The price for this type of CPU never came down over time. 150$ is not a fortune; i would say you are lucky to find a supplier at all. I can remember that i have spent more than twice as much back in time when i got the parts from chicago joe. The system still works pretty well today.
If you don´t want to spend this much money you might still got to ebay and get a standard 300MHz R7000 or any R10000 for small money. That should be sufficient to revive the dead machine.
If you don´t want to spend this much money you might still got to ebay and get a standard 300MHz R7000 or any R10000 for small money. That should be sufficient to revive the dead machine.