ASROCK K8NF3-VSTA User Manual
Contents
1. 26 3 2 27 GPUCOMIGULATION 28 3 3 2 30 2 2 9 32 3 3 4 1 aa 33 3 3 0 PGIPAP COMIQUPATION 35 3 3 6 Floppy Configuratio sinesine E 36 3 3 7 36 93 0 USB 38 3 4 Hardware Health Event Monitoring 39 9 5 BOOSTEN ence ee 40 3 3 5 1 Boot Settings 40 360 Secu Sreo sea 41 42 5 43 4 1 43 4 2 5 2 000 43 4 2 1 Running SUPPO 43 22 62. 12 2 1 OPUSAI nna 13 2 2 13 2 3 1 01 14 2 4 Expansion Slots PCI Slots and AGP 10 15 2 5 JUIMPEYS SOUP si secccsecsterieworeisors teecebeneseodaaiemecsceveonie wees 16 2 6 Onboard Headers and 17 2 7 Serial ATA SATA Hard Disks 21 2 8 Hot Plug and Hot Swap Functions for SATA HDD6 21 2 9 2 8888 21 2 10 Installing Windows 2000 XP XP 64 bit Vista Vista 64 bit Without RAID 22 2 11 Installing Windows 2000 XP XP 64 bit With RAID tease eiccanniee neg aceoaee oat 22 2 12 24 BIOS SETUP 25 25 31 1 BIOS Men Bal 25 26 222
3. 43 lt 2 3 gt 43 4 2 4 Contact Information sitssessedcevedserdvacievecsavaridessasasverseavecseas 43 4 1 Introduction Thank you for purchasing ASRock K8NF3 VSTA motherboard a reliable motherboard produced under ASRock s consistently stringent quality control It de livers excellent performance with robust design conforming to ASRock s commit ment 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 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 Because the motherboard specifications and the BIOS software might be as well ASRock website http www asrock com 1 1 Package Contents 1 x ASRock K8NF3 VSTA Motherboard ATX Form Factor 12 0 in x 7 5 in 30 5 cm x 19 1 cm 1 x ASRock K8NF3 VSTA Quick Installation Guide 1 x ASRock K8NF3 VSTA Support CD 1 x Ultra ATA 66 100 133 IDE Ribbon Cable 80 conductor 1 x 3 5 in Floppy Drive Ribbon Cable 1 x Serial ATA SATA Data Cable Optional 1 x Serial ATA SATA HDD Power Cabl
4. 3 3 4 IDE Configuration BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced 5 DISABLED disables the IDE Configuration integrated IDE TOO E Controller PRIMARY enables only OnBoard SATA Controller Enabled the Primary IDE SATA Operation Mode non RAID Controller HDD Fast Detection Disabled SECONDARY enables only the Secondary IDE p Primary IDE Master Hard Disk Controller Primary IDE Slave Not Detected BOTH enables both IDE p Secondary IDE Master ATAPI CDROM Controllers p Secondary IDE Slave Not Detected gt SATA1 Not Detected gt SATA2 Not Detected gt Select Screen Select Item Change Option General Help Load Defaults Save and Exit Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc OnBoard IDE Controller You may enable either the primary IDE channel or the secondary IDE channel Or you may enable both the primary and the secondary IDE channels by selecting Both Set to Disabled will disable the both Configuration options Disabled Primary Secondary Both OnBoard SATA Controller Use this item to enable or disable the OnBoard SATA Controller feature SATA Operation Mode Use this item to adjust SATA Operation Mode The default value of this option is non RAID If you want to operate RAID function on SATA HDDs please select RAID HDD Fast Detection Configuratin optins Enabled and Disabled The default value is Disabled IDE Device Configuration You may set the
5. This connector allows you to receive stereo audio input from sound sources such as a CD ROM DVD ROM TV tuner card or MPEG card This is an interface for front panel audio cable that allows convenient connection and control of audio devices System Panel Header 9 pin PANEL1 see p 10 No 15 Chassis Speaker Header 4 pin SPEAKER 1 see p 10 No 16 Chassis Fan Connector 3 pin CHA_FAN1 see p 10 No 18 CPU Fan Connector 12V SPEAKER DUMMY DUMMY CHA_FAN_SPEED FAN_SPEED_CONTROL 4 pin CPU_FAN1 j CPU_FAN_SPEED GND see p 10 No 6 1234 This header accommodates several system front panel functions Please connect the chassis speaker to this header Please connect a chassis fan cable to this connector and match the black wire to the ground pin Please connect the CPU fan cable to this connector and match the black wire to the ground pin 4 Though this motherboard provides 4 Pin CPU fan Quiet Fan support the 3 Pin CPU fan still can work successfully even without the fan speed control function If you plan to connect the 3 Pin CPU fan to the CPU fan connector on this motherboard please connect it to Pin 1 3 ATX Power Connector 20 pin ATXPWR1 E see p 10 No 3 ATX 12V Power Connector 4 pin ATX12V1 see p 10 No 2 8 OO 19 Pin 1 3 Connected 3 Pin Fan Installat
6. 64 bit driver keeps on updating now As long as we have the latest driver we will update it to our website in the future Please visit our website for Microsoft Windows Vista Vista 64 bit driver and related information ASRock website _ http www asrock com 2 10 Installing Windows 2000 XP XP 64 bit Vista Vista 64 bit Without RAID Functions The installation procedures for Windows Vista Vista 64 bit are subject to change Please visit our website for the updates of Windows Vista Vista 64 bit driver and related information in the future If you just want to install Windows 2000 Windows XP Windows XP 64 bit Windows Vista or Windows Vista 64 bit on your SATA HDDs without RAID functions you don t have to make a SATA driver diskette Besides there is no need for you to change the BIOS setting You can start to install Windows 2000 Windows XP Windows XP 64 bit Windows Vista or Windows Vista 64 bit on your system directly 2 11 Installing Windows 2000 XP XP 64 bit With RAID Functions Since the chipset vendor does not provide Windows Vista Vista 64 bit RAID 4 driver RAID function is not available on this motherboard under Windows Vista Vista 64 bit OS RAID function is only available under Windows 2000 XP or XP 64 bit OS If you want to install Windows 2000 Windows XP or Windows XP 64 bit on your SATA HDDs with RAID fu
