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 May 2009 Copyright©2009 ASRock INC. All rights reserved. 1 ASRock N68-S Motherboard English Motherboard Layout 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 PS2_USB_PW1 Jumper CPU Fan Connector (CPU_FAN1) 2 x 240-pin DDR2 DIMM Slots (Dual Channel: DDRII_1, DDRII_2; Yellow) ATX Power Connector (ATXPWR1) SATAII Connector (SATAII_2 (PORT 1.1)) Primary IDE Connector (IDE1, Blue) SATAII Connector (SATAII_4 (PORT 2.1)) SATAII Connector (SATAII_3 (PORT 2.0)) SATAII Connector (SATAII_1 (PORT 1.0)) SPI Flash Memory (4Mb) NVIDIA GeForce 7025 / nForce 630a Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN1) Clear CMOS Jumper (CLRCMOS1) USB 2.0 Header (USB4_5, Blue) 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Chassis Speaker Header (SPEAKER 1, Purple) USB 2.0 Header (USB6_7, Blue) System Panel Header (PANEL1, Orange) Print Port Header (LPT1, Purple) Floppy Connector (FLOPPY1) Internal Audio Connector: CD1 (Black) Front Panel Audio Header (HD_AUDIO1, Lime) PCI Slots (PCI1- 2) PCI Express x16 Slot (PCIE2) PCI Express x1 Slot (PCIE1) ATX 12V Power Connector (ATX12V1) CPU Heatsink Retention Module AM2 940-Pin CPU Socket English 2 ASRock N68-S Motherboard Panel I/O Panel 1 2 3 4 *5 PS/2 Mouse Port (Green) RJ-45 Port Line In (Light Blue) Front Speaker (Lime) Microphone (Pink) 6 7 8 9 10 USB 2.0 Ports (USB01) USB 2.0 Ports (USB23) VGA Port COM Port PS/2 Keyboard Port (Purple) * To enable Multi-Streaming function, you need to connect a front panel audio cable to the front panel audio header. Please refer to below steps for the software setting of MultiStreaming. For Windows® XP: After restarting your computer, you will find "Mixer" tool on your system. Please select "Mixer ToolBox" , click "Enable playback multi-streaming", and click "ok". Choose "2CH" or "4CH" and then you are allowed to select "Realtek HDA Primary output" to use Rear Speaker and Front Speaker, or select "Realtek HDA Audio 2nd output" to use front panel audio. Then reboot your system. For Windows® VistaTM: After restarting your computer, please double-click "Realtek HD Audio Manager" on the system tray. Set "Speaker Configuration" to "Quadraphonic" or "Stereo". Click "Device advanced settings", choose "Make front and rear output devices playbacks two different audio streams simultaneously", and click "ok". Then reboot your system. 3 ASRock N68-S Motherboard English 1. Introduction Thank you for purchasing ASRock N68-S 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. In this manual, chapter 1 and 2 contain introduction of the motherboard and step-by-step guide to the hardware installation. Chapter 3 and 4 contain the configuration guide to BIOS setup and information of 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 If you require technical support related to this motherboard, please visit our website for specific information about the model you are using. www.asrock.com/support/index.asp 1.1 ackage P ack age Contents One ASRock N68-S Motherboard (Micro ATX Form Factor: 9.6-in x 7.0-in, 24.4 cm x 17.8 cm) One ASRock N68-S Quick Installation Guide Two ASRock N68-S Support CD One 80-conductor Ultra ATA 66/100/133 IDE Ribbon Cable (Optional) One Serial ATA (SATA) Data Cable (Optional) One Serial ATA (SATA) HDD Power Cable (Optional) One I/O Panel Shield English 4 ASRock N68-S Motherboard 1.2 Specifications - Micro ATX Form Factor: 9.6-in x 7.0-in, 24.4 cm x 17.8 cm - Support for Socket AM2+ / AM2 processors: AMD PhenomTM FX / Phenom / Athlon 64 FX / Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core / Athlon X2 Dual-Core / Athlon 64 / Sempron processor (see CAUTION 1) - Support for AM3 processors: AMD PhenomTM II X4 / X3 and Athlon II X4 / X3 / X2 processors - Supports AMD's Cool `n' QuietTM Technology - FSB 1000 MHz (2.0 GT/s) - Supports Untied Overclocking Technology (see CAUTION 2) - Supports Hyper-Transport Technology - NVIDIA® GeForce 7025 / nForce 630a - Dual Channel DDR2 Memory Technology (see CAUTION 3) - 2 x DDR2 DIMM slots - Support DDR2 1066/800/667/533 non-ECC, un-buffered memory (see CAUTION 4) - Max. capacity of system memory: 8GB (see CAUTION 5) - 1 x PCI Express x16 slot - 1 x PCI Express x1 slot - 2 x PCI slots - Integrated NVIDIA® GeForce 7025 graphics - DX9.0 VGA, Pixel Shader 3.0 - Max. shared memory 256MB (see CAUTION 6) - 5.1 CH Windows® VistaTM Premium Level HD Audio (ALC662 Audio Codec) - Realtek PHY RTL8201EL - Speed: 10/100 Ethernet - Supports Wake-On-LAN I/O Panel - 1 x PS/2 Mouse Port - 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port - 1 x Serial Port: COM1 - 1 x VGA Port - 4 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports - 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED) - HD Audio