Advice on a motherboard purchasing tactic

[Croso]

Hey Guys!

First post, so.. what's up?!

I had a question that would help me quite a bit on my build I am currently working on.

I am trying to build my new gaming/workstation rig on a "part by part" basis. Now I know this is usually strongly cautioned against doing, but I'm buying warranties and have two systems built already. I am ensuring to test any newly arrived parts before I give them my green light to use in the new system. This has proven to work well and makes me less opposed to buying refurbished parts (saving me hundreds) and still allowing me to ensure the quality. I was able to pick up a Corsair AX1200i for $130 bucks refurbished and it's working great so far (has 1 year accidental and manufacturer defect warranty). I also am camping the deals on newegg and amazon to try to get the best prices (saved $316 bucks so far!).

I am getting close to the end (the big purchase is looming) and I kind of want to get as many parts in as I can before the final build purchase. I am looking at an Asus X99-Deluxe motherboard and was just going to wait and let the CPU, RAM, and MB be my final purchase, but then read that the X99 Deluxe motherboard has the ability to boot into UEFI WITHOUT the RAM and CPU. My first major question is Would I be able to purchase this board, boot into UEFI, and actually test it's functionality before I purchased my CPU and RAM? Of course, this means to a level of confidence that it isn't faulty and the build will go off well in the end. I feel like I know the answer already, but oh well, I am hopeful someone could at least educate my on why this would be an ok/bad idea.

Thanks guys! Appreciate your help.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

You need CPU, mobo, and RAM to get to the UEFI.

 

[SuperTuner12010]

^this

With that said, even if it were possible just getting into BIOS wouldn't really give any sort of confirmation that it is in good working order. I have had computers with blown caps that would not only get into BIOS but into windows, accompanied by bsods on all sorts of problems of course. Booting into bios alone is no indication of good working order.

 

[Mordachai]

Are you sure you're not confusing "can update BIOS without cpu/ram" with "can boot to BIOS without..."?

My new MSI Z170A Gaming M7 can update BIOS without cpu/ram, but nothing more interesting than that...

UEFI BIOS needs a cpu to run the instructions to bring that interface to life - they'd have to be embedding another x86 compatible CPU in their mobo to deliver such a thing (or a second BIOS written to a second embedded CPU such as is used on a smart phone).

 

[NewbieOneKenobi]

The relevance or usefulness of this little tip will probably be minimal, but check out the specs for connectivity on a larger number of mobos that meet your bottom line. Sometimes mobos from one manufacturer have newer interfaces and/or more ports than similarly priced mobos from a different manufacturer, and in some cases mid-shelf mobos from one manufacturer have the kind of goodies that you'd need to get a high-end mobo for, from a different manufacturer. Especially the number of USB 3.1 ports (if any at all) is such an issue, and sometimes M.2.