alright so i woke up today and went down to my computer to find that it was off other than the HD activity light which was on and my cpu fan which was on be spinning really slowly... is see this at 2 in the afternoon when i went to bead at 5 in the morning it was fine. it looks to me like the 12v rail on my psu is dead but can anybody think of something else it could be. help!

Try unplugging all of your components, then see if the cpu fan spins faster. If it runs good like that, start plugging back in your components one by one until you see the problem return.

it won't even turn on now all that hapends when i turn on the psu is the power light on the mobo turns on but when i try to turn on the actuall computer i get nothing. i took the psu out and tryed to stat it (green to ground right?) and i got nothing. looks like i need a new one

Can you cannibalize a psu from another rig, just to be sure?

I would try another PSU in the rig. I have seen mobos go out, and behave just like you are describing.

Are there any visible signs of burn-out in/on the PSU itself?

well i just have an 250W so i can't hook everything up to it but i hooked it upto the mobo and the cpu fan came right one and then it started beeping because i didn't have the power hooked upto my 9700 pro so it looks like the mobo is still good and it is the psu however other than the psu not turning on i don't see anysighns of burn out.

Wow your running all of the stuff in your sig off of a 250watt PSU? Get at least a 350watt as the absolute minimum, 400+ prefered. I'd go for a Antec/Enermax/Fortron from newegg.

oh no heh a 250 would never run all the stuff i have in that rig. i had a 500W raidmax which is the one i think just died and the only other psu i have is a 250W so i can't hook everything up and test to make sure it's all working, but i'm fairly sure it's the psu.

i'm thinking i'll get this psu to replace the dead rainmax Fortron 530W Power Supply

Good choice on the Fortron. That particular unit has adjustable pots inside to fine-tune the individual rails too.