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User Guide
NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI
Motherboard
NVIDIA Corporation
October, 2007 | DU-03597-001_v01
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780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard NVIDIA Corporation ii October 17, 2007 | DU-03597-001_v01
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nForce 780i SLI Motherboard Table of Contents Before You Begin…................................................................................................ ix Parts NOT in the Kit............................................................................................. ix Intentions of the Kit ..............................................................................................x NVIDIA nForce 780i Motherboard..................................................................
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780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard Connecting IDE Hard Disk Drives....................................................................14 Connecting Serial ATA Cables........................................................................16 Connecting Internal Headers...........................................................................17 Front Panel Header.....................................................................................17 IEEE 1394a .........................................
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nForce 780i SLI Motherboard Network Boot Priority......................................................................................37 CPU Internal Cache ........................................................................................37 Quick Power On Self Test...............................................................................38 First/Second/Third Boot Device......................................................................38 Boot Other Device ....................
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780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard MAC Config....................................................................................................57 IEEE1394 controller ........................................................................................57 HD Audio........................................................................................................57 IDE HDD Block Mode .....................................................................................57 Onboard FDC Controller
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nForce 780i SLI Motherboard Dynamic BIOS Access....................................................................................78 View System Information ................................................................................79 Profile Policies................................................................................................80 Manage Your System BIOS ............................................................................81 NVIDIA System Monitor ..............
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780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard List of Figures Figure 1. NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI Motherboard Layout.......................................5 Figure 2. Chassis Backpanel Connectors...........................................................6 Figure 3. Power Supply Connectors.................................................................12 Figure 4. PWR1 Motherboard Connector .........................................................13 Figure 5. BIOS CMOS Setup Utility Main Menu...................
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nForce 780i SLI Motherboard Before You Begin… Parts NOT in the Kit This kit contains all the hardware necessary to install and connect your new NVIDIA® nForce® 780i SLI motherboard. However, it does not contain the following items that must be purchased separately to make the motherboard functional. q Intel microprocessor: Intel Core 2 Extreme, Intel Core 2 Quad, Intel Core 2 Duo Pentium EE, Pentium D, Pentium q Cooling fan for the microprocessor q System memory support: Supports d
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780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard Intentions of the Kit This kit provides you with the motherboard and all connecting cables necessary to install the motherboard into a PC cabinet. If you are building a PC, you will use most of the cables provided in the kit. If however, you are replacing a motherboard, you will not need many of the cables. When replacing a motherboard in a PC cabinet, you will need to reinstall an operating system even though the current drives have an operating system.
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NVIDIA nForce 780i Motherboard Thank you for buying the NVIDIA NFORCE 780i SLI Motherboard. This motherboard offers the tools and performance PC users’ demand. When combined with two or three SLI-Ready NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards, you get innovative NVIDIA SLI Technology for enhanced system performance. Motherboard Specifications q Size ATX form factor of 12 inch x 9.6 inch q Microprocessor support Intel Core 2 Extreme, Intel Core 2 Quad, Intel Core 2 Duo, Pentium EE, Pentium D,
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780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard q Onboard Serial ATA II Ø 300MBps data transfer rate Ø Six Serial ATA II connectors Ø NVIDIA MediaShield RAID with support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5, and JBOD Ø Supports hot plug and NCQ (Native Command Queuing ) q Onboard LAN Ø Dual LAN interface built-in onboard Ø Supports 10/100/1000 Mbit/sec Ethernet q Onboard 1394 Ø Support hot plug Ø Two 1394a ports (one rear panel port, one onboard header) with rate of transmission at 400 Mbps q Onboar
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Unpacking and Parts Descriptions Unpacking The NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI motherboard comes with all the necessary cables for adding a motherboard to a new chassis. If you are replacing a motherboard, you may not need many of these cables. Be sure to inspect each piece of equipment shipped in the packing box. If anything is missing or damaged, contact your reseller. All parts shipped in this kit are RoHS-compliant (lead-free) parts. Equipment The following equipment is included in the
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780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard Floppy Cable Used to attach a floppy drive to the motherboard. 2-Port SATA Power Cable (Qty Three) 1394 Cable Provides two additional 1394 ports to either the front or back panels of the chassis. USB 2.0 4-Port Cable Provides four additional USB ports to either the front or back panels of the chassis. SATA Signal Cable (Qty Six) Used to support the Serial ATA protocol and each one connects a single drive to the motherboard Comm2 Bracket Cabl
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nForce 780i SLI Motherboard 26 27 22 22 25 23 23 23 24 21 20 28 29 19 18 17 1 13 13 2 16 3 15 4 14 13 11 9 5 6 10 12 8 7 4 1. CPU Socket 11. USB headers 21. SPDIF connector 2. NVIDIA SPP with Active fan 12. Motherboard battery 22. PCI slots 3. CPU fan connector 13. Fan connector 23. PCI Express x16 slots (SLI) 4. DDR DIMM Slots 0 - 3 14. Serial connector 24. 1394a connector 5. 24-pin ATX Power Connector 15. Front panel connector 25. PCI Express x1 slot 6.
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780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 7 7 1 2 6 4 5 4 4 3 1. PS/2 Mouse Port 2. PS/2 Keyboard Port 3. 1394a (Firewire) Port 4. USB 2.0 ports (SIX) 5. SPDIF output 6. Port 2-Channel 4-Channel 6-Channel/8-Channel Blue Line-In Line-In Line-In Green Line-Out Front Speaker Out Front Speaker Out Pink Mic In Mic In Mic In Orange Center/Subwoofer Black Rear Speaker Out Rear Speaker Out Grey 7. Lan Port with LEDs to indicate status. • Yellow/Light Up/Blink = 10 Mbps/Link/Activity
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Hardware Installation This section will guide you through the installation of the motherboard. The topics covered in this section are: q Preparing the motherboard Ø Installing the CPU Ø Installing the CPU fan Ø Installing the memory q Installing the motherboard q Connecting cables and setting switches Safety Instructions To reduce the risk of fire, electric shock, and injury, always follow basic safety precautions. Remember to remove power from your computer by disconnecting the
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780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard Preparing the Motherboard The motherboard shipped in the box does not contain a CPU or memory. You need to purchase these to complete this installation. Installing the CPU Be very careful when handling the CPU. Make sure not to bend or break any pins on the back. Hold the processor only by the edges and do not touch the bottom of the processor. Use the following procedure to install the CPU onto the motherboard. 1. Unhook the socket lever by pushing down and
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Hardware Installation 7. Close the load plate over the CPU and press down while you close and engage the socket lever. Installing the CPU Fan There are many different fan types that can be used with this motherboard. Follow the instruction that came with you fan assembly. Be sure that the fan orientation is correct for your chassis type and your fan assembly. Installing Memory DIMMs Your new motherboard has four 1.8V 240-pin slots for DDR2 memory. These slots support 256 Mb, 512 Mb a
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780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard Use the following procedure to install memory DIMMs. Note that there is only one gap near the center of the DIMM slot. This slot matches the slot on the memory DIMM to ensure the component is installed properly. 1. Unlock a DIMM slot by pressing the module clips outward. 2. Align the memory module to the DIMM slot, and insert the module vertically into the DIMM slot. The plastic clips at both sides of the DIMM slot automatically lock the DIMM into the connector
