EPOX nVIDIA nForce3 250Gb User Manual

TRADEMARKAll products and company names are trademarks or registeredtrademarks of their respective holders.These specifications are subject to change

IntroductionPage 1-4Special Features&Cool ‘n’Quiet TechnologyReduce the noise and heat from your PC when AMD Cool’n’QuietTM Technologyis enabled.&

IntroductionPage 1-51-3 System Block Diagram

IntroductionPage 1-6

SpecificationPage 2-1Section 2SPECIFICATIONMainboard SpecificationProcessorSupports 754-pin Socket for AMD Athlon 64 processors with 1.6GTs HyperTra

SpecificationPage 2-2Audio Six channel audio with analog and digital output using Realtek ALC655AC’97 CODEC- AC’97 v2.3 compliant- Supports CD-In, Au

SpecificationPage 2-3Front Panel Controller Supports Reset & Soft-Off switches Supports HDD & Power LEDs Supports PC speaker Supports Fron

SpecificationPage 2-4

InstallationPage 3-1Mainboard LayoutSection 3INSTALLATION

InstallationPage 3-2Easy Installation ProcedureThe following must be completed before powering on your new system:3-1. CPU Installation3-2. Jumper Set

InstallationPage 3-3Step 5Align pin 1 on the CPU with pin 1 onthe CPU socket as shown in theillustration above. The CPU is keyed toprevent incorrect i

iiDISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES:THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES WHICH EXTEND BEYOND THEDESCRIPTION ON THE FACE OF THE MANUFACTURER LIMITEDWARRANTY. THE MANUFACTURE

InstallationPage 3-4Step 9Plug the CPU fan power into the mainboard’sCPU fan connector.The installation is complete.<Figure 9>Note: Thermal comp

InstallationPage 3-53-2 Jumper Settings1JCMOS:Settings:1-2: Normal (Default)2-3: Clear CMOSClear CMOS data JumperIf the CMOS data becomes corrupted

InstallationPage 3-6NOTES:• Using non-compliant memory with higher bus speeds (overclocking)may severely compromise the integrity of the system.3-3 S

InstallationPage 3-73-4 Expansion SlotsAGP SlotThe mainboard is equipped with an AGPslot. Make sure you install a card thatsupports the 1.5V specifica

InstallationPage 3-8JCPU_FAN / JPWR_FAN / JSYS_FAN:CPU/Power/Chassis Fan Power ConnectorsJCPU_FAN: The CPU must be kept cool by using aheatsink with f

InstallationPage 3-9FDD: Floppy Controller ConnectorThis connects to the floppy disk drive.IDE1/IDE2: Ultra DMA-100/133 Primary/SecondaryIDE Connector

InstallationPage 3-10CD-INAUX-INCD-IN/AUX-IN: CD Audio_IN ConnectorThe CD-IN and AUX-IN connectors are used toreceive audio form a CD-ROM drive, TV tu

InstallationPage 3-11SPDIF: Sony/Philips Digital InterFace connectorThis connector links digital audio between themainboard and your audio devices, su

InstallationPage 3-12SATA1 / SATA2: Serial ATA ConnectorsThese connectors enable you to connect SerialATA devices that conform to the Serial ATAspecif

InstallationPage 3-13CFP: Front Panel Connector HD_LEDThis LED will light up whenever the hard driveis being accessed. PWR_LEDThis connects

iii80 Port Frequently Asked QuestionsBelow is a list of some basic POST Codes, possible problems and solutions. Formore detailed information about PO

InstallationPage 3-143-7 External Modem Ring-in Power ON and Keyboard Power ON Functions (KBPO)Modem-Ring Power ON FunctionThe mainboard support

InstallationPage 3-153-8 ACPI S3 (Suspend To RAM) FunctionThis mainboard supports the STR (Suspend To RAM) power managementscheme by maintaining the a

