[Cialug] Burned out power supply

[David Champion]

I bet you (a virutal non-monetary sum) that it's Matt's option #5: "poor 
quality supplies".

There are a lot of bad power supplies and / or mobo voltage regulators out 
there. If you're at all interested in seeing how to fix them, there are a 
number of resources out there like this:

http://www.badcaps.net/

See the "how to identify" section. Many times a bad cap isn't completely 
blown. It may be "domed". I've seen them where the top looks fine, but the 
bottom is bulging, causing the cap to sit crooked on the board.

Messing with a power supply isn't for the meek. It's potentially 
dangerous. You can get a decent replacement power supply for $40 or $50 
(for instance, Office Max carries Antec Basiq power supplies, I can walk 2 
blocks and pick one up, very handy for me).

If it's a bad cap in the voltage regulator on the mobo, that's a harder 
fix. It can be done, but you have to use care when desoldering / soldering 
caps on a complex circut board like that.

-dc