that's truely sad to read - and don't worry, noone is gonna talk you into a Mac right now
but:
write that mobo off, trash it and forget about it
ok, you'll loose some money - but not your mind (your girlfriend might leave you due to a constantly hanging face, health... etc)
take some comfort by me: I'm probably bound to pay upto 3 month double rent due to the fact I wanted THAT new flat - an offer one couldn't refuse - either sign the contract or forget it. Possibly need to trash next holidays to keep the balance... but it's worth the effort.
next point: be aware how much 'power' you really need - don't rely on numbers in spec sheets, that's all virtual stuff invented by marketing gurus.
then get the 'smallest' system that fits your needs - it WILL be more reliable.
manufacturers are all in a number rat race - verify this by an arbitrary issue of PC World or a similiar mag.
Have a look at the review tables where winning and loosing systems are compared.
Often the #1 on the list is just a few percent faster than the absolute looser - you need at least 30% to recognize an acceleration, anything else is prejudice
prefer a 2.5 Gig CPU instead of a 3.0, use memory with half the 'speed' specs (an 800 mem chip isn't twice as fast as a 400).
this will give you a reasonable system and spare a lot of cash.
since your using a Scope system you're likely to prefer the SFP effects - they usually sound better and spare CPU resources, hence you don't need to squeeze every bit of performance out of the processor.
this doesn't exactly cure your current problems, but hopefully helps to find an affordable and reliable solution - imho the strange reactions of your mobo indicate it's damaged. The broken connector could just be the top of the iceberg.
how many tracks do you need to record SIMULTANEOUSLY ?
how many will be used for playback ?
favourite VSTI's, native FX ?
have you thought about optimization strategies during recording (aux downmix etc) ?
all this helps to estimate your required resources.
good luck, Tom
).