Fresh build set-up

Unless you are tring to sqeak out every last bit of speed you can for bragging rights, just use your system stock.

Your components are very good and any gains you get from overclocking will shorten the life of your system and you won't really see any improvements in the practical sense.

You don't say what you will be doing with this system, but for a general purpose rig, I will second ScottCha.

Hey thanks for the feedback. This will be purely a gaming PC. Even if I dont game that much, I just like to experience the latest graphical advancements!

I havent installed ALL the motherboard drivers as some of them seemed pretty useless - I installed the main ones: intel chip, wifi and realtek.

I wanted to make sure that my ssd was set up properly (its one of the fastest on the market so it would be a shame), my ram was used to its full potential etc.

If I dont have to do anything, and the system will just "work" without any additional input from me, than thats fine. However, I was always under the impression that there should be at least some minimal setting up to do...

what exactly should I be checking in the bios?

Additionally, the first time I start my computer, it never actually turns the screen or the keyboard on so I have to restart it manually before it boots up. The hdd icon doesnt seem to work either.

Thanks.

The physical LED on the case which indicates the Hard Drive's activity. Maybe I plugged the power/reset/hdd cables in the wrong sockets on the motherboard.

That is possible.  Check all connections and let us know how it goes.  You might want to use a magnifying glass.  Some of the print on motherboards is pretty small.

thanks, will keep you posted.

idjalal - how is it going?
are you going to inform us on your progress?

Apologies for the very late reply - was away for 6 months and could not take my desktop with me. I have swapped the cables and I seem to have the HD activity working now.

Thanks for the help.

tx for feedback