Greetings all
I'm just about ready to purchase a motherboard (DP35DP) and began to install the cpu and hook up CD/DVD drive and wondered if before I install the OS, can you "test" the motherboard to see if: RAM show up, video card works, hard drive can be accessed, access to USB plug-ins on the front panel of your case and of course, the motherboard itself functions. Thanks for any responses.
Jack D (old#7)

A mobo itself can test itself and if it passes the test, it will post - Power On Self Test. Just hook up the barebone of a mobo, cpu, ram & video. You might want a pair of speakers for listening to the beep codes.

Thanks akhilles. I've seen some illustrations showing the mobo placed on the box it came in with what looked like power cables, wires, etc attached to it. If I assembled the mobo and installed it in the case and if for some reason it didn't POST, I'll come back here for more info. This will be my first build and also I'll add that this forum sure has a lot of helpful info.
I think I still have a pair of Dell Dimension XPS B866r speakers in storage for the beep codes.