7. AGP Fast Write This allows you to enable or disable the feature of AGP fast write protocol support AGP SideBand Address This allows you to enable or disable the feature of AGP SideBand Address Configuration options Enabled and Disabled Primary Graphics Adapter This item will switch the PCI Bus scanning order while searching for video card It allows you to select the type of Primary VGA in case of multiple video controllers The default value of this feature is PCI Configuration options PCI and AGP CPU NB Link Speed This feature allows you selecting CPU to NB link frequency Configuration options Auto 200 MHz 400 MHz 600 MHz and 800 MHz CPU NB Link Width This feature allows you selecting CPU to NB link width Configuration options Auto 8 bit and 16 bit DRAM Voltage Use this to select DRAM voltage Configuration options Auto Ultra High High and Normal The default value is Auto AGP Voltage Use this to select among Low and High for AGP Voltage The default value is Auto 31 3 3 3 ACPI Configuration BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced ACPI Settings Select auto detect or disable the STR feature Restore on AC Power Loss Power Off Ring In Power On Disabled PCI Devices Power On Disabled PS 2 Keyboard Power On Disabled RTC Alarm Power On Disabled ACPI HPET Table Disabled Select Screen Select Item Change Option General Help Loa
8. IDE configuration for the device that you specify We will use the Primary IDE Master as the example in the following instruction which can be applied to the configurations of Primary IDE Slave Sec ondary IDE Master and Secondary IDE Slave as well 33 BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced Primary IDE Master Select the type of device connected Device Hard Disk to the system Vendor MAXTOR 6L080J4 Size 80 0 GB LBA Mode _ Supported Block Mode 16Sectors PIO Mode 4 Async DMA MultiWord DMA 2 Ultra DMA Ultra DMA 6 S M A R T Supported Select Screen Select Item e Sen i Sector Transfer Auto a Change Option DMA Mode Auto General Help S M A R T Disabled Load Defaults 32Bit Data Transfer Disabled Save and Exit Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc TYPE Use this item to configure the type of the IDE device that you specify Configuration options Not Installed Auto CD DVD and ARMD Not Installed Select Not Installed to disable the use of IDE device Auto Select Auto to automatically detect the hard disk drive utility such as FDISK to partition and format the new IDE hard disk drives This is necessary so that you can write or read data from the hard disk Make sure to set the partition of the Primary IDE hard disk drives to active 4 After selecting the hard disk information into BIOS use a disk CD DVD This is used for IDE CD DVD
9. system memory DX9 0 with WDDM Driver with 128bit VGA memory Premium with 64bit VGA memory Basic After June 1 2007 all Windows Vista systems are required to meet above minimum hardware requirements in order to qualify for Windows Vista Premium 2007 logo 1 4 Motherboard Layout 1 2 3 45 7 8 19 1cm 7 5 in gt PS2_USB_PW1 ATXPWR1 27 USB 2 0 ee 0982 0 aw ee 05 0 a gt B USB a a 7 9 3 RoHS ASRock 5 RAID itt SATA SATA2 SATA1 ATA 1 3 3 USB2 0 26 AGP 8X 10 3 1 5V_AGP1 12 1 K8NF3 VSTA NVIDIA 25 4Mb nForce3 250 BIOS PCI 2 Chipset 13 24 PCI 3 oO 22 PP ok avoi ELG Pee ranns ACELE y 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 1 PS2_USB_PW1 Jumper 15 System Panel Header PANEL1 2 ATX 12V Power Connector ATX12V1 16 Chassis Speaker Header SPEAKER 1 3 ATX Power Connector ATXPWR1 17 USB 2 0 Header USB4_5 Blue 4 754 Pin CPU Socket 18 Chassis Fan Connector CHA_FAN1 5 CPU Heatsink Retention Module 19 Floppy Connector FLOPPY1 6 CPU Fan Connector CPU_FAN1 20 Game Port Header GAME1 7 184 pin DD
10. 2 68 L1 Cache Size 128KB Select Screen L2 Cache Size 256KB Select Item Change Field Total Memory 256MB Select Field DDR 1 256MB 166MHz DDR333 General Help DDR 2 None Load Defaults Save and Exit Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc System Time Hour Minute Second Use this item to specify the system time System Date Day Month Date Year Use this item to specify the system date 26 3 3 Advanced Screen In this section you may set the configurations for the following items CPU Configuration Chipset Configuration ACPI Configuration IDE Configuration PCIPnP Configuration Floppy Configuration SuperlO Configuration and USB Configuration BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced H W Monitor Boot Security Exit Advanced Settings Options for CPU WARNING Setting wrong values in below sections may cause system to malfunction Chipset Configuration gt ACPI Configuration gt IDE Configuration gt PCIPnP Configuration Floppy Configuration gt SuperIO Configuration gt USB Configuration Select Screen Select Item Go to Sub Screen General Help Load Defaults Save and Exit Exit 02 54 Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc A Setting wrong values in this section may cause the system to malfunction 27 3 3 1 CPU Configuration BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced CPU Configuration If AUTO multiplier and Overclock Mode Auto voltage will b
11. IISRock K8NF3 VSTA User Manual Version 1 0 Published January 2007 Copyright 2007 ASRock INC All rights reserved 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 regis tered 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 informa tional 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 warran ties 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 th
12. R DIMM Slots DDR1 2 21 Front Panel Audio Header AUDIO1 8 Secondary IDE Connector IDE2 Black 22 JR1 JL1 Jumper 9 Primary IDE Connector IDE1 Blue 23 PCI Slots PCI1 4 10 Primary Serial ATA Connector SATA1 2 Internal Audio Connector CD1 Black 11 Secondary Serial ATA Connector SATA2 25 12 AGP Slot 1 5V_AGP1 26 Infrared Module Header 1 13 NVIDIA Single Chipset 27 Shared USB 2 0 Header USB2_3 Blue 14 Clear CMOS Jumper CLRCMOS2 10 1 5 ASRock 8CH I O 1 Parallel Port 8 2 RJ 45 Port 9 3 Side Speaker Gray 10 4 Rear Speaker Black 11 5 Central Bass Orange 12 6 Line In Light Blue 13 7 Front Speaker Lime Microphone Pink USB 2 0 Ports USB01 USB 2 0 Ports USB23 Serial Port COM1 PS 2 Keyboard Port Purple PS 2 Mouse Port Green If you use 2 channel speaker please connect the speaker s plug into Front Speaker Jack See the table below for connection details in accordance with the type of speaker you use TABLE for Audio Output Connection Audio Output Channels Front Speaker Rear Speaker Central Bass Side Speaker 5 7 4 5 3 11 2 Installation K8NF3 VSTA is an ATX form factor 12 0 in x 7 5 in 30 5 cm x 19 1 cm motherboard Before you install the motherboard study the configuration of your chassis to en sure that the motherboard fits into it Pre installation Precautions Take note of the following precautio
