MSI Z370-A - User Manual

5 Quick Start 1 1 2 2 3 3 Installing DDR4 memory http://youtu.be/T03aDrJPyQs DIMMB2 DIMMB2 DIMMB1 DIMMA2 DIMMA2 DIMMA2 DIMMA1

6 Quick Start Connecting the Front Panel Header http://youtu.be/DPELIdVNZUI 1 2 10 9 JFP1 1 HDD LED + 2 Power LED + 3 HDD LED - 4 Power LED - 5 Reset Switch 6 Power Switch 7 Reset Switch 8 Power Switch 9 Reserved 10 No Pin RESET SW POWER SW POWER LED+ POWER LED- HDD LED HDD LED RESET SW JFP1 HDD LED...

8 Quick Start Installing SATA Drives http://youtu.be/RZsMpqxythc 1 2 3 4 5

9 Quick Start 1 Installing a Graphics Card http://youtu.be/mG0GZpr9w_A 2 3 4 5 6

11 Quick Start Connecting the Power Connectors http://youtu.be/gkDYyR_83I4 ATX_PWR1 CPU_PWR1

13 Contents Contents Unpacking .............................................................................................................. 1Safety Information ................................................................................................. 2Quick Start ..............................

14 Contents BIOS Setup ........................................................................................................... 39 Entering BIOS Setup ............................................................................................. 39Resetting BIOS ......................................

15 Specifications Specifications CPU y Supports 8th Gen Intel ® Core ™ processors, and Intel ® Pentium ® and Celeron ® processors for Socket LGA1151 Chipset Intel ® Z370 Chipset Memory y 4x DDR4 memory slots, support up to 64GB y Supports 4000+(OC)/ 3866(OC)/ 3733(OC)/ 3600(OC)/ 3466(OC)/ 3400(OC)/ 3...

17 Specifications Continued from previous page Internal Connectors y 1x 24-pin ATX main power connector y 1x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector y 6x SATA 6Gb/s connectors y 2x USB 3.1 Gen1 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports) y 2x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports) y...

18 Specifications Continued from previous page Software y Drivers y APP MANAGER y SUPER CHARGER y COMMAND CENTER y LIVE UPDATE 6 y MSI SMART TOOL y RAMDISK y DPC Latency Tuner y FAST BOOT y X-BOOST y MYSTIC LIGHT y NETWORK GENIE y CPU-Z MSI GAMING y Intel ® Extreme Tuning Utility y Norton ™ Internet ...

19 Specifications Continued from previous page Special Features y Audio ƒ Audio Boost y Network ƒ Realtek LAN with Network Genie y Storage ƒ Turbo M.2 y Fan ƒ Pump Fan ƒ Smart Fan Control y LED ƒ Mystic Light ƒ Mystic light SYNC ƒ EZ debug LED y Protection ƒ PCIe Steel Armor y Performance ƒ Multi GPU...

20 Block Diagram Block Diagram LPC Bus 2 Channel DDR4 Memory 8 x USB 3.1 Gen1 1 x M.2 6 x USB 2.0 PCI Express Bus P/S2 Mouse / Keyboard Audio Jacks DMI 3.0 Z370 CPU NV6795 Super I/O Realtek ALC892 x1 x1 x1 PCI Express Bus VGA DisplayPort DVI-D x1 PCIe x1 slot PCIe x1 slot PCIe x1 slot PCIe x1 slot 6...

21 Rear I/O Panel Rear I/O Panel PS/2 Port LAN USB 2.0 Audio Ports DVI-D DisplayPort USB 3.1 Gen1 USB 3.1 Gen1 VGA Link/ Activity LED Status Description Off No link Yellow Linked Blinking Data activity Speed LED Status Description Off 10 Mbps connection Green 100 Mbps connection Orange 1 Gbps connec...

22 Rear I/O Panel Realtek HD Audio Manager After installing the Realtek HD Audio driver, the Realtek HD Audio Manager icon will appear in the system tray. Double click on the icon to launch. y Device Selection - allows you to select a audio output source to change the related options. The check sign...

