Micro-Star International MS-7260
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.
WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Statement

CONTENTS

Copyright Notice.... ii Trademarks.... ii Revision History.... ii Technical Support.... ii Safety Instructions.... iii FCC-B Radio Frequency Interference Statement... iv W EEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Statement. v Chapter 1 Getting Started... 1-1 Mainboard Specifications... 1-2 Mainboard Layout... 1-4 Packing Checklist.... 1-5 Chapter 2 Hardware Setup.... 2-1 Quick Components Guide... 2-2 CPU (Central Processing Unit)... 2-3 CPU Installation Procedures for Socket AM2.. 2-4 Installing AMD Socket AM2 CPU Cooler Set.. 2-5 Memory..... 2-6 Dual-Channel Memory Population Rules.. 2-6 Installing DDRII Modules... 2-7 Power Supply.... 2-8 ATX 24-Pin Power Connector: PWR1... 2-8 ATX 12V Power Connector: PWR3/ PWR2.. 2-8 Important Notification about Power Issue.. 2-9 Back Panel.... 2-10 Connectors.... 2-12 Floppy Disk Drive Connector: FDD1... 2-12 ATA133 Hard Disk Connectors: IDE1.. 2-12 Serial ATA II Connectors: SATA1~SATA4.. 2-13 Fan Power Connectors: CPUFAN1, SYSFAN1 & NBFAN1. 2-14 Chassis Intrusion Switch Connector: JCI1... 2-14 CD-In Connector: JCD1.... 2-14 Front Panel Audio Connector: JAUD1.. 2-15 IrDA Infrared Module Header: JIR1... 2-15 Front USB Connectors: JUSB1, JUSB2 & JUSB3.. 2-16 Front Panel Connectors: JFP1/JFP2... 2-17 Jumper.... 2-18 Clear CMOS Jumper: JBAT1... 2-18
Slots.... 2-19 PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express Slots.. 2-19 PCI Interrupt Request Routing.. 2-20 Chapter 3 BIOS Setup.... 3-1 Entering Setup.... 3-2 Control Keys... 3-3 Getting Help... 3-3 General Help <F1>.... 3-3 The Main Menu.... 3-4 Standard CMOS Features... 3-6 Advanced BIOS Features... 3-9 Advanced Chipset Features.... 3-11 Integrated Peripherals.... 3-13 Power Management Setup... 3-16 PNP/PCI Configurations... 3-19 H/W Monitor.... 3-21 Cell Menu... 3-24 Load Fail-Safe/ Optimized Defaults... 3-26 BIOS Setting Password... 3-27 Appendix A Realtek ALC883 Audio.. A-1 Installing the Realtek HD Audio Driver... A-2 Installation for W indows 2000/XP.. A-2 Software Configuration... A-4 Sound Effect... A-5 Mixer.... A-8 Audio I/O.... A-12 Microphone... A-15 3D Audio Demo... A-16 Information... A-17 Hardware Setup... A-18 Appendix B nVidia RAID... B-1 Introduct ion.... B-2 System Requirement... B-2 RAID Arrays.... B-2 Summary of RAID Configurations... B-2 RAID Configuration.... B-3 Basic Configuration Instructions... B-3 Setting Up the NVRAID BIOS... B-3 Installing the RAID Driver (for bootable RAID Array).. B-7

- 1 PCI Express x 16 slot - 2 PCI Express x 1 slots - 3 PCI slots, support 3.3V/ 5V PCI bus Interface, includes one orange slot which supports 2 master for MSI special PCI function card (ex. wireless LAN and bluetooth combo card.).

Form Factor

- ATX (20.0 cm X 30.5 cm)

M ounting

- 6 mounting holes

Mainboard Layout

Top : mouse Bottom: keyboard
Top : Parallel Port Bottom: COM Port
USB por ts IDE1 T: LAN jack B: USB ports
T: Line-I n M:Line-Out B: Mic

CPUFAN1

T:SS-Out M:CS-Out B: RS-Out

S YSFAN 1

LAN Chip

PCI _EX1

W inbond I/ O
PCI _E X2 BATT + PCI _EX3 nvidia nForce 550
JF P2 S ATA 1 JFP 1 JUSB1 SATA2 SATA3 SATA4

BIOS PCI 1

ALC883

NBFAN1

JCD1 JUS B3 JUS B2
K9N Neo Series (MS-7260 v1.X) ATX Mainboard

Packing Checklist

MSI motherboard

MSI Driver/Utility CD

Power Cable

SATA Cable

Standard Cable for IDE Devices
Standard Cable for Floppy Disk

Back IO Shield

Users Guide
* The pictures are for reference only and may vary from the packing contents of the product you purchased.

