M3A790GXH/128M User Manual Version 1.1 Published July 2009 Copyright©2009 ASRock INC. All rights reserved. 1 Copyright Notice: No part of this manual may be reproduced, transcribed, transmitted, or translated in any language, in any form or by any means, except duplication of documentation by the purchaser for backup purpose, without written consent of ASRock Inc. Products and corporate names appearing in this manual may or may not be registered trademarks or copyrights of their respective companies, and are used only for identification or explanation and to the owners' benefit, without intent to infringe. Disclaimer: Specifications and information contained in this manual are furnished for informational use only and subject to change without notice, and should not be constructed as a commitment by ASRock. ASRock assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions that may appear in this manual. With respect to the contents of this manual, ASRock does not provide warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties or conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall ASRock, its directors, officers, employees, or agents be liable for any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages (including damages for loss of profits, loss of business, loss of data, interruption of business and the like), even if ASRock has been advised of the possibility of such damages arising from any defect or error in the manual or product. 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. CALIFORNIA, USA ONLY The Lithium battery adopted on this motherboard contains Perchlorate, a toxic substance controlled in Perchlorate Best Management Practices (BMP) regulations passed by the California Legislature. When you discard the Lithium battery in California, USA, please follow the related regulations in advance. "Perchlorate Material-special handling may apply, see www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlorate" ASRock Website: http://www.asrock.com 2 Contents 1 . Introduction ........................................................... 5 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Package Contents ..................................................................... Specifications ............................................................................ Two CrossFireXTM Graphics Card Support List ........................... Three CrossFireXTM Graphics Card Support List ........................ Minimum Hardware Requirement for 1080p Blu-ray (BD) / HD-DVD Playback Support ......................................................... 1080p Blu-ray (BD) / HD-DVD Films Which Pass Our Lab Test . Motherboard Layout ................................................................... I/O Panel .................................................................................... 5 6 11 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 17 18 20 22 25 32 34 35 41 42 43 46 46 47 49 49 49 50 51 51 2 . Installation ............................................................. 16 Pre-installation Precautions ................................................................ 2.1 CPU Installation ......................................................................... 2.2 Installation of CPU Fan and Heatsink ......................................... 2.3 Installation of Memory Modules (DIMM) .................................... 2.4 Expansion Slots (PCI and PCI Express Slots) ........................... 2.5 Dual Monitor and Surround Display Features ............................. 2.6 CrossFireXTM and 3-Way CrossFireXTM Operation Guide ............ 2.7 Hybrid CrossFireXTM Operation Guide ........................................ 2.8 Jumpers Setup .......................................................................... 2.9 Onboard Headers and Connectors ............................................. 2.10 HDMI_SPDIF Header Connection Guide .................................... 2.11 SATAII Hard Disk Setup Guide ................................................... 2.12 eSATAII Interface Introduction .................................................... 2.13 Serial ATA (SATA) / Serial ATAII (SATAII) Hard Disks Installation ................................................................................. 2.14 Hot Plug and Hot Swap Functions for SATA / SATAII HDDs ....... 2.15 SATA / SATAII HDD Hot Plug Feature and Operation Guide ....... 2.16 Driver Installation Guide ............................................................. 2.17 Installing Windows® XP / XP 64-bit / VistaTM / VistaTM 64-bit With RAID Functions ................................................................. 2.17.1 Installing Windows® XP / XP 64-bit With RAID Functions ................................................................ 2.17.2 Installing Windows® VistaTM / VistaTM 64-bit With RAID Functions ...................................................................... 2.18 Installing Windows® XP / XP 64-bit / VistaTM / VistaTM 64-bit Without RAID Functions ............................................................ 2.18.1 Installing Windows® XP / XP 64-bit Without RAID Functions ...................................................................... 3 2.18.2 Installing Windows® VistaTM / VistaTM 64-bit Without RAID Functions ...................................................................... 52 2.19 DTS Operation Guide ................................................................. 53 2.20 Untied Overclocking Technology ................................................ 55 SETUP 3 . BIOS S ETUP UTILITY .................................................. 56 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................ 3.1.1 BIOS Menu Bar ............................................................... 3.1.2 Navigation Keys .............................................................. Main Screen .............................................................................. Smart Screen ............................................................................ Advanced Screen .................................................................... 3.4.1 CPU Configuration .......................................................... 3.4.2 Memory Configuration .................................................... 3.4.3 Chipset Configuration ..................................................... 3.4.4 ACPI Configuration ......................................................... 3.4.5 IDE Configuration ............................................................ 