24 Overview of Components Overview of Components BAT1 PCI_E1 PCI_E2 JCOM1 SYS_FAN1 PCI_E3 PCI_E4 PCI_E5 JTBT1 PCI_E6 CPU Socket CPU_PWR1 ATX_PWR1 JUSB3 SYS_FAN3 JUSB1 JBAT1 JUSB4 SATA ▼ 3 ▲ 4 SATA2 SATA1 SATA ▼ 5 ▲ 6 M2_1 DIMMA1 DIMMA2 DIMMB1 DIMMB2 SYS_FAN4 SYS_FAN2 EZ Debug LED JCI1 JFP1 JFP2 CPU_...

25 Overview of Components Component Contents Port Name Port Type Page CPU_FAN1,SYS_FAN1~4, PUMP_FAN1 Fan Connectors 34 CPU_PWR1, ATX_PWR1 Power Connectors 31 CPU Socket LGA1151 CPU Socket 26 DIMMA1/ A2/ B1/ B2 DIMM Slots 27 JAUD1 Front Audio Connector 35 JBAT1 Clear CMOS (Reset BIOS) Jumper 37 JCI1 ...

26 Overview of Components CPU Socket Introduction to the LGA 1151 CPU The surface of the LGA 1151 CPU has two notches and a golden triangle to assist in correctly lining up the CPU for motherboard placement. The golden triangle is the Pin 1 indicator. Important y Always unplug the power cord from th...

27 Overview of Components DIMM Slots DIMMA1 DIMMB1 Channel A Channel B DIMMA2 DIMMB2 Memory module installation recommendation DIMMB2 DIMMB2 DIMMB1 DIMMA2 DIMMA2 DIMMA2 DIMMA1 Important y Always insert memory modules in the DIMMA2 slot first. y Due to chipset resource usage, the available capacity o...

28 Overview of Components BAT1 PCI_E1~6: PCIe Expansion Slots PCI_E1 : PCIe 3.0 x16 (CPU lanes) PCI_E2 : PCIe 3.0 x1 (PCH lanes) PCI_E3 : PCIe 3.0 x1 (PCH anes) PCI_E4 : PCIe 3.0 x4 (PCH lanes) PCI_E5 : PCIe 3.0 x1 (PCH lanes) PCI_E6 : PCIe 3.0 x1 (PCH lanes) Multiple graphics cards installation rec...

29 Overview of Components Important Intel ® Optane TM Memory Ready. Video Demonstration Watch the video to learn how to Install M.2 module.http://youtu.be/JCTFABytrYA M2_1: M.2 Slot (Key M) Installing M.2 module 1 2 3 30 ° 3. Tighten the base screw into the hole of the distance to the M.2 slot as th...

31 Overview of Components 24 13 1 12 ATX_PWR1 1 +3.3V 13 +3.3V 2 +3.3V 14 -12V 3 Ground 15 Ground 4 +5V 16 PS-ON# 5 Ground 17 Ground 6 +5V 18 Ground 7 Ground 19 Ground 8 PWR OK 20 Res 9 5VSB 21 +5V 10 +12V 22 +5V 11 +12V 23 +5V 12 +3.3V 24 Ground 5 4 1 8 CPU_PWR1 1 Ground 5 +12V 2 Ground 6 +12V 3 Gr...

33 Overview of Components Charger Port The JUSB3 connector is a charger port which can increase USB power output for fast charging your smartphone or USB-powered devices. The Charger Port is hardware controlled by motherboard chip, it can still charge your device in suspend, hibernate state or even ...

34 Overview of Components CPU_FAN1,SYS_FAN1~4, PUMP_FAN1: Fan Connectors Fan connectors can be classified as PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) Mode or DC Mode. PWM Mode fan connectors provide constant 12V output and adjust fan speed with speed control signal. DC Mode fan connectors control fan speed by c...

35 Overview of Components JAUD1: Front Audio Connector This connector allows you to connect audio jacks on the front panel. 1 2 10 9 1 MIC L 2 Ground 3 MIC R 4 NC 5 Head Phone R 6 MIC Detection 7 SENSE_SEND 8 No Pin 9 Head Phone L 10 Head Phone Detection JCI1: Chassis Intrusion Connector This connec...

36 Overview of Components 1 2 14 13 1 LPC Clock 2 3V Standby power 3 LPC Reset 4 3.3V Power 5 LPC address & data pin0 6 Serial IRQ 7 LPC address & data pin1 8 5V Power 9 LPC address & data pin2 10 No Pin 11 LPC address & data pin3 12 Ground 13 LPC Frame 14 Ground JTPM1: TPM Module Co...

