Great news!!!! She's up and running 100%
I sent back the mobo (again) and sent back both RAM modules. I got them both back about a week ago. I plugged them in, got the mobo all setup, CPU in it's slot and all that, turned her on, and w00t, the POST thingy beeped, the energy star screen that displays your system parts came on, and then the Windows XP load screen came on. Working fine now.
My hypothesis about what happened is; a power surge/spike or brownout (forgot the terminology) entered my old stock PSU (350w I believe, Raidmax with the seal broken around the PSU casing) causing it to fry and/or send extra current into the mobo and possibly RAM, causing parts to fry. Now I wonder why the motherboard they sent back the first time didn't work? Hmmm......
Again, that's just my theory, I'm probably wrong. What have I learned through all of this?
- BACK UP YOUR DATA, ESPECIALLY YOUR IMPORTANT FILES!!!
- KEEP YOUR INVOICES/PURCHASE INFO FOR YOUR COMPUTER PARTS!!! THEY'LL COME IN HANDY IF SOMETHING FAILS AND YOU HAVE TO SEND IT BACK!!
- USE A HIGH QUALITY POWER SUPPLY UNIT WITH AMPLE WATTAGE!!! I would say atleast 400w for mid-range computers now days.
Sorry for the caps, but those things are critical.