XFX 780i User Manual

User Guide XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard x Parts NOT in the Kit This kit contains all the hardware necessary to install and connect your new X

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 88 Award POST Codes Code Name Description Interrupt mask register is on. Test 8259 Force an interru

Post Codes 89 Award POST Codes Code Name Description 5B Awdflash Load If required, will auto load Awdflash.exe in POST 5C Reserved 5D

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 90 Award POST Codes Code Name Description 76 Reserved 77 Detect serial ports Initialize serial

Post Codes 91 Award POST Codes Code Name Description 8F IRQ12 Enable Enable IRQ12 if mouse present 90 Reserved 91 Reserved 92 Reser

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 92 Table 7. NVMM POST Codes NVMM POST Codes Code Name Description 0F0h Identify HW in the syste

Post Codes 93 NVMM POST Codes Code Name Description 044h Late SLAM table 048h Previous Power State SLAM table 04Ch Hardware Workar

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 94

95 Appendix B. Configuring an SLI Configuration NVIDIA SLI (Scalable Link Interface) is a revolutionary technology that allows two XFX SLI graphi

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 96 Figure 17. 3-way NVIDIA SLI connector ForceWare Driver The 3-way SLI platform uses the NVIDIA

Configuring 3-Way SLI 97 Figure 18. Windows Vista Device Manager Three GPUs are represented under Display adapters

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard xi Intentions of the Kit This kit provides you with the motherboard and all connecting cables necessary to i

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 98 Enabling 3-Way SLI 3-way NVIDIA SLI is enabled from the NVIDIA Control Panel. Right mouse click o

Configuring 3-Way SLI 99 Before closing the NVIDIA Control Panel, go to the top menu option labeled 3D Settings and select Show SLI Visual

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 100 Verifying 3-way SLI is Active You can verify 3-way SLI is active and functional by launching a f

101 Index 1394 Cable, 4 2-Port SATA Power Cable, 4 ACPI function, 57 ACPI Suspend Type, 57 Adjust Motherboard Timings screen, 71 Advanced BIOS Fe

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 102 configure IDE and SATA channels, BIOS, 30 configuring the BIOS, 25 connectors COM1, 21 CPU fan, 2

Configuring 3-Way SLI 103 GPU, setting parameters, 75 Halt On sub-menu, 32 hard disk audio function, 55 Hard Disk Boot Priority, 35 hard disk

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 104 Intel microprocessor, x internal headers, 16 PWRHD_LED, 16 PWRLED, 16 PWRSW, 16 IRQ Resources, 61

Configuring 3-Way SLI 105 power button cable, 16 Power Management Setup menu, 56 power supply requirement, x Power-on by alarm function, 57 p

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 106 tWRWR, 74 tWTR, 45 unpacking the kit, 3 USB 2.0 4-Port Cable, 4 USB 2.0 ports, 18 USB Config menu

Notice ALL NVIDIA DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS, REFERENCE BOARDS, FILES, DRAWINGS, DIAGNOSTICS, LISTS, AND OTHER DOCUMENTS (TOGETHER AND SEPARATELY, “M

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard xii

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1 XFX nForce 780i Motherboard Thank you for buying the XFX NFORCE 780i SLI Motherboard. This motherboard offers the tools and performance PC use

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 2  Onboard Serial ATA II  300MBps data transfer rate  Six Serial ATA II connectors  NVIDIA Media

3 Unpacking and Parts Descriptions Unpacking The XFX nForce 780i SLI motherboard comes with all the necessary cables for adding a motherboard to

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 4 2-Port SATA Power Cable (Qty Three) 1394 Cable Provides an additional 1394 ports to the back pa

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 5 1. CPU Socket 11. USB headers 21. SPDIF connector 2. NVIDIA SPP with Active fan 12. Motherboard b

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 6 1. PS/2 Mouse Port 2. PS/2 Keyboard Port 3. 1394a (Firewire) Port 4. USB 2.0 ports (SIX) 5

7 Hardware Installation This section will guide you through the installation of the motherboard. The topics covered in this section are:  Prep

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard ii

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 8 Preparing the Motherboard The motherboard shipped in the box does not contain a CPU or memory. You

Hardware Installation 9 7. Close the load plate over the CPU and press down while you close and engage the socket lever. Installing the CPU

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 10 Use the following procedure to install memory DIMMs. Note that there is only one gap near the cent

Hardware Installation 11 Securing the Motherboard into the Chassis Most computer chassis have a base with mounting studs or spacers to allow t

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 12  IDE  Serial ATA II  Chassis Fans  Rear panel USB 2.0 Adapter  Expansion slots  CMO

