Repair/Replace Decision

A power outage in the neighborhood wrecked my computer and now I have a few options.

1) Build/Buy a complete new system
2) Repair the old computer
3) Build new, incorporating parts from the old system
4) Get a temporary desktop system and wait for Windows 8

Here's my old system:

Antec Case, Mini P180
Corsair 400W Power Supply CMPSU-400CX
Gigabyte MA785GMT-UDH2 Motherboard
AMD Athlon II X4 Quad-Core 2.6GHz
8GB (4x2GB) Ram, Patriot Viper PC3-12800 1600MHZ
128GB SSD, Kingston
1TB Western Digital Caviar Green
1.5TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11
Diamond Radeon 5770 1GB PCI Express 2.0 x16
Plextor CD-DVD recorder
Windows 7 Professional on CD

Symptoms were simply no response to power switch but when I unplugged the power supply from the motherboard and jumped the switch leads, the power supply fan spun up. I thought that made it obvious that it was a motherboard problem but then someone said that it could still be a power supply, or even a switch problem.

My first thought was to rebuild the computer in a new case and, starting with the power supply, install and test one component at a time. I didn't like that idea because if I end up with a new motherboard and/or processor, perhaps I should just start from scratch and not build a new system around a couple of old components.

My old computer was adequate for what I do, mainly Lightroom/PhotoShop but if I'm going to invest in a new one I'd like to try to get a smaller case that will fit under a printer or on my desk. I use two 24" Gateway 1920x1200 PVA displays with DVI and like to have HDMI mirrored to my television.

So, what should I do? I figure that I can definitely use the hard drives but don't know if the ram and video card are better replaced by something more contemporary. Are there any tests I should do before assuming that the problem is with the mb or processor? This morning I even thought about having Fry's troubleshoot it for me (I really don't like that idea), so that I wouldn't have to buy and return a bunch of test parts.

I really appreciate any help. I'm basically sitting on my thumbs, not knowing what my first step should be.

(I just posted this same thread on Anandtech; hope that's okay. I'll share any interesting responses.)

I recommend you start with buying a decent UPS.

DiMAn0684 wrote in post #14517507
I recommend you start with buying a decent UPS.

That's a given. I had a cheap one a few years ago and it kept giving false alarms. I was afraid that it was going to start a fire so I got rid of it.

I had my computer plugged in to a decent (I thought) surge protector but I guess a UPS provides much better protection than the best surge protectors, right? Is something like this adequate? Any recommendations?

Thanks.

If you can take the time to replace bad components we do not currently know are bad, I would try to reuse the case, SSD, HDs, DVD. I would dump the power supply, memory, and CPU.

Move on to an LGA 1155 mobo for quad core Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge. If budget permits step up to LGA 2011 mobo for quad or 6 core Sandy Bridge (or Ivy Bridge when introduced). With LGA 2011 you get newer architecture with quad channel memory.

MCAsan wrote in post #14518385
...
Move on to an LGA 1155 mobo for quad core Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge. If budget permits step up to LGA 2011 mobo for quad or 6 core Sandy Bridge (or Ivy Bridge when introduced). ...

Thanks. I'm going to check that it's not just the power supply and then probably move up to your LGA 2011 suggestion. I have a couple of old computers I can put back together with my Athlon processor. Any particular motherboard you'd recommend?

My 2 favorite mobo brands are Asus and Gigabyte. If I am using the machine for Windows only, I would go with an Asus mobo. If I plan to run it as a Hackintosh or dual boot, I would go with Gigabyte. You can compare features and costs at NewEgg www.newegg.com.