I need a new motherboard

[The boy 4rm oz]

As some of you know I have been without a computer (besides my brothers and my new laptop :D) for close to 2 months due to my DFI LANParty 680i mobo blowing up. Getting this board repaired has been a real drama. First DFI told me that I broke the NB and it was going to cost $150 to fix, I said I would not pay over $100 to fix the board so we agreed on the price. I was then told that the board was fixed and on its way back to Australia. Now I have been told that the board is unable to be repaired due to Nvidia not making any 680i components anymore and they have offered me this board (DFI LANParty UT ICFX3200 T2R/G (http://www.dfi.com/portal/CM/cmproduct/XX_cmproddetail/XX_WbProdsWindow?action=e&downloadType=&windowstate=normal&mode=view&downloadFlag=false&itemId=512)) with a warranty until the end of July 2009 (same as existing board) in exchange for my original board and the $100 repair fee.

Personally I just want another 680i board, any 680i board so I can just whack the new board in my system without any formatting problems etc. I have looked in Australia and I can't find any 680i boards for sale. I have asked DFI if they have any of the 680i boards stashed away somewhere so I can just buy a new one from them.

The board DFI have offered me runs on an ATI R600 chipset so I will need to format my drive and start from scratch. Usually I wouldn't have a problem with this but I am worried about my copy of Vista and Office. Will a new board mean that I need new CD keys? I would really rather not have to buy new keys thanks to DFI not being able to fix my board.

What do you guys think about the board? According to the reviews I have read on Bit-Tech (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/01/19/dfi_lanparty_ut_icfx3200_t2rg/1), Legit Reviews (http://www.legitreviews.com/article/485/1/) and AnandTech (http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2891&p=1) the board actually performs pretty well. It can keep up with the ASUS Striker Extreme 680i mobo which is roughly on par with my DFI 680i board. The only thing I don't like about the board is it's very bad NB cooler, yeah I could always upgrade it but I hit another wall. DFI insist on using clips for their NB coolers, not push pins or screws. I have 3 options of aftermarket cooling, I can get a air cooler that supports wire clip installations, I can see if DFI will send back the original NB cooler from my 680i board or I can buy a Swiftech MCW-30 chipset cooler and integrate it into my existing loop. Wire clip water block mounting isn't ideal, especially with 1/2" tubing so I may run into problems here.

If I end up going with this new mobo and it dies that's it, I will be doing a complete system overhaul to i7, I was hoping to leave this until next year sometime but it may be the least painful option.

So to recap:
1. Will a new motherboard mean new CD keys for Vista and Office?
2. What do you think of the mobo, is it a fair trade (despite the short warranty)? Should I look at getting another 680i board or see if DFI will offer a different board to this one?
3. How should I cool the NB? Air or water?

Thanks in advance.

Tb40

[Crazy Buddhist]

If you delete all the system (mobo) drivers before removing the old board. Boot down. Install new board and turn on you can *sometimes* (actually quite often) get away fine with a Mobo switch. On bootup it will find all the mobo devices and start looking for the drivers which will be on the disk in your CD rom.

EDIT: narrowed down to one key system driver you can change (set the storage controller to a standard controller rather than the board specific one) read this http://www.eggheadcafe.com/conversation.aspx?messageid=31036681&threadid=31036681

Afterwards you will still need to update a load of other drivers if the shortcut works.

CrazyB

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks for the info, I will take a closer look when I have some free time.

[cvitullo]

In any case, your Vista/Office keys are safe, I'm like 90% sure you can reuse them. Even if you can't normally, I'm sure you could explain what happened to Microsoft tech support and they'd help you out.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Yeah I have been informed about that over at Bit-Tech, really helpful info. Because of this info I am feeling better about just replacing the board with a newer one. The board DFI offered me is OK but I am waiting to see if they can do better.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Ok, so I have looked at the boards that are available to me and these are the only ones really worth looking at:
DFI LanParty UT-X48-T2R (http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_711_776&products_id=7794)
ASUS P5Q-E-WIFI-AP (http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_711_776&products_id=8658)
ASUS P5Q Premium (http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_711_776&products_id=7723)
ASUS Maximus II Formula (http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&
cPath=138_711_776&products_id=7724)
XFX N780-ISH9 780i (http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_711_776&products_id=100)
And of course, the one DFI offered me
DFI LANParty UT ICFX3200-T2R/G (http://www.dfi.com/portal/CM/cmproduct/XX_cmproddetail/XX_WbProdsWindow?action=e&downloadType=&windowstate=normal&mode=view&downloadFlag=false&itemId=512)

Realistically the DFI X48 board and the P5Q-E-WIFI are the best bets for me I think if I go down the path of purchasing a new board. If I start looking at the XFX board and the other 2 ASUS boards I may as well go i7 now cos the boards cost around the same.

Once DFI get back to me I will see if it is possible for them to exchange my board for the X48 board, even if I have to pay a little extra. If they can't do this I will probably take their original offer and see if they will let me keep the NB cooler from my original board to replace the one on the replacement. If they wont let me do this I will just W/C the NB instead.