13. d Defaults Save and Exit Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc Suspend to RAM Use this item to select whether to auto detect or disable the Suspend to RAM feature Select Auto will enable this feature if the OS supports it If you set this item to Disabled the function Repost Video on STR Resume will be hidden Repost Video on STR Resume This feature allows you to repost video on STR resume STR refers to suspend to RAM Restore on AC Power Loss This allows you to set the power state after an unexpected AC power loss If Power Off is selected the AC power remains off when the power recovers If Power On is selected the AC power resumes and the system starts to boot up when the power recovers Ring In Power On Use this item to enable or disable Ring In signals to turn on the system from the power soft off mode PCI Devices Power On Use this item to enable or disable PCI devices to turn on the system from the power soft off mode PS 2 Keyboard Power On Use this item to enable or disable PS 2 keyboard to turn on the system from the power soft off mode RTC Alarm Power On Use this item to enable or disable RTC Real Time Clock to power on the system ACPI HPET Table Set this item to enable to include High Precision Event Timers support The default value is Disabled Please set this option to Enabled if you plan to use this motherboard to submit Windows Vista certification 32
14. d Overclocking function please enter Overclock Mode option of BIOS setup to set the selection from Auto to CPU AGP Async Therefore CPU FSB is untied during overclocking but AGP PCI buses are in the fixed mode so that FSB can operate under a more stable overclocking environment 4 Please refer to the warning on page 7 for the possible overclocking risk before you apply Untied Overclocking Technology 24 3 BIOS SETUP UTILITY 3 1 Introduction This section explains how to use the BIOS SETUP UTILITY to configure your system The Flash Memory on the motherboard stores the BIOS SETUP UTILITY You may run the BIOS SETUP UTILITY when you start up the computer Please press lt F2 gt during the Power On Self Test POST to enter the BIOS SETUP UTILITY otherwise POST will continue with its test routines If you wish to enter the BIOS SETUP UTILITY after POST restart the system by pressing lt Ctl gt lt Alt gt lt Delete gt or by pressing the reset button on the system chassis You may also restart by turning the system off and then back on Because the BIOS software is constantly being updated the following BIOS setup screens and descriptions are for reference purpose only and they may not exactly match what you see on your screen 3 1 1 BIOS Menu Bar The top of the screen has a menu bar with the following selections Main To set up the system time date information Advanced To set up the advanced BIOS featur
15. drives ARMD This is used for IDE ARMD ATAPI Removable Media Device such as MO LBA Large Mode Use this item to select the LBA Large mode for a hard disk gt 512 MB under DOS and Windows for Netware and UNIX user select Disabled to disable the LBA Large mode Block Multi Sector Transfer The default value of this item is Auto If this feature is enabled it will enhance hard disk performance by reading or writing more data during each transfer PIO Mode Use this item to set the PIO mode to enhance hard disk performance by optimizing the hard disk timing DMA Mode DMA capability allows the improved transfer speed and data integrity for compatible IDE devices 34 S M A R T Use this item to enable or disable the S M A R T Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology feature Configuration options Disabled Auto Enabled 32 Bit Data Transfer Use this item to enable 32 bit access to maximize the IDE hard disk data transfer rate 3 3 5 PCIPnP Configuration BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced PCI PnP Settings Value in units of PCI clocks for PCI device latency timer register PCI IDE BusMaster Enabled Select Screen Select Item Change Option General Help Load Defaults Save and Exit Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc Setting wrong values in this section may cause the system to malfunction PCI Latency Timer The default value is 32 It is recomm
16. e Optional 1 x ASRock 8CH I O Shield 1 2 Specifications ATX Form Factor 12 0 in x 7 5 in 30 5 cm x 19 1 cm Platform CPU Socket 754 for AMD Athlon 64 and Sempron processors Supports AMD s Cool n Quiet Technology FSB 800 MHz Supports Untied Overclocking Technology see CAUTION 1 Supports Hyper Transport Technology Chipset NVIDIA nForce3 250 2 x DDR DIMM slots Support DDR400 333 266 Max capacity 2GB Hybrid Booster CPU Frequency Stepless Control see CAUTION 2 ASRock U COP see CAUTION 3 Boot Failure Guard B F G Expansion Slot 4x PCI slots 1 x AGP 8X slot see CAUTION 4 7 1 CH Windows Vista Premium Level Superior Audio C Media CM6501 Audio Codec with UAA architecture LAN Realtek PHY RTL8201CL Speed 10 100 Ethernet Supports Wake On LAN Rear Panel I O ASRock 8CH I O 1 x PS 2 Mouse Port 1 x PS 2 Keyboard Port 1 x Serial Port COM1 1 x Parallel Port ECP EPP Support 4 x Ready to Use USB 2 0 Ports 1 x RJ 45 Port Audio Jack Side Speaker Rear Speaker Central Bass Line in Front Speaker Microphone see CAUTION 5 Connector 2 Serial ATA 1 5Gb s connectors support RAID RAID 0 RAID 1 JBOD and Hot Plug functions 2 ATA133 IDE connectors support 4 x IDE devices 1 x Floppy connector 1 x IR header 1 x Game header CPU Chassis FAN connector 20 pin ATX power connector 4 pin 12V power connector CD in header F
