VisionX Series User Manual Version 1.0 Published July 2012 Copyright©2012 ASRock INC. All rights reserved.
Copyright Notice: No part of this manual 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 manual 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.
Safety instructions Your system is designed and tested to meet the latest standards of safety for information technology equipment. However, to ensure your safety, it is important that you read the following safety instructions. Setting up your system • • • • • • Read and follow all instructions in the documentation before you operate your system. Do not use this product near water or a heated source such as a radiator. Set up the system on a stable surface. Openings on the chassis are for ventilation.
Safety cautions and warnings Optical Drive Safety Information Optical drives sold with this system contains a CLASS 1 LASER PRODUCT. CAUTION: Invisible laser radiation when open. Do not stare into beam or view directly with optical instruments. WARNING: Making adjustments or performing procedures other than those specified in the user’s manual may result in hazardous laser exposure. Do not attempt to disassemble the optical drive.
Contents 1 Introduction.......................................................... 7 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Package Contents.......................................................... Specifications.................................................................. System Motherboard Components................................. Rear Panel...................................................................... System Chassis.............................................................. Remote Controller.........
11 UEFI SETUP UTILITY................................................ 39 11.1 Introduction................................................................... 11.1.1 UEFI Menu Bar.................................................... 11.1.2 Navigation Keys.................................................. 11.2 Main Screen.................................................................. 11.3 OC Tweaker Screen...................................................... 11.4 Advanced Screen............................
Chapter 1 Introduction Thank you for purchasing ASRock VisionX Series, a reliable product 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 hardware and step-bystep guide to the hardware installation. Chapter 3 and 4 contain the configuration guide to BIOS setup and information of the Support CD.
1.2 Specifications * For barebone systems, CPU, memory, HDDs and ODDs may not be included. Processor Intel® Mobile Ivy Bridge Processor. Supports 3rd Generation Intel® Corei7/i5/i3 Dual-Core Mobile Ivy Bridge Processor Family Chipset Mobile Intel® HM77 chipset Memory Supports DDR3 1600/1333/1066MHz, 2xSO-DIMM slots, maximum up to 16GB Display AMD Radeon™ HD7850M Graphics (with 1GB GDDR5 VRAM) Supports Blu-ray 3D playback, AMD HD3D technology HDD*1 Supports 2.
*1 *2 *3 To setup RAID under Windows® VistaTM / VistaTM 64-bit, the RAID driver in the support CD is required. Hot Plug is supported in AHCI mode only for eSATA. IDE mode does not support Hot Plug. CyberLink PowerDVD 10 OEM software is bundled with VisionX BD series only. WARNING Please realize that there is a certain risk involved with overclocking, including adjusting the setting in the BIOS, or using the third-party overclocking tools.
1.3 System Motherboard Components 1. SATA 3.0 connector: For HDD SATA data cables 2. SATA 3.0 connector: For HDD SATA data cables 3. ATX5V output power connector for slim ODD & 2.5” HDD 4. SATA connector: For ODD SATA data cables 5. SATA power cable connector (+5V/+12V) for second HDD 6. Fan connector 7. HM77 PCH chipset 8. Memory socket 9. Infrared module header 10. mSATA slot 11. CPU 12. Fan connector 13. Clear CMOS jumper 14. Mini-PCI Express expansion slot: For WiFi module 15. MXM 3.
NOTE. 1. SATA and Power Connections 2.
1.4 Rear Panel 16. HDMI connector 17. eSATA2 connector 18. DVI-I port (Dual-Link) 19. USB3.0 ports: USB devices 20. Mic In (Pink): Microphone 21. Optical S/PDIF Out port 22. DC-In jack 23. Side port for side speakers 24. Center/LFE (Orange): Center / subwoofer speakers 25. Front L/R Out (Lime): Stereo speakers or headphones 26. Line In (Blue) for 2/4/6 channel; Rear (Blue) for 8 channel 27. LAN (RJ-45) port: Local Area Network 28. USB2.