MSI Special Feature

Core Center
The Core Center is a new utility you can find in the CD-ROM disk. The utility is just like your PC doctor that can detect, view and adjust the PC hardware and system status during real time operation. CoolnQuiet This utility provides a CPU temperature detection function called CoolnQuiet. CoolnQuiet is a special feature designed only for AMD Athlon64 processor, and with CoolnQuiet, the system will be capable of detecting the temperature of the CPU according to the CPUs working loading. W hen the CPU temperature climbs up to a certain degree, the speed of the system cooling fan will be risen automatically. On the other hand, the speed of the system cooling fan will slow down instantly when the CPU temperature descends to its normal degree.
Here the current system status (including Vcore, 3.3V, +5V and 12V) and the current PC hardware status (such as the CPU & system temperatures and all fans speeds) are shown on the left and right sides for you to monitor. W hen you click the red triangles in the left and right sides, two sub-menus will open for users to overclock, overspec or to adjust the thresholds of system to send out the warning messages.

Fixed Lever

3. Fasten down the lever.
4. Attach the CPU Fan cable to the CPU fan connector on the mainboard.
* While disconnecting the Safety Hook from the fixed bolt, it is necessary to keep an eye on your fingers, because once the Safety Hook is disconnected from the fixed bolt, the fixed lever will spring back instantly.

Memory

The mainboard provides four 240-pin non-ECC DDRII DIMMs and supports up to 4GB system memory. For more information on compatible components, please visit http://www.msi.com.tw/ program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_trp_list.php
240-pin, 1.8V 56x2=112 pin 64x2=128 pin
Dual-Channel Memory Population Rules

DIMM1 DIMM2 DIMM3 DIMM4

Installing DDRII Modules
1. The memory module has only one notch on the center and will only fit in the right orientation. 2. Insert the DIMM memory module vertically into the DIMM slot. Then push it in until the golden finger on the memory module is deeply inserted in the socket.
You can barely see the golden finger if the module is properly inserted in the socket.
3. The plastic clip at each side of the DIMM slot will automatically close.
- DDRII modules are not interchangeable with DDR and the DDRII standard is not backwards compatible. You should always install DDRII memory modules in the DDRII DIMMs and DDR memory modules in the DDR DIMMs. - In dual-channel mode, make sure that you install memory modules of the same type and density in different channel DDR DIMMs. - To enable successful system boot-up, always insert the memory modules into the DIM M1 first.

Power Supply

ATX 24-Pin Power Connector: ATX2
This connector allows you to connect an ATX 24-pin power supply. To connect the ATX 24-pin power supply, make sure the plug of the power supply is inserted in the proper orientation and the pins are aligned. Then push down the power supply firmly into the connector. You may use the 20-pin ATX power supply as you like. If youd like to use the 20-pin ATX power supply, please plug your power supply along with pin 1 & pin 13 (refer to the image at the right hand). There is also a foolproof design on pin 11, 12, 23 & 24 to avoid wrong installation.

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL +3.3V +3.3V. GND +5V GND +5V GND PWR OK 5VSB +12V +12V +3.3V PIN SIGNAL +3.3V -12V GND PS-ON# GND GND GND Res +5V +5V +5V GND pin 13

pin 12

ATX 12V Power Connector: JPW1
This 12V power connector is used to provide power to the CPU.

JPW1 Pin Definition

Floppy Disk Drive Connector: FDD1
This standard FDD connector supports 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88M floppy disk types.
ATA133 Hard Disk Connectors: IDE1
The mainboard has a 32-bit Enhanced PCI IDE and Ultra DMA 66/100/133 controller that provides PIO mode 0~4, Bus Master, and Ultra DMA 66/ 100/133 function. You can connect hard disk drives, CD-ROM and other IDE devices. The Ultra ATA133 interface boosts data transfer rates between the computer and the hard drive up to 133 megabytes (MB) per second. The new interface is one-third faster than earlier record-breaking Ultra ATA/ 100 technology and is backwards compatible with the existing Ultra ATA interface. IDE1 (Primary IDE Connector) IDE1 can connect a Master and a Slave drive. You must configure the second hard drive to Slave mode by setting the jumper accordingly. IDE1
If you install two hard disks on cable, you must configure the second drive to Slave mode by setting its jumper. Refer to the hard disk documentation supplied by hard disk vendors for jumper setting instructions.
Serial ATA II Connectors: SATA1~SATA4
SATA1~SATA4 are high-speed SATAII interface ports. Each supports data rates of 300 MB/s and is fully compliant with Serial ATA specifications. Each Serial ATA connector can connect to 1 hard disk device.
SIGNAL GND TXN RXN GND PIN 6 SIGNAL TXP GND RXP

