eMachines motherboard replacement

[mpdive]

Hello to all. I have an EMACHINE W5243 that is approx. 4 years old. It started the dreaded shutting off by itself problem last week. I bench tested the PSU and the power at the motherboard connection and all was well and within specs. While the case was opened I noticed that 4 of the 5 capacitors next to the CPU were swollen. After researching this on the net I am convinced that the motherboard is probably the culprit. I know that it's a peice of crap computer but I just want to get another 3 years out of it. I am in no way a computer guru and find that I understand hardware more than I do software issues. My question is this....I would love to replace the motherboard and the PSU to get it up and running but is there another motherboard I could use instead of the high priced poor quality one that was installed? I am also confused on the software issues involved. I have recovery discs I received in the mail last week. I had to get these because I couldn't access the recovery partition on the hard drive due to a admin password problem. So if I replace the motherboard with another, does that mean the recovery discs dont have the OS on them? Even though it's a Vista system, I have had a Windows XP proffesional disc sitting on my desk for 5 years and never used it. My neice purchased it from the college bookstore and never loaded it. So all in all I admit the software thing confuses me. Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated. I will gladly post system specs if needed. I just kept it ":general" for now since it might be a generic answer. The motherboard is a MCP61SM-GM Again thanks in advance and God Bless
Mike in South Carolina

Sorry for the bold caps on title. I cant figure out how to change it

 

[raybay]

Dead and not worth replacing, as the restore disks will likely not work.
The motherboard is a known failure, and is actually a 6 year oild board.
ASRock boards are low cost and work, as are many others from the online stores... but you also have to get the right CPU, CPU cooler, power supply, memory, for that board, and make the external plugs fit the case.
You can look at the motherboard specs on line at Directron.com, Newegg.com, Frys.com, PCMall.com, CDW.com, ZipZoomFly.com, and many others... and you will immediately see how complex the order is in matching up everything.
You are probably best off asking a local guru, High School or College Kid with a high interest in computers. Give it to them for a couple of weeks, and let them get it right for you.
The hard drive, memory, and optical drive are still good... but matching them up takes some work, and we would have to see the board setup and CPU to be sure.