17. e Support CD Guide to SATA Hard Disks Installation and RAID Configuration which is located in the folder at the following path Information Manual RAID Installation Guide STEP 4 Install Windows 2000 Windows XP Windows XP 64bit OS on your system After step1 2 3 you can start to install Windows 2000 Windows XP Windows XP 64 bit OS on your system At the beginning of Windows setup press F6 to install a third party RAID driver When prompted insert the SATA driver diskette containing the NVIDIA RAID driver After reading the floppy disk the driver will be presented Select the driver to install according to the mode you choose and the OS you install NOTE If you install Windows 2000 Windows XP Windows XP 64 bit on IDE HDDs and want to manage create convert delete or rebuild RAID functions on SATA HDDs you still need to set up SATA Operation Mode to RAID in BIOS first Then please set the RAID configuration by using RAID Utility for Windows Guide in Windows environment Please refer to the document in the Support CD Guide to nVidia RAID Utility for Windows which is located in the folder at the following path Information Manual RAID Utility for Windows Guide 23 2 12 Untied Overclocking Technology This motherboard supports Untied Overclocking Technology which means during overclocking FSB enjoys better margin due to fixed AGP PCI buses Before you enable Untie
18. e left at the CPU Frequency MHz 200 rated frequency voltage If AGP Frequency MHz 66 Manual multiplier and Boot Failure Guard Enabled voltage will be set based Spread Spectrum Auto Cool n Quiet Auto on User Selection in Setup Processor Maximum Multiplier x9 1800 MHz Processor Maximum Voltage 400 Select Screen Memory Clock Auto Select Item Flexibility Option eee Change Option Ki General Help ae eave and Falk Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc Overclock Mode Use this to select Overclock Mode The default value is Auto Cnfiguration options Auto CPU AGP Sync and CPU AGP Async CPU Frequency MHz Use this option to adjust CPU frequency The default value is 200 AGP Frequency MHz Use this option to adjust AGP frequency The default value is 66 Boot Failure Guard Enable or disable the feature of Boot Failure Guard Spread Spectrum This feature will be set to Auto as default Cool n Quiet Use this item to enable or disable AMD s Cool n Quiet technology The default value is Auto Configuration options Auto Enabled and Disabled If you install Windows Vista and want to enable this function please set this item to Enabled Please note that enabling this function may reduce CPU voltage and memory frequency and lead to system stability or compatibility issue with some memory modules or power supplies Please set thi
19. e motherboard settings and hardware options vary use the setup procedures in this chapter for general refer ence only Refer to your OS documentation for more information 4 2 Support CD Information The Support CD that came with the motherboard contains necessary drivers and useful utilities that enhance the motherboard features 4 2 1 Running The Support CD To begin using the support CD insert the CD into your CD ROM drive The CD automatically displays the Main Menu if AUTORUN is enabled in your computer If the Main Menu did not appear automatically locate and double click on the file ASSETUP EXE from the BIN folder in the Support CD to display the menus 4 2 2 Drivers Menu The Drivers Menu shows the available devices drivers if the system detects the installed devices Please install the necessary drivers to activate the devices 4 2 3 Utilities Menu The Utilities Menu shows the applications software that the motherboard supports Click on a specific item then follow the installation wizard to install it 4 2 4 Contact Information If you need to contact ASRock or want to know more about ASRock welcome to visit ASRock s website at http Awww asrock com or you may contact your dealer for further information 43
20. e 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 Contents 5 5 Age 6 1 3 Requirement Table for Windows Vista Premium 2007 and Basic 1 4 Motherboard Layout vid scseciocectn ei dian ctiacnncese 10 9 2 11 a 12
21. ended to keep the default value unless the installed PCI expansion cards specifications require other settings PCI IDE BusMaster Use this item to enable or disable the PCI IDE BusMaster feature 35 3 3 6 Floppy Configuration In this section you may configure the type of your floppy drive BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced Floppy Configuration Select the type of floppy drive connected to the system Select Screen Select Item Change Option General Help Load Defaults Save and Exit Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc 3 3 7 Super 1O Configuration BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced Configure Super IO Chipset Allow BIOS to Enable hh or Disable Floppy Controller Serial Port Address 3F8 IRQ4 Infrared Port Address Disabled Parallel Port Address 378 Parallel Port Mode ECP EPP EPP Version 1 9 ECP Mode DMA Channel DMA3 Parallel Port IRQ IRQ7 OnBoard Game Port Enabled Select Screen OnBoard MIDI Port Disabled Select Item Change Option General Help Load Defaults Save and Exit Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc OnBoard Floppy Controller Use this item to enable or disable floppy drive controller Serial Port Address Use this item to set the address for the onboard serial port or disable it Configuration options Disabled 3F8 IRQ4 2F8 IRQ3 8E8 IRQ4 2E8 IRQ3 Infrared Port Address Use this item to se
22. eneral Help Load Defaults Save and Exit Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc 41 3 7 Exit Screen BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced H W Monitro Boot Security Exit Options Exit system setup a after saving the changes Discard Changes and Exit Discard Changes F10 key can be used for this operation Load Optimal Defaults Select Screen Select Item Go to Sub Screen General Help Load Defaults Save and Exit Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc Save Changes and Exit When you select this option it will pop out the following message Save configuration changes and exit setup Select OK to save the changes and exit the BIOS SETUP UTILITY Discard Changes and Exit When you select this option it will pop out the following message Dis card changes and exit setup Select OK to exit the BIOS SETUP UTILITY without saving any changes Discard Changes When you select this option it will pop out the following message Dis card changes Select OK to discard all changes Load Optimal Defaults When you select this option it will pop out the following message Load optimal defaults Select OK to load the default values for all the setup configurations 42 4 Software Support 4 1 Install Operating System This motherboard supports various Microsoft Windows operating systems 2000 XP XP 64 bit Vista Vista 64 bit Becaus