Jack: Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone Platform CPU Chipset Memory Expansion Slot Graphics Audio LAN Rear Panel I/O 5 ASRock N68-S Motherboard English Connector BIOS Feature Support CD Unique Feature Hardware Monitor OS Certifications - 4 x Serial ATAII 3.0Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5, JBOD), NCQ and "Hot Plug" functions (see CAUTION 7) - 1 x ATA133 IDE connector (supports 2 x IDE devices) - 1 x Floppy connector - 1 x Print port header - CPU/Chassis FAN connector - 24 pin ATX power connector - 4 pin 12V power connector - CD in header - Front panel audio header - 2 x USB 2.0 headers (support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (see CAUTION 8) - 4Mb AMI BIOS - AMI Legal BIOS - Supports "Plug and Play" - ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events - Supports jumperfree - SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support - Supports Smart BIOS - Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version) - ASRock OC Tuner (see CAUTION 9) - Intelligent Energy Saver (see CAUTION 10) - Instant Boot - Hybrid Booster: - CPU Frequency Stepless Control (see CAUTION 11) - ASRock U-COP (see CAUTION 12) - Boot Failure Guard (B.F.G.) - ASRock AM2 Boost: ASRock Patented Technology to boost memory performance up to 12.5% (see CAUTION 13) - 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 - FCC, CE English 6 * For detailed product information, please visit our website: http://www.asrock.com ASRock N68-S Motherboard 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 third-party 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. CAUTION! 1. 2. 3. This motherboard supports CPU up to 95W. Please refer to our website for CPU support list. ASRock website http://www.asrock.com This motherboard supports Untied Overclocking Technology. Please read "Untied Overclocking Technology" on page 18 for details. This motherboard supports Dual Channel Memory Technology. Before you implement Dual Channel Memory Technology, make sure to read the installation guide of memory modules on page 11 for proper installation. Whether 1066MHz memory speed is supported depends on the AM2+ CPU you adopt. If you want to adopt DDR2 1066 memory module on this motherboard, please refer to the memory support list on our website for the compatible memory modules. ASRock website http://www.asrock.com Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows® XP and Windows® VistaTM. For Windows® XP 64-bit and Windows® VistaTM 64-bit with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limitation. The maximum shared memory size is defined by the chipset vendor and is subject to change. Please check NVIDIA® website for the latest information. Before installing SATAII hard disk to SATAII connector, please read the "SATAII Hard Disk Setup Guide" on page 22 of "User Manual" in the support CD to adjust your SATAII hard disk drive to SATAII mode. You can also connect SATA hard disk to SATAII connector directly. Power Management for USB 2.0 works fine under Microsoft® Windows® VistaTM 64-bit / VistaTM / XP 64-bit / XP SP1 or SP2 / 2000 SP4. It is a user-friendly ASRock overclocking tool which allows you to surveil your system by hardware monitor function and overclock your hardware devices to get the best system performance under Windows ® environment. Please visit our website for the operation procedures of ASRock OC Tuner. ASRock website: http://www.asrock.com 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 7 ASRock N68-S Motherboard English 10. Featuring an advanced proprietary hardware and software design, Intelligent Energy Saver is a revolutionary technology that delivers unparalleled power savings. The voltage regulator can reduce the number of output phases to improve efficiency when the CPU cores are idle. In other words, it is able to provide exceptional power saving and improve power efficiency without sacrificing computing performance. To use Intelligent Energy Saver function, please enable Cool `n' Quiet option in the BIOS setup in advance. Please visit our website for the operation procedures of Intelligent Energy Saver. ASRock website: http://www.asrock.com 11. 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. 12. 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. 13. This motherboard supports ASRock AM2 Boost overclocking technology. If you enable this function in the BIOS setup, the memory performance will improve up to 12.5%, but the effect still depends on the AM2 CPU you adopt. Enabling this function will overclock the chipset/CPU reference clock. However, we can not guarantee the system stability for all CPU/DRAM configurations. If your system is unstable after AM2 Boost function is enabled, it may not be applicative to your system. You may choose to ...