help in Diagnosing comatose system

last night while listening to a CD the system went DEAD as if unplugged. there was nothing wrong with the power as I was working on another system plugged into the same power source as the dead one and it did not experiencec any problems.
I attempted to restart it but other than the power going on there was nothing. Today, I had a friend checkout the power supply and was told that the 3.3 volt rail was kissed. So i installed a new 300w Antec, but it did not do anything more than simply go on, while both of the green and yellow lights remained on by the power-on and the reset buttons.
My friend retested the previously blown rail, and stated that it now had power....not that it did any bit of good.
I tried to take it a step further and unplugged both hard drives, both cdcroms, and removed all 3 memory sticks, then attempted to reboot using only the floppy, but NO luck.
Also I rebooted the system without power or ribbon cables to any of the CDRs or HDs - only the floppy was left powerd & ribboned - video card was removed and so were all of the memory sticks, both front & rear cooling fans were unplugged, all in order to force a BIOS beep sequence response. got NOTHING.
considering that this thing does not even go through the bootup sequence whereby it attempts to check the drives, it makes me wonder if the BIOS did not crock, or, perhaps the mobo (EPOX 8KTA).
The BIOS is an WINBOND W29C020C-90B.
Any suggestions on troubleshooting from here?
I am considering perhaps a new BIOS chip, before getting a new mobo. Is there another source for said BIOS, something ala Radio Shack?
EPOX 8KTA rev 1.1
AMD tbid 750 - not goosed
Micron PC133 256 x 3
Matrox g460 dual
Maxtor40 - 5400 x2
toshiba xm-6702b cdr
Panasonic cw-7585b cdrw
W98SE
TIA

1. RE: help in Diagnosing comatose system
lbyard Jul-07-02 02:29 PM
In response to message 0

It won't post without memory. Try booting with the minimal bootable configuration, http://duxcw.com/digest/Howto/buildcom/socka/8.htm:
"The computer is now in the "minimum bootable configuration" (MBC): Motherboard, CPU, heatsink-fan, memory, video card, power to the motherboard (keep the power cord disconnected), Power-on switch, Speaker connected, monitor, and nothing else--no drives.
48. Check the power supply to be sure that the 110/220 volt switch is in the correct position.
49. Unwrap the computer's power cord, plug it into the computer and into active outlet.
I leave it wrapped and use a shop cable.
50. While watching the CPU fan, hold your breath and push the Power-on button. If the CPU fan does not start spinning, immediately pull the power cord out of the computer. Otherwise, the computer should boot, issue one short beep, and you should see something on the monitor."
Other steps are in our motherboard FAQs. Shake for that preverbal loose screw under the motherboard.
Larry