connector: FDD1

This connector supports 360KB, 720KB, 1.2MB, 1.44MB or 2.88MB floppy disk drive.

FDD1

IDE Connector: IDE1

This connector supports IDE hard disk drives, optical disk drives and other IDE devices.

IDE1

Important

If you install two IDE devices on the same cable, you must configure the
drives separately to master / slave mode by setting jumpers. Refer to IDE
device’s documentation supplied by the vendors for jumper setting
instructions.

2-13

MS-7320 Mainboard

Serial ATA Connector: SATA1/ SATA2/ SATA3/ SATA4/ SATA5/
SATA6/ SATA7 (SATA6/ 7 is controlled by Sil4723)

This connector is a high-speed Serial ATA interface port. Each connector can con­nect to one Serial ATA device.

SATA4 SATA3SATA5

SATA7SATA6SATA1SATA2

Important

1. Please do not fold the Serial ATA cable into 90-degree angle. Otherwise,
data loss may occur during transmission.

2. Note that SATA6 and SATA7 support RAID function only. Please install two
hard drives to SATA7 and SATA6 for RAID function.

3. The SATA6 and SATA7 are controlled by silicon image chip that supports
RAID 0/ RAID 1 mode by hardware setting. Please refer to the following
JP1/JP2 illustration for details.

2-14

Hardware Setup

Hardware RAID setting Connectors: JP1, JP2

These connectors are used to set RAID mode for the hard drives that connected to
SATA6, SATA7.

JP1 JP2

JP1 JP2

shorting JP1 =
RAID 0 mode

JP1 JP2

shorting JP1 & JP2 =
RAID 1 mode

Important

When two hard drives are installed to SATA6 and SATA7 for RAID function, the
indicator LED beside the JP1 and JP2 will light in blue.

Indicator LED

2-15

MS-7320 Mainboard

Fan Power Connectors: CPUFAN1, NBFAN1, SYSFAN1, PWRFAN1

The fan power connectors support system cooling fan with +12V. When connecting
the wire to the connectors, always 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.
If the mainboard has a System Hardware Monitor chipset on-board, you must use a
specially designed fan with speed sensor to take advantage of the CPU fan control.

+

G

1

N

N

2

C

V

GND

+12V

SENSOR

Control

Sensor

+12V

GND

GND
+12V
NC

D

CPUFAN1

NBFAN1 SYSFAN1

PWRFAN1

Important

1.Please refer to the recommended CPU fans at processor’s official website
or consult the vendors for proper CPU cooling fan.

2.CPUFAN1 supports fan control. You can install Dual Core Center utility
that will automatically control the CPU fan speed according to the actual
CPU temperature.

3. Fan/heatsink with 3 or 4 pins are both available for CPUFAN1.

Chassis Intrusion Connector: JCI1

This connector connects to the chassis intrusion switch cable. If the chassis is
opened, the chassis intrusion mechanism will be activated. The system will record
this status and show a warning message on the screen. To clear the warning, you
must enter the BIOS utility and clear the record.

2-16

2
1

JCI1

GND

CINTRU

Hardware Setup

Front Panel Audio Connector: JAUD1

This connector allows you to connect the front panel audio and is compliant with
Intel® Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design Guide.

9

10

1

JAUD1

2

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 FP-MICIN Microphone channel
2 GND Ground
3 FP-VREFOUT Microphone Power
4 NC NC
5 LINE out_R Analog Port - Right channel
6 MIC_JD Jack detection return from front panel microphone JACK1
7 GND GND
8 NC No control
9 LINE out_L Analog Port - Left channel
10 LINEout_JD Jack detection return from front panel JACK2

S/PDIF-Out Connector: SPDO1 (for HDMI graphics card only)

This connector is used to connect S/PDIF (Sony & Philips Digital Interconnect Format)
interface for digital audio transmission to the HDMI graphics card.

GND

2

SPDIFO

1

SPDO1

2-17

MS-7320 Mainboard

Front USB Connector: JUSB1 / JUSB2 / JUSB3

This connector, compliant with Intel® I/O Connectivity Design Guide, is ideal for con­necting high-speed USB interface peripherals such as USB HDD, digital cameras,

MP3 players, printers, modems and the like.

Pin Definition

2

1

JUSB1~3

10

9

PIN SIGNAL PIN SIGNAL

1 VCC 2 VCC
3 USB0- 4 USB1­5 USB0+ 6 USB1+
7 GND 8 GND
9 Key (no pin) 10 USBOC

USB 2.0 Bracket

(Optional)

Important

Note that the pins of VCC and GND must be connected correctly to avoid
possible damage.

2-18

Hardware Setup

IEEE1394 Connector: J1394_1

This connector allows you to connect the IEEE1394 device via an optional IEEE1394
bracket.

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL PIN SIGNAL

1 9

2 10

J1394_1

(The 1394 connector

is in Green color.)

1 TPA+ 2 TPA­3 Ground 4 Ground
5 TPB+ 6 TPB­7 Cable power 8 Cable power
9 Key (no pin) 10 Ground

IEEE1394 Bracket (Optional)

Serial Port Connector: JCOM1

This connector is a 16550A high speed communication port that sends/receives 16
bytes FIFOs. You can attach a serial device.

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 DCD Data Carry Detect

2
1 9

JCOM1

2 SIN Serial In or Receive Data
3 SOUT Serial Out or Transmit Data
4 DTR Data Terminal Ready
5 GND Ground
6 DSR Data Set Ready
7 RTS Request To Send
8 CTS Clear To Send
9 RI Ring Indicate

2-19

MS-7320 Mainboard

Front Panel Connectors: JFP1, JFP2

These connectors are for electrical connection to the front panel switches and LEDs.
The JFP1 is compliant with Intel® Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design Guide.

JFP1

10

-

Power
Switch++

Power
LED

JFP1 Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 HD_LED + Hard disk LED pull-up
2 FP PWR/SLP MSG LED pull-up
3 HD_LED - Hard disk active LED
4 FP PWR/SLP MSG LED pull-up
5 RST_SW - Reset Switch low reference pull-down to GND
6 PWR_SW + Power Switch high reference pull-up
7 RST_SW + Reset Switch high reference pull-up
8 PWR_SW - Power Switch low reference pull-down to GND
9 RSVD_DNU Reserved. Do not use.

9

+

Reset

-

Switch

-

HDD

2

LED

1

2-20

JFP2

8

+

Speaker

-

JFP2 Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 GND Ground
2 SPK- Speaker­3 SLED Suspend LED
4 BUZ+ Buzzer+
5 PLED Power LED
6 BUZ- Buzzer­7 NC No connection
8 SPK+ Speaker+

7

-

+

Power
LED

12

Hardware Setup

D-Bracket™ 2 Connector: JDB1

This connector is for you to connect to the D-Bracket™2 which integrates four LEDs
and USB ports. It allows users to identify system problems through 16 various com­binations of LED signals.

D-Bracket™ 2

(Optional)

Connected to

2

1

DBR1

DBR2

DBR3

DBR4

NC

10

9

JDB1

DBG1

DBG3

DBG2

Red

LED Signal

1 2
3 4

1 2
3 4

1 2
3 4

1 2
3 4

1 2
3 4

DBG4

Connected to USB
connector

Key (no-pin)

Green

Description

System Power ON
The D-LED will hang here if the
processor is damaged or not in­stalled properly.

