If you have a video card plugged in there is a 99% chance your on board won't work
As for the screen going black, this is normal, the only thing it checks for really is any type of grounding from the connection, and switches to standby. It does not mean the monitor is getting a signal from the computer itself.
Try booting with just the CPU, one RAM stick, no hard drives and no add on cards, if it still does not boot correctly, try the other RAM stick(s) (Where applicable of course)
If it does boot, start adding components one at a time until you find your faulty equipment