H/w built - tips for config sequence ?

.. finished putting all the hardware together ...

Fractal R3 case
Cooler Master M2 Silent Pro PSU
ASUS Motherboard P8Z77-V LE
i5 3570 3.4G Ivybridge
16GB Ram – Corsair XMS
SSD – Crucial M4 120GB
Samsung DVD/CD ROM RW
WD 1TB Caviar Black
MSI 560TI HAWK Graphics

Did a really neat job, following the hints and tips here, braiding all the cables, and with the Fractal case, almost all the cables are hidden.

Not yet powered up ........ do I just power it up and start loading W7, or do I first need to set up BIOS & Motherboard ? (all at default)

Be interested any any tips on sequence to follow.

I'd start it up to make sure it will start at all.

You'll probably get an error about no system disk found. That's fine.

Take a look in the BIOS and make sure you don't see anything surprising. Your hard drive should be listed. Your RAM should be recognized, etc. I normally take a look at all BIOS pages just to get a look at the various options.

Make sure the BIOS shows your fans and fan speeds and that there are no surprises there.

If all looks well, disconnect the Caviar Black, reboot from the Windows DVD and install to the SSD.

Thnx

Illustrated steps are here to Clean Install Windows 7.