Fried M4A88T - Worth replacing?

[Smudger]

My folks' motherboard has fried on a system which I built for them about 4 years ago, specs as follows:

CPU: AMD Athlon II x2 255
M/B: Asus M4A88T-M
RAM: 4Gb Corsair XMS3 Classic
PSU: Akasa AK-P450
HD: Samsung 500Gb SATAII

My questions are: is it worth just replacing the motherboard? If so, what modern motherboard could house those components? Should I just start from scratch with more modern components, or should I just get them to buy a pre-built system?

Their usage is e-mail, internet, a bit of photo editing etc. The normal parent stuff. Oh, and the occasional webcam with family.

Edit: The Windows 7 license was an OEM one, so I probably couldn't transfer it to any new machine, might just be able to get away with new M/B...

[MrJim]

Do you know what caused the motherboard failure? Might the PSU have been to blame? It seems to be made by a Chinese or Taiwanese OEM. Do you know if the CPU & RAM are still working?

I've never had any difficulty installing Win 7 OEM on a different machine - at worst, you just have to ring the UK Microsoft phone number & explain you've had a motherboard failure, & they'll give you an install code...

[Smudger]

The PSU's fine, tested with voltmeter etc. M/B just won't POST.

As an aside, Akasa's a decent brand, isn't it? I've had a few of their PSUs and they've all been fine.

THis is the one they've got:

http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?tp...=AK-P450AG8-SL

[MrJim]

The PSU's fine, tested with voltmeter etc. M/B just won't POST.

As an aside, Akasa's a decent brand, isn't it? I've had a few of their PSUs and they've all been fine.

THis is the one they've got:

http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?tp...=AK-P450AG8-SL

According to the PSU database, like most PSU brands, Akasa don't manufacture their own units, they use an OEM (or ODM)...in this case, 'ShenZhen Xin Hui Yuan Electronics'. Yep, I've not heard of them before, either. Of course they might make perfectly good PSUs, I just don't know. I have had a motherboard fail myself, & it was down to using a cheap PSU.

[MrJim]

Going back to your original question, if you're sure the other components are working still, & your parents' PC was enough for their needs, you could just get another motherboard for their system. I think I'm right in that an AM3 CPU can be used in an AM3+ motherboard e.g:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-7...x16)-d-sub-atx

It'll have the advantage of more modern interfaces like SATA 3 & USB 3 too.

Or this one if cash is really limited:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-7...-dvi-d-micro-a

[Smudger]

I remembered I had an AMD x4 system sat in the loft not doing much, so I'm just going to give them that... It's quicker and less hassle in the long run.

[DanceswithUnix]

In XP days the OEM license could be transferred in case of mainboard failure. I have known people get asked to phone MS for re-activation and when saying the mainboard broke and an exact replacement wasn't available, then it has been fine.

OFC in reality Windows plug and play may freak out with the new board and end up with a system that isn't quite right. I always re-install and usually on a new disc in these cases. That gets you a fresh install activation, and they have always gone through for me including Win7.

I suppose I am trying to say, the license is salvageable from the old machine

[MrJim]

I remembered I had an AMD x4 system sat in the loft not doing much, so I'm just going to give them that... It's quicker and less hassle in the long run.

Great! It won't get any cheaper than that!

[Smudger]

Great! It won't get any cheaper than that!

Yeah, but now I'm looking at the specs and I'm thinking 'do I really want to let this go?' Looking back at the Scan order for the motherboard model number, I spent £180 on it! Way overspecced for e-mail and webcams! But, it's been sat there for 2 years gathering dust with a server 2008 install on it...

Oh, and the W7 licence went through online straight away. Result.