23. es H W Monitor To display current hardware status Boot To set up the default system device to locate and load the Operating System Security To set up the security features Exit To exit the current screen or the BIOS SETUP UTILITY Use lt lt gt key or lt gt key to choose among the selections on the menu bar and then press lt Enter gt to get into the sub screen 25 3 1 2 Navigation Keys Please check the following table for the function description of each navigation key Navigation Key s Function Description lt gt Moves cursor left or right to select Screens Moves cursor up or down to select items To change option for the selected items lt Enter gt To bring up the selected screen lt F1 gt To display the General Help Screen lt F9 gt To load optimal default values for all the settings lt F10 gt To save changes and exit the BIOS SETUP UTILITY lt ESC gt To jump to the Exit Screen or exit the current screen 3 2 Main Screen When you enter the BIOS SETUP UTILITY the Main screen will appear and display the system overview BIOS SETUP UTILITY Main Advanced H W Monitor Boot Security Exit System Overview Use Enter TAB or SHIFT TAB to 00 09 select a field System Date Mon 01 22 2007 BIOS Version K8NF3 VSTA BIOS P1 0 Processor Type AMD Athlon tm 64 Processor 3000 64 bit supported Processor Speed 1800MHz Microcode Update 50FF
24. ion Please connect an ATX power supply to this connector Please note that it is necessary to connect a power supply with ATX 12V plug to this connector Failing to do so will cause power up failure Game Port Header 15 pin GAME1 see p 10 No 20 Connect a Game cable to this header if the Game port bracket is installed 2 7 Serial ATA SATA Hard Disks Installation This motherboard adopts NVIDIA nForce3 250 chipset that supports Serial ATA SATA hard disks and RAID functions You may install SATA hard disks on this motherboard for internal storage devices This section will guide you to install the SATA hard disks STEP 1 Install the SATA hard disks into the drive bays of your chassis STEP 2 Connect the SATA power cable to the SATA hard disk STEP 3 Connect one end of the SATA data cable to the motherboard s SATA connector STEP 4 Connect the other end of the SATA data cable to the SATA hard disk 2 8 Hot Plug and Hot Swap Functions for SATA HDDs This motherboard supports Hot Plug and Hot Swap functions for SATA Devices 4 What is Hot Plug Function If the SATA HDDs are NOT set for RAID configuration it is called Hot Plug for the action to insert and remove the SATA HDDs while the system is still power on and in working condition However please note that it cannot perform Hot Plug if the OS has been installed into the SATA HDD What is Hot Swap Function If SATA HDDs a
25. m for you to config ure the boot settings and the boot priority BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced H W Monitor Boot Boot Settings Configure Settings during System Boot Ist Boot Device 2nd Boot Device 3rd Boot Device 4th Boot Device 1st Floppy Device HDD PM MAXTOR 6L08 CD DVD SM CD ROM USB gt Removable Drives Select Screen Select Item Go to Sub Screen General Help Load Defaults Save and Exit Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc 3 5 1 Boot Settings Configuration BIOS SETUP UTILITY Boot Settings Configuration mo enable or disable the boot from network feature Bootup Num Lock Select Screen Select Item Change Option General Help Load Defaults Save and Exit Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc Boot From Network Use this item to enable or disable the Boot From Network feature Boot Up Num Lock If this item is set to On it will automatically activate the Numeric Lock function after boot up 40 3 6 Security Screen In this section you may set or change the supervisor user password for the system For the user password you may also clear it BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced H W Monitor Boot Security Security Settings Install or Change the password Supervisor Password Not Installed User Password Not Installed Change User Password Select Screen Select Item Change G
26. nctions please follow below steps Before installing Windows 2000 to your system your Windows 2000 optical 4 disk is supposed to include SP4 If there is no SP4 included in your disk please visit below website for proper procedures of making a SP4 disk http www microsoft com Windows2000 downloads servicepacks sp4 spdeploy htm the integrated installation fmay STEP 1 Make a SATA Driver Diskette A Insert the ASRock Support CD into your optical drive to boot your system 22 During POST at the beginning of system boot up press lt F11 gt key and then a window for boot devices selection appears Please select CD ROM as the boot device When you see the message on the screen Generate Serial ATA driver diskette YN press lt Y gt D Then you will see these messages Please insert a blank formatted diskette into floppy drive A press any key to start Please insert a floppy diskette into the floppy drive and press any key E The system will start to format the floppy diskette and copy SATA drivers into the floppy diskette STEP 2 Set Up BIOS A Enter BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced screen IDE Configuration B Set the SATA Operation Mode option to RAID STEP 3 Use RAID Installation Guide to set RAID configuration Before you start to configure the RAID function you need to check the installation guide in the Support CD for proper configuration Please refer to the document in th
