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User Guide
XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI
Motherboard
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard ii
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard Table of Contents User Guide .....................................................................................................................i XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard.....................................................................i Before You Begin… .....................................................................................................ix Inside the 780i 3-Way SLI Installation CD .....................................
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 24-pin ATX Power (PWR1) ............................................................................ 13 8-pin ATX 12V Power (PWR2)....................................................................... 14 Connecting IDE Hard Disk Drives...................................................................... 14 Connecting Serial ATA Cables........................................................................... 15 Connecting Internal Headers ............
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard Advanced BIOS Features ...................................................................................... 34 Removable Device Priority................................................................................. 35 Hard Disk Boot Priority....................................................................................... 35 Network Boot Priority ......................................................................................... 35 CPU I
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard IDE Function Setup ............................................................................................ 53 RAID Config ....................................................................................................... 54 USB Config......................................................................................................... 54 MAC Config...............................................................................................
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard NVIDIA Performance Group of NVIDIA Control Panel .......................................... 68 Device Settings .................................................................................................. 69 Current Hardware Settings............................................................................. 70 Dynamic BIOS Access ....................................................................................... 76 View System Information ...
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard List of Figures Figure 1. XFX 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 Ma
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard Before You Begin… Inside the 780i 3-Way SLI Installation CD The following tools and drivers are in the 780i 3-Way SLI Installation CD: Motherboard Drivers for: Windows XP Windows XP 64-bit Windows Vista Windows Vista 64-bit Onboard Audio Drivers Windows XP Windows XP 64-bit Windows Vista Windows Vista 64-bit Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.0 Raid Setup Floppy Disk Creator Motherboard Manual NVIDIA Software NVIDIA Med
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard Parts NOT in the Kit This kit contains all the hardware necessary to install and connect your new XFX® nForce® 780i SLI motherboard. However, it does not contain the following items that must be purchased separately to make the motherboard functional. Intel microprocessor: Intel Core 2 Extreme, Intel Core 2 Quad, Intel Core 2 Duo Pentium EE, Pentium D, Pentium Cooling fan for the microprocessor System memory support: Supports dual channel
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XFX nForce 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 syst
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard xii
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XFX nForce 780i Motherboard Thank you for buying the XFX 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 Size ATX form factor of 12 inch x 9.6 inch Microprocessor support Intel Core 2 Extreme, Intel Core 2 Quad, Intel Core 2 Duo, Pentium EE, Pentium D, Penti
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard Onboard Serial ATA II 300MBps data transfer rate Six Serial ATA II connectors NVIDIA MediaShield RAID with support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5, and JBOD Supports hot plug and NCQ (Native Command Queuing ) Onboard LAN Dual LAN interface built-in onboard Supports 10/100/1000 Mbit/sec Ethernet Onboard 1394 Support hot plug Two 1394a ports (one rear panel port, one onboard header) with rate of transmission at 400 Mbp
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Unpacking and Parts Descriptions Unpacking The XFX 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 XFX
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 2-Port SATA Power Cable (Qty Three) 1394 Cable Provides an additional 1394 ports to the back panels of the chassis. USB 2.0 4-Port Cable Provides four additional USB ports to the back panel 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 IDE-ATA 133 HDD Cable SLI Bridge (use for two graphics cards in SLI) 3-Way SLI Bridge (use for three g
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way 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 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 s
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XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Motherboard 7 7 1 2 6 5 4 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/Li
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Hardware Installation This section will guide you through the installation of the motherboard. The topics covered in this section are: Preparing the motherboard Installing the CPU Installing the CPU fan Installing the memory Installing the motherboard 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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XFX nForce 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 pushi
