Okay so I just hooked up a GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R motherboard and a i7 processor, and plugged everything in...i think. I feel like i might have screwed up somewhere. I kinda just winged it. Is there a diagnostic I can run to check if I screwed up somewhere? If i'm running windows that means everything is running correctly...right? It's the first time I've installed cpu + motherboard edit: been running and using the computer for a while now, and everything seems fine. feeling better about the entire set up. still, would feel better if there was a diagnostic that you guys could lead me to.
Why would you need a diagnostic if everything works? If you had done anything wrong, you would have a noticeable problem
It is never a bad idea to do a full scan on a new hard drive...and it wouldn't hurt to double-check the temperatures to make sure that everything is seated well. Make sure the voltage is correct for the ram (set this in BIOS). While you are in there, you can look to see if all of the voltages are about right.
+1 for killerbug's advice. thats the first thing i thought was to check the temps of the processor with core temp or something. voltage check (bus speed settings too) on the ram is also a good idea - try cpu-z for frequency settings. but if it works it works, remember: paranoia will destroy ya.