Serial ATA 3 Gb/s technology and SATA-On-The-Go

This motherboard supports the next-generation hard disk drives based on the Serial ATA (SATA) 3Gb/s storage specifications, delivering enhanced scalability and doubling the bus bandwidth for high-speed data retrieval and save. The external SATA port located at the back I/O provides smart setup and hot-plug functions, enabling easy backup of media files to external devices. See pages 2-26 and 2-30 for details.

The NVIDIA® MediaShield™ RAID controller integrated in the NVIDIA® nForce® 780a SLI™ chipset allows RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5, and JBOD configurations for six SATA 3 Gb/s connectors. See page 2-30 for details.

HDMI Interface

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a set of digital video standards that delivers multi-channel audio and uncompressed digital video through a single cable for full HD 1080p visuals. Supporting HDCP copy protection such as HD DVD and Blu-ray Discs, HDMI provides you with the highest-quality home theater experience.

IEEE 1394a support

The IEEE 1394a interface provides high speed digital interface for audio/video appliances such as digital television, digital video camcorders, storage peripherals, and other PC portable devices. See pages 2-25 and 2-31 for details.

S/PDIF digital sound ready

This motherboard provides convenient connectivity to external home theater audio systems via coaxial and optical S/PDIF (SONY-PHILIPS Digital Interface) Out jacks.It allows digital audio transferring without converting it to analog format, and therefore well preserves signal quality. See page 2-36 for details.

High Definition Audio

Enjoy high-end sound quality on your PC! The onboard 8-channel HD audio (High Definition Audio, previously codenamed Azalia) CODEC enables high-quality 192KHz/24-bit audio output that simultaneously sends different audio streams to different destinations. You can now talk to your partners on the headphones while playing multi-channel network games. See pages 2-25 and 2-26 for details.

Gigabit LAN solution

The NVIDIA® native Gigabit LAN controller delivers transfer speeds up to ten times faster than conventional 10/100/1000 Ethernet connections. Gigabit LAN is the networking standard for the early future and is ideal for handling large amounts of data such as video, audio, and voice. See��� page���� 2����-25 for��� details��������.

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Chapter 1: Product Introduction