i have a lightning arrestor with a Surge Arrester in the main panel. My grounding was also recently upgraded for the new service and install of my Photo-voltaic system. This included four ground rods with two of them being in a very wet location. It can be more difficult to get a good ground in dry locations and I've heard an expert say they had to go fifty foot down to get a good ground for a radio tower. In some of these older homes without the grounded plugs we may not benefit from the surge strips as I believe the ground wire is required for it to function correctly. I still have a plug or two that needs corrected from the previous owners electrical disaster.

I am sorry to hear of the motherboard failures. I would try to send them in under warranty still. It may be the failure would have happened at the next power off as well. I would expect the power supplies or their internal protection would have been taken out as well if it was a big surge. Best of luck with the new equipment.