I am building my first computer for my wife for gaming. I want to set up the mother board with the processor, one stick of memory, and one hard drive but leave out the video card. If something goes wrong it is the most expensive piece and I don't want it fried. I didn't know if this was a good idea and if I could then put it in and set up the rest and attach to the monitor to finish installing software, etc....

Thanks, Murph

Depends on the motherboard - some have an integrated video solution, so you won't need the video card itself to see.

The system does not require the hard drive or video card to complete POST.

Don't forget the heatsink!

Hi and welcome

If there is no onboard video, then how will you know the computer is POSTing or not? You won't be able to see anything.

I suggest you throw it in.

Troy

It isn't required for POST. Some computers will beep when POST is complete, the keyboard lights flash, etc. If there is no other indicator of POST other than what is on the screen, put in the video card so you can see, if there's no integrated video.