[ubuntu] Unable to boot from USB installation media (Asus Z97 Deluxe/USB 3.1 & NVIDIA GTX 960)

Hi! I'm a noob. Though I've used Unix-based systems off and on since 1994, I've never run Linux at home and I haven't done much administration at work. I can probably get around okay, but please talk to me like I'm brand new to Linux just to be safe. Anyway, I'm trying to do my first Linux install at home, and it's leaving a very bad taste in my mouth.

First, here's the hardware pertaining to this problem:

• Asus Z97-DELUXE/USB 3.1
• EVGA GeForce GTX 960
• SM951 M.2 SSD (MZHPV512HGL)
• Seagate Hybrid Drive ST2000DX001
• Seagate STBD6000100
• Seagate Barracuda XT ST33000651AS

To start, I downloaded the Ubuntu 16.04 Desktop (64-bit) ISO and used Universal USB Installer 1.9.6.4 to create a bootable USB drive. (I also tried using Rufus 2.8 using the "Check device for bad blocks" option.)

When I boot from the drive, I do not get a GUI (boot screen), but I do get a text-based menu giving options to try Ubuntu, install it, perform an OEM install, etc. When I choose the option to try Ubuntu, I get:

nouveau 000:01:00.0: gr: failed to load frecs_inst
sd 9:0:0:0: [sdf] No Caching mode page found
sd 9:0:0:0: [sdf] Assuming drive cache: write through
usb 3-1: device descriptor read/all, error -110
usb 3-1: device descriptor read/all, error -110
usb 3-1: device descriptor read/8, error -110
usb 3-1: device descriptor read/8, error -110
ata6.00: exception Emask 0x52 SAct 0x0 SErr 0xffffffff action 0xe frozen
ata6: SError: { RecovData RecovComm UnrecovData Persist Proto HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt CommWake 10B8B Dispar BadCRC Handshk LinkSeq TrStaTs UnrecFIS DevExch }
ata6.00: failed command: IDENTIFY PACKET DEVICE
ata6.00: cmd a1/00:01:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 2 pio 512 in
res 40/00:03:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 Emask 0x56 (ATA bus error)
ata6.00: status: { DRDY }

It then hangs completely; keyboard unresponsive. I have to hold the power button for several seconds to tu the computer off.

Also, I went on to try Linux Mint instead. I got a different error, but same ultimate result: completely frozen. It seemed to have problems with nouveau more-so than the ATA bus.

I'd appreciate any help I can get.

Edit: I just tried booting to Fedora from USB, and it also froze. However, it froze in a GUI, ~75% of the way through the loading icon. No errors were given.