EpoX nforce4 ultra board issues... :(

[xbreaka]

So everything was running fine windows was stable, games fine etc, I powerdown, and decide hey i forgot to add one of my ram sticks, i start to put it in, and the system powers up right after the stick is halfway in, I go wtf? and turn it off, put the stick in as im pressing it down to lock it, a light flashes inside the case, and then suddenly it wont turn on.. I then try again it turns on, but seems to be chugging and the lights flash on and off on my fans almost like its a power fluxuation. I quickly turn off and reexamine. I check the connectors and everything turn my antec psu which is brand new btw on and off, finally it starts up but sits at the FF on the led diag and doesnt post, aka no image appears on the monitor. I powerdown clear cmos, try again still no luck. I remove all the ramsticks and try every combinations of 1, 2, or all 3 rams still nothing. I unplug everything except the components neccesary to b00t. And still no luck upon consulting my owners manual it says that if the mobo sits at FF on the LED diag that means either a add-on card problems, a bios chip problem or a mainboard problem.

I dont use any add-on cards except my video card, and iv tried resetting the cmos with no luck. Unless I can figure this out ill prolly endup wipping on the credit and buying some ridiculous expensive alienware I cant afford because thus far during this build iv had these things happen.

1.defective vid card, rmaed got new one
2.dead ram, bought new ram
3.now a possibly dead mobo

Heres the setup I was running

amd 3500+ venice NON OCED!
1gb corsair xms(2 days old fresh from the egg)
evga 7800gt
antec smartpower 420w PSU
160gb WD HD
Epox nforce4 ultra board.

EpoX doesnt even have phone support and their ticket system is absolute crap...

EDIT:tried reseating cpu, no luck

 

[Brad1011a]

From what I understand there should be no power to the system (unplug or switch off PSU) while adding or removing RAM. That should be covered in the manual, and most boards have an LED that's on when you shouldn't play with the RAM.