Thronka, John Prophent, thank you VERY much for responding.
I tried both of your suggestions, and neither worked... the darned thing just doesn't boot. Hard drive spins, DVD drive spins, fans, everything... just doesn't boot to CMOS.
I've switched components around too multiple times now, and every piece works fine in another board. I've concluded that I have been a victim of a bad batch from the manufacturer, in which apparently Newegg.com has a bunch of.
Tomorrow I am going ship it back to newegg (that's 2 defective boards shipped back in 1 1/2 weeks). I've already purchased the ASUS P4S800. ASUS hasn't failed me so far...
thanks for your help everyone. I think i'm going to write a bad review on this board.