X58 died. Options?

Hardware Motherboards
1

So my EVGA X58 SLI LE died on me today. A PWM-voltage-regulate-thingy blew up. Looks like CPU (i7-920) and RAM (Corsair Dom 3x2GB) didn't take any damage, so I'll see if I can sell it.

I just need options and opinions right now.

Should I buy a 'new' X58 motherboard and keep rocking 1st Gen Core i7?

Should I sell CPU and RAM and buy an i5-3570K platform ASAP?

If so, should I buy a Mini-ITX LGA1155 motherboard, since I'm planning on building a M-ITX LAN box with Ivy Bridge CPU later...

I had two WD Black 500GB in RAID0, can I save the data from them with a new motherboard?

Should I buy a boot SSD now that I'm upgrading and need to reinstall the system anyways?

 

ARRGH, I'm so frustrated!!! :(

2

I can get a MSI BIG BANG-XPower dirt cheap. ~$200 !

ASUS Sabertooth X58 ~$230

Jump?

3

I would go for a new x58 over an Ivy bridge, but 2011 is the absolute best.

4

No LGA2011 for me. I'll buy a new X58 board next month. MSI BIG BANG XPower if it's still around the 1100,- DKK

I really hope the CPU and RAM is alright.

Here's a pic of the blown PWM:

12082012120.jpg1024x576

Havn't heard from EVGAs RMA service yet, but I believe the warrenty is gone (two years).

5

Just stick with what's good for you so far if you're tight on cash. I find X58 still firing like rage as of today.

And farewell to your beloved EVGA board (if you're declined for an RMA)

6

Hmm yea, the 4.01 GHz were nice. Heck, now I can get SATA III and USB 3.0 aswell with the MSI board!

This is my first, and last EVGA motherboard. From now on I'm only digging Gigabyte, ASUS, AsRock, MSI and SuperMicro.

... I could hang it on the wall. Screw paintings! ;)

7

I'd say go with the newer stuff as opposed to X58. Ivy outperforms it, doesn't it?

8

Yes, mostly. But the X58 still has the potential for today's requirements. Unless you either have an 8 year old  gaming machine, or have lots of money strapped to your wallet, I'd stick with the X58. In fact, I'm willing to keep mine for the next 5-8 years.

9

As for your RAID array, If I am not mistaken, you will lose the data going to a new motherboard. I would also say Yes to an SSD. the OCZ Agility 4 drives are cheap and use the Indilinx controller so your speed isn't compression based. just bought a 128GB for $80 off amazon for work.

I still use a i7-950 and I haven't felt the need to upgrade my x58 system yet. Frankly until I see some midranged 6-core cpus I am not gonna upgrade to 2011. Though quad channel is pretty tempting.

10

I've seen benchmarks where an i5-3570K with 3.8GHz Turbo Mode outperformed an i7 920 @ 4.01 GHz in gaming. But I'd rather save the money and keep to the X58 platform, since I've been planning an upgrade in October.

SSD will be an Intel 520-series 60GB. Only needed for OS and drivers. Got two 500GB for gaming and documents.

But I can NOT recover the data from a RAID0 array with new motherboard? Ah shit. Nothing to come after there I guess...

My crazy overclocking days are over. I won't go any higher than 3.8 GHz when I get the system up and running again. Should be enough to feed a GTX 295 and maybe later a GTX 780 / HD 8970. We'll see.