Copyright Notice: No part of this installation guide 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 guide 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 guide 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 guide. With respect to the contents of this guide, 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 guide 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 Published January 2007 Copyright©2007 ASRock INC. All rights reserved. 1 ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA Motherboard English Layout Motherboard Layout 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 PS2_USB_PW1 Jumper ATX 12V Power Connector (ATX12V1) CPU Heatsink Retention Module AM2 940-Pin CPU Socket 2 x 240-pin DDRII DIMM Slots (Dual Channel A: DDRII_1, DDRII_2; Yellow) 2 x 240-pin DDRII DIMM Slots (Dual Channel B: DDRII_3, DDRII_4; Orange) Secondary Serial ATA Connector (SATA2, Black) Primary Serial ATA Connector (SATA1, Black) NVIDIA nForce3 250 Single Chip Primary IDE Connector (IDE1, Blue) Secondary IDE Connector (IDE2, Black) USB 2.0 Header (USB45, Blue) Chassis Speaker Header (SPEAKER 1) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 System Panel Header (PANEL1) Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN1) Infrared Module Header (IR1) Clear CMOS Jumper (CLRCMOS1) Floppy Connector (FLOPPY1) Game Port Header (GAME1) JR1 / JL1 Jumper Front Panel Audio Header (AUDIO1) Internal Audio Connector: CD1 (Black) Flash Memory 5 x PCI Slots (PCI1- 5) AGP Slot (1.5V_AGP1) CPU Fan Connector (CPU_FAN1) ATX Power Connector (ATXPWR1) Shared USB 2.0 Header (USB2_3, Blue) English 2 ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA Motherboard ASRock 8CH I/O 1 2 3 4 5 6 Parallel Port RJ-45 Port Side Speaker (Gray) Rear Speaker (Black) Central / Bass (Orange) Line In (Light Blue) Front Speaker (Lime) 8 9 10 11 12 13 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) *7 * 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 (No. 7) (No. 4) 2 V -4 V -6 V -8 V V Central / Bass (No. 5) --V V Side Speaker (No. 3) -V V V 3 ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA Motherboard English 1. Introduction Thank you for purchasing ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA 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. This Quick Installation Guide contains introduction of the motherboard and step-bystep installation guide. More detailed information of the motherboard can be found in the user manual presented in 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 1.1 Package Contents 1 x ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA Motherboard (ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 8.0-in, 30.5 cm x 20.3 cm) 1 x ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA Quick Installation Guide 1 x ASRock AM2NF3-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 Cable (Optional) 1 x ASRock 8CH I/O Shield English 4 ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA Motherboard 1.2 Specifications - ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 8.0-in, 30.5 cm x 20.3 cm - Socket AM2 for AMD AthlonTM 64FX / 64X2 / 64 and Sempron Processors - Supports AMD's Cool `n' QuietTM Technology (see CAUTION 1) - Supports Untied Overclocking Technology (see CAUTION 2) - Supports Hyper-Transport Technology - NVIDIA® nForce3 250 - Dual Channel DDRII Memory Technology (see CAUTION 3) - 4 x DDRII DIMM slots - Support DDRII800/667/533 - Max. capacity: 8GB (see CAUTION 4) - CPU Frequency Stepless Control (see CAUTION 5) - ASRock U-COP (see CAUTION 6) - Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.) - ASRock AM2 Boost: ASRock Patented Technology to boost memory performance up to 12.5% (see CAUTION 7) - 5 x PCI slots - 1 x AGP 8X slot (see CAUTION 8) - C-Media CM6501 7.1 channel audio compliant with UAA architecture - Realtek PHY RTL8201CL - Speed: 10/100 Ethernet - Supports Wake-On-LAN 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 9) Platform CPU Chipset Memory Hybrid Booster Expansion Slot Audio LAN Rear Panel I/O 5 ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA Motherboard English Connector BIOS Feature Support CD Hardware Monitor OS Certifications - 2 x Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, JBOD) and "Hot Plug" functions - 2 x 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 - Front 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 10) - 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) - CPU Temperature Sensing - 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/VistaTM / VistaTM 64-bit compliant (see CAUTION 11) - FCC, CE, Microsoft® WHQL Certificated English 6 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 thirdparty 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. ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA Motherboard CAUTION! For power-saving's sake, it is strongly recommended to enable AMD's Cool `n' QuietTM technology under Windows system. See APPENDIX on page 42 of "User Manual" in the Support CD to enable AMD's Cool `n' QuietTM technology. 2. This motherboard supports Untied Overclocking Technology. Please read "Untied Overclocking Technology" on page 21 for details. 3. This motherboard supports Dual Channel Memory Technology. Before you implement Dual Channel Memory Technology, make sure to read the installation guide of memory modules on page 10 for proper installation. 4. Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows® XP and Windows® VistaTM. For Windows® XP 64-bit and Windows® VistaTM 64bit with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limitation. 5. 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 instability of the system or damage the CPU. 6. 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. 7. This motherboard supports ASRock AM2 Boost overclocking technology. If you enable this function in the BIOS setup, the memory performance will improve up to 12.5%, but the effect still depends on the AM2 CPU you adopt. Enabling this function will overclock the chipset/CPU reference clock. However, we can not guarantee the system stability for all CPU/DRAM configurations. If your system is unstable after AM2 Boost function is enabled, it may not be applicative to your system. You may choose to disable this function for keeping the stability of your system. 8. Do NOT use a 3.3V AGP card on the AGP slot of this motherboard! It may cause permanent damage! 9. 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 3 for proper connection. 10. Power Management for USB 2.0 works fine under Microsoft® Windows® VistaTM 64-bit / VistaTM / XP 64-bit / XP SP1 or SP2 / 2000 SP4. 11. Microsoft® Windows® VistaTM / VistaTM 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® VistaTM / VistaTM 64-bit driver and related information. ASRock website http://www.asrock.com 1. 7 ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA Motherboard English 1.3 Requirement Table Windows Minimum Hardware R equirement Table for W indows ® TM Vista Premium and Basic Logo For system integrators and users who purchase this motherboard and plan to submit Windows® VistaTM Premium and Basic logo, please follow the below table for minimum hardware requirement. CPU Memory VGA Sempron 2800+ 512MB Single Channel DX9.0 with WDDM Driver with 128bit VGA memory (Premium) with 64bit VGA memory (Basic) English 8 ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA Motherboard 2. Installation Pre-installation Precautions Take note of the following precautions before you install motherboard components or change any motherboard settings. 1. Unplug the power cord from the wall socket before touching any component. Failure to do so may cause severe damage to the motherboard, peripherals, and/or components. 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. Hold components by the edges and do not touch the ICs. Whenever you uninstall any component, place it on a grounded antstatic pad or in the bag that comes with the component. 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. 2. 3. 4. 5. 2.1 Step 1. Step 2. Step 3. CPU Installation Unlock the socket by lifting the lever up to a 90° angle. Position the CPU directly above the socket such that the CPU corner with the golden triangle matches the socket corner with a small triangle. Carefully insert the CPU into the socket until it fits in place. The CPU fits only in one correct orientation. DO NOT force the CPU into the socket to avoid bending of the pins. Step 4. Step 5. 9 ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA Motherboard English When the CPU is in place, press it firmly on the socket while you push down the socket lever to se ...