Early Chipset Initialization

Memory Detection Test
Testing onboard memory size. The
D-LED will hang if the memory mod­ule is damaged or not installed
properly.

Decompressing BIOS image to RAM
for fast booting.

Initializing Keyboard Controller.

LED Signal

1 2
3 4

1 2
3 4

1 2
3 4

1 2
3 4

1 2
3 4

1 2
3 4

Description

Initializing Video Interface
This will start detecting CPU clock,
checking type of video onboard. Then,
detect and initialize the video adapter.

BIOS Sign On
This will start showing information
about logo, processor brand name,
etc...

Testing Base and Extended Memory
Testing base memory from 240K to
640K and extended memory above
1MB using various patterns.

Assign Resources to all ISA.

Initializing Hard Drive Controller
This will initialize IDE drive and
controller.

LEDs

1 2
3 4

1 2
3 4

1 2
3 4

Testing VGA BIOS
This will start writing VGA sign-on
message to the screen.

Processor Initialization
This will show information regarding
the processor (like brand name, sys­tem bus, etc...)

Testing RTC (Real Time Clock)

1 2
3 4

1 2
3 4

1 2
3 4

Initializing Floppy Drive Controller
This will initialize Floppy Drive and
controller.

Boot Attempt
This will set low stack and boot via
INT 19h.

Operating System Booting

2-21

MS-7320 Mainboard

Button

This motherboard provides the following button for you to set the computer’s function.
This section will explain how to change your motherboard’s function through the use
of button.

Clear CMOS Button: SW3

There is a CMOS RAM on board that has a power supply from external battery to
keep the system configuration data. With the CMOS RAM, the system can automati­cally boot OS every time it is turned on. If you want to clear the system configuration,
use the button to clear data. Press the button to clear the data.

SW3

Important

Make sure that you power off the system before clearing CMOS data.

2-22

Hardware Setup

Slots

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express Slots

The PCI Express slot supports the PCI Express interface expansion card.
The PCI Express x 16 supports up to 4.0 GB/s transfer rate.
The PCI Express x 8 supports up to 2.0 GB/s transfer rate.
The PCI Express x 1 supports up to 250 MB/s transfer rate.

PCI Express x16 slot

PCI Express x1 Slot

Important

When adding or removing expansion cards, make sure that you unplug the
power supply first. Meanwhile, read the documentation for the expansion
card to configure any necessary hardware or software settings for the expan­sion card, such as jumpers, switches or BIOS configuration.

2-23

MS-7320 Mainboard

NV SLI Technology

NVIDIA SLI (Scalable Link Interface) technology allows two GPUs to run in tandem
within a system to achieve up to twice the performance of a single graphics card. To
utilize this technology, the two GPU cards must be connected by an SLI Video Link
cable.

SLI Video Link cable

If you intend to use the SLI mode for better graphics performance, please refer to the
following instructions.

1.Install two graphics cards on PCI Express x16 slots. With two cards installed, an
SLI Video Link cable is required to connect the golden fingers on the top of these two
graphics cards (refer to the picture below). Please note that although you have
installed two graphics cards, only the video outputs on the first card will work.
Hence, you only need to connect a monitor to the first PCI Express card.

SLI Video Link cable

Important

1. Mainboard photos shown in this section are for demonstration only. The
appearance of your mainboard may vary depending on the model you purchase.

2. If you intend to install TWO x16 graphics cards for SLI mode, make sure
that:

a. these two graphics cards are of the same brand and specifications;
b. these two cards are installed on both white PCIE x16 slots.

3. If you intend to install only ONE x16 graphics card, make sure that:
a. the graphics card is Installed on one of the two white PCIE x16 slots;

4. Make sure that you connect an adequate power supply to the JPW1

connector (or to the power connection on the graphics card) to ensure
stable operation of the graphics card.

2-24

Hardware Setup

2. After the hardware installation is completed, restart the system and install the NV
SLI driver/utility. A configuration panel will be provided for Multi-GPU control. Check
the Enable multi-GPU box to enable the SLI function for the onboard graphics
cards (concerning the details of multi-GPU settings, please refer to your graphics
card manual) .

Check the box

3. Restart your system and a pop-up will show in the system tray confirming that
Multi-GPU has been enabled.

Important

If you want to remove one graphics card and quit the SLI function, make sure
the "MultiGPU" function is disabled.

2-25

MS-7320 Mainboard

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
over which devices can send interrupt signals to the microprocessor. The PCI IRQ
pins are typically connected to the PCI bus pins as follows:

Order 1 Order 2 Order 3 Order 4
PCI Slot 1 INT A# INT B# INT C# INT D#
PCI Slot 2 INT B# INT C# INT D# INT A#

2-26

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.

² You want to change the default settings for cus-

tomized features.

3-1

MS-7320 Mainboard

Entering Setup

Power on the computer and the system will start POST (Power On Self Test) process.
When 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. You may
also restart the system by simultaneously pressing <Ctrl>, <Alt>, and <Delete> keys.

Important

1.The items under each BIOS category described in this chapter are under
continuous update for better system performance. Therefore, the descrip­tion may be slightly different from the latest BIOS and should be held for
reference only.

2.Upon boot-up, the 1st line appearing after the memory count is the BIOS
version. It is usually in the format:

A7320NMS V1.0 033007 where:

1st digit refers to BIOS maker as A = AMI, W = AWARD, and P =
PHOENIX.
2nd - 5th digit refers to the model number.
6th digit refers to the chipset as I = Intel, N = nVidia, and V = VIA.
7th - 8th digit refers to the customer as MS = all standard customers.
V1.0 refers to the BIOS version.
033007 refers to the date this BIOS was released.

3-2

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
<Esc> Jumps to the Exit menu or returns to the main menu from a

<+/PU> Increase the numeric value or make changes
<-/PD> Decrease the numeric value or make changes
<F6> Load Optimized Defaults
<F8> Load Fail-Safe Defaults
<F10> Save all the CMOS changes and exit

BIOS Setup

submenu

Getting Help

After entering the Setup menu, the first menu you will see is the Main Menu.

Main Menu

The main menu lists the setup functions you can make changes to. You can use the
arrow keys ( ↑↓ ) to select the item. The on-line description of the highlighted setup
function is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Sub-Menu

If you find a right pointer symbol (as shown in the right
view) appears to the left of certain fields that means a
sub-menu can be launched from this field. A sub-menu
contains additional options for a field parameter. You can use arrow keys ( ↑↓ ) to
highlight the field and press <Enter> to call up the sub-menu. Then you can use the
control keys to enter values and move from field to field within a sub-menu. If you
want to return to the main menu, just press the <Esc >.

General Help <F1>

The BIOS setup program provides a General Help screen. You can call up this screen
from any menu by simply pressing <F1>. The Help screen lists the appropriate keys
to use and the possible selections for the highlighted item. Press <Esc> to exit the
Help screen.

3-3

MS-7320 Mainboard

The Main Menu

Standard CMOS 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.

Integrated Peripherals

Use this menu to specify your settings for integrated peripherals.

Power Management Setup

Use this menu to specify your settings for power management.

PNP/PCI Configurations

This entry appears if your system supports PnP/PCI.

H/W Monitor

This entry shows your PC health status.

