The replacement asus motherboard just came in this morning. Just got it installed. Didn’t need to reinstall windows xp (although I should since it has been a few months). I like installing new hardware. I am very patient, and take my time installing it. No rushing. Do everything thoroughly like routing cables, screwing everything down tightly, and cleaning out dust. That little bit of time makes it look better inside the case. Also helps with air flow.
I am still alittle annoyed that the motherboard just up and died like it did. Fortunately, Asus was pretty good about the whole rma process. I was hoping to have the replacement motherboard Friday, but got it today. Oh well, nice to have the fast speeds back again. I think for my next upgrade, I am going to build out a workstation system, with a more expensive workstation or server motherboard, xeon cpu, and good memory. That way I can get the stability, and reliability I require out of my computer. Asus is still a good motherboard manufacturer, in my opinion. If this board up and dies soon, I’ll start thinking of a new mobo manufacturer to go with.