Hardware Installation 13 24-pin ATX Power (PWR1) PWR1 is the main power supply connector located along the edge of the board next to the DIMM

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 14 8-pin ATX 12V Power (PWR2) PWR2, the 8-pin ATX 12V power connection, is used to provide power to t

Hardware Installation 15 Connecting Serial ATA Cables The Serial ATA II connector is used to connect the Serial ATA II device to the motherboa

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 16 Connecting Internal Headers Front Panel Header The front panel header on this motherboard is one

Hardware Installation 17 Table 2. Front Panel Header Pins Pin Signal In/Out Description 1 HD_PWR Out Hard disk LED pull-up to +5V HD_LE

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard iii Table of Contents User Guide ...

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 18 USB Headers This motherboard contains six (6) USB 2.0 ports that are exposed on the rear panel of

Hardware Installation 19 Audio The audio connector supports HD audio standard and provides two kinds of audio output choices: the Front Audio

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 20 Fan Connections There are five fan connections on the motherboard. The fan speed can be detected a

Hardware Installation 21 There are four more fan connectors on the motherboard. For this installation, these will not be used. COM1 The mot

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 22 FDD Connector The motherboard supports a standard 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44m, and a 2.88M floppy disk

Hardware Installation 23 PCI Express x1 Slot There is one PCI Express x1 slot that is designed to accommodate less bandwidth-intensive cards,

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 24 Jumper Settings The motherboard contains a 3-pin BIOS configuration jumper that enables all board

25 Configuring the BIOS This section discusses how to change the system settings through the BIOS Setup menus. Detailed descriptions of the BIOS

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 26 Enter BIOS Setup The BIOS is the communication bridge between hardware and software. Correctly set

Configuring the BIOS 27 Figure 5. BIOS CMOS Setup Utility Main Menu  Standard CMOS Features Use this menu to set up the basic system conf

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard iv 24-pin ATX Power (PWR1) ...

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 28  System Monitor Use this menu to monitor the real-time system status of your PC, including tempe

Configuring the BIOS 29 Standard CMOS Features Menu The Standard CMOS Features menu is used to configure the standard CMOS information, such a

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 30 Date and Time Using the arrow keys, position the cursor over the month, day, and year. Use the Pag

Configuring the BIOS 31 Press Enter to auto-detect IDE and SATA channels in the system. Once the channel is detected, the values for Capacity,

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 32 Drive A None ... [ ] 360K, 5.25 in. ... [ ] 1.2M, 5.25 in. ... [ ] 720K, 3.5 in. ...

Configuring the BIOS 33 Base Memory 640K Extended Memory 1047552K Total Memory 1048576K  All, But Keyboard System boot does not stop

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 34 Advanced BIOS Features Access the Advanced BIOS Features menu from the CMOS Utility Setup screen.

Configuring the BIOS 35 Removable Device Priority Use this option to select the priority for removable device startup. Press Enter to see the

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 36 Quick Power On Self Test Enabling this option allows the system to skip certain test while booting

Configuring the BIOS 37 Security Option The Security Options allows you to require a password every time the system boots or only when you ent

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard v Advanced BIOS Features ...

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 38 Advanced Chipset Features Select Advanced Chipset Features from the CMOS Setup Utility menu and pr

Configuring the BIOS 39 System Clocks Select System Clocks from the Advanced Chipset Features menu and press Enter to display the System Clock

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 40 Frequency Settings  CPU Freq, MHz This value is set by the CPU Multiplier (value cannot be chang

Configuring the BIOS 41 HT Multiplier  nForce SPP — —> nForce MCP Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll through the HT multiplier

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 42 FSB & Memory Config Select FSB & Memory Config from the Advanced Chipset Features menu and

Configuring the BIOS 43  CPUOC 4%  CPUOC 5%  CPUOC MAX When you select one of the CPUOC x% options, the FSB - Memory Clock Mode is set to U

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 44 or type in a new value. Note that the Actual FSB (QDR) reflects the actual frequency that takes ef

Configuring the BIOS 45  Expert Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to select Expert. When Expert is selected, all timing categories are enabl

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 46 CPU Configuration Select CPU Configuration from the Advanced Chipset Features menu and press Enter

Configuring the BIOS 47  TM2 Only Thermal throttling is achieved by reducing the CPU multiplier and CPU core voltage.  TM1 & TM2 Enables

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard vi IDE Function Setup ...

