EVGA X79 Dark manual

1 User Guide EVGA X79 DARK Motherboard[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 2 Table of Contents Before You Begin … ...................................................................................................................... 4 Parts NOT in the Kit ................................................................ .................................................... 5 Intentions of the Kit[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 3 Audio .............................................................................................................................................20 PCI-E x1 Slots ................................ ..............................................................................................21 PCI-E x16/x8 Slots ........[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 4 Before Y ou Begin… The true next generatio n motherboards have arrived with the EVGA X79 motherboards! This produc t packs in the late st technologies to give you an uncompromised expe r ience: Uncompromised Performance – Unparalleled me mory bandwidth with tr ue quad channel DDR3 memo r y support, and Intel Turbo Bo[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 5 Parts NOT in the Kit This kit contains all the hardw are necessary to install and c onnect your new EVGA X79 Dark Motherbo ard. However, it does not co ntain the following items that must be pu r chase d s eparately to make the mo therboard f uncti onal.  Intel Socket 2011 P r ocesso r  DDR3 System Me m ory  CPU[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 6 EVGA X79 Motherboard Motherboard Specifications  Size EATX form facto r of 12 inches x 10.3 inc h es  Microprocessor support Intel Socket 2011 Proce s sor  Operating systems Supports Windows 8 / 7 / Vista / XP  Contains Intel X79 chipset  System Memory support Supports Quad channel DD R3- 2 400 MHz+ . Offi[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 7  SATA Ports SATA ports up to 3 G (300 MB/s) data tran sfer rate SATA ports up to 6G (600 MB /s) da ta transfer rate Support for RAID 0, R A ID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID5 and R AID 10 ESATA  Onboard Intel LAN Supports 10/100/1000 M b/sec Ethernet Supports teaming  Onboard Audio Realtek ALC898 High - Definition audi o Sup[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 8 Unpacking an d Parts Descrip tions Unpacking The EVGA X79 Dark Moth erboard comes with all the ne cessary cables for adding a motherboard to a system case. If replacing a m otherboard, you may not need many of the se cables. Equipment The following acce s sories are included with the EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard: The EVGA X[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 9 4-Port USB 2.0 Bracket Provides four additional USB ports to the back panel of the chassis. 2-Port USB 3.0 Bracket Allows addition of 2 USB 3.0 ports by Connecting to the motherboard header. SATA 3G /6G Data Cables Used to support the SATA protocol and each one connects a single drive to the motherboard. 4-way SLI ® Bri[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 10 Hardware Inst allation This section will g uide you through the installation of the motherboard. The topics covered in thi s sec tion are:  Preparing the motherboa rd  Installing the CPU  Installing the Cooling Device  Installing the memory  Installing the mother board  Connecting cable s Safety Instru[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 11 Preparing the Motherboard Installing the CPU Be very careful whe n handli ng the CPU. Hold the processor only by the e dges and do not touch the bottom of the processor. Use the following p r ocedure to install the CPU onto the motherboard:  Unhook the left socke t lever by pushing down and away from the socket.  [...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 12  Align the notche s on the CP U to the notches in the socket.  Lower the proces sor straight dow n into the socket. Note: Make sure the CPU is fully seated and level in the socket.  Lower the load plate s o it is resting on the CP U.  Press the right socke t lever down to lock into place.  Carefully lock [...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 13 Installing System Mem ory (DIMMs) Your new motherboa rd has eight 240 -pin slots for DDR3 me mor y. These slots support 2G B, 4GB and 8 GB DDR3 DIMMs. There m us t be at leas t one memory slot populated t o ensure normal operation. The Intel X79 chip s et suppo rts quad channel memory; it is required to populate slots 1[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 14 Installing the Motherboard The sequence of in stalling the motherboard into a system case depends on the chassis you are u s ing and if you are replacing a n existing motherboard or working with an e mpty syste m case. Determine if it woul d be easier to make all the connections p rior to this step o r to secure the mot[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 15 Securing the Mot herboard into a System Case Most system case s have a base with mounting s tuds o r spacers to allow the motherboard to be secu red to the chassis and help to prevent short circuits. If there are studs that do no t align with a mounting hole o n the motherboard, it i s recommended that y ou remove that [...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 16 24 pin ATX Power ( PW 1) PW1 is the main power s upply connector located along the right edge o f the board. Make sure t hat the power sup ply cable and pins a re properly aligned with the connector on t he motherboard. Firmly plug the p ower supply cable into the connector and make s ure i t is secure. The 24pin Power [...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 17 8-pin ATX 12V Power ( PW 12-1 & P W 12-2 ) PW 12-1 & PW12-2 , the 8-pin ATX 12V powe r connections , are used to provide power to the CPU. Alig n th e pin s to the connec tor and pre ss firmly until seated. The seco ndary is optional for improved ove rclocking. BIOS Select Sw itc h The BIOS Select Sw itch is loc[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 18 Connecting Internal Headers Front Panel Header The front panel he ader on this motherb oard is used to connect the following f our cables.  