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This is a common issue with Dell 530 / 531s. Something to do with the BIOS settings (refer ost "My 531s doesnt boot"). Remove all SATA cables from MB. Remove all USB connections (front panel, keyboard mouse). remove CMOS battery for few minutes. Connect monitor to onboard VGA port. Reconnect and reinsert battery and try to start. It should work. Then set the BIOS to initialise your PCI-e card by pressing F2 during boot and connect the moitor to the VGA card.

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Problem is not an amber light on the computer but on the monitor. It appears that the monitor is in sleep mode, when I move the mouse it should come on with a green light but just stays off and light on monitor stays amber.

Tried  the above, same thing, the light on the monitor stays amber, monitor doesn't turn on. Fan runs silly thing sounds like a jet engine. Guess what i have here is a $500 paperweight.

Sorry, the monitor is ok, when unplugged from computer it displays cable unplugged etc.  It appears that its the cpu,have usb power to optical mouse, but i noticed no response from keyboard, such as when you hit num lock light on keyboard does not illuminate

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Ty Muto, first the power light stays blue, second I do not have speakers connected right now, third the fan keeps running on high. I do not see where activity light would be but with the cover open I do have an amber light lit on the motherboard. if I have to have speakers connected i will need to connect the ones from my desktop. the reason for replacing video card was I thought that was the problem.

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The solution works only when the system is disconnected from the power mains (residue power is drained from the motherboard) and the CMOS battery is still good. Try replaing the battery with a new one. One more thing....This solution is less and less effective as the motherboard gets older. I had a similar situation. In the first year it was solved easily. In second year with some difficulty. And recently it did not work at all and I had to relace my motherboard and power supply. Its an indication that you parts are aging.