27. ns before you install motherboard components or change any motherboard settings Before you install or remove any component ensure that the power is switched off or the power cord is detached from the power supply Failure to do so may cause severe damage to the motherboard peripherals and or components 1 Unplug the power cord from the wall socket before touching any component 2 To avoid damaging the motherboard components due to static electricity NEVER place your motherboard directly on the carpet or the like Also remember to use a grounded wrist strap or touch a safety grounded object before you handle components 3 Hold components by the edges and do not touch the ICs 4 Whenever you uninstall any component place it on a grounded anti static pad or in the bag that comes with the component 5 When placing screws into the screw holes to secure the motherboard to the chassis please do not over tighten the screws Doing so may damage the motherboard 12 2 1 CPU Installation Step 1 Unlock the socket by lifting the lever up to a 90 angle Step 2 Position the CPU directly above the socket such that the CPU corner with the golden triangle matches the socket corner with a small triangle Step 3 Carefully insert the CPU into the socket until it fits in place 4 The CPU fits only in one correct orientation DO NOT force the CPU into the socket to avoid bending of the pins Step 4 When the CPU is in place pre
28. nstability of the system or damage the CPU While CPU overheat is detected the system will automatically shutdown Before you resume the system please check if the CPU fan on the motherboard functions properly and unplug the power cord then plug it back again To improve heat dissipation remember to spray thermal grease between the CPU and the heatsink when you install the PC system Do NOT use a 3 3V AGP card on the AGP slot of this motherboard It may cause permanent damage For microphone input this motherboard supports both stereo and mono modes For audio output this motherboard supports 2 channel 4 channel 6 channel and 8 channel modes Please check the table on page 11 for proper connection Power Management for USB 2 0 works fine under Microsoft Windows Vista 64 bit Vista XP 64 bit XP SP1 or SP2 2000 SP4 Microsoft Windows Vista Vista 64 bit driver keeps on updating now As long as we have the latest driver we will update it to our website in the future Please visit our website for Microsoft Windows Vista Vista 64 bit driver and related information ASRock website http www asrock com 1 3 Minimum Hardware Requirement Table for Windows Vista Premium 2007 and Basic Logo For system integrators and users who purchase this motherboard and plan to submit Windows Vista Premium 2007 and Basic logo please follow below table for minimum hardware requirements Sempron 2500 1GB
29. ntroller Use this item to enable or disable the use of USB controller USB 2 0 Support Use this item to enable or disable the USB 2 0 support Legacy USB Support Use this item to enable or disable the support to emulate legacy I O devices such as mouse keyboard etc Or you may select Auto so that the system will start to auto detect if there is no USB device connected Auto option will disable the legacy USB support 38 3 4 Hardware Health Event Monitoring Screen In this section it allows you to monitor the status of the hardware on your system including the parameters of the CPU temperature motherboard temperature CPU fan speed chassis fan speed and the critical voltage BIOS SETUP UTILITY Main Advanced H W Monitor Security Hardware Health Event Monitoring CPU Temperature 37 98 M B Temperature 87 CPU Fan Speed 2833 RPM Chassis Fan Speed 1 532 V 3 30V 3 129 V 5 00V 4 877 V Select Screen 12 00V 11 741 V Select Item General Help Load Defaults Save and Exit Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc CPU Quiet Fan This item allows you to identify the temperature of CPU fan Configuration options Disabled and Enabled The default value is Disabled You are allowed to enable this function only when you install 4 pin CPU fan 39 3 5 Boot Screen In this section it will display the available devices on your syste
30. r you update the BIOS If you need to clear the CMOS when you just finish updating the BIOS you must boot up the system first and then shut it down before you do the clear CMOS action 16 2 6 Onboard Headers and Connectors Onboard headers and connectors are NOT jumpers Do NOT place jumper caps over these headers and connectors Placing jumper caps over the headers and connectors will cause permanent damage of the motherboard Floppy Connector 33 pin FLOPPY1 see p 10 No 19 the red striped side to Pin1 Note Make sure the red striped side of the cable is plugged into Pin1 side of the connector Primary IDE Connector Blue Secondary IDE Connector Black 39 pin IDE1 see p 10 No 9 39 pin IDE2 see p 10 No 8 connect the blue end connect the black end to the motherboard to the IDE devices 80 conductor ATA 66 100 133 cable Note If you use only one IDE device on this motherboard please set the IDE device as Master Please refer to the instruction of your IDE device vendor for the details Besides to optimize compatibility and performance please connect your hard disk drive to the primary IDE connector IDE1 blue and CD ROM to the secondary IDE connector IDE2 black Serial ATA Connectors These two Serial ATA SATA SATA1 see p 10 No 10 connectors support SATA data SATA2 see p 10 No 11 1 1 cables for internal storage SATA2 SATA1 devices The current SATA inte
31. re built as RAID1 then it is called Hot Swap for the action to insert and remove the SATA HDDs while the system is still power on and in working condition 2 9 Driver Installation Guide To install the drivers to your system please insert the support CD to your optical drive first Then the drivers compatible to your system can be auto detected and listed on the support CD driver page Please follow the order from up to bottom side to install those required drivers Therefore the drivers you install can work properly For users who install Windows XP 64 bit OS and plan to install drivers to your system from the support CD since the SATA driver provided by the chipset vendor has not submitted Windows Logo yet we provide you with the following driver installation choices 1 All in 1 Logo Driver W O HotPlug amp RAID You may choose this item to install all in 1 logo driver which does not support Hot Plug and RAID functions but it has passed Microsoft logo certification 21 2 All in 1 Non Logo Driver W HotPlug amp RAID You may choose this item to install all in 1 non logo driver which supports Hot Plug and RAID functions but it has not passed Microsoft logo certification yet Please choose the driver which meets your requirement most from the above mentioned items during driver installation process For users who install Windows Vista Vista 64 bit OS since Windows Vista Vista
