I don't think I've used the power switch on the case to shut down the computer in over 3 years. I guess I was thinking that if I had to shut down the computer I would just issue a restart and then switch the psu off right at the computer started to POST. That's sort of how I got it started up after I jumped the wires. I hooked everything up and then switched the psu on and it started right up. It's not uncommon for me to go a few months between restarts and the only reason I would shut it off would be to install new hardware.
jsc said:
If you do, you should make certain that the PSU is dead by trying it in another computer.
I tried my mb in a different computer and it worked just fine so I'm fairly certain it's the psu that is not working properly. And, as previously mentioned, "I also suspected the switch as the problem. First I swapped the power and reset switches with no luck. Then I tried shorting the power switch pins on the mb. Neither worked." so that leaves the psu as the issue unless I'm overlooking something else.