1.5 System Chassis 29. Headphone 30. Microphone 31. USB3.0 ports: USB devices 32. 4-in-1 Card reader (MMC/SD3.0/MS/MS Pro) 33. Power ON/OFF button with status indicator 34.
1.6 Remote Controller Some remote controller functions listed above are only available with the relative hardware equipments. If the hardware equipments you adopt are not compatible with the system, you are not allowed to use these functions. This product is designed to meet MCE standards.
Chapter 2 Opening the chassis 1. Press the button on the rear I/O to open the top side of the chassis. 2. After the chassis is opened, you will see the top shield inside the chassis. 3. Unscrew the screws on the corners of the top shield. 4. Carefully remove the top shield.
Chapter 3 Reinstalling the ODD/HDD 1. After you remove the top shield, you will see the ODD/HDD bracket. 2. Disconnect the ODD/HDD SATA power cable, and take out the ODD/HDD bracket. 3. Unscrew the screws from the side of the ODD / HDD rack, and change your required ODD / HDD.
Chapter 4 Installing the second HDD 1. Please follow steps 1 and 2 from page 16 to take out the ODD/HDD bracket. Install the second HDD and fasten the screws to the rack, then replace the bracket into the chassis. 2. Connect the SATA and power cables. 3. Replace the side cover and fasten the screws.
Chapter 5 Reinstalling the DIMMs 1. Unlock the DIMM slot by pressing the retaining clips outward to change the DIMM.
Chapter 6 Reinstalling the CPU 1. Unscrew the screws of the CPU fan. 2. Rotate the screw on the top of the CPU socket. 3. Now you can reinstall a new CPU to the system.
Chapter 7 Reinstalling the MXM card 1. Please follow step 1 from page 19 to remove the CPU fan. Then unscrew the two screws on top of the MXM card. 2. Lift the MXM card slightly upwards, then gently pull it out of the MXM slot. 3. Now you can reinstall a new MXM card to the system.
Chapter 8 Dual Monitor ASRock VisionX series HTPC supports dual monitor. With the internal VGA output which supports DVI-I and HDMI, you can easily enjoy the benefits of dual monitor. ASRock VisionX series HTPC also provides independent display controllers for DVII and HDMI to support dual VGA output so that DVI-I and HDMI can drive the same or different display contents simultaneously. To enable dual monitor, please follow the steps below: 1.
Chapter 9 Driver Installation To install the drivers to your system, please insert the support CD to your optical drive first. Then, the drivers compatible to your system can be auto-detected and listed on the support CD driver page. Please follow the order from top to bottom to install those required drivers. Therefore, the drivers you install will work properly.
Chapter 10 Utility Menu The utility menu shows the applications and other software that this product supports. 10.1 Instant Boot 10.1.1 Introduction Instant Boot, a user-friendly tool that allows you to turn on your PC in just a few seconds, provides a much more efficient way to save energy, time, money, and improves the system’s running speed *. It is applicable to Windows® 7 / 7 64-bit / XP / XP 64-bit.
10.1.2 Installation Please read the procedures below carefully before you install Instant Boot. A. Install Instant Boot driver from ASRock’s support CD, or you may click the following link to get the latest utility and BIOS: http://www.asrock.com/feature/InstantBoot/download.asp B. Execute the Instant Boot installation program under Windows®. Please follow the instructions on Instant Boot’s setup page. a. Click “Next” to continue. b. Select a location. You may choose a different folder if you want to.
d. Click “Install” to begin installing Instant Boot driver. e. Click “Finish” to complete and exit the setup. C. After the installation is completed, you will find an ASRock Instant Boot icon on Windows® desktop. D. Double click ASRock Instant Boot’s icon on the desktop, then Instant Boot’s main menu will pop up. E. On Instant Boot’s main menu, you can choose “Fast Mode”, “Regular Mode” or “Disable Instant Boot”. After that, please click “Apply” to save your changes.
G. The system will restart automatically. After entering into the OS the system will shutdown again. H. Next time when you turn on your system, you can enjoy Instant Boot.
