What to expect for the first power on??

[TmGolfx360]

I have put everything together, for my new build except for the RAM which I had to send back because they sent me the wrong stuff. I am just wondering what to expect when I hit the power button for the first time. Everything is new and had never been used on any computer before. Please respond quickly because the RAM should arrive later tonight in a couple of hours. THX a lot as always.

[jlreich]

Well hopefully you can expect for it to power up and hear a single beep (assuming it has a mobo speaker). :D Then you should be able to go into the BIOS and make sure everything is recognized correctly. Checks the CPU and system temps while you are in there.

Since this is a new build you should be using an SATA HDD, so you will most likely have to enable RAID (but do not enable raid on the hard drive itself unless of course you are going to use raid), in order for windows to see the hard drive.

If all goes well install the OS. Enjoy!

Oh, and before the ram arrives go out and pick up a new CMOS battery. The ones that come with new mobo's are generally pretty old. Replacing it is standard procedure, and it can save you many headaches from the get go. ;)

If you have problems you are going to have to do a bare bones boot. Which you should do with a new build anyway, instead of just slapping everything together and hoping it boots. But if you already have it together then you might as well give a shot.

Bare Bones Boot -

Remove everything except mobo/CPU-HSF/1 stick ram/video card/KB/monitor. If that works start adding in components one by one and see if you can boot, then add another until it doesn't POST and you found the culprit.

If it doesn't boot bare bones then take the mobo out of the case and try it.