a couple pages of a magazine as packing material π
but nothing is visibly broken. and there are more parts here than i expected
this person https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=56372 mentions about their build that
"Its not flawless, but given the power situation with Socket 462 and Modern PSUs, I feel this build is running great."
so there is some sort of situation that i should probably be aware of
"Unlike modern systems which draw mainly from +12V rails, Socket A systems draw most of their current from the +3V and +5V rails." https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/bl0oup/psu_suggestion_for_socket_a_retro_gaming_pc/
unclear if this should be expected to be an issue at the point where im just trying to get through POST, with no discrete GPU installed
"Make sure your PSU has at least 20A on 5v for Slot A and early Socket A boards." https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Athlon_Motherboards
mine (Corsair CX650) does have exactly 20A
i was hoping to come away from this with some clues as to which of my existing parts may or may not be functional. but now i just have more parts and even more uncertainty
not to mention less money
!!
this person tests Socket A CPUs with different PSUs, and finds that high TDP CPUs fail to POST with the newer PSUs which have weaker 3.3V/5V rails. my Athlon XP 2400+s are definitely on the power hungry side so i suspect this is what is happening on my system too

we are so back
in goes the Duron 700
@ahihi get some wire or thin string and feed it under the top wire, back up and pull!
That or narrow nose pliers if you have smols