Serial ATA cable

Take out the dust cover and connect to the hard disk devices
Connect to SATA connector
Please do not fold the Serial ATA cable into 90-degree angle. Otherwise, data loss may occur during transmission.
Fan Power Connectors: CPUFAN1, SYSFAN1 & NBFAN1
The fan power connectors support system cooling fan with +12V. W hen connecting the wire to the connectors, always take note that the red wire is the positive and should be connected to the +12V, the black wire is Ground and should be connected to GND. If the mainboard has a System Hardware Monitor chipset on-board, you must use a specially designed fan with speed sensor to take advantage of the CPU fan control.

GND +1 2V SENSOR

GND +1 2V NC

SYSFAN1

1. Please refer to the recommended CPU fans at AMD official website or consult the vendors for proper CPU cooling fan. 2. Always consult the vendors for proper CPU cooling fan.
Chassis Intrusion Switch Connector: JCI1
This connector connects to a 2-pin chassis switch. If the chassis is opened, the switch will be short. The system will record this status and show a warning message on the screen. To clear the warning, you must enter the BIOS utility and clear the record.

GND CINTRU

CD-In Connector: JCD1
This connector is provided for CD-ROM audio. JCD1

R GND L

Front Panel Audio Connector: JAUD1
The JAUD1 front panel audio connector allows you to connect the front panel audio and is compliant with Intel Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design Guide.

+ Speaker 8 + 7 Power LED

JFP2 Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL GND SPKSLED BUZ+ PLED BUZNC SPK+ DESCRIPTION Ground SpeakerSuspend LED Buzzer+ Power LED BuzzerNo connection Speaker+

Jumper

The motherboard provides the following jumper for you to set the computers function. This section will explain how to change your motherboards function through the use of jumper.

Clear CMOS Jumper: JBAT1

There is a CMOS RAM onboard that has a power supply from external battery to keep the data of system configuration. With the CMOS RAM, the system can automatically boot OS every time it is turned on. If you want to clear the system configuration, set the JCMOS1 (Clear CMOS Jumper ) to clear data.

Keep Data

Clear Data
You can clear CMOS by shorting 2-3 pin while the system is off. Then return to 1-2 pin position. Avoid clearing the CMOS while the system is on; it will damage the mainboard.
PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express Slots
PCI Express architecture provides a high performance I/O infrastructure for Desktop Platforms with transfer rates starting at 2.5 Giga transfers per second over a PCI Express x1 lane for Gigabit Ethernet, TV Tuners, 1394 controllers, and general purpose I/O. Also, desktop platforms with PCI Express Architecture will be designed to deliver highest performance in video, graphics, multimedia and other sophisticated applications. Moreover, PCI Express architecture provides a high performance graphics infrastructure for Desktop Platforms doubling the capability of existing AGP 8x designs with transfer rates of 4.0 GB/s over a PCI Express x16 lane for graphics controllers, while PCI Express x1 supports transfer rate of 250 MB/s.

PCI Express x16 Slot

PCI Express x1 Slot
1. When adding or removing expansion cards, make sure that you unplug the power supply first. Meanwhile, read the documentation for the expansion card to configure any necessary hardware or software settings for the expansion card, such as jumpers, switches or BIOS configuration.
PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Slots
The PCI slots support LAN cards, SCSI cards, USB cards, and other add-on cards that comply with PCI specifications. At 32 bits and 33 MHz, it yields a throughput rate of 133 MBps.

32-bit PCI Slot

PCI Interrupt Request Routing
The IRQ, acronym of interrupt request line and pronounced I-R-Q, are hardware lines over which devices can send interrupt signals to the microprocessor. The PCI IRQ pins are typically connected to the PCI bus pins as follows:
Order 1 PCI Slot 1 PCI Slot 2 PCI Slot 3 INT E# INT F# INT G#
Order 2 INT F# INT G# INT H#
Order 3 INT G# INT H# INT E#
Order 4 INT H# INT E# INT F#

BIOS Setup

Chapter 3
This chapter provides information on the BIOS Setup program and allows you to configure the system for optimum use. You may need to run the Setup program when: An error message appears on the screen during the system booting up, and requests you to run SETUP. You want to change the default settings for customized features.