Cell Menu

Use this menu to specify your settings for frequency/voltage control and overclocking.

Load Fail-Safe Defaults

Use this menu to load the default values set by the BIOS vendor for stable system
performance.

3-4

BIOS Setup

Load Optimized Defaults

Use this menu to load the default values set by the mainboard manufacturer specifi­cally 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.

Exit Without Saving

Abandon all changes and exit setup.

3-5

MS-7320 Mainboard

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).
The format is <day><month> <date> <year>.

day Day of the week, from Sun to Sat, determined by

BIOS. Read-only.

month The month from Jan. through Dec.
date The date from 1 to 31 can be keyed by numeric function keys.
year The year can be adjusted by users.

Time (HH:MM:SS)

This allows you to set the system time that you want (usually the current time). The
time format is <hour> <minute> <second>.

Primary IDE Master/ Slave & Serial-ATA 1~6 Channel

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu, and the following screen appears.

Device/ Vender/ Size

It will showing the device information that you connected to the IDE/ SATA
connectors.

3-6

BIOS Setup

LBA/Large Mode

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.

DMA Mode

Select DMA Mode.

Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T.

This allows you to activate the S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis & Reporting
Technology) capability for the hard disks. S.M.A.R.T. is a utility that monitors
your disk status to predict hard disk failure. This gives you an opportunity to
move data from a hard disk that is going to fail to a safe place before the hard
disk becomes offline.

Important

IDE Primary Master/ Slave & Serial-ATA1~6 are appearing when you
connect the HD devices to the SATA connector on the mainboard.

Floppy Drive A

This item allows you to set the type of floppy drives installed. Available options:
[None], [360K, 5.25 in.], [1.2M, 5.25 in.], [720K, 3.5 in.], [1.44M, 3.5 in.], [2.88M, 3.5 in.].

System Information

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu, and the following screen appears.

This sub-menu shows the CPU information, BIOS version and memory status of your
system (read only).

3-7

MS-7320 Mainboard

Advanced BIOS Features

Boot Sector Protection

This function protects the BIOS from accidental corruption by unauthorized users or
computer viruses. When enabled, the BIOS’ data cannot be changed when attempt­ing to update the BIOS with a Flash utility. To successfully update the BIOS, you’ll
need to disable this Flash BIOS Protection function.
You should enable this function at all times. The only time when you need to disable
it is when you want to update the BIOS. After updating the BIOS, you should immedi­ately re-enable it to protect it against viruses.

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.
[Disabled] Shows the POST messages at boot.

Quick Boot

Setting the item to [Enabled] allows the system to boot within 10 seconds since it will
skip some check items.

Boot Up Num-Lock LED

This setting is to set the Num Lock status when the system is powered on. Setting to
[On] will turn on the Num Lock key when the system is powered on. Setting to [Off]
will allow users to use the arrow keys on the numeric keypad.

3-8

BIOS Setup

IOAPIC Function

This field is used to enable or disable the APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt
Controller). Due to compliance with PC2001 design guide, the system is able to run in
APIC mode. Enabling APIC mode will expand available IRQ resources for the system.

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.

CPU Feature

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears:

Execute Bit Support

Intel's Execute Disable Bit functionality can prevent certain classes of malicious
"buffer overflow" attacks when combined with a supporting operating system.
This functionality allows the processor to classify areas in memory by where
application code can execute and where it cannot. When a malicious worm
attempts to insert code in the buffer, the processor disables code execution,
preventing damage or worm propagation.

C1E Support

This item allows you to enable the C1E (Enhanced Halt State).

Set Limit CPUID MaxVal to 3

The Max CPUID Value Limit is designed to limit the listed speed of the processor
to older operating systems.

Chipset Feature

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears:

HPET

The HPET (High Precision Event Timers) is a component that is part of the chipset.
You can to enable it, and will provide you with the means to get to it via the
various ACPI methods.

3-9

MS-7320 Mainboard

C55(NB) to NVIDIA(SB) Frequency

This item is used to specify the frequency from north bridge to south beidge.

Boot Sequence

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears:

1st/ 2nd/ 3rd Boot Device

The items allow you to set the first/ second/ third boot device where BIOS
attempts to load the disk operating system.

Boot From Other Device

Setting the option to [Yes] allows the system to try to boot from other device. if
the system fails to boot from the 1st/ 2nd/ 3rd boot device.

3-10

Integrated Peripherals

BIOS Setup

USB Controller

This setting allows you to enable/disable the onboard USB controller.

USB Device Legacy Support

Select [Enabled] if you need to use a USB-interfaced device in the operating system.

Onboard LAN Controller

This item is used to enable/disable the onboard LAN controller.

Onboard 2nd LAN Controller

This item is used to enable/disable the onboard 2nd LAN controller.

LAN Option ROM

This item is used to decide whether to invoke the Boot ROM of the LAN controller.

Onboard IEEE1394 Controller

This item allows you to enable/disable the onboard IEEE1394 controller.

HD Audio Controller

This setting is used to enable/disable the onboard audio controller.

Onboard E-SATA Controller

This item is used to enable/disable the onboard external SATA controller.

Onbaord E-SATA Option ROM

This item is used to decide whether to invoke the Boot ROM of the external controller.

3-11

MS-7320 Mainboard

On-Chip ATA Devices

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears:

On-Chip IDE Controller

This item allows you to enable/ disable the IDE controller.

PCI IDE BusMaster

This item allows you to enable/ disable BIOS to used PCI busmastering for
reading/ writing to IDE drives.

On-Chip SATA Controller

This item allows you to enable/ disable the SATA controller.

RAID mode

This item allows you to enable/ disable the RAID function. Select [RAID] will
enable RAID.

I/O Devices

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears:

COM Port 1

Select an address and corresponding interrupt for the first serial port.

Parallel Port

There is a built-in parallel port on the on-board Super I/O chipset that provides
Standard, ECP, and EPP features. It has the following options:

[3BC] Line Printer port 0
[278] Line Printer port 2
[378] Line Printer port 1

Parallel Port Mode

[Normal] Stardand Parallel Port
[EPP] Enhanced Parallel Port
[ECP] Extended Capability Port

[Bi-Directional]Extended Capability Port + Enhanced Parallel Port
To operate the onboard parallel port as Standard Parallel Port only, choose
[Normal]. 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 [Bi-Direction] will allow the onboard parallel port to support
both the ECP and EPP modes simultaneously.

3-12

Power Management Setup

BIOS 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 2000/
XP, select [Enabled].

ACPI Standby State

This item specifies the power saving modes for ACPI function. If your operating
system supports ACPI, such as Windows 2000/ XP , you can choose to enter the
Standby mode in S1(POS) or S3(STR) fashion through the setting of this field. Set­tings are:

[S1] The S1 sleep mode is a low power state. In this state, no

system context is lost (CPU or chipset) and hardware main­tains all system context.

[S3] The S3 sleep mode is a lower power state where the in

formation of system configuration and open applications/files
is saved to main memory that remains powered while most
other hardware components turn off to save energy. The
information stored in memory will be used to restore the sys­tem when a “wake up” event occurs.

3-13

MS-7320 Mainboard

Power Button Function

This feature sets the function of the power button. Settings are:

[Power Off] The power button functions as normal power off button.
[Suspend] When 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.

