need some advice/help

[miniun]

Hey guys new member here and I'm trying to learn as much as I can about computers in general right now. I've just recently built my very first PC using Linus's recent 1500$ gaming rig as a video guide and it's sitting infront of me running at a steady 35 C with the bios up(I know it's not an optimal build, I just wanted a build that worked for my first). I'm waiting for Windows 8/ my cd/dvd drive to arrive before I make any next step...

 

I'm not sure if I'm exagerating a problem here but it seems when I try to set my boot priority option #1 to my SSD in the MSI click bios I get some crazy errors. I'm very worried that I may have damaged my motherboard because I slightly scratched (hard to see) the surface when installing it. The boot option #1 will save as my SSD and boot with it as #1, but when I hover over the boot device priority icons I see like ancient alien text mixed with some chinese letters or I crash and the system reboots.

 

When I go to the save and exit tab I see

Boot Override:

> UEFI: Built-in EFI Shell

>Sata2:INTEL SSD

 

Is anything wrong with my SSD or my mobo?

 

Sorry that this is so long, but I have very little experience here..My questions are... Should I be satisfied with seeing my ssd listed as #1 boot priority and just try to install windows anyway? (how important is boot priority?? what should my 2nd/3rd be..)

What should I be doing in the bios if anything at all?

Is it possible to set up my barracuda and my SSD as a raid? Do I need to do this in the bios or after installing windows?

Do I want to use Intel rapid start?(feature offered by the bios it's turned off by default and only says it makes my system start faster from hibernation)

Should I overclock now or wait for windows?

How can I check if my processor is firing all cylinders/using hyper threading technology?

 

Really hope I didn't fuck myself by slightly scratching the mobo (I can try to take a picture if you guys need it)...other than that this was an amazing experience and I feel like I may stick around here for some time possibly. Please help and thanks already for the help I've gotten.

 

Specs:
Intel Core i7 3770K CPU
Intel 520 Series 240GB SSD
MSI Z77A-G45 motherboard
MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti Power Edition
Seagate Barracuda 3TB hard drive
Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 RAM
Corsair GS700 power supply
Corsair H100i

 

 

[piplupgao]

Just try to instal windows

[xDLGx]

What should I be doing in the bios if anything at all?

Is it possible to set up my barracuda and my SSD as a raid? Do I need to do this in the bios or after installing windows?

Do I want to use Intel rapid start?(feature offered by the bios it's turned off by default and only says it makes my system start faster from hibernation)

Should I overclock now or wait for windows?

How can I check if my processor is firing all cylinders/using hyper threading technology?

 

Really hope I didn't fuck myself by slightly scratching the mobo (I can try to take a picture if you guys need it)...other than that this was an amazing experience and I feel like I may stick around here for some time possibly. Please help and thanks already for the help I've gotten.

 

 

Don't really do anything in bios until Windows is installed except maybe upgrade the bios with the latest version.

You always test your computer fully with everything running at default stock speeds and settings. If it doesn't work at defaults it won't work overclocked.

 

No you can not raid two different SSDs or HDDs or mix SSD and HDD. Need to be identical units. When you set up a raid array all drives involved get whiped.

 

There are a lot of rapid start features, I'd advice against using them now, especially bios ones as you then skip some diagnostic tests during boot.

 

CPU you can check in Windows later. If you PC booted up at all the CPU is generally ok.

 

That scratch is worrysome though.... but not seen it so can't tell.

[aikoels]

Ok, step by step:

1. You can't raid different drives (ssd and hdd don't raid)

2. Make sure when you were installing windows you have ALL drives unplugged except for your boot drive (your ssd)

3. You don't have to worry about boot priority. Basically boot priority just means check #1 for an os, if it doesn't have one, go to #2 and so on. (so if you want to install an os from a cd put your cd drive as your boot device, install it in your ssd (look at my number 2) then put your ssd as boot device #1

4. Need to see the scratch to tell, but please in the future try to be more careful, that is worrying :/

5. Do not touch your BIOS if you don't know 100% what you are doing (messing with boot order is safe)

6. Don't overclock until you have your computer working fully, install some test benches, then oc, then test for stability (for a long time to make sure).

 

Ok, think I got it all, if not just respond to my post with what question I missed

[miniun]

If I cannot raid SSD/HDD what was Linus refering to when he said you can use a portion of the SSD as a cache to increase performance out of the HDD? Do I need special software to do that?

 

Won't windows ask me where I want to install it? on my SSD or the other? So why unplug it, out of curiosity?

What exactly do you mean by setting my cd drive as my boot device? As in make it boot priority #1?

 

Thanks for the response

[aikoels]

If I cannot raid SSD/HDD what was Linus refering to when he said you can use a portion of the SSD as a cache to increase performance out of the HDD? Do I need special software to do that?

 

Won't windows ask me where I want to install it? on my SSD or the other? So why unplug it, out of curiosity?

What exactly do you mean by setting my cd drive as my boot device? As in make it boot priority #1?

 

Thanks for the response

Raid and using something as a cache are completely different, as to making the cache, you will have to refer to some tutorials. Windows does ask where to instal, however windows also has a tendency to put different parts on different drives, no matter what you say, that is why you should always be safe (just unplug the power/sata cable, it will take 30 seconds). And yes I mean put your cd player as boot device 1 to load up the cd.