Advanced Chipset Features
M emory Configuration Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears:
M emclock M ode Select the DRAM frequency programming method. If set to Auto, the DRAM speed will be based on SPDs. If set to Limit, the DRAM speed will not exceed the specified value. If set to Manual, the DRAM speed specified will be programmed regardless of SPD. MCT Timing M ode This field has the capacity to automatically detect all of the DRAM timing. If you set this field to [Manual], the following fields will be selectable.
M emory Hole In order to improve performance, certain space in memory can be reserved for ISA peripherals. This memory must be mapped into the memory space below 16MB. W hen this area is reserved, it cannot be cached. Settings: Disabled, 15MB-16MB. Hyper Transport Configuration Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears:
SB to CPU Freq. Auto [Enabled] Auto Detect HT frequency. [Disabled] Manual to setting HT frequency. SB to CPU Frequency When the SB to CPU Freq. Auto set to Disabled, the item will appear. This item allows you to select the frequency from South Bridge to CPU. SB to CPU LinkWidth This item allows you to select the HT width from SB to CPU.

Integrated Peripherals

USB / 2.0 Controller This setting allows you to enable/disable the onboard USB 1.1/ 2.0 controller. USB Device Legacy Support Select [Enabled] if you need to use a USB-interfaced device in the operating system. Onboard LAN Controller These items are used to enable/disable the onboard LAN controller. Onboard Audio Controller This setting is used to enable/disable the onboard audio controller. On-Chip ATA Devices Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears:
PCI IDE BusMaster This item allows you to enable/ disable BIOS to used PCI busmastering for reading/ writing to IDE drives.
On-Chip IDE Controller This item allows you to enable/ disable IDE Controller. Serial-ATA Devices These items allow users to enable or disable the SATA controller. I/O Devices Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears:
Onboard Floppy Controller Select [Enabled] if your system has a floppy disk controller (FDD) installed on the system board and you wish to use it. If you install add-on FDC or the system has no floppy drive, select [Disabled] in this field. COM Port 1/2 Select an address and corresponding interrupt for the first serial port. COM Port 2 Mode This setting allows you to specify the operation mode for serial port 2. Settings are: [IrDA] IrDA-compliant Serial Infrared Port [ASKIR] Amplitude Shift Keyed Infrared Port Parallel Port There is a built-in parallel port on the on-board Super I/O chipset that provides Standard, ECP, and EPP features. It has the following options: [Disabled] [3BC] Line Printer port 0 [278] Line Printer port 2 [378] Line Printer port 1 Parallel Port M ode [SPP] [EPP] [ECP] [ECP + EPP]

Raise the key Remov e the human voice

Lower the key

In the Mixer part, you may adjust the volumes of the rear and front panels individually. 1. Adjust Volume You can adjust the volume of the speakers that you pluged in front or rear panel by select the Realtek HD Audio rear output or Realtek HD Audio front output items.
Before set up, please make sure the playback devices are well plugged in the jacks on the rear or front panel. The Realtek HD Audio front output item will appear after you pluging the speakers into the jacks on the front panel. 2. Multi-Stream Function ALC883 supports an outstanding feature called Multi-Stream, which means you may play different audio sources simultaneously and let them output respectively from the indicated real panel or front panel. This feature is very helpful when 2 people are using the same computer together for different purposes. Click the button and the Mixer ToolBox menu will appear. Then check the Enable playback multi-streaming and click OK to save the setup.
If you use AC97 front panel, the device have to be plugged into the jacks on the panel before enable the multi-stream function.
W hen you are playing the first audio source (for example: use W indows Media Player to play DVD/VCD), the output will be played from the rear panel, which is the default setting. Then you must to select the Realtek HD Audio front output from the scroll list first, and use a different program to play the second audio source (for example: use Winamp to play MP3 files). You will find that the second audio source (MP3 music) will come out from the Line-Out audio jack of Front Panel.

3. Playback control

Playback device Tool Mute This function is to let you freely decide which ports to output the sound. And this is essential when multistreaming playback enabled. - Realtek HD Audio Output - Realtek HD Audio 2nd Output
M u te You may choose to mute single or multiple volume controls or to completely mute sound output. Tool - Show the following volume controls This is to let you freely decide which volume control items to be displayed. - Advanced controls - Enable playback multi-streaming W ith this function, you will be able to have an audio chat with your friends via headphone (stream 1 from front panel) while still have music (stream 2 from back panel) in play. At any given period, you can have maximum 2 streams operating simultaneously.