Restore On AC Power Loss

This item specifies whether your system will reboot after a power failure or interrupt
occurs. Settings are:

[Off] Always leaves the computer in the power off state.
[On] Always leaves the computer in the power on state.
[Last State] Restores the system to the status before power failure

or interrupt occurred.

Wake Up Event Setup

Press <Enter> and the following sub-menu appears.

Resume From S3 by USB Device

The item allows the activity of the USB device to wake up the system from S3
(Suspend to RAM) sleep state.

Resume From S3 By PS/2 Keyboard

This setting determines whether the system will be awakened from what power
saving modes when input signal of the PS/2 keyboard is detected.

Resume From S3 By PS/2 Mouse

This setting determines whether the system will be awakened from what power
saving modes when input signal of the PS/2 mouse is detected.

Resume by PCI Device (PME#)

When set to [Enabled], the feature allows your system to be awakened from the
power saving modes through any event on PME (Power Management Event).

Resume by PCI-E Device

When set to [Enabled], the feature allows your system to be awakened from the
power saving modes through any event on PCI Express device.

3-14

BIOS Setup

Resume by Onbaord LAN

When set to [Enabled], the feature allows your system to be awakened from the
power saving modes through any event on LAN device.

Resume by RTC Alarm

The field is used to enable or disable the feature of booting up the system on a
scheduled time/date.

3-15

MS-7320 Mainboard

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. This section covers some very technical items and it is
strongly recommended that only experienced users should make any changes to the
default settings.

Primary Graphic’s Adapter

This setting specifies which graphics card is your primary graphics adapter.

PCI Latency Timer

This item controls how long each PCI device can hold the bus before another takes
over. When set to higher values, every PCI device can conduct transactions for a
longer time and thus improve the effective PCI bandwidth. For better PCI performance,
you should set the item to higher values.

PCI Slot 1/ 2 IRQ

These items specify the IRQ line for each PCI slot.

3-16

BIOS Setup

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 avail­able IRQs passed to devices that are configurable by the system BIOS. The
available IRQ pool is determined by reading the ESCD NVRAM. If more IRQs must
be removed from the IRQ pool, the end user can use these settings to reserve
the IRQ by assigning an [Reserved] setting to it. Onboard I/O is configured by
AMIBIOS. All IRQs used by onboard I/O are configured as [Available]. If all IRQs
are set to [Reserved], and IRQ 14/15 are allocated to the onboard PCI IDE, IRQ 9
will still be available for PCI and PnP devices.

Important

IRQ (Interrupt Request) lines are system resources allocated to I/O devices.
When an I/O device needs to gain attention of the operating system, it sig­nals this by causing an IRQ to occur. After receiving the signal, when the
operating system is ready, the system will interrupt itself and perform the
service required by the I/O device.

3-17

MS-7320 Mainboard

H/W Monitor

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.

CPU Smart FAN Target

The mainboard provides the Smart Fan function which can control the CPU fan speed
automatically depending on the current temperature to keep it with in a specific range.
You can select a fan target value here. If the current CPU fan temperature reaches to
the target value, the smart fan function will be activated. It provides several sections
to speed up for cooling down automaticlly.

CPU Fan Tolerance Value

When a particular temperature setting is selected for the previous item, CPU
Smart Fan Target, a temperature tolerance value between 1 to 5 can be

adjusted here.

SYS FAN1 / 2 Control (SYS FAN2 is for NBFAN1)

This item is used to specify the percentage of SYSFAN1/ 2 speed.

---- PC Health Status ---­ CPU/ System Temperature, CPU FAN/ SYS FAN1/ SYS FAN2 Speed, CPU

Vcore, 3.3V, 5V, 12V, 5VSB

These items display the current status of all of the monitored hardware devices/
components such as CPU voltage, temperatures and all fans’ speeds.

3-18

Cell Menu

BIOS Setup

Important

Change these settings only if you are familiar with the chipset.

Current CPU/ FSB/ DRAM Frequency

These items show the current clocks of CPU and Memory speed. Read-only.

D.O.T Control

D.O.T. (Dynamic Overclocking Technology) is the automatic overclocking function,
included in the MSITM’s newly developed CoreCell
detect the load balance of CPU while running programs, and to adjust the best CPU
frequency automatically. When the motherboard detects CPU is running programs, it
will speed up CPU automatically to make the program run smoothly and faster. When
the CPU is temporarily suspending or staying in the low load balance, it will restore
the default settings instead. Usually the Dynamic Overclocking Technology will be
powered only when users' PC need to run huge amount of data like 3D games or the
video process, and the CPU frequency need to be boosted up to enhance the overall
performance. Settings are:

[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%.
[Commander] 6th level of overclocking, increasing the frequency by 15%.

TM

Technology. It is designed to

3-19

MS-7320 Mainboard

Important

Even though the Dynamic Overclocking Technology is more stable than
manual overclocking, basically, it is still risky. We suggest user to make
sure that your CPU can afford to overclocking regularly first. If you find the
PC appears to be unstable or reboot incidentally, it's better to disable the
Dynamic Overclocking or to lower the level of overclocking options. By the
way, if you need to conduct overclocking manually, you also need to disable
the Dynamic OverClocking first.

Intel EIST

The Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology allows you to set the performance level of
the microprocessor whether the computer is running on battery or AC power. This
field will appear after you installed the CPU which support speedstep technology.

System Clock Mode

This item is used to switch the following two items.

FSB Clock (MHz)

When the System Clock Mode sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable. This
item allows you to select the CPU Front Side Bus clock frequency (in MHz).

Memory Clock (MHz)

When the System Clock Mode sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable.This item
allows you to select the memory clock frequency (in MHz).

Advance DRAM Configuration

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears.

3-20

BIOS Setup

Memory Timings

Selects whether DRAM timing is controlled by the SPD (Serial Presence Detect)
EEPROM on the DRAM module. Setting to [Auto By SPD] enables DRAM timings
and the following related items to be determined by BIOS based on the configu­rations on the SPD. Selecting [Manual] allows users to configure the DRAM
timings and the following related items manually.

TCL (CAS Latency)

When the Memory Timings sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable.This con­trols the CAS latency, which determines the timing delay (in clock cycles) before
SDRAM starts a read command after receiving it.

TRCD

When the Memory Timings sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable. When
DRAM is refreshed, both rows and columns are addressed separately. This
setup item allows you to determine the timing of the transition from RAS (row
address strobe) to CAS (column address strobe). The less the clock cycles, the
faster the DRAM performance.

TRP

When the Memory Timings sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable. This item
controls the number of cycles for Row Address Strobe (RAS) to be allowed to
precharge. If insufficient time is allowed for the RAS to accumulate its charge
before DRAM refresh, refreshing may be incomplete and DRAM may fail to retain
data. This item applies only when synchronous DRAM is installed in the system.

TRAS

When the Memory Timings sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable. This setting
determines the time RAS takes to read from and write to a memory cell.

CMD

This field controls the SDRAM command rate. Selecting [1T] makes SDRAM
signal controller to run at 1T (T=clock cycles) rate. Selecting [2T] makes SDRAM
signal controller run at 2T rate.

TRRD

When the Memory Timings sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable. Specifies
the active-to-active delay of different banks.

TRC

When the Memory Timings sets to [Manual], the field is adjustable. The row
cycle time determines the minimum number of clock cycles a memory row takes
to complete a full cycle, from row activation up to the precharging of the active
row.