37 Overview of Components JTBT1: Thunderbolt Add-on Card Connector This connector allows you to connect the add-on Thunderbolt I/O card. 1 1 FORCE_PWR 2 SCI_EVENT 3 SLP_S3# 4 SLP_S5# 5 Ground JBAT1: Clear CMOS (Reset BIOS) Jumper There is CMOS memory onboard that is external powered from a battery l...

38 Overview of Components EZ Debug LED These LEDs indicate the status of key components during booting process. When an error is occurred, the corresponding LED stays lit until the problem is solved. CPU - indicates CPU is not detected or fail. DRAM - indicates DRAM is not detected or fail. VGA - in...

39 BIOS Setup BIOS Setup The default settings offer the optimal performance for system stability in normal conditions. You should always keep the default settings to avoid possible system damage or failure booting unless you are familiar with BIOS. Important y BIOS items are continuously update for ...

40 BIOS Setup Resetting BIOS You might need to restore the default BIOS setting to solve certain problems. There are several ways to reset BIOS: y Go to BIOS and press F6 to load optimized defaults. y Short the Clear CMOS jumper on the motherboard. Important Be sure the computer is off before cleari...

41 BIOS Setup EZ Mode At EZ mode, it provides the basic system information and allows you to configure the basic setting. To configure the advanced BIOS settings, please enter the Advanced Mode by pressing the Setup Mode switch or F7 function key. Information display XMP switch System information Bo...

43 BIOS Setup Advanced Mode Press Setup Mode switch or F7 function key can switch between EZ Mode and Advanced Mode in BIOS setup. OC GENIE 4 switch XMP switch System information Boot device priority bar BIOS menu selection Language Search Screenshot Setup Mode switch Menu display BIOS menu selectio...

44 BIOS Setup SETTINGS System Status f System Date Sets the system date. Use tab key to switch between date elements.The format is <day> <month> <date> <year>.<day> Day of the week, from Sun to Sat, determined by BIOS. Read-only. <month> The month from Jan. throug...

47 BIOS Setup f USB Controller [Enabled] Enables or disables all USB controller. f XHCI Hand-off [Diasbled] Enables or disables XHCI hand-off support for the operating system without XHCI hand-off feature. f Legacy USB Support [Enabled] Sets Legacy USB function support. [Auto] The system will automa...

50 BIOS Setup f Resume by USB Device [Disabled] Enables or disables the system wake up by USB devices. [Enabled] Enables the system to be awakened from sleep state when activity of USB device is detected. [Disabled] Disables this function. f Resume From S3/S4/S5 by PS/2 Mouse [Disabled] Enables or d...

51 BIOS Setup f Info Block effect [Unlock] Sets the state of Help information block.[Unlock] Sliding effect. [Lock] Fix the Help information block on the screen. f AUTO CLR_CMOS [Disabled] Enables or disables the CMOS data to be resumed automatically when the booting process hang-up over 5 seconds. ...

53 BIOS Setup OC Important y Overclocking your PC manually is only recommended for advanced users. y Overclocking is not guaranteed, and if done improperly, it could void your warranty or severely damage your hardware. y If you are unfamiliar with overclocking, we advise you to use OC GENIE 4 functi...

54 BIOS Setup f CPU Ratio Mode [Dynamic Mode]* Selects the CPU Ratio operating mode. This item will appear when you set the CPU ratio manually.[Fixed Mode] Fixes the CPU ratio. [Dynamic Mode] CPU ratio will be changed dynamically according to the CPU loading. f CPU Ratio Offset When Running AVX [Aut...

57 BIOS Setup f CPU Features Press Enter to enter the sub-menu. f Hyper-Threading [Enabled] Intel Hyper-Threading technology treats the multi cores inside the processor as multi logical processors that can execute instructions simultaneously. In this way, the system performance is highly improved. T...

58 BIOS Setup f Intel Adaptive Thermal Monitor [Enabled] Enables or disables the Intel adaptive thermal monitor function to protect the CPU from overheating. [Enabled] Throttles down the CPU core clock speed when the CPU is over the adaptive temperature. [Disabled] Disables this function. f Intel C-...