PWRLED Attach the front pane l power LED cable to these two pins of th e connector. The Powe r LED indicates the sy stem’s status. When the sy stem is powered on, the LED will [...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 19 USB Headers This motherboard c ontains USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports that are exposed on the rear panel of the chassis. The mothe rboard also contains 10-pin internal header con nectors onboard t hat can be used to connect an op tional external bracket containing up to fo ur (4) USB 2.0 po rts. It may also have an internal head[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 20 Audio The audio connec tor supports HD audio standard and provides two kinds of audio output choice s: the Front Audio and the Rear Aud io. Connector Pin Signal Front Audi o Conne ctor 1 PORT1_L 2 AUD_GND 3 PORT1_R 4 PRECENCE_J 5 PORT2_R 6 SENSE1_RETURN 7 SENSE_SEND 8 Empty 9 PORT2_L 10 SENSE2_RETURN 9 7 5 3 1 10 8 6 4 [...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 21 PCI-E x4 Slot There are PCI-E x4 slots that are designed to accommodate less bandwid th- intensive cards, suc h as a sound or network card. PCI-E x16/x 8 Slots These PCI-E slots are re served for Graphics Ca rds and PCI-E x1, x4, x8 and x16 devices. The de sign of this motherboard suppo r ts m ultiple Graphics Ca r d te[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 22 Onboard Buttons These onboard butt ons include RESE T, POWE R and Clear CMOS. The s e functions allow you t o easily reset the system, turn on /off the system, or clear the CMOS. Clear CMOS Butto n The motherboard u s es the CMOS RAM to store all t he set par ameters. The CMOS can be c leared by pressing the Clear CMOS [...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 23 Post Port Debug LED and LED Status Indicators Post Port Debug LED Provides two-digit P OST code s to show why the system may be failing to boot . It is useful during tr oubleshooting situations. This Debu g LED will also display current CPU socket temperatures after the sys tem has fully booted into the Operating System[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 24 Installing Driv ers and So ftw are Note: It is important to remember that before installing the driver CD that is shipped in the kit, you need to load your operating system. The motherboard supports 32bit and 64bit versions of W indow s 8, 7, Vista and XP. The kit comes with a C D tha t contains utilities, drivers, a nd[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 25 POST Codes This section provides t he AMI POST Codes for the EVGA X79 Dark Motherbo ard during system boot up. The POST Code s are displa yed on the Debug L ED readout located di rectly onboard the m otherboard. This Debug LED w ill also d isplay current CPU temperatures afte r the system has fully booted into the Opera[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 26 data reading 2C Memor y initialization. Memor y pres ence detection 2D Memor y initialization. Programm ing memor y tim ing inform ation 2E Memor y initialization. Configuring m emor y 2F Memor y initialization (other). 30 Reserved for ASL (s ee ASL Status Codes secti on below) 31 Memor y I nstalled 32 CPU post-m emory [...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 27 E1 S3 Boot Script executio n E2 Video repost E3 OS S3 wake vector c all E4 - E7 Reserved for f uture AMI progress codes E8 - EB S3 Resum e Failed EC - EF Reserved for f uture AMI error codes F0 Recovery condition tri ggered by firm ware (Auto recovery) F1 Recovery condition tri ggered by user (Forced recovery) F2 Recove[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 28 95 PCI Bus Request Res ources 96 PCI Bus Assign Res ources 97 Console Output de vices connect 98 Console input devices connect 99 Super IO Initialization 9A USB initialization is starte d 9B USB Reset 9C USB Detect 9D USB Enable 9E – 9F Reserved for f uture AMI codes A0 IDE initialization is s tarted A1 IDE Reset A2 I[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 29 D2 South Bridge initializatio n error D3 Some of the Architectura l Protocols are not available D4 PCI resource allocat ion error. Out of Resources D5 No Space for Legac y Option ROM D6 No Console Output De vices are found D7 No Console Input D evices are found D8 Invalid password D9 Error loading Boot Opt ion (LoadImag[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 30 DDR - Double Data Rate 2 DIMM - Dual In-line Memory Module DMI – Direct Memory Interface DRAM - Dynamic random access memory DVD - Digital Versatile Disc DVI – Digital Video Interface FDC - Floppy Disk Controller FSB – Front Side Bus FTW – For the Win! GHz – Gigahertz GPU – Graphics Processing Unit HDD - Har[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 31 MAC - Media Access Control MCP - Media and Communications Processor Intel ME – Intel Management Engine MHz – Megahertz MMIO – Memory Mapped I/O NB - Northbridge NCQ - Native Command Queuing NIC - Network Interface Card NTFS - New Technology File System OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer PATA - Parallel Advanced[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 32 SLI - Scalable Link Interface SPD - Serial Presence Detect SPDIF - Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format SPP - System Platform Processors SSD – Solid State Drive TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol USB - Universal Serial Bus VDroop - VC ore Voltage Drop VGA - Video Graphics Array VREG – Volta[...]

EVGA X79 Dark Motherboard 33 Compliance Informatio n FCC Compliance Inform ation This device compli es with FCC R ules Part 15. O peration is subj ect to the following two conditions: (1) This devic e may n ot cause h armful int erference, and ( 2) this device must accept any interferenc e received, includi ng interf erence that may cause undesired[...]