New htpc build, blurry image on video card test/crash

update: i purchased a new mobo (intel h77), new ram, new 3750k, and a new power supply.

new weird issues. system will not boot if i have a usb thumbdrive plugged into ANY of the usb slots. trying to update the bios and the system doesn't even let me get into the bios if a thumbdrive is plugged in.

tried every option i could think of in the bios concerning usb (legacy, boot order, etc).

any ideas?

finally figured out a way to do a recoverable bios update

solved

intel boards (maybe other brands have it as well) have this jumper that when removed puts the board in "recovery mode." i remove the jumper, plugged in a thumbdrive that had the new bios file, booted up the system and it automatically updated bios. my board had a feb '12 bios on it and it upgraded to a june '12 bios. literally a new system.

pretty annoyed that intel would ship it out with that old of a bios and with that serious glitch but who knows, seems to be fixed now.

possibly unrelated, my crucial ssd m4 keeps being unrecognized. seems that it's a bug and have since updated to latest firmware. seems stable at the moment.

In short, i was having tons of problems that i was sure was bios related but the board was so gorked i couldn't even updated bios (till i realized the recovery trick). SOLVED