Probably all the fuzz trying to pass out the fan vents.
your USB wifi "dongle", could be the problem, but also could be new interference from a neighbor's wireless signal as he finally managed to get onto the internet. Check surrounding signal strength and channels used, if you see one almost as strong as yours, especially on the same channel, then change channels used, or see if your router setting has room to increase signal strength to 100%.
Attempted to turn on again and it sits on my motherboard (bios screen) for longer than it ever has before, and then says "Reboot and Select proper Boot device... Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key"
Welcome to the hell that is UEFI BIOS motherboard. New motherboard probably doesn't need a new board battery, but if the date's changed on it's own, the time of day is off, then mobo batttery needs replacing. The other step is mess around in the BIOS enter the UEFI section, be sure you have things still set correctly there. Turn off Secure Boot and try booting. If it works, then turn it back on for windows 8.

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