TWR

When the Memory Timings is set to [Manual], the field is adjustable. It speci­fies the amount of delay (in clock cycles) that must elapse after the completion
of a valid write operation, before an active bank can be precharged. This delay

3-21

MS-7320 Mainboard

is required to guarantee that data in the write buffers can be written to the
memory cells before precharge occurs.

TWTR

When the Memory Timings is set to [Manual], the field is adjustable. This item
controls the Write Data In to Read Command Delay memory timing. This consti­tutes the minimum number of clock cycles that must occur between the last
valid write operation and the next read command to the same internal bank of
the DDR device.

TREF

When the Memory Timings is set to [Manual], the field is adjustable. Specifies
the refresh rate of the DIMM requiring the most frequent refresh.

Adjust PCI-E Frequency

This field allows you to select the PCIE frequency (in MHz).

CPU Voltage

This item allows you to increase the CPU voltage.

Memory Voltage

Adjusting the memory voltage can increase the DDR speed.

NB Voltage

Adjust the North Bridge chipset voltage.

SB Voltage

Adjust the South Bridge voltage.

FSB VTT Voltage

This item allows you to set the FSB VTT voltage.

Spread Spectrum

This setting is used to enable or disable the Spread Spectrum feature. When
overclocking, always set it to [Disabled].

Important

1.If you do not have any EMI problem, leave the setting at [Disabled] for
optimal system stability and performance. But if you are plagued by EMI,
select the value of Spread Spectrum for EMI reduction.

2.The greater the Spread Spectrum value is, the greater the EMI is reduced,
and the system will become less stable. For the most suitable Spread
Spectrum value, please consult your local EMI regulation.

3.Remember to disable Spread Spectrum if you are overclocking because
even a slight jitter can introduce a temporary boost in clock speed which
may just cause your overclocked processor to lock up.

3-22

BIOS Setup

Load Fail-Safe/ Optimized Defaults

The two options on the main menu allow users to restore all of the BIOS settings to
the default Fail-Safe or Optimized values. The Optimized Defaults are the default
values set by the mainboard manufacturer specifically for optimal performance of the
mainboard. The Fail-Safe Defaults are the default values set by the BIOS vendor for
stable system performance.

When you select Load Fail-Safe Defaults, a message as below appears:

Selecting Ok and pressing Enter loads the BIOS default values for the most stable,
minimal system performance.

When you select Load Optimized Defaults, a message as below appears:

Selecting Ok and pressing Enter loads the default factory settings for optimal sys­tem performance.

3-23

MS-7320 Mainboard

BIOS Setting Password

When 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. Retype the password and press <Enter>. You
may also press <Esc> to abort the selection and not enter a password.
To clear a set password, just press <Enter> when you are prompted to enter the
password. A message will show up confirming the password will be disabled. Once
the password is disabled, the system will boot and you can enter Setup without
entering any password.
When a password has been set, you will be prompted to enter it every time you try
to enter Setup. This prevents an unauthorized person from changing any part of your
system configuration.

3-24

Creative Sound Blaster

Appendix A

Creative Sound Blaster

The mainboard is equipped with Creative Audio chip. It
supports up to 8-channel & SPDIF audio effect and al­lows the board to attach 2, 4, 6 or 8 speakers for better
surround sound effect. The section will tell you how to
install and use 2-, 4-, 6- or 8-channel audio function on
the board.

A-1

MS-7320 Mainboard

Hardware Setup

Connecting the Speakers

When 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 Mode 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.

Back Panel

7

1 No function
2 Line Out (Front channels)
3 MIC & Line-In
4 No function
5 No function
6 S/PDIF Out-Optical
7 S/PDIF Out-Coaxial

1

2

3

4

5

6

A-2

n 4-Channel Mode for 4-Speaker Output

Creative Sound Blaster

1

4

2

5

3

7

6

4-Channel Analog Audio Output

1 No function
2 Line Out (Front channels)
3 MIC & Line-In
4 Line Out (Rear channels)
5 No function
6 S/PDIF Out-Optical
7 S/PDIF Out-Coaxial

A-3

MS-7320 Mainboard

n 6-Channel Mode for 6-Speaker Output

1

4

2

5

3

7

6

6-Channel Analog Audio Output

1 No function
2 Line Out (Front channels)
3 MIC
4 Line Out (Rear channels)
5 Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channel)
6 S/PDIF Out-Optical
7 S/PDIF Out-Coaxial

A-4

n 8-Channel Mode for 8-Speaker Output

Creative Sound Blaster

1

4

2

5

3

7

6

8-Channel Analog Audio Output

1 Line Out (Side channels)
2 Line Out (Front channels)
3 MIC
4 Line Out (Rear channels)
5 Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channels)
6 S/PDIF Out-Optical
7 S/PDIF Out-Coaxial

A-5

MS-7320 Mainboard

Installing the Creative Audio Driver

You need to install the driver for Creative CA0110 to function properly before you can
get access to 2-, 4-, 6- or 8- channel and SPDIF audio operations. Follow the proce­dures described below to install the drivers for different operating systems.

Installation for Windows 2000/XP

For Windows® 2000, you must install Windows® 2000 Service Pack4 or later before
installing the driver. And for Windows® XP, you must install Windows® XP Service
Pack1 or later before installing the driver.

The following illustrations are based on Windows® XP environment and could look
slightly different if you install the drivers in different operating systems.

1. Insert the Creative audio driver CD into the CD-ROM drive. The setup screen will
automatically appear.

2. Click Next to enter the next page.

Important

The screens shown in this chapter may be slightly different from the latest
software utility and shall be held for reference only.

A-6

Creative Sound Blaster

3. Select the region that you needed from the scroll list .

4. Select the language that you needed from the scroll list .

5. On the next page, click Install to start the installation and follow the setup instruc­tions to complete the installation.

6. Finally, you have to restart the system on the last step .

A-7

MS-7320 Mainboard

Software Configuration

After installing the creative audio driver, you are able to use the 2-, 4-, 6- or 8­channel and the SPDIF audio features now. Double click the creative volume control
audio icon from the system tray at the lower-right corner of the screen to activate
the Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Applications, simply click on each icon button to
enter the configuration screen. Or you can move the mouse to the top of screen and
a Creative MediaSource Go quickstart bar will float on the desktop, simply click on
each icon button to enter the configuration screen.

Creative MediaSource Go quick start bar

A-8

Creative volume control icon

Creative Sound Blaster

Creative MediaSource Go! Launcher

Click the Creative MediaSource Go! Launcher icon to enter it’s configuraton
screen.

Creatvie MediaSource Go! Launcher consists of various tabs such as Programs,
Product Settings, Product Support and Companion Products. In each tab,
you can access different applications, called Tasks. For more information and usage
details on each Task, please refer to its online Help (simply click on the “?” button to
get the online help information).

click on this button to get the online help information

A-9

MS-7320 Mainboard

SOUNDFONT BANK MANAGER

Click the SOUNDFONT® BANK MANAGER icon to enter it’s configuraton screen.

With SoundFont Bank Manager (SFBM), you can:

click on this button to get the online help information

- Load SoundFont banks

Replace the default sounds on your computer with the high-quality sound of a
SoundFont bank.

