PC broke down - Should i upgrade?

[Blockrock]

Hello there, my PC finnaly died after a long battle with cancer (the manufacturer indeed was cancerous when it comes to handling warranty)

Here's what had happened over the recent years.
My Mobo developed some nasty behaviour so i filed an RMA ticket.
Long story, short: While i was fighting with both the retailer and the manufacturer to take my mobo in for RMA, the warranty period ended and both parties went silent.


Recently my PC shut down and all it does now is a "click" noise. I knew the mobo was failing so that wasn't much of a surprise. However i've noticed that it does power up with the VGA power unpluged so i went ahead and ordered a new PSU. Today i've mounted it but the symptoms didn't go away which leads me to believe that the mobo has finnaly toasted itself.


Here's my current setup:

Intel Core i7-3930K
MSI X79A-GD45(8D)
Patriot Viper 2133Mhz (can't remember exactly)
Corsair H80
MSI 780ti SC
EVGA Supernova 750w g2
Cooler Master HAF XM


After doing some research, I've found out that motherboards for LGA 2011 are mostly unavailable now or have unbelievable prices. My idea was to buy a used one at first because i had some unexpected costs elsewhere and I'm short on money. Sadly, there are no used x79 mobos in my country or atleast none that work or cost less than a new one.


So here's my question. Should i upgrade (Not sure if it's possible with my current budget) or should i look for other solutions? This PC was partially an income generating tool and i have to make up my mind fast.

 

[Barty1884]

I guess it comes down to your budget & location?

New old stock X79 boards are expensive, so going used would be the cheaper option - you may have to buy from abroad & pay shipping. Otherwise, the rig is still totally viable. Chances are you could find a replacement X79 board for less than a new mobo/CPU & possibly RAM would cost.

 

[Blockrock]

I'll be sending my mobo for repairs tommorow (they can't break what's already broken) but what worries me is my gpu. The thing with the pc only running with my Vga cables unplugged is a bit weird. I mean, my graphics card has never shown any symptoms of failure before so why would it fail now. Any ideas if that's a possibility?

 

[Barty1884]

Without the GPU installed? Or simply unplugging the PSU connectors on the GPU?

That is a very strange occurrence.

Doesn't sound like the GPU - sounds like the board is failing to be accurately powered due to the additional power draw of the GPU.

Honestly, it sounds like a PSU. I know you just bought a new, quality unit - so the chances are extremely slim it's the PSU, but it's always possible you got a DOA unit.

 

[Blockrock]

It boots up with either the power connectors on the GPU unplugged or without the GPU all together.
Obviously there is no display as i do not have integrated graphics but there are all signs of a boot up.

Actually, I'll give you the long story of my mobos failure as an example of how certain manufacturers like to treat their customers.


Some time into owning my PC, I turned it on as usual however there was no display on my monitor so i went ahead and shut it down. The next time i powered it up everything was fine. The thing i've noticed was, if the LED's above the CPU power section on the mobo lit up after pressing the power button, the PC would boot up, if they didn't, it did sort of boot up but there was no display so I had to shut it down and try again. A few days later it occured again and it went on for a month or two until I checked other components. At that point I've decided to just RMA the mobo and be done with it. Oh I wish it would've been that simple. That's when my real problems all started. Basically, after i filed a complaint to the manufacturer, they told me to contact the retailer. Then the retailer told me to contact te manufacturer and so on. After 2-3 months i got bored of this and my PC still sort of worked so my income wasn't endangered. The symptoms gradually were getting worse. At some point i had to power off the pc, let it "loose its charge" and power up, numerous times before it booted up. That's when I have tried to get my mobo serviced again, with the same result. Then, one lovely evening, while i was playing Witcher 3, my PC suddenly shut down (the sound got stuck for a moment and then it powered down). Nothing would make it boot up anymore so i've made a last attempt of having my mobo fixed, hoping that maybe after the warranty ended, they would service it when paid for doing so. They didn't even read my e-mails i suppose. This one time, i've even included some "mild" insults in one of them and i got the same answer. "We have forwarded your ticket to the service department, they will contact you by e-mail". This famous service department has never sent me an e-mail, not even a postcard which i would gladly burn for my trouble. After giving up on the official ways, I've started diagnosing my PC further. After a few days I've noticed that if i were to unplug the GPU power molex connector (It is located by the sata connectors on my mobo and i am still not sure what it does) The PC would power up. Not long after, i've discovered that 4gb of my RAM has magically vanished and the system slowed down drastically. After a short investigation, it was clear that the dual-channel mode was dead. The solution was to just put both my dimms as single channel and proceed. And so, i've achieved some sort of stability of my system. The last breath of my PC was again while gaming which i do in the evenings. It suddelny powered down and let out a sweet-ish smell out of the case. Now it only tries to spin the fans but they do not even manage to do half a turn.