My computer is four years old and the motherboard went out in it. It will cost $210 (complete cost including labor). I wanted to know if I should just invest in another cpu or get it fixed?
2007-09-06 02:40:02 · 8 answers · asked by loved 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Other - Hardware
I can only point out some things to consider.
You can buy a new computer for around $500. Will that basic computer, which will be a lot faster than the one you have, meet your needs? Or are there all kinds of extras in your present computer like sound cards, gamer's Video cards, TV tuners. If so, can you move them to a new computer? Will you lose any software you've loaded on the old computer, or can you re-install. Remember that the new computer may have a different operating system which might not be compatible with any hardware or software you might want to move.
Four years old is not old for a computer in the sense of lifetime, but technology moves so fast that in terms of capability, it is pretty old.
2007-09-06 02:54:19 · answer #1 · answered by jjki_11738 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This depends on your needs and budget primarily. If you can afford a new machine I would recommend going that route. A guideline or rule of thumb many of us use in repair vs replacement is if the repair is more than 50% of your replacement cost then replace. Also, a 4 year old system is outdated even if it performed well for all you need. A new system in the $400-500 range would be considerably better and serve you well. Steer clear of deals like Dell's $299 special. It might be fine to just surf the net and do school papers but these type of machines are dogs.
If you can't, you should consider ugrading the current machine and that would probably mean a new motherboard, processor and memory at a minimum. The best place to find parts to do this is tigerdirect.com because they sell barebones systems which come with a case, motherboard, cpu and sometimes memory where you move all your other parts over. If you aren't comfortable working on it yourself and don't have any friends that could help you might ask about upgrading the machine at your local computer shop. Most of my local computer shops have gone out of business because they couldn't compete with costs of prebuilt machines you can find and almost any retailer these days, walmart, circuit city, best buy to name a few. It may be difficult to find one.
2007-09-06 02:54:27 · answer #2 · answered by Joe M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Replacement is cheaper. BUT if the hard drive fails soon (and being 4 years old this is likely) you will incurr another $150 to address this so you are taking a risk here.
Now if you replaced the hard drive within the past year you should easily get 2 more years from it and the above risk is not a concern.
If I had replaced the hard drive within the past 12 - 18 months I would favor mother board replacement. Otherwise I would not do this and I would buy a new one.
Of course, power supplies can fail but these tend to be more robust so I would not be overly concerned about this.
2007-09-06 02:50:47 · answer #3 · answered by GTB 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Personally I wouldn't want to waste all the other good working parts because of a bad motherboard, however... I can install them myself and you could get a motherboard for a computer that old for maybe $60.
Considering you can buy a new PC with a lot more power for under $500, I'd say that it's not worth $210 to repair your old one.
You can pull out the HD from your old one and get an external hard drive enclosure to put it into, so you're not wasting it... use it for extra storage with your new machine.
2007-09-06 03:19:18 · answer #4 · answered by Krista 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd recommend replacing the PC, even after they replace the motherboard there is a chance that when the first motherboard went out it may have destroyed other components - and it'll be difficult to find out what all has failed until a new motherboard is in.
A new PC is pretty cheap - and you can use your old Hard Drive as a slave drive if you still need files from the old computer.
2007-09-06 02:44:54 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Find out what kind of memory is on your old board.. If it is later memory like ddr, buy a motherboard/cpu combo that uses the same kind of memory.. for about 125 and replace it.. If you can't do it yourself you already know some computer geek that will do it for you just ask people....
You can use the same memory on the new board and you will have an updated computer...
2007-09-06 02:49:45 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If it is 4 years old it is already out of date and will be obsolete soon. If you get it repaired it will not last another 2 years anyway.
Get a new one every 2 years minimum. If you do get it fixed give it away to someone who would appreciate it.
2007-09-06 02:46:49 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
buy a new board+cpu....cheaper!
2007-09-06 02:44:57 · answer #8 · answered by brain 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