Oly:
In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 247):
Is there a shop around that can test it for you? A few $$ for solid knowledge of what you need to fix/replace is worth it probably.
Yes, there is -- but they're closed today only open weekdays when I'm at work, so I'm going to have to depend on my partner to call them for an appointment and then take the box up there (thirty miles/fifty kilometers) when they're open, or set the appointment for Saturday so I can go myself...
The other bad news is motherboards that use this CPU (AMD Fx8350 = AM3 or AM3+ socket) are "obsolete" and relatively uncommon now (other than eBay), and few if any of the ones that are available new have four memory slots (I have 32 GB, but it's 4x 8 GB DIMMs because this board only supports 8 GB per slot) -- most have only 2 slots, expecting 16 GB or even 32 GB DIMMs to get to larger memory capacity. So, if I have to upgrade to a Ryzen CPU, I'm looking at $100-$150 for the motherboard, $200-$500 for CPU, $150 or so for 32 GB of DDR4 RAM, $70 for a CPU cooler (if not included in a bundle, and at least a full weekend day to install.
I did spot a "certified refurb" of my exact motherboard on NewEgg for under $70, I think I'll go ahead and get that just to have a spare even if this turns out to be a defective power supply -- I've got performance enough for three or four more years with this hardware.