First Ever Build, Parts Arrived -- Requesting Bios + OS Installation Guide Help

[SillyKitty]

All the parts (minus the ASUS RoG Swift monitor) arrived and i'm really nervous and excited about doing my first custom pc build. I watched "The Build" videos from Reddit's Build A PC thread but they breezed over key details. Putting together the components and wiring seems pretty straightforward, but testing & formatting the critical parts within the BIOS as well as installing the OS still seems a little nerve-racking. Reddit's guides are from 3 years ago so maybe that's where my hesitation comes from.

 

Are there any up to date guides that some of you can recommend (preferably one that walks you through and doesn't assume you know how to execute the details -- aka something a first timer can have no problem understanding)? I keep researching about BIOS + OS Installation, but keep getting different answers from the different tech gurus around the web.

 

I will link the build below so you can see the mobo and OS and any other information you might need to help guide me to the right guide. Thanks for your help.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($338.99 @ NCIX US) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($94.99 @ NCIX US) 

Motherboard: Asus Z97-AR ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($149.99 @ TigerDirect) 

Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($210.98 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($189.99 @ Micro Center) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Superclocked Video Card  ($699.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($156.99 @ NCIX US) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro (OEM) (64-bit)  ($129.98 @ OutletPC) 

Monitor: Asus VS278Q-P 27.0" Monitor  ($257.58 @ Newegg) 

Monitor: Asus VS278Q-P 27.0" Monitor  ($257.58 @ Newegg) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition 37.9 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($17.50 @ Amazon) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 37.9 CFM 120mm  Fans  ($25.20 @ Newegg) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 37.9 CFM 120mm  Fans  ($25.20 @ Newegg) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($19.98 @ OutletPC) 

Other: Corsair White Sleeved Cables for all componenets ($100.00)

Other: Dominator Platinum Light Bar Upgrade (White LED) ($19.95)

Other: ASUS RoG Swift 144hz 1400p Monitor 27'' ($800.00)

Total: $3594.87

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-20 16:13 EDT-0400

[seabass9990]

can you fix the black font, cant read on dark theme

[SillyKitty]

Nice list! Make a build log please I'm curious to see how this will turn out.

Not sure what you mean with BIOS and OS installation though..

The board comes with a BIOS pre-installed, probably outdated so just download the latest one for your Z97-AR and install it using the EZ flash tool within the BIOS.

Windows installation is nothing these days, you just download the ISO form Microsoft using your valid Windows key, put it on a USB drive and boot from it.

 

What I meant to ask for was a step by step guide proceeding putting all the parts together and pushing the power button for the first time.

Will the mobo come with the steps on how to do the EZ flash tool update?

Doing the updates from a USB drive for the mobo and OS is what I'm worried about as well as how to check through the BIOS that the parts are properly registering + working. 

[mathijs727]

I think he means setting the right settings in the BIOS, not updating it (if it works, dont fix it. you dont wanna take a chance of bricking the mobo if its not necesarry).

 

Lets see, some important settings (set before you install the OS) in the bios (press delete key at the bootscreen):

- set SATA mode to AHCI

- enable XMP (you can find it under memory settings)

 

Installing windows is super easy:

- put the cd in the cd drive

- boot from it (press F8 at bootscreen to select which device you wanna boot from), if it shows the drive multiple times make sure to select the UEFI one.

- from that point on, follow the instructions till it asks you if you want a easy setup (dont remember it exactly) or advanced, take advanced.

- it will show you all of the drives as unallocated space

- do this for each drive: select the drive/unallocated space and click on the format button.

- it will create multiple partitions on each drive

- select the system partition of the drive you want to install windows on (you can recognize it by the amount of (free) space)

- hit next some more times

- windows is now succesfully installed...

[seabass9990]

just highlight the damn thing

Its just nice when people keep the dark theme in mind. Sorry?