Just put together (w/ anand forum folks help & advice) the following:

CPU = Intel Q9550
CPU HSF = ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro
THERMAL PASTE = ARCTIC SILVER 5
GPU = 2 Sapphire 100237L Radeon HD 3650's
Mem = 2x2GB DDR2-800 Mushkin 996587
MB = ASUS P5Q-E
HD = 2 WD 640gb hard drives (6400AAKS)
PSU = CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W
FAN CONTROLLER = Scythe KM01-BK "KAZE MASTER"
FANS = Nexus D12SL-12 120mm for top exhaust; Noctua NF-S12-1200 for side intake; Comes w/ front intake & rear exhaust included (2 x 120mm)
CASE = CM590
MONITOR = DELL UltraSharp 2007FP via DVI cable
DVD BURNER = ASUS DRW-2014L1T
FLOPPY = TEAC FD235HFC829

I plugged the monitor in, plugged in my keyboard via the keyboard/mouse port, then plugged in a mouse via the USB port. Turned on the power supply, hit the power button:
-->All the fans worked perfectly & controller by the Scythe fan controller w/ temp. readings perfectly
-->No image on my monitor

I tried plugging the DVI from the monitor into all 4 DVI ports (2 on each card) and no image at all on my monitor. The hard drives are unformatted, no CD in the DVD player, but I put memtest on a floppy and turned on the computer again and still no image.

Any thoughts? The only question I can think of is if I seated the Q9550 correctly. The triangle is in the correct position and the latch closed over the CPU, I'd imagine if it wasn't seated properly, I wouldn't have been able to close the latch, right? The heatsink & thermal paste are perfectly in all the way up against the CPU...

How come no image? Any troubleshooting ideas/steps or links to read?

Tnx!!!!

Try seating properly your RAM, if that doesn't work, then try reseating all the other parts.

On another note, why did you get two HD 3650s? Might as well have gotten an HD 4670 or an HD 3850, better performance than what you got for about $80-90.

What emp said, try reseating all the connectors to everything connected to the MB.

disconnected EVERYTHING (usb ports, firewire, 2nd graphics card, 2nd memory dimm, sata data cables from the 2 hard drives and the 1 internal dvd, mouse from the usb port as well). So all I have now is the CPU, 1 2gb memory dimm, 1 graphics card, floppy drive and power to the mb (the 8-pin and the big power connector as well) along w/ a keyboard and the DVI cable from the monitor.

Still no picture on my screen (and yes it's a working monitor). I tried the other memory DIMM in slot 1 instead in case 1 was bad, still no picture...I really have no clue what could be the problem here, I can take pictures if you need them or anything...

The memory clicks in properly, the graphics card also has been reseated and the fan on the graphics card turns on when I turn the computer on so it's getting power. The only thing I haven't reseated is the CPU at this point...which would be a p-i-t-a to arctic clean it & re-apply the paste, etc..., but if I need to, I will...

I mean, I SHOULD get SOMETHING on my display, right?

Just tried the DVI --> VGA adapter to hookup my CRT and still no picture on that either.

I also hooked up the PC speaker wire from my old computer case to the new one, booted up the new one, and I don't get any beeps or anything.....isn't it supposed to at least beep?

You need a working speaker that will signal BIOS beeps. Remove ALL the RAM from the system then boot the system. If the BIOS does not beep signifying there is NO RAM in the system, you have a defective MB or CPU. have you tried resetting the CMOS jumper and defaulting the BIOS? be sure to unplug the PSU when resetting the jumper. Also, just unplug the psu and press the power on button for the system to release power from the PSU. Let it set a minute or two and try again. If you read in the ASUS MB manual under resetting the CMOS jumper, it should tell you to simply unplug the PSU if the system doesn't start due to BIOS malfunction.

Ok, I removed all RAM and it beeped one long beep, then 2 short beeps which is no RAM installed according to the manual. I then removed all the video cards and turned it on, no beeps at all....shouldn't it beep indicating "No VGA detected"? Also, if the CPU wasn't seated properly, wouldn't it also beep for that?

I also resetted the CMOS jumper as you suggested...

There are 3 slots for PCI 2.0 x 16 on the board (3rd is universal). I am plugging the vid card into the top PCI 2.0 x 16 slot, that should be fine, right? Any other ideas?

Btw, I even just plugged in my old ATI 7500 Radeon from my currently WORKING computer into the new one (PCI slot) to rule out any vid card defectiveness. Plugged my old CRT monitor into it. Turned on the computer, still nothing...no beeps, no image.

Also, I don't know if this helps either, but when I don't have the DVI plugged into the vid card, I get the "Red/Green/Blue" signal not detected on my flat panel. When I plug the DVI into the vidcard with the computer then turned on, the signal not detected goes away, but I don't get anything but black.

Sry for all the posts, just keep racking my brain. I temporarily shut the exhaust fans in the rear & top, unplugged the CPU fan. Turned it on, and the temperature sensor on the CPU heatsink went from around 80f up to 90f. The hsf is getting hotter and I feet the hs on the vid card and that gets hot as well. I turned the fans back down and the temp went back to around 82. The hard drives run around 90 so those are working as well.

So I assume this all means that everything is getting power and the CPU IS seated properly?

Have you checked the MB product page for the BIOS version needed to support the Q9550? Maybe try a different processor and see if that is problem. May be silly to ask, but you do have the 4/8 pin 12v power connector plugged in to the MB from the PSU to provice power to the CPU right? Also, from your description, it sounds like somethng is wrong with the PCIE slots, like they are faulty or th BIOS is not recognizing the video card?

Yes, if you mean in the top-left corner of the motherboard where it comes with 4 of the pins covered by a black piece of plastic, yes, I removed the black piece of plastic and plugged in the 8-pin connector there. The manual for the mb says that the 8-pin connector is required (not 4).

I don't think it's a PCIE problem because I've tried the PCI slot as well (with a WORKING vid card for sure). No video from that either. My programmer friend said he thinks either the north or south bridge is responsible for video display so maybe one of those is bad?

I think I have tried every possible thing except reseating the CPU at this point. I guess that's my only option left before I need to exchange the mb? Would the mb beep if the CPU was bad?

Also, if my CPU heatsink is touching the north & south bridge heatsinks (because it's so damn big), would that cause a problem or short them out? Here's a picture of the heatsink (fan removed from it):

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/c6e65d8186.jpg

And yes, the mb supports the Q9550.

Hey buddy, better than goin back and forth in here, take ur rig to the nearest computer shop and get it checked out.

Honestly, if it's not the memory, then I'm pretty sure it's the motherboard.