New Build! Need help!

[steve121m]

I'm helping a friend build a PC and I ran into a bit of trouble while trying to power it on. The machine turns on for one or two seconds and shuts down, only to start up again. It cycles like this until I manually power it down. I decided to plug in an older PSU to see if that was the problem but the same problem persisted. Also did the same with old RAM. Any help would be fantastic because I'm at a lost!
Heres the specs to the new machine im "attempting" to build:
MSI Z68A-G43 (G3) Mobo
Intel i5-3570k CPU
RaidMax 700w Continuous power PSU
G.Skill RipJaws 1600 DDR3 RAM

 

[jay2tall]

I do not believe the Z68 motherboards support Ivy bridge right out of the box. You have to update the BIOS. However, in order to do that you need a supported CPU to boot with and then update the BIOS. It looks like this update came out on 6-7-2012. It is most likely this is not the BIOS version right out of your box. http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Z68A-G43--B3-.html#/?div=BIOS

My suggestion would be to return the motherboard and get one that supports ivy bridge CPU's right out of the box. H77, Z75,Z77 chipsets.

 

[steve121m]

Awesome! Thanks for the quick response. I was worried perhaps it was a broken board but I just derped on the Black Friday rush sales. Is there any board which you would recommend?

 

[jay2tall]

Black Friday, and really anytime after through the holidays, is the best time of year to upgrade. Just wait for a deal that suits your needs.

I have some questions.
1) Do you plan to overclock? if you have a "k" model CPU I would assume so. If that is true, you will want a Z77 chipset. H77 would be good if you are not intending to OC and want a cheaper board. Do you have a good cooler for that?
2) Are there any particular features you need or want in a motherboard? Some are pretty vanilla and others have wifi and esata ports. Some have a bunch of PCIe and PCI slots, others do not. It effects price.
3)budget?

ASRock has good, low cost boards and have really made a name for themselves. Here is a deal on newegg that would work.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157330

However, I am a die hard ASUS fan because they are reliable and typically have a few more bells and whistles and I always know they overclock well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837

The boards above are very similar in features as well.

 

[steve121m]

I plan on overclocking, although not to much. The motherboard dosent need to be to fancy, I'm looking to in the future to use dual graphics cards, nvidea so it would have to be SLI compatibable if im not mistaken. Budget is about the 2 that you posted. 80 - 120.