How can you tell if you have a bad motherboard?

[SillyClown]

I purchased the Shuttle AK31 from Newegg and I installed it into my friends ATX case with new DDR Ram and a brand new AMD XP 1600+. All of the fans are spinning but there is absolute no post and no response from the video card. I swapped several video cards (AGP, PCI) but to no avail this thing just sits here. I even swapped out the CPU's but nothing came up. I ran the computer for about 30-45 with no HSF and it was stone cold...it just seams nothing is working...Power supply works fine, Video card, RAM, CPU are all brand new. I just get no POST out of this thing. Even when I have no IDE devices plugged in and only the video card running there isn't even a beep code that surfaces...nada...nothin...

Any suggestions?
Thanks
Chris

 

[Natej]

bad board

 

[The Sauce]

You can tell its bad if it frequently talks back, stays out all night and comes back smelling like booze and cigars. But seriously....there are so many other things this could be than the mobo itself. In my experience, the most likely thing you have there is a short somewhere...usually between the case and the mobo. I've done that like 5 or 6 times inadvertently myself. The best thing to do when this happens is to set it up outside of the case on a piece of cardboard without actually putting anything inside the computer and only attach the video card, CPU, and memory. If you get a POST then you know it's some case-related installation problem. I have to say the thing that most often happens is when noobs install an extra standoff screw in the case and this presses up against the bottom of the mobo and shorts it. I see that scenario over and over again. The last time this happened to me there actually turned out to be a short in the on/off switch in the case, which i was only able to figure out by moving everything to another case. Also make sure you reseat all of your cables, memory and cards a few times before you call it a bad mobo...and keep the drinks locked up