Hello, I just started building my new system the other day, I've ran into a few problems, but have managed to sort them out and move on. Now I have a problem that I just cannot figure out. I have everything in my system hooked up, and when I go to turn on my system, it displays Phoenix Bios and tells me my CPU and Mem test are okay and that. I then go to hit the del key on my keyboard and nothing happens. I've tried 2 different keyboards, both usb and ps2. My usb keyboard lights up when plugged in, but it still does not work. On the other hand, the ps2 keyboard will flicker when it is first plugged in, but does not work after the system beeps and boots to the bios, to my suprise I noticed that the ps2 keyboard "num lock" light will glow if it is pressed, but none of the other lights will turn on and the keyboard still remains "dead" to me.

I just purchased brand new components for this build, which left me bankrupt.

After using the worst PC on earth for more than 5-6 years, I saved for quite a while to buy this:

Intel QX9770 3.2ghz
EVGA 790i Ultra
EVGA GTX 280 HC (tri-sli)
Ultra X3 1600w modular
Corsair Dominator 1600mhz 8 gigs
WD 300gig Velociraptor
Koolance Liquid Cooling
Lite-On triple layer Blu-ray Drive

If anybody could help me through this problem, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

omg you pc is very powerful

If you have all 3 video cards in....take 2 out...use 1 stick of RAM ...reset BIOS and try using your USB keyboard.

Read the manual, and make sure you have the right RAM slot populated.

If that works get your OS installed then add the rest back in.

Sorry But that's one of the broblrms of nForce Chipset mobos
If you can RMA that mobo and get P45 or X48 and mobo and DDR2 will be great
But the problom you'll loose SLI
That's quite a dream rig
Wish you the best luck
By the way, connect your keyboard when system is off
Start with one stick, there are still lot of compatibility issues with DDR3 and many mobos
Great possibility you need Bios update
And as said start with one graphic card installed

Thanks for the help, I got the BIOS menu up and running and I set my disc drive to be the primary drive to boot from. I also got a nice little EVGA logo to show when the system boots, so that I know my changes to the BIOS have actually been changed.

I did remove all of the ram except for 1 stick, but my video cards offered a slight problem which stupid me didnt think about when I was building. It is quite hard to remove 3-way sli on my 790i motherboard hah, and along with that I also made the mistake of running liquid cooling. When I first set my system up, I powered it on to test if it would boot, I did not have a keyboard plugged in, so I had no way of testing. I will not make that mistake in the future. Next, I started my liquid cooling, I ran a jumper on the atx cable so I could run coolant and test for leaks and "burp" my pumps. This was to make sure I had adequate cooling while installing the OS or testing. Now it is almost impossible to remove the cards from the motherboard, but I did remove the SLI bridge connector and played with the 6 and 8 pin power connectors on the cards.

Now the only problem I have is to get my system to actually boot from the disc, which I hope will not require me to empty my coolant. I was wondering if I got the system to boot to BIOS, could I also get the system to boot from the disc with the cards like they are? Or is that a whole different scenario?

Well, thank you guys again. You help is greatly appreciated.

Good news
But I did not get it
Now you have only one RAM stick installed ??
And if you are able to boot to BIOS set your Lite-On Drive as 1st boot
insert you OS disk and OS should install smoothly

I think you'll face a problem if you did not remove 2 of you graphic cards
Even if you disconnect power cables
Cause SLI driver still not installed
So may be things will be confusing for your OS and system
Hope for the best

Yes, I removed my other 3 sticks of RAM, and I did get my system to boot to BIOS, I set my BIOS to use my Lite-On Drive as the primary boot device, I popped in my OS dvd, but for some reason, it goes back to the screen it did after I close out of the BIOS.

Thank you so much for the help, I've been sitting on the floor for about 6 hours now and I'm starting to get awkward pains in my back, but I will not give up! Without you guys, I wouldn't be anywhere!

Any ideas on how to get 2 of the cards out of the PCI-e slot just enough that the mobo doesnt recognize them, while still keeping the liquid in them. I know its a lot to ask, but D=.

Another thing.... I noticed my monitor only gets a signal when I plug it into the bottom video card (furthest from the cpu block).

I was expecting such confusion
cause graphic cards driver still not installed
Did you try with power cables disconnected from other 2 cards??
You were able to install OS ??
If the only problem is your monitor getting signal from one graphic card
it's not a big deal
proceed and install OS then drivers

I will try disconnecting the power cables from the other 2 cards right now, I'm still trying to get my Lite-On drive to boot, so I can install the OS. Hopefully once this OS is installed, it will be easy sailing from there.

Thanks again mate!

I frequently get the message stating that:

Main Processor: intel core extreme
Mem test: 2096128k OK
cpu brand: intel
C1E BIOS supported
EM64T cpu

A single graphic card is detected in slot pcie x16_2 or pcie x16_3
Please move the graphics card to the pcie x16_1 slot for non-sli operation

This was the screen I was looking at when I first started this post. I should have posted it earlier, sorry about that.
But this is also the screen it goes back to after I get out of the BIOS, which only seems to boot "when it feels like it". hah

Thanks!

your booting is stopping at this message and will not continue ??
You're getting this message with power cables disconnected from cards 2 and 3 ??
if so, you can not just lift the cards in slot 2 and 3 for 10mm just out of PCI slots without affecting water cooling system ??

This is where the booting stops yes, 95% of the time, the other 5% it will boot to the BIOS menu if I hold del key.

I wish I could lift the cards out 10mm, but these gtx 280 hc cards are huge! It has about 1 cm space in between each card and doesnt offer very much room to work! Setting up the liquid cooling to the card was a nightmare in itself, since I have about 2-3 inches to work with until its the bottom of the case!

Thanks for all your help kad, I greatly appreciate it!!!
You have eased my hair pulling quite drastically!

I've encountered another problem, when I go to boot the system and hold the del key to enter the BIOS, I now get shot to a black screen that just hangs with a blinking _ ...