[SWLUG] ot: need hardware help

[bascule]

bascule wrote:
> hi peeps, i have a malfunctioning machine which after a week of 
> troubleshooting, i have determined is probably sufferring from either a 
> faulty cpu or motherboard.
> since i have neither of these spare i wonder if anyone might have an 
> unused mobo i could come to an arrangement over.
> the mobo is socket 939, atx, dual channel ddr with an agp slot, of 
> course to make life harder i'm still using a parallel port and a serial 
> port!
> if anyone thinks they may be able to help me, please find me offlist
> i live in cardiff.
>
> bascule
>
>   

replying to myself, tonight i realised that i hadn't swapped the psu and 
having one in a box gathering dust i pulled the 20pin connector from the 
mobo and lo! charring on the 3 orange3.3v pins of the connector and on 
the corresponding psu connector and none of the others, surely not a 
coincidence.  but examining the mobo carefully i can't see any sign of 
other component damage, so what do those with more experience than i think?
i) is it possible that the mobo is undamaged apart from the charring on 
the pins with the culprit being the psu? i haven't tried the other psu 
yet while i look for opinions.
ii) given that the 3.3v rails on the psu are providing that voltage - i 
used my voltmeter - and the computer was booting up which since the 3.3v 
powers all mobo components i believe, it couldn't if there was no 3.3v; 
how would i test the psu?

bascule