10.2 ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU) 10.2.1 Introduction ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU) is an all-in-one tool to fine-tune different system functions in an user-friendly interface, which includes Hardware Monitor, Fan Control, Overclocking, OC DNA and XFast RAM. In Hardware Monitor, it shows the major readings of your system. In Fan Control, it shows the fan speed and temperature for you to adjust. In Overclocking, you are allowed to overclock CPU frequency for optimal system performance.
Hardware Monitor In the Hardware Monitor section, it shows the major readings of your system. The main readings include Clock, Fan & Temperature, and Voltage. In Clock, there are CPU speed and CPU ratio. In Fan & Te m p e r a t u r e , t h e r e a r e C P U temperature and CPU fan speed. You may find out if there’s any abnormal situations occuring to your system’s temperature. In Voltage, there are many respective voltages.
Overclocking In the Overclocking section, there a r e C l o c k a n d Vo l t a g e c h a p t e r s for parameter settings adjustment in pursuit of optimal system performance. You are able to finetune the CPU ratio, CPU frequency, and respective voltages by clicking the “+/-” at the display panel. After confirming the settings, please click on the “APPLY” button. Overclocking and over-voltage may affect your system's stability, or even cause damage to your hardware devices.
XFast RAM XFast RAM fully utilizes the memory space that cannot be used under Windows ® OS 32-bit CPU. It also shortens the loading time of previously visited websites, making web surfing faster than ever. And it also boosts the speed of Adobe Photoshop 5 times faster. Another advantage is that it reduces the frequency of accessing your SSDs or HDDs in order to extend their lifespan.
10.3 Symantec Norton AntiVirus Software free bundle (Trial version) Protect your PC with Norton Internet Security, the fastest virus, spyware, Internet protection. Norton Internet Security can stop online identity theft, viruses, spyware, bots and more. Stop attacks before they get on your PC, deliver clear threat and performance explanations, identify unsafe web sites right in your search results, and use intelligence-driven Norton Insight Network for faster, fewer, shorter scans.
10.4 THX TruStudio Software free bundle After you install THX audio driver from our support CD, there will be a THX icon shown on the Windows® task bar. Click the THX icon on the Windows® task bar, you will see the THX TruStudio software application as below, which provides Surround/Crystalizer/Speaker/Smart volume/Dialog plus functions for you. Therefore, you can adjust your audio and enjoy THX TruStudio freely.
10.5 ASRock APP Charger Fast Charge & Charge Anytime! If you desire a faster, less restricted way of charging your Apple devices, such as iPhone/iPod/iPad Touch, ASRock has prepared a wonderful solution for you - ASRock App Charger. Simply by installing the App Charger driver makes your iPhone charge much quicker from your computer and up to 40% faster than before*.
10.6 CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 (Trial version) CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 trial now supports Intel® Quick Sync Video hardware transcoding and is optimized for second generation Core i7, i5, and i3 processors to accelerated conversion of all your favorite media files for your favorite portable players. Now you can easily display your favorite movies, songs and photos on iPhone, iPad, PSP, XBox, Youtube, Facebook etc.
10.7 ASRock XFast USB Technology Thank you for purchasing an ASRock product! This product supports a revolutionary technology, ASRock XFast USB Technology, which redefines the new standard in high performance computing. ASRock dedicated hundreds of hard working engineers to make immediate boosts possible – ASRock XFast USB Technology instantly accelerates the performance for the best possible gain profiles.
Please read the procedures below carefully before you install ASRock XFast USB Technology. A. Install ASRock XFast USB driver from ASRock’s support CD. When you install the all-in-one driver to your system from ASRock’s support CD, ASRock XFast USB driver will be auto-installed as well. You may click the following link to get the latest utility: http://www.asrock.com/Feature/XFastUSB/index.asp B. After ASRock XFast USB driver is installed to your system successfully.
D. Then, you will see ASRock XFast USB user interface as below. You can also double-click the “XFast USB” icon to show this interface. Please choose “Turbo” to enable ASRock XFast USB Technology. The detailed information of your USB device can also be found in this user interface.