3.4.6 PCIPnP Configuration ...................................................... 3.4.7 Floppy Configuration ...................................................... 3.4.8 Super IO Configuration ................................................... 3.4.9 USB Configuration .......................................................... Hardware Health Event Monitoring Screen ............................. Boot Screen .............................................................................. 3.6.1 Boot Settings Configuration ........................................... Security Screen ........................................................................ Exit Screen ............................................................................... Install Operating System ........................................................... Support CD Information ............................................................. 4.2.1 Running Support CD ....................................................... 4.2.2 Drivers Menu .................................................................. 4.2.3 Utilities Menu ................................................................... 4.2.4 Contact Information ........................................................ 56 56 57 57 58 60 61 63 67 69 71 73 74 74 75 76 77 77 78 79 80 80 80 80 80 80 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 4.1 4.2 4 . Software Support ................................................... 80 4 1. Introduction Thank you for purchasing ASRock M3A790GXH/128M motherboard, a reliable motherboard produced under ASRock's consistently stringent quality control. It delivers excellent performance with robust design conforming to ASRock's commitment to quality and endurance. In this manual, chapter 1 and 2 contain introduction of the motherboard and step-by-step guide to the hardware installation. Chapter 3 and 4 contain the configuration guide to BIOS setup and information of the Support CD. Because the motherboard specifications and the BIOS software might be updated, the content of this manual will be subject to change without notice. In case any modifications of this manual occur, the updated version will be available on ASRock website without further notice. You may find the latest VGA cards and CPU support lists on ASRock website as well. ASRock website http://www.asrock.com If you require technical support related to this motherboard, please visit our website for specific information about the model you are using. www.asrock.com/support/index.asp 1.1 ackage P ack age Contents 1 x ASRock M3A790GXH/128M Motherboard (ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 8.8-in, 30.5 cm x 22.4 cm) 1 x ASRock M3A790GXH/128M Quick Installation Guide 2 x ASRock M3A790GXH/128M Support CD 1 x Ultra ATA 66/100/133 IDE Ribbon Cable (80-conductor) 1 x Ribbon Cable for a 3.5-in Floppy Drive 4 x Serial ATA (SATA) Data Cables (Optional) 1 x Serial ATA (SATA) HDD Power Cable (Optional) 1 x I/O Panel Shield 1 x ASRock SLI/XFire Switch Card 5 1.2 Specifications - ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 8.8-in, 30.5 cm x 22.4 cm - All Solid Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors) - Support for Socket AM3 processors: AMD PhenomTM II X4 / X3 / X2 (except 920 / 940) and Athlon II X4 / X3 / X2 processors - Supports CPU up to 140W - Supports AMD OverDriveTM with ACC feature (Advanced Clock Calibration) - AMD LIVE!TM Ready - Supports AMD's Cool `n' QuietTM Technology - FSB 2600 MHz (5.2 GT/s) - Supports Untied Overclocking Technology (see CAUTION 1) - Supports Hyper-Transport 3.0 (HT 3.0) Technology - Northbridge: AMD 790GX - Southbridge: AMD SB750 - Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Technology (see CAUTION 2) - 4 x DDR3 DIMM slots - Support DDR3 1600(OC)/1333/1066/800 non-ECC, un-buffered memory (see CAUTION 3) - Max. capacity of system memory: 16GB (see CAUTION 4) - 3 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (green @ x16 mode, blue @ x8 mode, orange @ x4 mode) - 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slot - 2 x PCI slots - Supports ATITM CrossFireXTM, Hybrid CrossFireXTM and 3-Way CrossFireXTM (see CAUTION 5) - Integrated AMD Radeon HD 3300 graphics - DX10 class iGPU, Pixel Shader 4.0 - Max. shared memory 512MB (see CAUTION 6) - Built-in 128MB DDR3 1333(OC)/1200MHz SidePort Memory - Three VGA Output options: D-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI - Supports HDCP function - Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) / HD-DVD playback (see CAUTION 7) - 7.1 CH Windows® VistaTM Premium Level HD Audio with Content Protection - DAC with 110dB dynamic range (ALC890 Audio Codec) - DTS (Digital Theater Systems) support (see CAUTION 8) Platform CPU Chipset Memory Expansion Slot Graphics Audio 6 LAN Rear Panel I/O Connector BIOS Feature - PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s - Realtek RTL8111DL - Supports Wake-On-LAN I/O Panel - 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port - 1 x VGA/D-Sub Port - 1 x VGA/DVI-D Port - 1 x HDMI Port - 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port - 1 x IEEE 1394 Port - 1 x eSATAII Port - 6 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports - 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED) - HD Audio Jack: Side Speaker/Rear Speaker/Central/Bass/ Line in/Front Speaker/Microphone (see CAUTION 9) - 6 x Serial ATAII 3.0Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and JBOD), NCQ, AHCI and "Hot Plug" functions (see CAUTION 10) - 1 x eSATAII 3.0Gb/s connector (shared with 1 SATAII connector) (see CAUTION 11) - 1 x ATA133 IDE connector (supports 2 x IDE devices) - 1 x Floppy connector - 1 x IR header - 1 x COM port header - 1 x IEEE 1394 header - 1 x HDMI_SPDIF header - CPU/Chassis/NB/Power FAN connector - 24 pin ATX power connector - 8 pin 12V power connector - SLI/XFIRE power connector - CD in header - Front panel audio connector - 3 x USB 2.0 headers (support 6 USB 2.0 ports) (see CAUTION 12) - 8Mb AMI BIOS - AMI Legal BIOS - Supports "Plug and Play" - ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events - Supports jumperfree - SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support - CPU, DRAM, NB Voltage Multi-adjustment - Supports Smart BIOS 7 Support CD Unique Feature Hardware Monitor OS Certifications - Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), AMD OverDriveTM Utility, AMD Live! Explorer, AMD Fusion - ASRock OC Tuner (see CAUTION 13) - Intelligent E ...