Mentawl wrote:First thing to do is the usual new-build-not-posting solution: strip the machine down to basics. CPU installed with heatsink/fan, one stick of memory, graphics card (or even use the onboard Intel graphics if your board is capable), powersupply hooked up to the main 24-pin ATX connector and the 8-pin EPS12v connector (and graphics card if necessary).
As a policy I always first-boot with the absolute minimal hardware, using a memtest thumbdrive and then leave it running memtest for a few hours (or overnight, usually). Memory errors are rare, but they usually show up right away and if you have one you don't know about and proceed with installing an OS you end up in an un-exitable maze of inexplicable errors. And it reduces the number of other things that can go wrong or that you need to check in cases like this.
This is a Z77 mobo and, I presume, an IB CPU so integrated graphics are all you need until you get everything else checked out (in fact I wouldn't install a GPU until I had the OS and all the other drivers installed and updated)
TBGAPowa wrote:MemOK! led lights up red, what does that mean? i cant see the cpu led because the hsf covers it, boot device led i believe was green and the flbk led wasn't on.
Have you looked in your
manual? Page 2-14:
ASUS wrote:MemOK! switch
Installing DIMMs that are incompatible with the motherboard may cause system boot failure, and the DRAM_LED near the MemOK! switch lights continuously. Press and hold the MemOK! switch until the DRAM_LED starts blinking to begin automatic memory compatibility tuning for successful boot.
The DRAM_LED also lights when the DIMM is not properly installed. Turn off the system and reinstall the DIMM before using the MemOK! function
That last point is the one I think most likely, and the one you should do first. DIMM slots in a new mobo can be tight and it's easy to get new DIMMs not quite fully seated. Hopefully the smoke you saw was just "new system" burn-off and not the result of a partial connections on one of the DIMMs. (Yet another reason to do a full memtest run before proceeding any further after you get to be BIOS)
credible wrote:Just a shot in the dark, on my very first build I had forgot to put the standoffs in the case under the motherboard before I put the motherboard into the case, you absolutely need these or you could short your motherboard out on the metal case.
That's always possible (and a common first-builder mistake) but the usual symptoms of that is the system failing to even power up (fans or anything). Easy to check, anyway.