10.8 ASRock XFast LAN LAN Application Prioritization You can configure your application priority ideally and/or add new programs. Lower Latency in Game After setting online game's priority higher, it can lower the latency in games. Traffic Shaping You can watch Youtube HD videos and download files simultaneously. Real-Time Analysis of Your Data With the status window, you can easily recognize which data streams you are currently transferring.
Chapter 11: UEFI SETUP UTILITY 11.1 Introduction This section explains how to use the UEFI SETUP UTILITY to configure your system. The UEFI chip on the motherboard stores the UEFI SETUP UTILITY. You may run the UEFI SETUP UTILITY when you start up the computer. Please press or during the Power-On-Self-Test (POST) to enter the UEFI SETUP UTILITY, otherwise, POST will continue with its test routines.
11.1.2 Navigation Keys Please check the following table for the descriptions of each navigation key.
11.3 OC Tweaker Screen In the OC Tweaker screen, you can set up overclocking features. CPU Configuration CPU Ratio Use this item to change the ratio value of this motherboard. Host Clock Override (BCLK) Use this to adjust the host clock (BCLK) frequency. The default value is [100.0]. Spread Spectrum This item should always be [Auto] for better system stability. Intel SpeedStep Technology Intel SpeedStep technology is Intel’s new power saving technology.
Long Duration Power Limit Use this item to configure long duration power limit in watts. The default value is [Auto]. Long Duration Maintained Use this item to configure time window which the long duration power is maintained. The default value is [Auto]. Short Duration Power Limit Use this item to configure short duration power limit in watts. The default value is [Auto]. Primary Plane Current Limit Use this item to configure the maximum instantaneous current allowed for the primary plane.
Use this item to change Refresh Cyle Time (tRFC) Auto/Manual setting. The default is [Auto]. RAS to RAS Delay (tRRD) Use this item to change RAS to RAS Delay (tRRD) Auto/Manual setting. The default is [Auto]. Write to Read Delay (tWTR) Use this item to change Write to Read Delay (tWTR) Auto/Manual setting. The default is [Auto]. Read to Precharge (tRTP) Use this item to change Read to Precharge (tRTP) Auto/Manual setting. The default is [Auto].
11.4 Advanced Screen In this section, you may set the configurations for the following items: CPU Configuration, North Bridge Configuration, South Bridge Configuration, Intel(R) Rapid Start Technology, Intel(R) Smart Connect Technology, Storage Configuration, Super IO Configuration, ACPI Configuration, USB Configuration and Network Configuration. Setting wrong values in this section may cause the system to malfunction. Instant Flash Instant Flash is a UEFI flash utility embedded in Flash ROM.
11.4.1 CPU Configuration Intel Hyper Threading Technology To enable this feature, it requires a computer system with an Intel processor that supports Hyper-Threading technology and an operating system that includes optimization for this technology, such as Microsoft® Windows® XP / VistaTM / 7. Set to [Enabled] if using Microsoft® Windows® XP, VistaTM, 7, or Linux kernel version 2.4.18 or higher. This option will be hidden if the installed CPU does not support Hyper-Threading technology.
No-Execution (NX) Memory Protection Technology is an enhancement to the IA-32 Intel Architecture. An IA-32 processor with “No Execute (NX) Memory Protection” can prevent data pages from being used by malicious software to execute code. This option will be hidden if the current CPU does not support No-Excute Memory Protection.
11.4.2 North Bridge Configuration VT-d Use this to enable or disable Intel® VT-d technology (Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O). The default value of this feature is [Disabled]. IGPU Multi-Monitor This allows you to enable or disable IGPU Multi-Moniter. The default value is [Enabled]. If you wish to install a PCI Express card under Windows® XP / VistaTM OS, please disable this option.
11.4.3 South Bridge Configuration Onboard HD Audio Select [Auto], [Enabled] or [Disabled] for the onboard HD Audio feature. If you select [Auto], the onboard HD Audio will be disabled when PCI Sound Card is plugged. Onboard LAN This allows you to enable or disable the “Onboard LAN” feature. Deep Sleep This allows you to configure the Deep Sleep mode. The default value is [Enabled in S5]. Restore on AC/Power Loss This allows you to set the power state after an unexpected AC/power loss.
