Is This G5 Deal Too Risky?

I have an opportunity to get a broken G5 system: dual 2.5GHz (liquid
cooled) with no power supply. Includes hard drive, video card, but no
memory. The story from the owner is that about a year ago they heard a
popping sound and saw some smoke and the system stopped or went off.
It would not turn on after that. That took it to a Mac repair shop and
when they went back, the shop showed them the burned area inside the
power supply, he claims. The shop wanted too much money to repair it
so they retrieved the computer. The owner has lost track of the bad
power supply (either left at the repair shop or misplaced in a move,
he says).

He is asking $300 and won't negotiate.

I am experieced with fixing Macs but haven't worked on a G5 yet. I can
get a power supply (and the Thermal Calibration software needed when
you take out the motherboard or CPU, which is necessary to replace the
power supply). The question is though, what if the motherboard is bad:
there is no way to tell until I put in a power supply. That could mean
$550 for the motherboard, plus the $145 for the power supply, plus
shipping, not to mention having to buy memory ... We are talking
around $1060 total. I would be losing money compared to just getting a
working system if it's the motherboard. So it's risky.

Is it worth the risk? True, I could always part it out and sell the
parts on eBay and recoup some of the money, but that's time and hassle
I don't want to incur.

My goal in general is to make money and have fun in the process. In
particular it is to have a working system, use it a little while,
learn about the hardware, and sell it at a profit. I don't want to
mess with selling parts on eBay if I can avoid it.

Any ideas? If there was a way to test the motherboard without having
to spend $300 on the system, buy a power supply and do a major
operation, I'd be set.


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