NVIDIA brings Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) technologywhich is used by the worlds leading businessesto the common PC desktop. This technology uses multiple drives to either increase total disk space or to offer data protection. For all levels, RAID techniques optimize storage solutions by using multiple disks grouped together and treating them as a single storage resource.

Introduct ion

System Requirement
Operating System Support NVRAID supports the following operating systems: W indows XP

RAID Arrays

NVRAID supports the following types of RAID arrays described in this section: RAID 0: RAID 0 defines a disk striping scheme that improves the disk read and write times for many applications. RAID 1: RAID 1 defines techniques for mirroring data. RAID 0+1: RAID 0+1 combines the techniques used in RAID 0 and RAID 1 arrays. Spanning (JBOD): JBOD provides a method for combining drives of different sizes into one large disk
Summary of RAID Configurations
Array Uses Advantages Drawbacks # Hard Disks multiple Fault Tolerance None

RAID 0

Non-critical data requiring high performance. Small databases or any other small capacity environment requiring fault tolerance. Critical data requiring high performance.

High data throughput.

No fault tolerance.

RAID 1

100% data redundancy.
Requires 2 drives for the storage space of 1 drive. Requires 2 drives for the storage space of 1 drivethe same as RAID level 1. Decreases performance because of the difficulty in using drives concurrently or to optimize drives for different uses.

RAID 0+1

Optimized for both 100% data redundancy and performance. Allows spare disks. Combines and uses the capacity of odd size drives.
Combining odd size drives into one big drive

Multiple

RAID Configuration
Basic Configuration Instructions
The following are the basic steps for configuring NVRAID: Non-Bootable RAID Array 1. Choose the hard disks that are to be RAID enabled in the system BIOS. (To enable the SATA 0/ 1 Primary/ Secondary Channel in nVidia RAID Setup of Integrated Peripherals in BIOS.) 2. Specify the RAID level, either Mirroring (RAID 1), Striping (RAID 0), Striping and Mirroring (RAID 0+1) or JBOD and create the desired RAID array. 3. Enter the W indows OS, run the W indows nForce Setup application and install the RAID software. (Check p.C-9 for details.) 4. Initialize the NVRAID Array Disks. Bootable RAID Array 1. Choose the hard disks that are to be RAID enabled in the system BIOS. (To enable the SATA 0/ 1 Primary/ Secondary Channel in nVidia RAID Setup of Integrated Peripherals in BIOS.) 2. Specify the RAID level, either Mirroring (RAID 1), Striping (RAID 0), Striping and Mirroring (RAID 0+1) or JBOD and create the desired RAID array. 3. Boot from the W indows CD, use the floppy disk that has the RAID driver to copy and install the nForce RAID software. (Check p.C-7 for details.) 4. Initialize the NVRAID Array Disks.

Setting Up the NVRAID BIOS
Be sure to enable the SATA 0/ 1 Primary/ Secondary Channel in nVidia RAID Setup of Integrated Peripherals in BIOS before configuring the NVRAID BIOS. After that press F10 to save the configuration and exit. The PC will reboot right away. Then enter the RAID BIOS Setup by pressing F10 when prompted, and follow the procedures described below to set up the NVRAID BIOS. NVRAID BIOS setup lets you choose the RAID array type and which hard drives you want to make part of the array. Entering the RAID BIOS Setup 1. After rebooting your PC, wait until you see the RAID software prompting you to press F10. The RAID prompt appears as part of the system POST and boot process prior to loading the OS. 2. Press F10, and the NVIDIA RAID Utility --- Define a New Array window will appear. The default RAID Mode is set to Mirroring and Striping Block is set to O pti mal.
Understanding the Define a New Array Window Use the Define a New Array window to Select the RAID Mode Set up the Striping Block Specify which disks to use for the RAID Array Depending on the platform used, the system can have one or more channels. In a typical system there is usually one controller and multiple channels, and each channel has a slave and a master. The channel/controller/master/slave status of each hard disk is given in the Loc (location) columns of the Free Disks and Array Disks lists.
In the example above, 1.0.M means the hard drive is attached to Channel 2, Controller 0, and the drive is set to Master. The following is a list of all possible combinations: Serial ATA 1.0.M Controller 1, Channel 0, 1.1.M Controller 1, Channel 1, 2.0.M Controller 2, Channel 0, 2.1.M Controller 2, Channel 1,
Master Master Master Master
(SATA1) (SATA2) (SATA3) (SATA4)
There is no such thing as Slave drive in Serial ATA. All drives are considered to be Master since there is a one to one connection between the drive and the controller.
Using the Define a New Array Window If necessary, press the tab key to move from field to field until the appropriate field is highlighted. Selecting the RAID Mode By default, this is set to [Mirroring]. To change to a different RAID mode, press the down arrow key until the mode that you want appears in the RAID Mode boxeither [Mirroring], [Striping], [Spanning], or [Stripe Mirroring]. Selecting the Striping Block Size Striping Block size is given in kilobytes, and affects how data is arranged on the disk. It is recommended to leave this value at the default [Optimal], which is 32KB, but the values can be between [4 KB] and [128 KB]. Assigning the Disks The disks that you enabled from the RAID Config BIOS setup page appear in the Free Disks block. These are the drives that are available for use as RAID array disks. To 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 selected. 2. Move it from the Free Disks block to the Array Disks block by pressing the right arrow key (-->). The first disk in the list is moved, and the next disk in the list is selected and ready to be moved. 3. Continue pressing the right-arrow key (<-- ) until all the disks that you want to use as RAID array disks appear in the Array Disks block.

