Working on a problem system that seems to keep getting worse. how do you handle this type of stuff?

I did try testing it as barebones as possible (Hd unplugged, no Add-in cards, just CPU, RAM and psu, still won't post) since it won't POST I can't get into BIOS to see anything. I'm very inclined to believe its the PSU which I'll replace when I install the new board when it arrives and just eat that cost.

If it won't POST, does it give any BIOS beeps at switch-on at all? Sorry if you've already done these things (I can't remember all of what you've already said), but I would remove the memory completely as the first thing, to see if it complains. Also, I'd even potentially remove the CPU, and see if it beeps on you. Do you have a diagnostic card you could plug in and try that? I'd try all of these things with spare parts, before going any further.
 
If this has a graphics card, try using another, if its onboard, put one in the pci slot and try it, also you may want to remove all rams and turn the pc on to see if it makes beeping sounds to alert that the rams are out, if it beeps then bios and cpu is good, if not, your looking certainly at a hardware fault on a circuit level, if this board has an amd northbridge, that could be your culprit. Would need to do a BGA reflow. To know for sure, you can get a pci diagnostic debug card and see where its getting stuck, if your values stay at 00 then circuit problem is indeed the cause on some itchy mosfet or regulator. Cannot know for sure without looking at it myself. My experience, all AMD chipsets begin to overheat in time a lot quicker then intel and thats why there cheap, at some point specially when not enough ventilation or blocked fan, the BGA chip will fail as they heat up in course of life span melting its solder balls underneath, and reballing will not fix the issue as it will just fail again heating up very quicky as its worn out, replacing the chip is the only solution to make it last a few more years!! Personally, I advise costumers to stay away from AMD.
 
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