- Adjust SoundFont cache memory

Allocate SoundFont cache memory according to your needs, to better utilize the
memory resources of yout computer.

- Audition presets on your computer

The virtual keyboard in SFBM allows you to audition presets quickly on your computer.
You can also audition presets from an external MIDI device, such as a MIDI keyboard.

- Edit SoundFont banks

Perfrom simple editing tasks like creating new SoundFont banks, and copying pre­sets from one SoundFont to another.

For more information and usage details on each Task, please refer to its online Help
(simply click on the “?” button to get the online help information).

Important

SFBM is compatible with SoundFont 1.0, 2.0, and 2.1 file formats.

A-10

Creative Sound Blaster

Creative MediaSourceTM Play/ Organizer

Click the Creative MediaSourceTM Play/ Organizer icon to enter it’s configuraton
screen.

Creative MediaSourceTM Player/ Oraganizer is your digital music center for playing ,
creating, organizing and transferring digital music. This is your ultimate all-in-one
digital entertainment software.
With Creative MediaSourceTM Player/ Oraganizer, you can:

click on this button to get the online help information

- clean up and convert your vinyl records and cassette tapes to digital formats with
the integrated recorder.

- rip CDs and create high quality digital audio files (up to 320 kbps for WMA).

- use the Super Rip feature on your audio CDs to get superior quality audio tracks
enhanced with X-Fi Cystalizer, X-Fi CMSS-3D Surround and X-Fi CMSS-3D
Headphone effects.

- burn personalized MP3 and audio CDs with a CD-writer, and print your own CD
covers.

- organize your digital music collection with a powerful, easy to use music library.

- search for tracks with an advanced Find feature that searches as your type.

- transfer tracks and files seamlessly to and from your digital audio players with
AudioSync and SmartFit.

- automatically generate playlists from your music library, based on your preferences,
with Smart Playlist.

- rate each track (up to 5 stars) to automatically generate playlists of songs you like/
dislike, with Smart Playlist.

- play Copy ControlTM CDs.

- use Smart Crossfade to enjoy continuous audio. Smart Crossfade uses crossfading
and beatmatching to link tracks together.

- add cover art to audio files.

Some features and options are available only with selected products.

For more information and usage details on each Task, please refer to its online Help
(simply click on the “?” button to get the online help information).

A-11

MS-7320 Mainboard

Entertainment Mode Console

Click the Entertainment Mode icon to enter it’s configuraton screen.

Your audio device can operate in Entertainment Mode, Game Mode, where there are
available. In Entertainment Mode, you audio device is optimized for movie soundtrack
and music playback.
You can adjust configure Entertainment Mode settings in the Entertainment Mode
consloe. With the Entertainment Mode console, you can:

click on this button to get the online help information

- Adjust master volume or speaker volume, bass and treble levels.

- Adjust volume mixer settings.

- Configure playback settings for your speakers or headphones.

- Adjust equalizer settings.

- Enable environment effects.

- Enable multichannel upmixing.

- Enable virtual surround sound.

- Enhance detail and impact of audio with X-FiTM Crystalizer

Some choices are different for selected audio devices.

For more information and usage details on each Task, please refer to its online Help
(simply click on the “?” button to get the online help information).

A-12

TM.

Creative Sound Blaster

The following table explains the function of each control on the main
interface.

Close button - Closes the Entertainment Mode console.

Minimize button - Reduce the Entertainment Mode console window.

Help button - Displays information about the Entertainment Mode consloe.
Select Help Contents to display the online Help. Click the Contents tab and
select a topic, or click the Search tab and search for a specific topic by
entering a keyword.

Volume control - Adjusts the master volume or speaker volume.

Mute button - Mutes the master volume or speaker volume.

Default button - Reverts all the settings in Entertainment Mode to the
default.

Main Display button - Reverts to the main display. This button
disappears when you are in the main display.

Speaker button - Display the speaker settings.

EAX Effects button - Display the EAX Effects settings.

X-Fi CMSS-3D button - Display the X-Fi CMSS-3D settings.

X-Fi Crystalizer button - Display the X-Fi Crystalizer settings.

EQ button - Display the EQ settings.

Mixer button - Display the volume mixer settings.

Performance button - Display the sampling rate and bit depth settings.

A-13

MS-7320 Mainboard

Speaker & Headphone

Click on the speaker button to enter its configuration screen.

Here you can adjust your speakers configuration. You can use it to select your type
of speaker system, and to adjust the volume and cuff frequency for your subwoofer.

This is the main application to use for the following tasks:

- Designating the number and configuration of speakers to use => select the

speakers type that you conneted.

- Testing your speakers => click on the Channel or Noise button to test the speakers.

For more information and usage details on MIXER, refer to its online Help (click on the
“?” button).

A-14

Creative Sound Blaster

X-Fi CMSS-3D

Click on the X-Fi CMSS-3D button to enter its configuration screen.

X-Fi CMSS-3D

Creative MultiSpeaker Surround (CMSS) 3D makes ordinary two-channel (Left and
Right Stereo) sound seem to surround you, even through only two speakers. For
users with 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 multichannel speaker systems, CMSS can also simulate
surround sound from ordinary stereo. This is useful for watching DVDs and VCDs,
which contain only stereo soundtracks, or listening to CDs with two-channel audio.
To enable the CMSS 3D configuration mean by check the Enable X-Fi CMSS-3D
Virtual item. Then you can select CMSS for multichannel audio enhancement on 4/4.
1, 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 speaker systems.

Important

To enable the X-Fi CMSS-3D Virtual item when you want to use 4/ 5.1/ 7.
1 channel audio-out.
The multichannel upmix depends on your speakers and your speaker
settings. For example, if you want to upmix to 5.1 channels, make sure you
have connected 5.1-channel speakers to audio jacks, and have selected
the 5.1 speaker option in your speakers & headphone setup.

A-15

Appendix B

nVidia RAID

NVIDIA brings Redundant Array of Independent Disks
(RAID) technology—which is used by the world’s lead­ing businesses—to the common PC desktop. This tech­nology 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.

nVidia RAID

B-1

MS-7320 Mainboard

Introduction

System Requirement

Operating System Support

NVRAID supports the following operating systems:

Windows XP/2000 & Vista

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.
RAID 1: RAID 1 defines techniques for mirroring data.
RAID 0+1: RAID 0+1 combines the techniques used in RAID 0 and RAID 1 arrays.
RAID 5: RAID 5 defines techniques for parity data.
Spanning (JBOD): JBOD provides a method for combining drives of different sizes
into one large disk

Summary of RAID Configurations

Array Uses Advantages Drawbacks # Hard

RAID 0 Non-critical data

requiring high
performance.

RAID 1 Small databases or any

other small capacity
environment requiring
fault tolerance.

RAID 0+1 Critical data requiring

high performance.

RAID 5 Critical data and

reasonable level of
performance.

JBOD Combining odd size

drives into one big drive

High data throughput. No fault tolerance. multiple None

100% data
redundancy.

Optimized for both
100% data
redundancy and
performance.
Allows spare disks.

Fault tolerance and
better utilization of
disk space.

Combines and uses
the capacity of odd
size drives.

Requires 2 drives for
the storage space of 1
drive.

Requires 2 drives for
the storage space of 1
drive—the same as
RAID level 1.

Decreased write
performance due to
parity calculations.
Requires at least
three drives.

