Fix short v new motherboard

[Sondra]

My nearly 2 year old Asus P4T motherboard had a short that damaged one of my hard drives. Most people I talked to said don't fix the short, it won't work. The shop I took it to said they've done it before and changing motherboards causes more problems. Since I wanted the computer back quickly, I told them to fix it. I'll pick it up tomorrow.

Now I'm wondering if I should get a new motherboard as soon as possible for safety. If so, is there someplace trustworthy (not eBay) where I can find a new P4T?

One computer place I talked to said Windows XP Professional won't work right if I put my system drive on a different kind of motherboard, but it will work if I install a newly formatted system drive and reinstall all my software individually. If that is true, what would be the best motherboard? I'm using the computer mainly for video editing with several large hard drives. My current system is 1.7GHz. The shop that's fixing the motherboard said I need at least a 500 watt power supply, but they only had a 425 (I think), so that's what they're selling me. They said my current 300 watt power supply probably caused the short.

I hadn't planned on upgrading my system at this time, and when I finish the current project, I may not need a powerful computer for a while, when I expect I'll need something new no matter what I get now. I'm not clear on how getting a new motherboard differs from getting a new computer. Can I I get something a little faster for around the same price, or should I stick pretty close to what I've got?

Another question: When I format a new drive (not ncessarily a system drive) and want to make sure I won't format the wrong one, should I use my XP CD and disable all the drives including the system drive? What's the best way to do this, disconnect either the power supply cable or the ribbon cable?

 

[BoomAM]

Just keep backups of your stuff just in case, and then when you get the money, get a new mobo.
You dont need a 500W psu, they`re talking bullplop. You can get away with a 300W, but i`d go for at least a 350W, But to be sure, get a 400W. That`ll be perfect for several large HDs, and lots of other components.

 

[Sondra]

Thanks. The guy who fixed the motherboard said the motherboard will probably only go bad if the power supply isn't strong enough and that's probably what happened last time. I did buy the 425 watt one he had.

When you say to get a new motherboard, do you believe it is likely to fail--at least more likely than a new one? Any suggestions on a motherboard to choose?

 

[gsethi]

the motherboard choice depends on your needs..

If i am correct, Asus P4T is a old motherboard based on the I850 Chipset (Rambus memory, right ?). If you want to buy a new motherboard and want to use your rambus memory, then your best option is Asus P4T533 (there are diff versions of it..so pick the one with the features that you want). It is based on the newer I850E chipset.

If you want to switch to DDR setups (Intel is ditching Rambus for DDR now), then you have lots of options but you will need DDR memory for those.

Looking at your need for several hard drives and rambus memory, your best bet right now is the Asus P4T533-R (if you want Raid) - any other P4T533 version would be fine if you dont need raid.
It is available at http://www.mwave.com for ~$150.

Regarding the Power supply, i dont know what brand name PSU you picked but i would recommend the Antec True power 420w (that should be more than enough for whatever you want to run on your system).

Whenever you change your motherboard, i recommend a complete reformat of the hard drive that contains your Operating system and programs and reinstall all the programs, drivers and service packs one by one manually. To make sure that you only format the hard drive containing your OS, your best bet is to unplug all the other hard drives, install everything and then replug those hard drives back.


Other places that i would recommend buying new computer hardware are:
www.newegg.com
www.googlegear.com
www.mwave.com
www.essencompu.com
www.excaliberpc.com

I have personally ordered from all these places and have received excellent service from all of them (newegg being the best). These places also offer very competitive prices.

 

[Sondra]

Thanks for all the advice. I wish I'd never gotten Rambus. Too expensive and already out of date.