A7N8X dead? How can I tell?

[flyted]

Home built computer, 4 years old, always been on a quality surge protector, line conditioner and UPS. Everything was fine until about a month ago when the computer didnt want to shutdown and kept rebooting right at the last second, never could fix it. Finally I could only turn it on and off via the ps switch and then no video, no HD noise, no lights on the case panel, also no smoke or pops or obvious damage to the MB and all the fans run and the green stanby power light is lit. Changed HD, no change, checked all the ps voltages and they are good. The ATI Radeon 9250 video card fan was not turning, dont know if it ever did as I dont game and it may be temp controlled. I dont have parts to swap out so I need to start buying replacements one by one as I cant find a way to individually test them. PS seems ok, HD had a WD diagnostic test a week ago and was good, cd and floppy had no problems, leaving me to think MB or video card. This is the first MB problem in 4 years and dont know how best to approach it or test the MB. Any ideas?

Thanks

[wonkanoby]

dont think fan would be regulated to stop on the vga card

are there any signs of bulging or leaking caps on the board

can you try vga in a friends pc

[flyted]

I thought maybe if the video card fan overheated it may have locked up something on the MB, no signs of any damage to the MB nor did I hear any noise when it failed. The MB has had a charmed life being on a high-end surge protector, line conditioner and UPS since new. Something still could have failed though. Would really like to elimate the MB via some test then concentrate on the ps and video card, just cant find out how?

[wonkanoby]

there is no such thing im afraid

a motherboard fault whilst thankfully rare

is almost impossible to diagnose

[flyted]

I tried another ps and only got a fast ticking sound, no diagnostic beeps.

[wonkanoby]

not a bios beep sound then

[flyted]

no