Socket A last hurrah - Replacement for 8KHA+

[Gromit]

Hi there

I have an 8KHA+, which has given sterling service for the last four and half years. It is getting increasingly unreliable, lock ups, not booting etc.
I am presuming that this is the motherboad wearing out although there is no sign of any bulging or leaks to capacitors that I can see. Have tried diff graphics card/ram etc which points toward mb being the prob. Have detuned settings in bios back to the fail safe ones which makes it more stable but still get problems.

Funds are tight right now and I can't afford to replace the whole system - which effectively if I moved to a socket 939 system I'd have to do - new board, cpu, ram etc. Also wary of buying into S939 if new socket on its way. So prepared to try say £25 or so to keep things going in short term.

On the basis that the 8KHA+ is likely culprit of instability to last me through next six months or so I'm considering getting a refurbished board from Ebay.
Something like a EP-8K9A2+; having USB2.0, Lan etc on board would be nice as would the option of SATA.

Is EP-8K9A2+ a good choice and stable board? (Need board with the mounting holes around socket which think rules out newer models)

Any comments or suggestions welcome.

Thanks

Jon

FYI system as it stands:
8KHA+
XP2400 Thoroughbred 266 fsb (purchased summer 03, if that matters)
1 x Crucial DDR 2100 512mb ram + 1 x Crucial DDR 2700 512 mb ram
Radeon 9700 pro
OCZ powerstream 420W psu
Hercules or something soundcard
WinFast TV Card

[jnansley]

I think I recall Epox UK as having a good refurbished store?

[Gromit]

Thanks. Epox UK no longer seems to exist, URL now goes to european site. There is a guy on Ebay calling himself Epox UK - I'm wondering whether he is shifting the excess stock that was held by the UK distributor?

[jnansley]

Not sure, but I don't think I see anything you want. If you were able to get ahold of an inexpensive 8RDA+, factory refurbished with good caps, such as:

https://www.epoxstore.com/Product_De...roduct_ID=1046

then I think you'd be very happy. Heck, the 8RDA3+ Pro "open box" is just a bit more:

https://www.epoxstore.com/Product_De...roduct_ID=1087

But, shipping from the US would be a bit of a hassle.

I wonder if you could contact sales@(your_regional_epox) and pick up something directly?