fried mobo (supposedly)

[MrIllini]

My desktop wouldn't start properly after a storm the other night.

The tech specs are here http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dzuul/specs.htm

I have the P3-933 version of that box.

For my purposes, the P3-933 is still sufficient power, and most of the other components (memory, video, drives) have all been upgraded, so I'd rather not buy an entirely new box.

Dell tech support told me (after various tests reseating memory, etc) that the mobo was fried.

Bought a new mobo, installed it last night, same errors.

Three beeps at startup, no display on the monitor, the diagnostic lights on the back panel show amber-amber-green-green.

Possible that it's the memory sticks or video card (or something else) and not the mobo? If that were the case, it should still boot with no memory seated, right?

TIA for any help you all can give me.

 

[bluestrobe]

Have you tested the other parts that were installed in another clean system. A mobo rarely goes out by itself without taking something else with it.

 

[MrIllini]

Would the other parts cause the same error messages though, and prevent startup?

I did swap the original video card back in with no luck, and as mentioned earlier, reseated the memory in several different configurations.

Could it be processor even?

The diagnostic light code indicates memory, but I was told motherboard (not to mention mobo wouldn't boot with memory completely removed.

Is there a chance that resetting the BIOS jumpers into maintenance mode and starting from scratch there could get it to boot up?