60 BIOS Setup M-FLASH M-FLASH provides the way to update BIOS with a USB flash drive. Please down-load the latest BIOS file that matches your motherboard model from MSI website, save the BIOS file into your USB flash drive. And then follow the steps below to update BIOS. 1. Insert the USB flash driv...

61 BIOS Setup OC PROFILE f Overclocking Profile 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6 Overclocking Profile 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6 management. Press <Enter> to enter the sub- menu. f Set Name for Overclocking Profile 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6 Name the current overclocking profile. f Save Overclocking Profile 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6 Save t...

63 Software Description Software Description Please download and update the latest utilities and drivers at www.msi.com Installing Windows ® 10 1. Power on the computer. 2. Insert the Windows ® 10 disc into your optical drive. 3. Press the Restart button on the computer case. 4. Press F11 key during...

64 Software Description APP MANAGER APP MANAGER is a handy management application for integration of MSI applications and software interface. Providing easy shortcut entrance and real-time update information of all the MSI software and applications. APP list Total Install/ UpdateMotherboard Informat...

65 Software Description LIVE UPDATE 6 LIVE UPDATE 6 is an application for the MSI ® system to scan and download the latest drivers, BIOS and utilities. With LIVE UPDATE 6, you don ’ t need to search the drivers on websites, and don ’ t need to know the models of motherboard and graphics cards. LIVE ...

66 Software Description 1. Select the Live Update tab. 2. Choose Automatic scan , system will automatically scan all the items and search for the latest update files. Or you can choose Manual scan and select the items you wish to scan. 3. Click the Scan button at the bottom. It may take several mome...

67 Software Description COMMAND CENTER COMMAND CENTER is an user-friendly software and exclusively developed by MSI, helping users to adjust system settings and monitor status under OS. With the help of COMMAND CENTER, making it possible to achieve easier and efficient monitoring process and adjustm...

68 Software Description CPU Fan CPU Fan control panel provides Smart mode and Manual Mode . You can switch the control mode by clicking the Smart Mode and Manual Mode buttons on the top of the CPU Fan control panel. y Manual Mode - allows you to manually control the CPU fan speed by percentage. y Sm...

69 Software Description Option Buttons - Advanced When click the Advanced button, The Voltage , Fan and DRAM icons will appear. y Voltage - allows you to adjust advanced voltage values of CPU and chipset. y Fan - allows you to control the system fans speed. y DRAM - shows the current Advanced DRAM p...

70 Software Description y Warning - contains fields of voltage, fan speed and temperature for you to set the threshold values. When system detects the status over your settings, a warning message will pop-up. y Mobile Control - is only available for the motherboard with the built-in WiFi module. It ...

71 Software Description y Performance information - displays the system performance diagram of enabled mode. y Setting - enables or disables Run X-BOOST when windows starts . X-BOOST The MSI X-BOOST allows you to select the system performance mode to meet your current system environment or support f...

72 Software Description Advance In Advance page, you can enable the USB SPEED UP, the STORAGE BOOST and VR BOOST . Setting Device information y Device information - displays the information and current transfer rates/ access speeds of USB/ storage devices. y Setting - enables or disables Run X-BOOST...

73 Software Description MYSTICLIGHT MYSTICLIGHT is an application allows you to control LED lights of MSI products. Main Screen The Main screen is used to configure what devices need to be synchronized and LED light effect options. Light Effect Options ON/ OFF All LED Sync Profile Device Setting Syn...

74 Software Description Motherboard Screen The motherboard screen is used to configure the LED light effect of the motherboard. Light Effect Options Motherboard Name Profile Return Button LED Area Sync All Live Preview Apply Button Save Button y Return Button - returns to the main screen. y ON/OFF A...

75 Software Description MSI SMART TOOL MSI SMART TOOL is a convenient tool that can help you to create your Windows installation USB flash drive with USB 3.0 drivers, and it can also create a software RAID. Main menu After installing and activating MSI SMART TOOL, it will display a main menu for you...

76 Software Description SOFTWARE RAID This utility allows you to create a software RAID in Windows system. To create a software RAID: 1. Use checkboxs to select the disks you want included in your RAID. 2. Choose Speed Up or Backup for RAID type. y Speed Up = RAID0 y Backup = RAID1 3. Click Start . ...

77 Software Description RAMDISK RAMDISK creates a virtual RAM drive using the available memory in your computer, the performance of the RAMDISK is faster than an SSD and hard drive. RAMDISK allows you to store any temporary information on it. Furthermore, using the RAMDISK will extend your SSD ’ s l...