It shows that two disks have been assigned as RAID1 array disks in the figure above.

- Define a New Array -

Completing the RAID BIOS Setup 1. After assigning your RAID array disks, press F7. The Clear disk data prompt appears.
2. Press Y if you want to wipe out all the data from the RAID array, otherwise press N. You must choose Yes if the drives were previously used as RAID drives. The Array List window appears, where you can review the RAID arrays that you have set up.
3. Use the arrow keys to select the array that you want to set up, then press Enter. The Array Detail window appears.
4. If you want to mark this disk as empty and wipe out all its contents then press C. 5. At the prompt, press Y to wipe out all the data, otherwise press N. 6. Press Enter again to go back to the previous window and then press Ctrl+X to exit the RAID setup. Now that the RAID setup has been configured from the RAID BIOS, the next step is to configure and load NVRAID drivers under W indows, as explained in Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under Windows on C-9.
Installing the RAID Driver (for bootable RAID Array)
1. After you complete the RAID BIOS setup, boot from the W indows CD, and the W indows Setup program starts. 2. Press F6 and wait for the W indows Setup screen to appear.
3. Specify the NVIDIA drivers: (1) Insert the floppy that has the RAID driver, press S, then press Enter. The W indows Setup screen appears as below:
Please follow the instruction below to make an nVIDIA Serial ATA RAID driver for yourself. 1. Insert the MSI CD into the CD-ROM drive. 2. Click the Browse CD on the Setup screen. 3. Copy all the contents in the :\\nVidia \System \M CP55 \IDE \Win XP\sataraid to a formatted floppy disk. 4. The driver disk for nVIDIA RAID controller is done. (2) Select NVIDIA RAID CLASS DRIVER and then press Enter. (3) Press S again at the Specify Devices screen, then press Enter. (4) Select NVIDIA NForce Storage Controller and then press Enter. The following W indows Setup screen appears listing both drivers:
4. Press Enter to continue with W indows XP Installation. Be sure to leave the floppy disk inserted in the floppy drive until the blue screen portion of W indows XP installation is completed, then take out the floppy. 5. Follow the instructions on how to install W indows XP. After W indows XP is completely installed, it is recommended that you install the the RAID management tool.