11.4.4 Storage Configuration SATA Controller(s) Use this item to enable or disable the SATA Controller feature. SATA Mode Selection Use this to select SATA mode. Configuration options: [IDE Mode], [AHCI Mode] and [RAID]. The default value is [AHCI Mode]. AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) supports NCQ and other new features that will improve SATA disk performance but IDE mode does not have these advantages.
11.4.5 Intel(R) Rapid Start Technology Intel(R) Rapid Start Technology Use this item to enable or disable Intel(R) Rapid Start Technology. Intel(R) Rapid Start Technology is a new zero power hibernation mode which allows users to resume in just 5-6 seconds. The default is [Enabled]. Entry After Select a time to enable RTC wake timer at S3 entry. The default is [10 minutes]. Active Page Threshold Support This allows you to enable or disable Active Page Threshold Support. The default is [Disabled].
11.4.6 Intel(R) Smart Connect Technology Intel(R) Smart Connect Technology Use this item to enable or disable Intel(R) Smart Connect Technology. Intel(R) Smart Connect Technology keeps your e-mail and social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. updated automatically while the computer is in sleep mode. The default is [Disabled].
11.4.7 Super IO Configuration CIR Controller Use this item to enable or disable the CIR controller.
11.4.8 ACPI Configuration Suspend to RAM Use this item to select whether to auto-detect or disable the Suspend-toRAM feature. Select [Auto] will enable this feature if the OS supports it. Check Ready Bit Use this item to enable or disable the feature Check Ready Bit. ACPI HPET Table Use this item to enable or disable ACPI HPET Table. The default value is [Enabled]. Please set this option to [Enabled] if you plan to use this motherboard to submit Windows® VistaTM certification.
11.4.9 USB Configuration Legacy USB Support Use this option to select legacy support for USB devices. There are two configuration options: [Enabled] and [UEFI Setup Only]. The default value is [Enabled]. [Enabled] - Enables support for legacy USB. [UEFI Setup Only] - USB devices are allowed to use only under UEFI setup and Windows / Linux OS.
11.4.10 Network Configuration Internet Setting Use this item to configure internet settings for Internet Flash. UEFI Download Server Use this item to select a server for Internet Flash to download the latest UEFI.
11.5 Hardware Health Event Monitoring Screen In this section, it allows you to monitor the status of the hardware on your system, including the parameters of the CPU temperature, motherboard temperature, CPU fan speed, chassis fan speed, and the critical voltage. CPU Fan Setting This allows you to set the CPU fan speed. Configuration options: [Full On], [SMART FAN Manual] and [Automatic mode]. The default is value [Automatic mode].
11.6 Boot Screen In this section, it will display the available devices on your system for you to configure the boot settings and the boot priority. Setup Prompt Timeout This shows the number of seconds to wait for setup activation key. 65535(0XFFFF) means indefinite waiting. Bootup Num-Lock If this item is set to [On], it will automatically activate the Numeric Lock function after boot-up. PCI ROM Priority Use this item to adjust PCI ROM Priority. The default value is [Legacy ROM].
11.7 Security Screen In this section, you may set or change the supervisor/user password for the system. For the user password, you may also clear it.
11.8 Exit Screen Save Changes and Exit When you select this option, it will pop-out the following message, “Save configuration changes and exit setup?” Select [OK] to save the changes and exit the UEFI SETUP UTILITY. Discard Changes and Exit When you select this option, it will pop-out the following message, “Discard changes and exit setup?” Select [OK] to exit the UEFI SETUP UTILITY without saving any changes.
Chapter 12 Software Support 12.1 Install Operating System This system supports various Microsoft® Windows® operating systems: 7 / 7 64-bit / XP / XP 64-bit. Refer to your OS documentation for more information. 12.2 Support CD Information The Support CD contains necessary drivers and useful utilities that enhance the system features. 12.2.1 Running The Support CD To begin using the support CD, insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive.
