Motherboard dead, help me find replacement

[nashjeff]

My MSI Z68A-GD65 motherboard seems to be dead. I have power to the fans but no lights on the board and system will not POST. No video on the display, tried swapping memory - nothing.

I need to replace the board, but I want to keep my i7 2600k proc, and Corsair 1866MHz memory.

Since I haven't done any hardware shopping since I built this in 2011, I am at a loss as to what is currently available and compatible with my existing hardware.

I need the hive of Anandtech to pick out a new Intel 1155, inexpensive board for me. I don't game so nothing fancy is needed. Under $100 would be great. ATX is best, but mini-ATX should be ok as well.

Help me out?

 

[crashtech]

I think your MSI was more than $100 when it was new, but anyway, I guess I would pick the ASRock Z77 Extreme3 for a $100 board, but my real preferences for OCing are the Asus or Gigabyte boards in the $140 range.

 

[goobee]

Here you go, a stable and inexpensive board that has worked well for me. It even has a $25 rebate on it now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131964

 

[nashjeff]

I think your MSI was more than $100 when it was new, but anyway, I guess I would pick the ASRock Z77 Extreme3 for a $100 board, but my real preferences for OCing are the Asus or Gigabyte boards in the $140 range.

I paid $189.99 in Nov. 2011 for the MSI. I wanted something I could overclock, but that's not important anymore. So cheaper and less capable isn't really an issue.

My main concern is that I can't really tell if I have a motherboard or CPU problem. Since CPUs rarely croak, I'm replacing the m'board.

 

[crashtech]

Well if you're not going to overclock anymore, the field is wide open. Just list the must have features, and you'll have tons to choose from. H77 is the best non-OC chipset, and the board goobee linked does not look too bad unless you want 4 RAM slots.

 

[abbcccus]

I'm pretty sure the warranty on that mobo is three years. Why not email / chat with MSI and see what they have to say about it before you buy a new board?

 

[nashjeff]

I'm pretty sure the warranty on that mobo is three years. Why not email / chat with MSI and see what they have to say about it before you buy a new board?

ABBCCUS, you're absolutely right. I just registered my board and the warranty is good until Oct. of this year.

You da man!

 

[abbcccus]

ABBCCUS, you're absolutely right. I just registered my board and the warranty is good until Oct. of this year.

I had an MSI G41 board sitting around in the office for a while that I've still yet to use, so I eventually put it out on a stack in the garage (it was $10 so I have it as a backup / tester if it never is part of a build). It's a really minimal board, so there wasn't much for MSI to tout on the front except, you guessed it, "3 YEAR WARRANTY" in a huge gold seal. If that cheapo board has a three year warranty then a quality board like yours must have one too! Good luck getting it sorted out with MSI.

 

[devhda]

Impressive ratings, within your budget: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813132046

 

[TheGoat Eater]

I would definitely go for the rma with MSI - I have had nothing but good experiences with them when I have needed help. Plus it will cost you just a few bucks for shipping and you will be up and going again with a board you should be very familiar with.