Decreases
performance because
of the difficulty in
using drives
concurrently or to
optimize drives for
different uses.

Disks

2 Yes

4+ Yes

3+ Yes

Multiple No

Fault
Tolerance

B-2

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. (Refer the

bios section for details.)

2. Specify the RAID level, either Mirroring (RAID 1), Striping (RAID 0), Striping and

Mirroring (RAID 0+1), RAID 5 or JBOD and create the desired RAID array.

3. Enter the Windows OS, run the Windows nForce Setup application and install the

RAID software. (Check p.B-9 for details.)

4. Initialize the NVRAID Array Disks.

Bootable RAID Array

1. Choose the hard disks that are to be RAID enabled in the system BIOS.(Refer the

bios section for details.)

2. Specify the RAID level, either Mirroring (RAID 1), Striping (RAID 0), Striping and

Mirroring (RAID 0+1), RAID 5 or JBOD and create the desired RAID array.

3. Boot from the Windows CD, use the floppy disk that has the RAID driver to copy

and install the nForce RAID software. (Check p.B-7 for details.)

4. Initialize the NVRAID Array Disks.

Setting Up the NVRAID BIOS

Be sure to enable the RAID mode for SATA devices in BIOS before configuring the
NVRAID BIOS. After that press F10 to save the configuration and exit. The PC will
reboot right away. Then enter the RAID BIOS Setup by pressing F10 when prompted,
and follow the procedures described below to set up the NVRAID BIOS.
NVRAID BIOS setup lets you choose the RAID array type and which hard drives you
want to make part of the array.

Entering the RAID BIOS Setup

1. After rebooting your PC, wait until you see the RAID software prompting you to

press F10. The RAID prompt ap­pears as part of the system POST
and boot process prior to loading
the OS.

2. Press F10, and the NVIDIA RAID

Utility --- Define a New Array win­dow will appear.
The default RAID Mode is set to
Mirroring and Striping Block is
set to Optimal.

B-3

MS-7320 Mainboard

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. In a
typical system there is usually one controller and multiple channels, and each chan­nel has a slave and a master.
The channel/controller/master/slave status of each hard disk is given in the Loc
(location) columns of the Free Disks and Array Disks lists.

In the example above, 1.0.M means the hard drive is attached to Controller 1, Channel
0, and the drive is set to Master. The following is a list of all possible combinations:

Serial ATA

1.0.M Controller 1, Channel 0, Master (SATA1)

1.1.M Controller 1, Channel 1, Master (SATA2)

2.0.M Controller 2, Channel 0, Master (SATA3)

2.1.M Controller 2, Channel 1, Master (SATA4)

3.0.M Controller 3, Channel 0, Master (SATA5)

3.1.M Controller 3, Channel 1, Master (SATA6)

Important

There is no such thing as Slave drive in Serial ATA. All drives are considered
to be Master since there is a one to one connection between the drive and the
controller.

B-4

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], [RAID5], [Spanning], or [Stripe Mirroring].

• Selecting the Striping Block Size

Striping Block size is given in kilobytes, and affects how data is arranged on the

disk. It is recommended to leave this value at the default [Optimal], which is 32KB, but
the values can be between [4 KB] and [128 KB].

• Assigning the Disks

The disks that you enabled from the RAID Config BIOS setup page appear in the Free
Disks block. These are the drives that are available for use as RAID array disks.

To designate a free disk to be used as a RAID array disk,

1. Tab to the Free Disks section. The first disk in the list is selected.

2. Move it from the Free Disks block to the Array Disks block by pressing the right

arrow key (-->). The first disk in the list is moved, and the next disk in the list is
selected and ready to be moved.

3. Continue pressing the right-arrow key (<-- ) until all the disks that you want to use

as RAID array disks appear in the Array Disks block.

It shows that two disks have been assigned as RAID1 array disks in the figure
above.

- Define a New Array -

B-5

MS-7320 Mainboard

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. You must choose Yes if the drives were previously used as RAID drives.
The Array List window appears, where you can review the RAID arrays that you
have set up.

3. Use the arrow keys to select the array that you want to set up, then press Enter.

The Array Detail window appears.

4. If you want to mark this disk as empty and wipe out all its contents then press C.

5. At the prompt, press Y to wipe out all the data, otherwise press N.

6.Press Enter again to go back to the previous window and then press Ctrl+X to

exit the RAID setup. Now that the RAID setup has been configured from the RAID
BIOS, the next step is to configure and load NVRAID drivers under Windows, as
explained in “Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under Windows” on p.B-9.

B-6

nVidia RAID

Installing the RAID Driver (for bootable RAID Array)

1. After you complete the RAID BIOS setup, boot from the Windows CD, and the

Windows Setup program starts.

2. Press F6 and wait for the Windows Setup screen to appear.

3. Specify the NVIDIA drivers:

(1)Insert the floppy that has the RAID driver, press S, then press Enter. The

Windows Setup screen appears as below:

Important

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\C55+MCP55\IDE\Win
XP\sataraid to a formatted floppy disk.

4.The driver disk for nVIDIA RAID controller is done.

(2)Select “NVIDIA RAID CLASS DRIVER” and then press Enter.
(3)Press S again at the Specify Devices screen, then press Enter.
(4)Select “NVIDIA NForce Storage Controller” and then press Enter. The follow-

ing Windows Setup screen appears listing both drivers:

B-7

MS-7320 Mainboard

4.Press Enter to continue with Windows XP Installation. Be sure to leave the floppy
disk inserted in the floppy drive until the blue screen portion of Windows XP
installation is completed, then take out the floppy.

5.Follow the instructions on how to install Windows XP. After Windows XP is com­pletely installed, it is recommended that you install the the RAID management tool.

Important

Each time you add a new hard drive to a RAID array, the RAID driver will have
to be installed under Windows once for that hard drive. After that, the driver
will not have to be installed.

B-8

nVidia RAID

NVIDIA RAID Utility Installation

Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under Windows
(for Non-bootable RAID Array)

The existing Windows 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).
This section describes how to run the setup application and install the RAID software
which will upgrade the Windows IDE driver and install the RAID software.

1.Start the NVIDIA nForce Drivers installation program to open the NVIDIA Windows

nForce Drivers page.

2.Select the modules that you want to install. Make sure that the “NVIDIA IDE Driver”

is selected.

Important

You must install the NVIDIA IDE driver in order to enable NVIDIA
RAID. If you do not install the NVIDIA IDE driver, NVIDIA RAID will not be

worked.

3.Click Next and then follow the instructions.

4.After the installation is completed, be sure to reboot the PC.

5.After the reboot, initialize the newly created array.

B-9

MS-7320 Mainboard

Initializing and Using the Disk Array

The RAID array is now ready to be initialized under Windows.

1.Launch Computer Management by clicking “Start” --> “Settings” --> “Control Panel”

then open the “ Administrative Tools” folder and double click on “Computer
Management”.

2.Click “Disk Management” (under the “ Storage” section). The Initialize and Convert

Disk Wizards appears.

3.Click Next. The Select Disks to Initialize window appears. The disks listed depend

on how many arrays you have configured.

4.Click Next. The Select Disks to Convert window appears.

B-10

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 Wizard 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. You must format the unallocated
disk space in order to use it.

