Question MSI Z77A-G45 replacement?

[eimkeith]

I started having weird issues this week that make me think my motherboard might be giving up the ghost (aside from the fact that it has survived a lightning strike and DIY power supply errors in the past) - I installed 2 multi-card readers that work on the USB port but won't write on any of the other slots, and as of today, it acts as if it has intermittent communication with my second SSD drive... I'm thinking the board at the moment.

However, I've been thoroughly happy with it to date, so I'm inclined to look at replacing it with another MSI product - is there an option that will let me retain my CPU, graphics card, and memory?

 

[Lutfij]

First off, we don't know the specs to what you're currently working with. Please include/list your specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
OS:

Second, what is the make and model of the PSU and it's age? Often times another component in your build might be the culprit but the finger is pointed to the innocent part in your build. It could even be that the engtire system is saying goodbye.

Sadly, in this day and age, the only way you can retain your processor and ram is to source another P67 or Z77 motherboard second hand from Ebay or their ilk. Once you start doing the math you're probably on the doorsteps of buying brand new concurrent hardware which is also lower in heat dump.

How much are you looking to spend and where are you located?

 

[eimkeith]

First off, we don't know the specs to what you're currently working with. Please include/list your specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
OS:

Second, what is the make and model of the PSU and it's age? Often times another component in your build might be the culprit but the finger is pointed to the innocent part in your build. It could even be that the engtire system is saying goodbye.

Sadly, in this day and age, the only way you can retain your processor and ram is to source another P67 or Z77 motherboard second hand from Ebay or their ilk. Once you start doing the math you're probably on the doorsteps of buying brand new concurrent hardware which is also lower in heat dump.

How much are you looking to spend and where are you located?

I'll get all that info together this evening. Thanks

 

[eimkeith]

I'll get all that info together this evening. Thanks

Sorry for the delay, after a Windows update the onboard Ethernet (which was damaged by lightning a few years ago) started competing with the add-on ethernet card, so I've been Internet-challenged until this morning when I figured out what was going on and corrected it.

First off, we don't know the specs to what you're currently working with. Please include/list your specs like so:

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500 CPU @ 3.30GHz

Motherboard: MSI Z&&A-G45 ATX

Ram: 32.0GB (Patriot 16GB(2x8GB) Viper III DDR3 1866MHz (PC3 15000) CL10 Desktop Memory With Black Mamba Heatsink - PV316G186C0K - installed 9/2019)

SSD/HDD: OS (C) - Crucial MX300 525GB SATA 2.5 Inch Internal Solid State Drive - CT525MX300SSD1 - (installed 4/2017) DATA (T) - Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD - MZ-76E1T0B/AM (installed 6/2020)

GPU: MSI Armor 2X GeForce GTX 970 4GB OC DirectX 12 VR Ready - GTX 970 4GD5T OC (installed 9/2019)

PSU: Ultra x4 Modular PSU - I thought this was 500W, but it looks to have the plug pattern of the 750W version? (installed 4/2017, IIRC)

OS: Windows 10 Pro 64bit (version 1909 as of 9/1/2020)

Second, what is the make and model of the PSU and it's age? Often times another component in your build might be the culprit but the finger is pointed to the innocent part in your build. It could even be that the engtire system is saying goodbye.

Sadly, in this day and age, the only way you can retain your processor and ram is to source another P67 or Z77 motherboard second hand from Ebay or their ilk. Once you start doing the math you're probably on the doorsteps of buying brand new concurrent hardware which is also lower in heat dump.

How much are you looking to spend and where are you located?

I wouldn't be opposed to another (new old stock) Z77 motherboard if that were an option - my system performance has been fine for solid modeling/CAD and light video editing so far. I'm in NC.

I suspected the motherboard based on the card reader writing issues, some intermittent communication issues with the secondary SSD (which mysteriously resolved themselves), and the lightning damage history of this board - but have no actual evidence that it IS a board problem. ?