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 48 System Voltages Select System Voltages from the Advanced Chipset Features menu and press Enter to

Configuring the BIOS 49  nForce SPP This function defines the core voltage level for the NVIDIA nForce SPP chip. Use the Page Up and Page Do

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 50 NVMEM Memory Test This function defines whether you run the NVIDIA memory testing module during P

Configuring the BIOS 51 Save Timing/Voltage Set This function saves the system voltages and timing settings that were defined in the System V

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 52 Integrated Peripherals Menu Select Integrated Peripherals from the CMOS Setup Utility menu and pre

Configuring the BIOS 53 OnChip IDE Channel0 [Disabled] x Primary Master PIO Auto x Primary Slave PIO Auto x Primary Master UDMA

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 54 RAID Enable [Disabled] x SATA 0 Primary RAID Disabled x SATA 0 Secondary RAID Dis

Configuring the BIOS 55 MAC Config Press Enter to display the MAC Config menu.  MACx LAN Use these functions to set the MAC0 and/or MAC1

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 56 Onboard Serial Port 1 This function on the Integrated Peripherals menu allows you to select the on

Configuring the BIOS 57 ACPI Function This function on the Power Management Setup menu allows you to enable or disable the ACPI function. ACPI

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard vii NVIDIA Performance Group of NVIDIA Control Panel ... 68 Device Se

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 58 POWER ON Function This function on the Power Management Setup menu allows you to define the power-

Configuring the BIOS 59 PnP/PCI Configuration Menu Select PnP/PCI Configuration from the CMOS Setup Utility menu and press Enter to display th

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 60 Reset Configuration Data This function on the PnP/PCI Configuration menu allows you to enable or d

Configuring the BIOS 61 IRQ Resources To enable this field for input, set Resources Controlled By to [Manual]. With this field enabled, press

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 62 System Monitor Menu Select System Monitor from the CMOS Setup Utility menu and press Enter to disp

Configuring the BIOS 63 Dynamic Fan Control Press Enter to display the Dynamic Fan Control menu. Use this menu to control the speed of the

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 64

65 Installing Drivers and Software Note: It is important to remember that before installing the driver CD that is shipped in the kit, you need

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 66 Drivers Installation Note: When installing the graphics drivers, the resolution defaults to the l

67 Using the NVIDIA Software Built upon the foundation of NVIDIA’s core motherboard and GPU technologies, NVIDIA System Monitor and Performance

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard viii List of Figures Figure 1. XFX nForce 780i SLI Motherboard Layout...

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 68 NVIDIA Performance Group of NVIDIA Control Panel You can start the NVIDIA Performance Group severa

Using NVIDIA Software 69 Device Settings Device Settings has two tabs, Current Hardware Settings and Hardware Profiles. Under the Current Har

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 70 Current Hardware Settings CPU This option deals with CPU parameters and information. Here, the use

Using NVIDIA Software 71 Motherboard The Motherboard option showcases a wide variety of motherboard and system-wide options and settings. The

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 72 Memory Memory is one of the most critical components in terms of determining overall system stabil

Using NVIDIA Software 73  Write Recovery Time Memory timing that determines the delay between a write command and a Precharge command is set

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 74 between a valid write command and the next read command. A lower cycle time results in better perf

Using NVIDIA Software 75 GPU The graphics processing unit (GPU) located on your video card(s) can be adjusted using Device Setting interface.

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 76 Dynamic BIOS Access The Dynamic BIOS Access page allows you to change your system BIOS settings. T

Using NVIDIA Software 77 View System Information The View System Information menu is a high-level view where all the critical values of the sy

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard ix Before You Begin… Inside the 780i 3-Way SLI Installation CD The following tools and drivers are in the 78

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 78 Profile Policies Easily one of the most powerful aspects of NVIDIA Performance Server is the abili

Using NVIDIA Software 79 Manage Your System BIOS Thanks to the power and flexibility of NVIDIA’s Performance Server software, users can even b

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 80 NVIDIA System Monitor You can open the NVIDIA System Monitor several ways:  Double-click the NVI

Using NVIDIA Software 81 In this example, we can see that the motherboard is selected. As a result, a wide array of related settings and statu

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 82 by clicking the arrow icon in the top-right of the screen, the user can switch modes and bring all

Using NVIDIA Software 83 The second series of options the user can alter deals with Event Logging. Here, one can easily select which system co

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 84 The final series of options the user can change handles the specific hotkeys used to control vario

85 Appendix A. POST Codes for Tritium Platform This section provides the Award POST Codes (Table 6) and the NVMM POST Codes (Table 7) for Tritium

XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 86 Award POST Codes Code Name Description 12 Test CMOS Test and Reset CMOS 13 Reserved 14 Load

Post Codes 87 Award POST Codes Code Name Description 2C Reserved 2D Video memory test Test Video Memory and display Logos 2E Reserved