Question Replacing Asus X99 mb like-for-like

[IrongateJim]

I sent a system back to have it checked. They told me the motherboard went, Just in case, I bought a second PSU and I have an extra CPU so I can swap these and at least be sure it isn't one of them that failed. If it is indeed the mb that needs to be replaced and I purchase a new one that is the exact same make and model, I'm wondering what will happen upon boot if I reinstall the WIN10 boot drive, which is a Samsung 512GB 950 PRO M.2 SSD.

I removed the drive prior to having system checked. If it's the exact same board, should it boot as if nothing happened (after setting drive in BIOS on new board, etc.)?

Thanks

 

[Starcruiser]

The short answer, it SHOULD work with the exact model replacement, even without an OS reinstall.
If you reinstall then there shouldn't be any issues at all.

The long answer, assuming the motherboard was the cause to begin with, is that there will be several problems even if it does appear to work.
Windows 10 licenses are bound to your motherboard serial number, for one. If you activated on the old board your new one will technically be invalid.
Your new board may come with a new revision number, with subtle changes to the hardware that the OS will not like.
There are other reasons it might not work but those two are the most likely/serious.

 

[IrongateJim]

Thank you for the reply. I may just find another new X99 motherboard and reinstall windows from scratch. I have the win10 cd and numbers from the first system (ASUS) so I'll see if I can find out how to use it with a completely new board. What a drag all of this is!

 

[IrongateJim]

As a sort of update, recall that I sent my PC back to the maker (AVA) and they said MB is prob bad. I now have the system back at home and rather than immediately buy a new one, I followed your advice and tried a few tests on my own, as follows:

I have a new, identical PSU and I swapped it in. It wasn't the problem. Both old and new PSU's work fine. I even used the loop back test plug that came with the PSUs in addition to trying them with the system itself and the old and new are both fine. When I turn PC on, all that happens is the nice, eerie blue lighting along the i/o slots glows on and off and several other lights work on the board but there's no other fan activity. I also noticed that the digital Q-Code diagnostic indicator is no longer working on the mb. No numbers show...in fact, it doesn't light at all.

I also had a spare, identical Intel Haswell CPU from a build I was undertaking a while back. I pulled the existing CPU and put in the never used, never opened one. Same thing...blue lights but nothing else and the Q Code indicator is dead.

I know you had mentioned possible BIOS chip and voltage regulators. I see no irregularity in the tops of the VRMs and not sure how to look at BIOS chip? That's about the extent of my troubleshooting ability! Think its time to bite the bullet and buy a new mb?

If so, any recommendations for new one (brand / model)? I need Intel X99 Chipset, LGA 2011-3, DDR4 128GB, M.2, ATX Retail Motherboard

 

[IrongateJim]

UPDATE:
I bought a system in 2016 for my son that had this particular MB. It worked fine until last month when it wouldn't boot. I had a 3 year warranty and it died at 3 and a half years...go figure ). I see that there literally is no Q Code indicator. The Q Code digital read out on the MB is not lit at all...not working. Because my son needed the system ASAP, I bought and installed a new MSI X99A SLI Krait Edition MB yesterday using ALL of the parts from the broken-down ASUS: (32g DDR4 ram, Core i7-5820K Haswell CPU, GeForce GTX 970, etc., and a Samsung m.2 SSD with original Win10 OS install. It was mentioned that I might experience problems trying to simply boot with original Win10 config install hard drive on a completely different brand of MB but it booted and adjusted on the fly with absolutely no issues! Device Manager = no conflicts...it is running like a champ. I was amazed!

So apparently none of the components from the failed ASUS system are the culprit. Before I dispose of the ASUS X99, I wanted to ask anyone here if they had any suggestions regarding the Q Code issue...are there other things I can check or does that signal the end of the MB? Followed advice here and visually inspected ASUS mb. The board itself looks great. I don't see any obvious fried/damaged VRMs. Somebody mentioned a possible failure with a BIOS chip?

Again - last ditch effort to see if board is salvageable! Thanks for any insight you can lend!