InstallationPage 3-163-9 CPU Overheating ProtectionThis mainboard is equipped with CPU Overheating Protection. It will automati-cally remove power to

BIOSPage 4-1Section 4BIOS SETUPMain MenuThe ROM BIOS contains a built-in Setup program which allows user to modify thebasic system configuration and h

BIOSPage 4-2The main menu displays all the major selection items. Select the item you need toreconfigure. The selection is made by moving the cursor

BIOSPage 4-34-2 Advanced BIOS FeaturesSelecting the “ADVANCED BIOS FEATURES” option in the CMOS SETUP UTILITYmenu allows users to change system relate

BIOSPage 4-4First /Second/Third Boot DeviceThe BIOS attempts to load the operating system from the devices in the sequenceselected in these items.Opti

BIOSPage 4-54-3 Advanced Chipset FeaturesChoose the “ADVANCED CHIPSET FEATURES” option in the CMOS SETUPUTILITY menu to display following menu.Figure

BIOSPage 4-6CAS# Latency (Tcl)Enables you to select the CAS latency time. The value is set at the factory dependingon the DRAM installed. Do not chang

BIOSPage 4-7HT FrequencyThis item allows you select the Hyper Transport Frequency.Options: 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x. (1x-->200MHz, 2x-->400MHz, 3x--&

ivTable of ContentsSection 1 IntroductionPackage Contents ... 1- 1Mainboard Features ...

BIOSPage 4-8 IDE Function SetupScroll to IDE Function Setup and press <Enter>. The following screen appears:OnChip IDE Channel 0/1The mainboard

BIOSPage 4-9IDE RAIDThis item allows you to select the IDE RAID mode. When set to “Enabled” thefollowing six fields become available.Options: Enabled

BIOSPage 4-10AC97 AudioThis item allows you disable the chipset on-chip AC97 Audio.Options: Auto, Disabled.NV LanEnables the onboard LAN feature.Optio

BIOSPage 4-11UART Mode SelectThis field configures the 2nd serial port for IR application. Select the required IRprotocol or select “Normal” to disab

BIOSPage 4-124-5 Power Management SetupChoose the “POWER MANAGEMENT SETUP” in the CMOS SETUP UTILITY todisplay the following screen. This menu allows

BIOSPage 4-13PCI PME From Soft-OffAn input signal from PME on the PCI card awakens the system from soft-off state.Options: Enabled, Disabled.WOR (RI#)

BIOSPage 4-14Hot Key Power ONEnables you to set a hot key combination to be used for powering on the system.Options: Ctrl+F1 ~ Ctrl+F12.PwerOn After P

BIOSPage 4-15Interrupt requests are shared as shown below:IMPORTANT!When using PCI cards on shared IRQ slots, make sure its drivers support “Shared IR

BIOSPage 4-16Show PC Health in POSTWhen this function is enabled the PC Health information is displayed during thePOST (Power On Self Test).Options: E

BIOSPage 4-174-8 POWER BIOS FeaturesThis page lets you adjust various parameters to obtain improved performance foroverclocking.Warning:Overclocking r

vPNP/PCI Configuration ... 4- 14PC Health Status ... 4

BIOSPage 4-18Note: Overclocking failure will cause no display on the monitor. To overcomethis switch off the power supply and switch on again. Restar

BIOSPage 4-19Chipset VoltageThis item allows you to adjust the chipset voltage.Options: 1.6V, 1.65V, 1.7V, 1.75V. We recommend that you leave this at

BIOSPage 4-204-10 Supervisor/User Password SettingThis function lets you set either Supervisor or User Password, or both, to preventunauthorized chang

BIOSPage 4-214-11 Exiting BIOSSave & Exit SetupPressing <Enter> on this item asks for confirmation: Save to CMOS and EXIT (Y/N)?

