No power to parts of motherboard?

[KnickNut3]

PLEASE READ TO BOTTOM FOR UPDATE:

Some very weird things are happening to my PC that I'm trying to give a tune-up to. The deal:

My PC:
EP-8RDA+
AthlonXP 2400+
GF4 Ti4400

I sought to upgrade the following things:
New 450W PSU
Panaflo CPU fan
HD I RMA'd
Vantec Iceberq 4 Pro for my GF4 Ti4400

My PC booted fine before I started work. I attached the fan first, tried to boot it, and I think it was booting fine, but the fan wasn't set right and got caught. I also smelled something musky, I thought it was some dust that was in there (my dorm that I'm now home from is dust city and wreaking havoc on my PC), but it may have been something starting to burn.

I installed the new PSU without a problem, and everything else went in properly. I cleaned the whole thing out, too. In the process:

The two fan power ports on the top of the MB, near the CPU, stopped working. The case fan and CPU fan didn't spin when I booted it, but the bottom case fan that connects by the HD ports works fine. I connected the case fan across to the bottom port, and it worked fine. When I boot and let it boot, the HD shows "FF" on the LCD display, which usually just means nothing's wrong. However, it usually flashes through some other codes as well while it's booting. I get no picture, it doesn't sound like it accesses the HD, no sets of bootup clicks, but the power seems to be supplied to the MB fine. I tried switching back to the other PSU, but it wouldn't boot with it, so it's not the PSU.

Thanks for the help. I was looking forward to finally getting a fully-functioning PC when I got home (after installing a working GPU fan and having the time to play with it), and now I'm stuck. Thanks for the assistance! Help!

[TOAD6147]

Did you make sure the vid card was properly seated?

[KnickNut3]

Yep. Firmly set. It doesn't even sound or have LEDs like it's booting, though...

[KnickNut3]

OK, when I switch on the power, the CPU and GPU fans spin for a second. Then, if I hit the power button, half the time I get that false boot, and the other half I'll start to smell some burning from the top left section of the MB (with no "powerup" per say). I obviously power it off immediately. I don't think it's the CPU (no damage on the CPU either). Is my MB shot?

Also, what might have caused this if it is the MB going bad? The new PSU? Being 450W instead of the old 350W wouldn't be a problem... would it?

[KnickNut3]

Oh, no:

I took out my father's machine to do some troubleshooting and mixing and matching. (He has same EP-8RDA+) Tried my CPU in his machine, and it worked fine. I went to put my video card into his, (so I could at least get some good graphics in my system as my MB gets RMAd).

I don't remember if there was a flash the first time I put power on it like it does on the other one, but it might have been a normal flash either way. But, NOW HIS MACHINE WON'T BOOT--IT GETS STUCK ON THE "FF" DISPLAY. When I removed it and put his graphics card back in his machien (A GF4MX), IT IS STILL STUCK ON THE "FF" DISPLAY. I now have two machines that won't boot and only one component that was involved in both catastrophes.

What happened? How can a measly GPU cooler cause this problem??? I'm close to tears right now... Any suggestions?

[KnickNut3]

bump

[Siliconjunkie]

http://www.techimo.com/forum/t92179.html