32. rface allows up to 1 5 Gb s data transfer rate Serial ATA SATA Either end of the SATA data cable Data Cable can be connected to the SATA Optional hard disk or the SATA connector on the motherboard 17 Serial ATA SATA Optional connect to the SATA 9 2 Power Cable power connector 7 connect to the power supply USB 2 0 Header 9 05 4 5 see p 10 No 17 Shared USB 2 0 Header 9 pin USB2_ 3 USB_PWR USB_PWR see p 10 No 27 2 3 2 3 GND GND DUMMY Infrared Module Header 5 pin IR1 DUMMY see p 10 No 26 Internal Audio Connectors 4 pin CD1 CD1 see p 10 No 24 CD1 Front Panel Audio Header 8 pin AUDIO1 GND BACKOUT R see p 10 No 21 BACKOUT L AUD OUT R MIC POWER MIC 18 Please connect the black end of SATA power cable to the power connector on each drive Then connect the white end of SATA power cable to the power connector of the power supply Besides four default USB 2 0 ports on the I O panel there are two USB 2 0 headers on this motherboard Each USB 2 0 header cansupport two USB 2 0 ports The shared USB 2 0 header USB2_ 3 is shared with USB ports 23 on the I O panel When using the front panel USB ports by attaching the front panel USB cable to USB2_3 header the USB ports 23 on the I O panel will not be able to function This header supports an optional wireless transmitting and receiving infrared module
33. ront panel audio connector 2 x USB 2 0 headers support 4 USB 2 0 ports 2 of them are shared with USB23 ports on the I O panel see CAUTION 6 BIOS Feature 4Mb AMI BIOS AMI Legal BIOS Supports Plug and Play ACPI 1 1 Compliance Wake Up Events Supports jumperfree SMBIOS 2 3 1 Support Drivers Utilities AntiVirus Software Trial Version Hardware CPU Temperature Sensing Monitor Chassis Temperature Sensing CPU Fan Tachometer Chassis Fan Tachometer CPU Quiet Fan Voltage Monitoring 12V 5V 3 3V Vcore Microsoft Windows 2000 XP XP 64 bit Vista Vista 64 bit compliant see CAUTION 7 Certifications FCC CE Microsoft WHQL Certificated WARNING Please realize that there is a certain risk involved with overclocking including adjusting the setting in the BIOS applying Untied Overclocking Technology or using the third party overclocking tools Overclocking may affect your system stability or even cause damage to the components and devices of your system It should be done at your own risk and expense We are not responsible for possible damage caused by overclocking CAUTION its This motherboard supports Untied Overclocking Technology Please read Un tied Overclocking Technology on page 24 for details Although this motherboard offers stepless control it is not recommended to perform over clocking Frequencies other than the recommended CPU bus frequencies may cause the i
34. s item to Disable if above issue occurs Processor Maximum Multiplier It will display Processor Maximum Multiplier for reference Processor Maximum Voltage lt will display Processor Maximum Voltage for reference Multiplier Voltage Change This item is set to Auto by default If it is set to Manual you may adjust the value of Processor Multiplier and Processor Voltage However it is recom mended to keep the default value for system stability 28 BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced CPU Configuration If AUTO multiplier and Overclock Mode Auto voltage will be left at the CPU Frequency MHz 200 rated frequency voltage If AGP Frequency MHz 66 Manual multiplier and Boot Failure Guard Enabled voltage will be set based Spread Spectrum Auto a Conk nu Quiet on User Selection in Setup Processor Maximum Multiplier x9 1800 MHz Processor Maximum Voltage 1 400 V Processor Multiplier x8 Select Screen Processor Voltage 1 500V Select Item Change Option Memory Clock Auto Al General Help Flexibility Option Disabled Load Defaults CAS Latency Auto Save and Exit TRAS Auto Exit 02 54 Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc Processor Multiplier This item will show when Multiplier Voltage Change is set to Manual otherwise it will be hidden The range of the value depends on the CPU you adopt on this motherboard However for system stability it is not recommended to adjust the val
35. ss it firmly on the socket while you push down the socket lever to secure the CPU The lever clicks on the side tab to indicate that it is locked 2 1 Socket Corner Small Triangle WN aes 3 Triangle 1 2 3 STEP 4 Lift Up The Socket Lever Match The CPU Golden Triangle Push Down And Lock To The Socket Corner Small The Socket Lever Triangle 2 2 Installation of CPU Fan and Heatsink After you install the CPU into this motherboard it is necessary to install a larger heatsink and cooling fan to dissipate heat You also need to spray thermal grease between the CPU and the heatsink to improve heat dissipation Make sure that the CPU and the heatsink are securely fas tened and in good contact with each other Then connect the CPU fan to the CPU FAN connector CPU_FAN1 see Page 10 No 6 For proper installation please kindly refer to the instruction manuals of the CPU fan and the heatsink 13 2 3 Installation of Memory Modules DIMM This motherboard is equipped with two 184 pin DDR Double Data Rate DIMM slots A Please make sure to disconnect power supply before adding or removing DIMMs or the system components Step 1 Unlock a DIMM slot by pressing the retaining clips outward Step 2 Align a DIMM on the slot such that the notch on the DIMM matches the break on the slot 6 TRE 15 lt lt notch l