78 Software Description NETWORK GENIE NETWORK GENIE is an utility to optimize the traffic for bandwidth control. NETWORK GENIE is designed for the Realtek LAN chip with Windows platforms.Once installed, the NETWORK GENIE icon shows on system tray (the right bottom corner of the screen). Mouse right ...

79 Software Description 2 1 3 1. Go to Application tab. 2. Click L to assign the low network priority to the application, and H to hight. You can also click the Lock icon to block an application network connection. 3. Click the Save button to store your settings. Configuring Network Speed There are ...

82 RAID Configuration RAID Configuration Below are the different types of a RAID. RAID 0 breaks the data into blocks which are written to separate hard drives. Spreading the hard drive I/O load across independent channels greatly improves I/O performance. RAID 1 provides data redundancy by mirroring ...

83 RAID Configuration Creating s RAID Volume 1. Select option Create RAID Volume and press Enter key. The following screen appears. [ ] CREATE VOLUME MENU [ ] HELP Name : RAID 1 : Mirrors data (redundancy) . [ ↑↓] - Change [TAB] - Next [ESC] - Previous Menu [ENTER] - Select RAID Level : Disks : Strip...

84 RAID Configuration Removing a RAID Volume Here you can delete the RAID volume, but please be noted that all data on RAID drives will be lost. Important If your system currently boots to RAID and you delete the RAID volume in the IRST Option ROM, your system will become unbootable.Select option Del...

85 RAID Configuration Important y You will lose all data on the RAID drives and any internal RAID structures when you perform this operation. y Possible reasons to Reset Disks to Non-RAID could include issues such as incompatible RAID configurations or a failed volume or failed disk. Recovery Volume ...

86 RAID Configuration 2. Reconnect the hard drive. 3. Reboot to Windows ® ; the rebuild will occur automatically. Failed Hard Drive Member 1. Power off. 2. Replace the failed hard drive with a new one that is of equal or greater capacity. 3. Reboot the system to IRST Option ROM by press Ctrl + I keys...

87 Intel® Optane™ Memory Configuration Intel ® Optane™ Memory Configuration Intel ® Optane™ memory can accelerate the Windows 10 64bit operating system. This section describes how to install and remove the Intel ® Optane™ memory. System Requirements y Intel ® Optane™ memory ready MSI ® motherboards y...

88 Intel® Optane™ Memory Configuration 5. Enable Intel ® Optane™ Memory. ˜ Enable Intel ® Optane™ Memory via the Intel ® Optane™ memory application (auto-launches upon reboot). ˜ Click Yes in the dialog. ˜ Reboot System. WARNING Once you enable Intel ® Optane™ memory, in order to prevent seriously da...

90 Intel® Optane™ Memory Configuration Troubleshooting When you installed the operating system in AHCI mode, the system will be changed to RAID/ Optane mode after enabling Intel ® Optane™ Memory. If you want to disable Intel Optane Memory and switch BIOS setting from RAID/ Optane mode back to AHCI mo...

91 Troubleshooting Troubleshooting Before sending the motherboard for RMA repair, try to go over troubleshooting guide first to see if your got similar symptoms as mentioned below. The power is not on. y Connect the AC power cord to an electrical outlet securely. y Check if all ATX power connectors ...

92 Regulatory Notices FCC Compliance Statement Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential install...

93 Regulatory Notices WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Statement ENGLISH To protect the global environment and as an environmentalist, MSI must remind you that... Under the European Union (“EU”) Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, Directive 2002/96/ EC, which take...

94 Regulatory Notices TÜRKÇE Çevreci özelliğiyle bilinen MSI dünyada çevreyi korumak için hatırlatır: Avrupa Birliği (AB) Kararnamesi Elektrik ve Elektronik Malzeme Atığı, 2002/96/EC Kararnamesi altında 13 Ağustos 2005 tarihinden itibaren geçerli olmak üzere, elektrikli ve elektronik malzemeler diğe...

95 Regulatory Notices Copyright Micro-Star Int ’ l Co.,Ltd. Copyright © 2017 All rights reserved. The material in this document is the intellectual property of Micro-Star Int ’ l Co.,Ltd. We take every care in the preparation of this document, but no guarantee is given as to the correctness of its c...