@ EastCoast
Reset your motherboard with the jumper on the pins.
look in your instructions or on google
if you haven't done this before.(basic thing you should know)
Do you get any beeps when you switch on or any activity lights?
do the fans spin?
are all cables and the ram seated well into board?
remove any pci cards and usb drives from pc
Plug dvi cable into port1 on your motherboard
OR GRAPHICS CARD IF YOU HAVE PUT ONE IN
you should see now the bios screen!
if not i would start to worry
As soon as you install snow leopard don't go the upgrade route.
That in my opinion is a pain in the backside.
Create a unibeast usb install drive first thing you do then install lion on a clean formatted hard drive.
easy!
it will work no problem