36. t break The DIMM only fits in one correct orientation It will cause permanent damage to the motherboard and the DIMM if you force the DIMM into the slot at incorrect orientation Step 3 Firmly insert the DIMM into the slot until the retaining clips at both ends fully snap back in place and the DIMM is properly seated 14 2 4 Expansion Slots PCI Slots and AGP Slot There are 4 PCI slots and 1 AGP slot on K8NF3 VSTA motherboard PCI Slots AGP slot PCI slots are used to install expansion cards that have the 32 bit PCI interface slot is used to install a graphics card The ASRock AGP slot has a special design of clasp that can securely fasten the inserted graphics card Please do NOT use a 3 3V AGP card on the AGP slot of this motherboard It may cause permanent damage For the voltage infor mation of your AGP card please check with the AGP card vendors Installing an expansion card Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Before installing the expansion card please make sure that the power supply is switched off or the power cord is unplugged Please read the documentation of the expansion card and make necessary hardware settings for the card before you start the installation Remove the system unit cover if your motherboard is already installed in a chassis Remove the bracket facing the slot that you intend to use Keep the screws for later use Align
37. t the address for the onboard infrared port or disable it Configuration options Disabled 2F8 IRQ3 and 2E8 IRQ3 36 Parallel Port Address Use this item to set the address for the onboard parallel port or disable it Configuration options Disabled 878 and 278 Parallel Port Mode Use this item to set the operation mode of the parallel port The default value is ECP EPP If this option is set to ECP EPP it will show the EPP version in the following item EPP Version Configuration options Normal Bi Directional and ECP EPP EPP Version Use this item to set the EPP version Configuration options 1 9 and 1 7 ECP Mode DMA Channel Use this item to set the ECP mode DMA channel Configuration options DMAO DMA1 and DMA3 Parallel Port IRQ Use this item to set the IRQ for the parallel port Configuration options IRQ5 and IRQ7 OnBoard Game Port Use this item to enable the Game Port or disable it OnBoard MIDI Port Use this itme to select the address for the MIDI Port or disable it Configura tion options Disabled 300 and 330 37 3 3 8 USB Configuration BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced USB Configuration To enable or disable the onboard USB controllers USB 2 0 Support Enabled Legacy USB Support Disabled Select Screen Select Item Change Option General Help Load Defaults Save and Exit Exit v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc USB Co
38. the card connector with the slot and press firmly until the card is completely seated on the slot Fasten the card to the chassis with screws Replace the system cover 15 2 5 Jumpers Setup The illustration shows how jumpers are setup When the jumper cap is placed on pins the jumper is Short If no jumper cap is placed on pins the jumper is Open The illustration shows a 3 pin jumper whose pin1 2 Short when jumper cap is placed on these 2 pins ahon Open Jumper Settin PS2_USB_PW1 1_2 2_3 Short pin2 pin3 to enable see p 10 No 1 00 5VSB standby for PS 2 or USB wake up events Note To select 5VSB it requires 2 Amp and higher standby current provided by power supply JR1 JL1 Jumper o ojo o see p 10 No 22 JL1 JR1 Note If the jumpers JL1 and JR1 are short both the front panel and the rear panel audio connectors can work Clear CMOS Jumper 12 2_3 A see p 10 No 14 Default Clear CMOS Note CLRCMOS2 allows you to clear the data in CMOS The data in CMOS includes system setup information such as system password date time and system setup parameters To clear and reset the system parameters to default setup please turn off the computer and unplug the power cord from the power supply After waiting for 15 seconds use a jumper cap to short pin2 and pin3 on CLRCMOS2 for 5 seconds However please do not clear the CMOS right afte
39. ue of this item Processor Voltage This item will show when Multiplier Voltage Change is set to Manual otherwise it will be hidden The range of the value depends on the CPU you adopt on this motherboard However for safety and system stability it is not recommended to adjust the value of this item Memory Clock This item can be set by the code using Auto You can set one of the standard values as listed 133 MHz DDR266 166 MHz DDR333 200 MHz DDR400 Flexibility Option The default value of this option is Disabled It will allow better tolerance for memory compatibility when it is set to Enabled CAS Latency Use this item to adjust the means of memory accessing Configuration options Auto 2 0 8 0 and 2 5 The default value is Auto TRAS Use this to adjust TRAS values Configuration options Auto 5CLK 6CLK 7CLK 8BCLK 9CLK 1O0CLK 11CLK 12CLK 13CLK 14CLK and 15CLK The default value is Auto TRP Use this to adjust TRP values Configuration options Auto 2CLK 3CLK 4CLK 5CLK and 6CLK The default value is Auto TRCD Use this to adjust TRCD values Configuration options Auto 2CLK 8CLK 4CLK 5CLK and 6CLK The default value is Auto 29 TRRD Use this to adjust TRRD values The default value is Auto TRC Use this to adjust TRC values The default value is Auto MA Timing Use this to adjust values for MA timing Config
40. uration options Auto 2T 11 The default value is Auto Burst Length Burst length can be set to 8 4 or 2 beats 64 Bit Dq must use the 4 beats Bank Interleaving Interleaving allows memory accesses to be spread out over banks on the same node or accross nodes decreasing access contention 3 3 2 Chipset Configuration BIOS SETUP UTILITY Advanced Chipset Settings To set DRAM Voltage OnBoard UAA Audio Auto OnBoard LAN Enabled AGP Data Rate 8X AGP Aperture Size 64MB AGP Fast Write Disabled AGP SideBand Address Enabled Primary Graphics Adapter PCI Select Screen Select Item Change Option Save and Exit Exit CPU NB Link Speed Auto CPU NB Kink Width Auto v02 54 C Copyright 1985 2003 American Megatrends Inc OnBoard UAA Audio Select Auto Enabled or Disabled for the onboard UAA Audio feature If you select Auto the onboard UAA Audio will be disabled when PCI Sound Card is plugged OnBoard LAN This allows you to enable or disable the onboard LAN feature AGP Data Rate Use this item to adjust the AGP Data Rate Configuration options 8X 4X The default value is 8X AGP Aperture Size It refers to a section of the PCI memory address range used for graphics memory It is recommended to leave this field at the default value unless the installed AGP card s specifications requires other sizes Configuration options 32MB 64MB 128MB 256MB and 512MB 30
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ASROCK K8NF3 VSTA User Manual