7. Format the unallocated disk space. Right click “Unallocated space”, select “New

Partition…” and follow the wizard. After the drive has been formatted, it is ready
for use.

B-11

MS-7320 Mainboard

RAID Drives Management

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 sup­ported combination)

• Setting Up a Spare RAID Disk

• View free and/or dedicated free disks

• Designate a free disk to a particular array

• Creating RAID Arrays

• Deleting a RAID Array

• Morphing From One RAID Array to Another

• Hot Plug Array

• Initializing a RAID Array

• Erase the data on the array by writing all zeros to the sectors of each hard

disk.

• Rebuilding a RAID Mirrored Array

• Rebuild a broken mirrored array

• Watch the progress of rebuilding an array

• Only applies to RAID 1, RAID 0+1, and RAID 5 arrays

• Synchronizing a RAID Array

• Rebuild the redundancy in RAID 1 or RAID 0+1 arrays (copy the data to the

redundant disk—the same operation as rebuilding)

• Rebuild the parity in RAID 5 arrays

Viewing RAID Array Configurations

To view your RAID configuration from Windows, launch the NVRAID Management
utility by double-clicking NvRaidMan.exe.
The RAID configuration information appears in the right-side pane, as shown below.

Important

The information in the figures in this part may very from what it is shown in
your system.

B-12

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, RAID 0+1
or RAID 5 array. The spare drive can take over for a failed disk. NVRAID supports
two types of spare drives:

• Free Disk

A free disk is a disk that is not part of any RAID array, but can be used by any
available RAID 1 or RAID 0+1 array that requires a particular disk when one of its
disks crashes or becomes unusable. The process is automatic and doesn’t require
any user interaction.
For example, if you have a system with four hard disks where one disk is used to
boot the OS, two hard drives are set up in a mirrored array, and a fourth hard disk is
set up as a free disk, then if one of the mirrored array drives fails, the free disk will
be automatically assigned to the mirrored array to be used instead of the failed disk.

• Dedicated Disk

A dedicated free disk is a disk that is assigned to a RAID 1, RAID 0+1 or RAID 5 array
and that disk is used by that array only when needed, for example during a system
crash where a RAID mirrored drive is broken. The dedicated disk can be used only by
the array that it is assigned to and not by any other array, unlike a free disk which can
be used by any available RAID 1, RAID 0+1 or RAID 5 array.
Note: You must have at least two RAID arrays to use this feature.

Assigning a Free Disk

To mark a disk as free, or not a part of any array,

1. Enter the system BIOS setup and make sure that the drive that you want to mark as
free is RAID enabled.

2. Enter the RAID BIOS and make sure that the drive is not part of any array (if one
exists).

3. Boot into Windows and run the NVRAIDMAN program. The drive appears under the
Free Disk section. The figure below shows an example of the NVRAIDMAN display
if you have a mirror array and one free disk.

B-13

MS-7320 Mainboard

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.

2. Boot into Windows and run the NVRAIDMAN program.

If the disk is not part of any RAID array, then it will appear under the Free Disk
section of the RAID GUI.

Step 2: Dedicate the Free Disk to an Array

While running NVRAIDMAN, dedicate the free disk to an array by doing the following:

1. Right click one of the two Mirrored arrays as shown below.

2. Select Designate Spare from the menu to launch the Spare Disk Allocation Wizard.

B-14

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.

6. Click Finish.

As shown in figure below, the ST380011A drive is now a dedicated free disk in the
mirrored array. If a system crash occurs that causes any of the two WD360GD
drives to fail, the ST380011A hard drive will take over and be used in the newly
formed mirrored array.

B-15

MS-7320 Mainboard

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... ”. as shown in the screen shot below:

B-16

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.
NVIDIA RAID allows the end user to change the current state of the disk or array to
another with a one-step process called .Morphing.. This section describes the NVIDIA
Morphing process and explains how to use Morphing to convert from one RAID array

type to another.

General Morphing Principles

NVIDIA RAID includes extensive support for morphing, a process of converting from
one RAID mode to another RAID mode.

General Requirements and Limitations

• The new array capacity must be equal to or greater than the previous array.

For example, it is possible to morph from a RAID 1 array to a RAID 0 array as long as
the RAID 0 array is the same size as (or larger than) the RAID 1 array.

• You can’t morph

- To or from a JBOD (Spanning) array

- From RAID 1 to RAID 1

- From RAID 0+1 to RAID 1

- From RAID 5 to 1

Specific Morphing Requirements

The following table lists the disk requirements for a new RAID array for various
morphing combinations.

From To New Array Disk Requirements

RAID 0

RAID 1

RAID 0

RAID 0+1

RAID5 m >= n+1
RAID 0 No additional restrictions.
RAID 1 ** Not a valid combination **

RAID 1

RAID 0+1 No additional restrictions.
RAID 5

m > n
Number of disks in the new array must be greater than the original array.
m =2, n =1
RAID 1 array must include two disks, converted from a one disk RAID 0
array.
m >= 2 x n
Number of RAID 0+1 disks must be equal to or greater than twice the
number of RAID 0 disks.

m >= 3

B-17

MS-7320 Mainboard

From To New Array Disk Requirements

m >= n2
Number of RAID 0 disks must be equal to or greater than half the number
of RAID 0+1 disks.

** Not a valid combination **

RAID 0+1

RAID 0

RAID 1
RAID 0+1 ** Not a valid combination **
RAID 5 m >= (n/2 + 1)
RAID 0 m >= n - 1

RAID 5

RAID 1
RAID 0+1
RAID 5

** Not a valid combination **

m >= 2 x (n -1) ; where m is an even number of disks.
m >= n

Hot Plug Array

With 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 Wizard which instructs
the user as to when a drive can be safely added to the system. As soon as the drive
is added, the user can then finish running the RAID wizard and the drive becomes
usable by the system. Hot Plug Array allows the user to add or remove an entire array
without degrading the array in the process.

NVRAIDMAN can be used to hot plug a RAID disk. To hot plug a disk, simply do the
following:

1 Launch NVRAIDMAN and click on “Hot Plug Array” and the following screen shot
will appear:

B-18

nVidia RAID

2 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear:

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. Initialization of newly configured RAID arrays is recommended to
ensure consistency and reliable performance on any supported fault tolerant array
such asRAID 5, RAID 0, and RAID 0+1. Use this feature only if you are absolutely sure
that you want to wipe out all the data on that array.
Initialization of a fault tolerant array can only be done when the array is being
created. To initialize an array, perform the following steps:
Note: In this example, a mirror array is initialized.

B-19

MS-7320 Mainboard

1 From the NVRAIDMAN window, right click on any available free disk and select
Create Array as show in Figure below.

2 The Create Array Wizard opens. Follow the Wizard to create a Mirror array.
3 At the Create Array Wizard 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.
5 At the Free Disk Selection page, select the two drives that you want to Mirror and
click Next.
6 Click Next again and the following screen shot will appear:

7 Check “Intialize Array ” and then click Next. The Initialization Warning dialog appears.

B-20

nVidia RAID

8 Click OK . The Clearing System Data screen appears again with the Initialize Array
check box checked as shown below.

9 Click Next, then click Finish at the Completing the NVIDIA Create Array Wizard
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. As soon as the Initialization process
starts, a popup window similar to the following will appear:

followed by the following pop-up window:

B-21