>I did something very stupid - I powered on a 1.4GHz Athlon without the >heatsink on the CPU. Then I got a nice burn on my knuckle.

I really ->LIKE<- AMD hardware, but ye gods, does it really have to be a space heater/PC combo all the time?;)

>But the fun came when we put things back where they started - his CPU
>back in his box now does nothing. So it looks like either my MB
>killed his CPU, or my CPU killed his MB. (Or both I suppose, though
>I'm trying not to think about that.)
>

I'd vote the mobo, only because CPU's are fragile beasts, and AMD CPU's doubly so <whaddya want for cheap?>. If it turns out to have been the CPU< save it, it may be a first;)

Anyway, a potentially useful/useless tidbit:

My lovely Socket A mobo is VERY picky about it's RAM... does not like the higher density chips <spent an hour talking with a tech at Crucial divining why two clips of PC133 CAS2 refused to work in my system, what I get for being an early adopter>. Prolly not the problem, but something to keep in mind.

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"