I would remove all devices you don't need. What I posted before is all
you need to start the computer(if you need it you can add the floppy
drive but it will run without it).

haven't done this yet...but probably will on the weekend.
N. Thornton
brought up a good point are you overclocking this computer?

no...but when i clocked it down to 1050/100fsb (from 1400/133fsb, which amd
says this chip is supposed to run at), i thought, briefly, i had some
stability...for reasons given in an earlier post (i could actually do
something post rebooting that i couldn't before). so i left the pc on
overnight...but, by morning, it had crashed again

What I'm thinking is either a overheating computer/underperforming
powersupply or resource confilicts.

both motherboard monitor and asusprobe tell me all my components are
operating well with acceptable heat ranges...i swapped out the current 400w
ps for a 300w ps i have in another stable machine (which, when i took the
other machine apart, given all the stuff i had plugged into it, SHOULD'VE
had the 400 in IT!), but it still crashed.

At two years hold the motherboard could be failing. When my
motherboard started to fail it would often not want to reboot(would
not post).

i'm beginning to wonder...either that or the chip...not what i wanted to
hear, but if it'll fix it...