Question Replacing MB - Considerations for new MB

billybob713

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Jun 27, 2015
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I have been having incredibly bad luck with my computer. As of a couple of weeks ago when I powered my computer on I got full power to all my peripherals, the fans turned on, GPU turned on, etc. but I was getting no output to my monitors. Fast forward to now I've pretty much tried every troubleshooting tip I can. I resat the GPU and RAM, I reset the CMOS, I replaced the PSU, I tried a different GPU and I tried reseating my CPU, all to no avail.

At this point, it seems like the issue MUST be the Motherboard in some capacity, possibly some sort of electrical issue. Therefore, I am thinking about getting a new MB but was wondering if there were any considerations I should take into account for replacing it? A computer repair guy I brought the PC to recommended I buy the same MB otherwise he said I could face configuration issues or potentially get a BSOD from driver errors. Is that truly the case and I should stick with the same MB? I hesitate because clearly this current one has well and truly screwed me over and I'm sinking multiple hundreds of dollars into troubleshooting and fixing it.

If there aren't any real concerns with getting a different MB, any recommendations?

Below are my PC specs:
NZXT Kraken M221
MSI MPG X570 GAMING EDGE WIFIBlack
MSI GeForce RTX™ 2080 Ti VENTUS
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core 3.6GHz
NZXT C850 Gold Digital PSU
G. Skill Trident Z Royal RGB 16GB 3600MHz
 
The motherboard needs to be compatible with the CPU.

There should be a lot of possibilities unless the CPU is very old or rare for some reason.

Choose based on the features you need on the board and your price range.

You wouldn't need the very same brand and model motherboard.

I can't help you pick one, but I'm sure many here can.
 
A computer repair guy I brought the PC to recommended I buy the same MB otherwise he said I could face configuration issues or potentially get a BSOD from driver errors.
Is that truly the case and I should stick with the same MB?
MSI MPG X570 GAMING EDGE WIFIBlack
Yes it's true. Ideally you want the same model motherboard or at least the same chipset board. Then it might be possible to avoid reinstallation of windows.
The more different replacement board is, the higher chances of issues:
boot mode compatibility - system doesn't boot,​
drivers incompatibilities - bsods crashes, bad performance,​
windows activation issues - can not activate windows.​
Anyway - be prepared, that you'll need to reinstall.
 
I have been having incredibly bad luck with my computer. As of a couple of weeks ago when I powered my computer on I got full power to all my peripherals, the fans turned on, GPU turned on, etc. but I was getting no output to my monitors. Fast forward to now I've pretty much tried every troubleshooting tip I can. I resat the GPU and RAM, I reset the CMOS, I replaced the PSU, I tried a different GPU and I tried reseating my CPU, all to no avail.

At this point, it seems like the issue MUST be the Motherboard in some capacity, possibly some sort of electrical issue. Therefore, I am thinking about getting a new MB but was wondering if there were any considerations I should take into account for replacing it? A computer repair guy I brought the PC to recommended I buy the same MB otherwise he said I could face configuration issues or potentially get a BSOD from driver errors. Is that truly the case and I should stick with the same MB? I hesitate because clearly this current one has well and truly screwed me over and I'm sinking multiple hundreds of dollars into troubleshooting and fixing it.

If there aren't any real concerns with getting a different MB, any recommendations?

Below are my PC specs:
NZXT Kraken M221
WIFIBlack
MSI GeForce RTX™ 2080 Ti VENTUS
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core 3.6GHz
NZXT C850 Gold Digital PSU
G. Skill Trident Z Royal RGB 16GB 3600MHz

One thing you can do on that board is move the GPU to the lower PCIe x 16 slot to see if you get reliable display. The lower slot gets it's PCIe lanes from the chipset while the upper slot gets it's lanes from the CPU. If it works in the lower slot then the problem could be in the CPU, not the motherboard.

I believe the 2nd PCIe x 16 slot is wired only for x4 so it will operate at a reduced performance level.

If you do want to change MB I'd suggest a decent B550 instead of X570. If you like MSI, B550 Tomahawk, B550 Gaming Plus, B550 Gaming A-Pro would be some excellent candidates. MSI's a good choice for AM4, especially their B550 chipset boards.

You should absolutely plan on re-installing Windows unless you get the exact same make/model/rev. board. It would probably boot up and run if you didn't but you'll be highly likely to experience strange problems that are hard to chase down.
 
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