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 K8NF3-VSTA Motherboard English Layout Motherboard Layout 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 PS2_USB_PW1 Jumper ATX 12V Power Connector (ATX12V1) ATX Power Connector (ATXPWR1) 754-Pin CPU Socket CPU Heatsink Retention Module CPU Fan Connector (CPU_FAN1) 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots (DDR1- 2) Secondary IDE Connector (IDE2, Black) Primary IDE Connector (IDE1, Blue) Primary Serial ATA Connector (SATA1) Secondary Serial ATA Connector (SATA2) AGP Slot (1.5V_AGP1) NVIDIA Single Chipset Clear CMOS Jumper (CLRCMOS2) 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 System Panel Header (PANEL1) Chassis Speaker Header (SPEAKER 1) USB 2.0 Header (USB4_5, Blue) Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN1) Floppy Connector (FLOPPY1) Game Port Header (GAME1) Front Panel Audio Header (AUDIO1) JR1 JL1 Jumper PCI Slots (PCI1- 4) Internal Audio Connector: CD1 (Black) Flash Memory Infrared Module Header (IR1) Shared USB 2.0 Header (USB2_3, Blue) English 2 ASRock K8NF3-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 K8NF3-VSTA Motherboard English 1. Introduction Thank you for purchasing ASRock K8NF3-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 K8NF3-VSTA Motherboard (ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 7.5-in, 30.5 cm x 19.1 cm) 1 x ASRock K8NF3-VSTA Quick Installation Guide 1 x ASRock K8NF3-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 K8NF3-VSTA Motherboard 1.2 Specifications - ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 7.5-in, 30.5 cm x 19.1 cm - Socket 754 for AMD AthlonTM 64 and Sempron processors - Supports AMD's Cool `n' QuietTM Technology - FSB 800 MHz - Supports Untied Overclocking Technology (see CAUTION 1) - Supports Hyper-Transport Technology - NVIDIA® nForce3 250 - 2 x DDR DIMM slots - Support DDR400/333/266 - Max. capacity: 2GB - CPU Frequency Stepless Control (see CAUTION 2) - ASRock U-COP (see CAUTION 3) - Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.) - 4 x PCI slots - 1 x AGP 8X slot (see CAUTION 4) - 7.1 CH Windows® VistaTM Premium Level Superior Audio (C-Media CM6501 Audio Codec 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 5) - 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 Platform CPU Chipset Memory Hybrid Booster Expansion Slot Audio LAN Rear Panel I/O Connector 5 ASRock K8NF3-VSTA Motherboard English BIOS Feature Support CD Hardware Monitor OS Certifications - 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 6) - 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 7) - FCC, CE, Microsoft® WHQL Certificated 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. English 6 ASRock K8NF3-VSTA Motherboard CAUTION! 1. 2. This motherboard supports Untied Overclocking Technology. Please read "Untied Overclocking Technology" on page 21 for details. 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. 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. Do NOT use a 3.3V AGP card on the AGP slot of this motherboard! It may cause permanent damage! 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. Power Management for USB 2.0 works fine under Microsoft® Windows® VistaTM 64-bit / VistaTM / XP 64-bit / XP SP1 or SP2 / 2000 SP4. 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 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 7 ASRock K8NF3-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 2500+ 512MB Single Channel DX9.0 with WDDM Driver with 128bit VGA memory (Premium) with 64bit VGA memory (Basic) English 8 ASRock K8NF3-VSTA Motherboard 2. Installation K8NF3-VSTA is an ATX form factor (12.0-in x 7.5-in, 30.5 cm x 19.1 cm) motherboard. Before you install the motherboard, study the configuration of your chassis to ensure that the motherboard fits into it. Pre-installation Precautions Take note of the following precautions before you install motherboard components or change any motherboard settings. Before you install or remove any component, ensure that the power is switched off or the power cord is detached from the power supply. Failure to do so may cause severe damage to the motherboard, peripherals, and/or components. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Unplug the power cord from the wall socket before touching any component. 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 antistatic 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. 9 ASRock K8NF3-VSTA Motherboard English 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. o Step 4. When the CPU is in place, press it firmly on the socket while you push down the socket lever to secure the CPU. The lever clicks on the side tab to indicate that it is locked. Socket Corner Small Triangle CPU Golden Triangle Lever 90° Up STEP 1: Lift Up The Socket Lever STEP 2 / STEP 3: Match The CPU Golden Triangle To The Socket Corner Small Triangle STEP 4: Push Down And Lock The Socket Lever 2.2 Installation of CPU Fan and Heatsink After you install the CPU into this motherboard, it is necessary to install a larger heatsink and cooling fan to dissipate heat. You also need to spray thermal grease between the CPU and the heatsink to improve heat dissipation. Make sure that the CPU and the heatsink are securely fastened and in good contact with each other. Then connect the CPU fan to the CPU FAN connector (CPU_FAN1, see Page 2, No. 6). For proper installation, please kindly refer to the instruction manuals of the CPU fan and the heatsink. English 10 ASRock K8NF3-VSTA Motherboard 2.3 Installation of Memory Modules (DIMM) This motherboard is equipped with two 184-pin DDR (Double Data Rate) DIMM slots. Please make sure to disconnect power supply before adding or removing DIMMs or the system components. Step 1. Step 2. Unlock a DIMM slot by pressing the retaining clips outward. Align a DIMM on the slot such that ...