BIOSPage 4-22

S-ATA RAID ConfigurationPage 5-1Section 5S-ATA RAID CONFIGURATIONIntroductionThis section gives a brief introduction on RAID-related background knowle

S-ATA RAID ConfigurationPage 5-2RAID 0 (Striping)RAID 0 reads and writes sectors of data interleaved between multiple drives. If anydisk member fails

S-ATA RAID ConfigurationPage 5-3nVidia S-ATA RAID FeaturesThe nVidia S-ATA RAID solution uses the nForce3 250 MCP chip as a RAIDcontroller, which is a

S-ATA RAID ConfigurationPage 5-4Enable RAID FunctionFor any RAID controller, the general procedure to enable RAID function are shownbelow:Step 1: Crea

S-ATA RAID ConfigurationPage 5-5 Step 2: Prepare driver floppyWhen installing Windows XP/2000/NT4.0 into any RAID disk, the O/S setup willrequire a fl

viPage Left Blank

S-ATA RAID ConfigurationPage 5-6Step 4: Install Software utility for WindowsAfter the O/S has been installed, you may install the RAID driver and soft

Drivers InstallationPage 6-1Section 6DRIVER INSTALLATIONEasy Driver InstallationMethod 1Method 2Auto InstallationSelective Installation[nVIDIA nForce3

Drivers InstallationPage 6-2Realtek Sound Manager Quick User-guide IntroductionTo obtain the best performance from your audio system, run the "S

Drivers InstallationPage 6-3Equalizer:SpeakerConfiguration:<Figure 3>3. There are 10 bands of equalizer control, check "ON" when you w

Drivers InstallationPage 6-4<Figure 5>5. For 6 channel mode, the audio combination is shown above.<Figure 6>6. To test the speaker , selec

Drivers InstallationPage 6-5<Figure 7>SPDIF-In:7. This page shows S/PDIF IN function on your system.a. Click "Auto Lock" to detect S/P

Drivers InstallationPage 6-6This board is equipped with Jack Sensing capability. If an audio device is pluggedinto the wrong connector, a warning mess

Drivers InstallationPage 6-7<Figure 11>ConnectorSensing:11. After closing EZ-Connector, this page will show the latest connector statusas above.

Drivers InstallationPage 6-8

AppendixA-1Appendix AA-1 Update Your System BIOSDownload the xxxxx.EXE file corresponding to your model from our website to anempty directory on your

IntroductionPage 1-1Section 1INTRODUCTION1-1 Package ContentsContentsA. MainboardB. User’s manualC. Floppy drive cableD. HDD drive cableE. CD (drivers

AppendixA-25. Key in File Name to save previous BIOS to file.6. To confirm and proceed, please key in [Y] to start the programming.7. The BIOS update

AppendixB-1Power-on the system and wait for the following screen to appear. Press the ”F10”key to enter its BIOS configuration utility.Using the Defin

AppendixB-2To 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 selected2) Move it

AppendixB-3Use the arrow keys to select the array that you want to set up, then press Enter.The Array Detail window appears.The Array Detail window sh

AppendixB-4

AppendixC-1Appendix CC-1 POST CODESPOST (hex) DESCRIPTIONCFh Test CMOS R/W functionality.C0h Early chipset initialization:- Disable shadow RAM- Disabl

AppendixC-218h Detect CPU information including brand, SMI type (Cyrix or Intel) andCPU level (586 or 686).19-1Ah Reserved1Bh Initial interrupts vecto

AppendixC-343h Test 8259 functionality.44h Reserved45-46h Reserved47h Initialize EISA slot48h Reserved49h 1. Calculate total memory by testing the las

AppendixC-46Eh Reserved6Fh 1. Initialize floppy controller2. Set up floppy related fields in 40:hardware.70-72h Reserved73h (Optional Feature) Enter A

IntroductionPage 1-21-2 Mainboard FeaturesBrief IntroductionAthlonTM 64 ProcessorThe AMD AthlonTM 64 processor family is designed to support performan

IntroductionPage 1-3Hardware MonitoringHardware monitoring enables you to monitor various aspects of the systemoperation and status. This includes CP