# Do you replace your motherboard?



## Guido Negraszus (Jan 12, 2020)

Hey guys. Just wondering. My motherboard just failed before Christmas. Got it confirmed from local PC repair shop. They advised it's not worth repairing without quoting me a price. They said it would also involve replacing other parts like fans and cooler. The problem for me is that my PC was still performing very strong. It's an i7 5930K (3.5Ghz / Hexacore). The motherboard is a Gigabyte ga-x99-ud4. I paid $4,250 (Australian $) for it in December 2015. I ordered a new PC anyway, it's currently build (i9), but I do wonder whether I should still get the old PC repaired (assuming I can find the same or compatible motherboard) for a good spare PC. How do you guys go about it?

Also, would it be a good idea to buy a second motherboard from my new PC for future problems? This way I don't have to worry about finding one when it happens again.


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## dzilizzi (Jan 12, 2020)

You'd have to get a motherboard that is compatible with your CPU. Generally, it is not worth it because you might as well upgrade your CPU if you are getting a new motherboard. Other than that, if the RAM is compatible, you could probably rebuild it for a lot less than buying a new one.


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## dzilizzi (Jan 12, 2020)

If you just want it as a spare, I'd go with ebay. 

Truthfully though, I've never had a motherboard fail. At least not without dropping a drink on it. And then it still works but things like the USB ports start giving me problems. So I wouldn't bother buying a backup. Just a good surge protector.


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## easyrider (Jan 13, 2020)

An X99 motherboard will be easy to source....That i7 5930K is still a decent chip.

You could have reused the DDR 4 memory in a new build and just replace the mobo and cpu rather than buying a whole new PC!

Think of the planet!


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## Guido Negraszus (Jan 13, 2020)

Well, I asked the guy who built the PC. Waiting for his response. Like I said, just wondering what people normally do. I never had a faulty motherboard either, just drives. 

Thanks guys.


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## AdamKmusic (Jan 13, 2020)

I’ve had a bad time with motherboards recently, just had to replace mine again as it died & this time took the CPU with it. So had to replace both. The rest of the system I left the same (RAM/PSU etc) which was cheaper than buying a new one obviously


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## strojo (Jan 13, 2020)

If you have a new PC on the way, I’d sell the CPU and memory on Ebay and ditch the motherboard.


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## shponglefan (Jan 13, 2020)

I had an older motherboard or CPU failure this past summer, and I ended up just replacing the whole kit (MB, CPU and RAM). Generally if those things fail it's usually not worth trying to replace with existing parts; you might as well just do a wholesale upgrade.

I also wouldn't bother buying a spare MB. The risk of failure is relatively low enough that it's just a sunk cost for something you may never use. And if you do have a failure in the future, typically by that point it's just worth replacing everything.


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## easyrider (Jan 13, 2020)

AdamKmusic said:


> I’ve had a bad time with motherboards recently, just had to replace mine again as it died & this time took the CPU with it. So had to replace both. The rest of the system I left the same (RAM/PSU etc) which was cheaper than buying a new one obviously



Did you test the cpu in another mobo? How did you know the chip was dead?

Are you using a UPS ? Adequate cooling? You say a couple of mobos died? Which one? What chipset?

in my experience of over 25 years building countless computers, overclocking under water and phase change I’ve never killed a cpu...or motherboard...


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## d.healey (Jan 13, 2020)

easyrider said:


> in my experience... building countless computers, overclocking under water and phase change I’ve never killed a cpu...or motherboard...


Ditto.

I'm not even sure how you can kill "a motherboard" unless it has a crack in it, some major overall corrosion, or a power issue that damages a load of components. The MB is not a single thing, it's a bunch of different units doing different jobs. Many units are dependent on others, but some can function (at least partially) on their own.


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## shponglefan (Jan 13, 2020)

I've also built countless computers over the years and occasionally have had hardware fail. Sometimes it's defective out of the box, other times it fails over time.

It's just a thing that can and does happen.


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## dzilizzi (Jan 13, 2020)

Well, computers don't like heat, dust and power spikes. Any of those can kill a computer pretty quick.


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## synthnut1 (Jan 17, 2020)

What are the symptoms ?......I had issues with my computer that mimicked major problems.....turned out to be a simple fix that I never encountered after years of various computer uses...


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## Quasar (Jan 17, 2020)

d.healey said:


> Ditto.
> 
> I'm not even sure how you can kill "a motherboard" unless it has a crack in it, some major overall corrosion, or a power issue that damages a load of components. The MB is not a single thing, it's a bunch of different units doing different jobs. Many units are dependent on others, but some can function (at least partially) on their own.


I don't know how you "kill" a motherboard either, and I've had good luck with them. But when I built my first PC the advice that I really took to heart is "Don't skimp on the PSU." A bad power flow can do irreparable damage to any component, so if I can't afford at least an 80 PLUS Gold from a reputable brand such as Seasonic, Corsair et. al I won't build. I have seen effed-up motherboards on cheaper store-bought computers, and a likely culprit is often the crapola OEM PSUs that come with them.

But if I had an extra 5930K lying around I would probably get a new MB and use it. Still a really good, current enough CPU.


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## BGvanRens (Jan 24, 2020)

My old rig most likely had a broken motherboard, I could only find motherboards on the secondhand market. Which is something I am sceptical about. It was a 4820k, I upgraded to the 9900k with zero regrets. I personally expect a PC to last 4-5 years, realistically much longer. I gamble a bit, if it breaks down earlier, it means I need to upgrade earlier. But if it lasts longer and can still handle the duty, I won't upgrade. This is the first time I had a broken motherboard and if I had bought a new spare motherboard for each system I have ever used I'd probably had spent the equivalent of a pretty decent rig. I don't think it's worth the tradeoff. Unless you really can't afford any downtime, but even then, getting a new system might be still the best choice. My 2 cents.


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## shomynik (Jan 24, 2020)

Yeah, just buy a premium x99 on ebay and youre golden


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## pderbidge (Jan 25, 2020)

dzilizzi said:


> Well, computers don't like heat, dust and power spikes. Any of those can kill a computer pretty quick.


This! Learn how to maintain your system by cleaning it regularly to keep the dust and heat from becoming an issue. Also, make sure your fans are working properly. My last PC build came with all the fans in the case and every single fan went bad (at different times) within 2 years, which I replaced as they went bad.

Power Spikes, however, not much you can do other than get a decent UPS and make sure the PSU in your system is a quality one, but even then electricity can arc (jump past your surge protector and go straight to your components, although that rarely happens but it can) so in that case you're out of luck.


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