Each time you add a new hard drive to a RAID array, the RAID driver will have to be installed under Windows once for that hard drive. After that, the driver will not have to be installed.
NVIDIA IDE Drive/ RAID Utility Installation
Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under Windows (for Non-bootable RAID Array)
The existing W indows IDE Parallel ATA driver (as well as the Serial ATA driver if SATA is enabled) must be upgraded to use the NVIDIA IDE Parallel ATA driver (as well as the NV Serial ATA driver if SATA is enabled). This section describes how to run the setup application and install the RAID software which will upgrade the W indows IDE driver and install the RAID software. 1. Start the NVIDIA nForce Drivers installation program to open the NVIDIA W indows nForce Drivers page.
2. Select the modules that you want to install. Make sure that the NVIDIA IDE Driver is selected.
You must install the NVIDIA IDE driver in order to enable NVIDIA RAID. If you do not install the NVIDIA IDE driver, NVIDIA RAID will not be enabled. 3. Click Next and then follow the instructions. 4. After the installation is completed, be sure to reboot the PC. 5. After the reboot, initialize the newly created array.
Initializing and Using the Disk Array
The RAID array is now ready to be initialized under W indows. 1. Launch Computer Management by clicking Start --> Settings --> Control Panel then open the Administrative Tools folder and double click on Computer Management. 2. Click Disk Management (under the Storage section). The Initialize and Convert Disk W izards appears.
3. Click Next. The Select Disks to Initialize window appears. The disks listed depend on how many arrays you have configured.
4. Click Next. The Select Disks to Convert window appears.
5. Check the disk in the list if you want to make the array a dynamic disk, then click Next. The Completing the Initialize and Convert Disk W izard window appears.
6. Click Finish. The Computer Management window appears.
The actual disks listed will depend on your system, and the unallocated partition is the total combined storage of two hard disks. You must format the unallocated disk space in order to use it. 7. Format the unallocated disk space. Right click Unallocated space, select New Partition and follow the wizard. After the drive has been formatted, it is ready for use.
NVRAID Management Utility
There is an application called NVRAIDMAN which helps you perform the following tasks of nVDIA RAID. Viewing RAID Array Configurations View an array configuration (mirrored, striped, mirror-striped, JBOD, or any supported combination) Setting Up a Spare RAID Disk View free and/or dedicated free disks Designate a free disk to a particular array Creating RAID Arrays Deleting a RAID Array Morphing From One RAID Array to Another Hot Plug Array Initializing a RAID Array Erase the data on the array by writing all zeros to the sectors of each hard disk. Rebuilding a RAID Mirrored Array Rebuild a broken mirrored array W atch the progress of rebuilding an array Only applies to RAID 1 and RAID 0+1 arrays Synchronizing a RAID Array Rebuild the redundancy in RAID 1 or RAID 0+1 arrays (copy the data to the redundant diskthe same operation as rebuilding)

RAID 0+1 RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 1 RAID 0+1 RAID 0 RAID 0+1 RAID 1 RAID 0+1 RAID 0 RAID 5 RAID 1 RAID 0+1

Hot Plug Array

W ith respect to RAID, hot plugging is the ability to add a disk to a system safely and without causing problems for the RAID software. For example, when a drive in a mirrored array fails, the user can launch the Hot Plug Array W izard which instructs the user as to when a drive can be safely added to the system. As soon as the drive is added, the user can then finish running the RAID wizard and the drive becomes usable by the system. Hot Plug Array allows the user to add or remove an entire array without degrading the array in the process. NVRAIDMAN can be used to hot plug a RAID disk. To hot plug a disk, simply do the following: 1 Launch NVRAIDMAN and click on Hot Plug Array and the following screen shot will appear:
2 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear:
3 Connect the RAID disk that you want to use with any given RAID array. 4 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear:

5 Click Finish.

Initializing a RAID Array
Initializing a RAID array erases all the data that is stored on that array, and writes all zeros to the disks. Initialization of newly configured RAID arrays is recommended to ensure consistency and reliable performance on any supported fault tolerant array such as RAID 0, and RAID 0+1. Use this feature only if you are absolutely sure that you want to wipe out all the data on that array. Initialization of a fault tolerant array can only be done when the array is being created. To initialize an array, perform the following steps: Note: In this example, a mirror array is initialized. 1 From the NVRAIDMAN window, right click on any available free disk and select Create Array as show in Figure below.
2 The Create Array W izard opens. Follow the W izard to create a Mirror array. 3 At the Create Array W izard Welcome screen, click Next. 4 At the RAID Array Selection page, make sure that RAID Mode is set to Mirroring and Stripe Size is set to its default value of 64K, then click Next. 5 At the Free Disk Selection page, select the two drives that you want to Mirror and click Next. 6 Click Next again and the following screen shot will appear:

7 Check Intialize Array and then click Next. The Initialization Warning dialog appears.
8 Click OK. The Clearing System Data screen appears again with the Initialize Array check box checked as shown below.
9 Click Next, then click Finish at the Completing the NVIDIA Create Array W izard screen. The NVRAIDMAN windows shows the created RAID array as shown below.
The Initialization Process As you can see from the screen shot above, the initialization process has started and it will be completed in a short period of time. As soon as the Initialization process starts, a popup window similar to the following will appear:
followed by the following pop-up window:

Rebuilding a RAID Array

Rebuilding is the process of restoring data to a hard drive from other drives in the array. This applies only to fault tolerant arrays such as RAID 1 and RAID 0+1. For example, assuming you have a two disk RAID 1 array, and one of the drives fail, then you need the lost data on the newly added drive. Rebuilding Instructions After creating a mirrored array, you can rebuild the array using the following steps: 1. Go to W indows and run the NVIDIA RAID Management utility. The picture below shows an example of a system with one mirrored array and two free disks.
2. Right-click on Mirroring. The popup menu appears.
3. From the popup menu, click Rebuild Array. The NVIDIA Rebuild Array W izard appears.
4. Click Next. The Disk Selection page appears.
5. Select the drive that you want to rebuild by clicking it from the list, then click Next. The Completing the NVIDIA Rebuild Array page appears.
6. Click Finish. The array rebuilding starts after a few seconds, and a small pop-up message appears towards the bottom right corner of the screen as shown in the figure below.
W hen the rebuilding process is finished you will see the pop up box shown in Figure below.
During the rebuilding process, the NVRAID Management utility screen shows the status under the System Tasks and Details sections.
M ore About Rebuilding Arrays Rebuilding Occurs in the Background The rebuilding process is very slow (it can take up to a day) and occurs in the background so as not to affect the performance of the system. Rebuilding Applies Only to RAID 1 or RAID 0+1 Arrays Rebuilding an array works only when using RAID 1 or RAID 0+1. Rebuilding does not apply to RAID 0 and JBOD arrays. Rebuilding applies to a degraded fault tolerant array You can rebuild a degraded mirrored array using any available Free Disk or Dedicated Disk. For example, Figure below shows a mirrored array using two 34.48 GB drives while having two Free Disks each 55.90 GB large.

K9N Neo-F

11.96 in.(L) x 7.8in.(W); ATX 4 DIMMs w/ DDR2 800+ up to 4GB 1 PCI-E 16X; 2 PCI-E X1; 3 PCI; 10 USB Realtek 7.1 CH HD audio Gb LAN; RAID (0, 1 & 0+1); SATA2; ATA133 Live Update; DOT , DigiCell
MSI Part No: MS-7260 -010
Supports Supports Supports Supports 64 -bit AMD Sem pron, Athlon 64 /Athlon 64 X2 processor (Socket AM2) Sempron CPU: 3000+, 3200+, 3400+, 3500+, 3600+, 3800+ Athlon 64 CPU: 3500+, 3800+ Athlon 64 X2 CPU : 3600+, 3800+, 4000+, 4200, 4400+, 4600+, 4800+, 5000+, 5200+

Chipset

NVIDIA nForce 550 Chipset - HyperTransport link to the AMD Sempron, Athlon 64/Athlon 64 X2 CPU - Supports 1 PCI Express x16 interface / 2 PCI Express x1 connection - Independent SATAII controllers, for four drives - Single Fast ATA-133 IDE controller

Main Memory

Supports dual channel DDR2 400/533/667/800, using four 240 -pin DDR2 DIMMs. Supports the memory size up to 4GB Supports 1.8v DDR2 SDRAM DIMM Due to the High Perform ance Memory design, m otherboards or system configurations may or may not operate smoothly at the JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) standard settings (BIOS Default on the motherboard) such as DDR2 voltage, m emory speeds and memory timing. Please confirm and adjust your mem ory setting in the BIOS accordingly for better system stability. Example: Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 PC-6400 operates at 2.0V, 4 -4-4-12. For more information about specification of high perform ance m emory modules, please check with your Memory Manufactures for more details.
One PCI Express X16 slot (supports PCI Express Bus specification v1.0a compliant) Two PCI Express X1 slots Three 32-bit Master PCI Bus slots, one orange slot reserves as comm unication slot. Support 3.3V/5V PCI bus Interface

On -Boa rd IDE/SATA

An IDE controller on the nVIDIA nForce 550 chipset provides IDE HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA133/100/66 operation modes. Can connect up to 2 IDE devices NV RAID supports 4 SATA II ports (SATA1-4). Transfer rate is up to 300MB/s. NV RAID (Software) Supports up to 4 SATA RAID 0 or 1, 0+1, JBOD is supported RAID function work w/ SATA H/D or 2 SATA H/D
The mainboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board autom atically. The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface (DMI) function which records your mainboard specifications. Supports boot from LAN, USB Device 1.1 & 2.0 and SATA HDD
Chip integrated by Realtek ALC883 - Flexible 8 -channel audio with jack sensing - Compliant with Azalia 1.0 spec
Supports singlel LAN jacks - Single LAN supports 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by nForce 550

On -Boa rd Peripherals

1 floppy port supports 1 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes 1 serial port 1 parallel port supports SPP/EPP/ECP m ode 1 audio jack (5 -in -1) 10 USB 2.0 ports (Rear x 4 / Front x 6) 1 RJ45 LAN jack 1 CD-in pinheader 1 IrDA pinheader

Dimension

11.96 in (L) x 7.8 in(W) ATX Form Factor

Mounting

6 mounting holes
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