Q: Is it possible to buy a replacement circuit board for performa 6200cd?

I would suggest browsing some of the links from the sites below. Also give ebay a try. You may need to buy a component that contains the board you seek.

http://oldermac.hardsdisk.net/oldmac.html#hard

http://myoldmac.net/SELL/applemacintosh-performa.php

http://www.vintagemacworld.com/macmain.html

What's wrong with the logic board in your 6200?  Those Performas did have a couple of problems affecting a small number of them, which necessitated a (long since expired) warranty repair extension program.  One problem concerned some bad 603/75 MHz processors and the other was related to a bad ROM DIMM.  Did you download and run the Performa 5xxx/6xxx Tester and - if so - did it flag your board with either problem?  If you have a bad L2 Cache/ROM DIMM, it's plugged into a slot and can be replaced without replacing the existing logic board.  If your processor is bad, then the board would need replacing.  Beyond that, why do you want to repair that Performa -  especially one that had inherent design flaws and limitations?  The Performa 6360 was the last desktop Power Mac to use the same case as a 6200.  It was a different/better computer in several ways and would be a better solution than a 6200 logic board.  A Performa 6360 motherboard and its plastic I/O panel from the rear, as well as a 6360 power supply, would enable upgrading your 6200 to a noticeably better computer.  It would be easier to just purchase a working 6360.  Although I own a 6200 and a 6360, neither has seen use in years, but when I purchased the 6360 (used), I rarely used the 6200 again.

For clarification:  The 6200's L2 Cache and ROM chips were contained on the same plug-in card, which is why its collectively referred to as the "L2 Cache/ROM" DIMM.

I hope the flight program that your husband wants to use is a software product dating from 1995 or before and runs on OS 7.5.1, the pre-installed OS software on the 6200s.  With only 1 MB of dedicated DRAM for graphics support, a 6200 really doesn't have the graphics processing capability for newer computer games that would be better-played on slightly newer, old Power Macs.

The 6200 is one of the Performa models that used a 4.5-volt alkaline battery (Rayovac 870 or 871) to preserve the PRAM settings.  It's a small, black plastic cube with a pair of wires with connector that plugs into the motherboard.  When the computer sits in storage (disconnected from electricity) for a long time, the battery becomes completely drained of all charge.  Unfortunately - and unlike the lithium batteries used in most other Macs - those discharged alkaline batteries will eventually leak, and the components on the motherboard in the vicinity of the leaking alkaline solution become badly corroded/ruined.  If and when this happens, the board will need repair or replacement.  Even if the battery isn't leaking yet, it should be removed before it damages the motherboard.  The battery is secured to the motherboard with velcro.  I use a non-conductive "tool" (like a popsicle stick) to pry the battery loose from the plastic-toothed grip pad on the board.

As for the "missing" hard drive, it could be a dead drive or  it could be caused by a compromised connection point on the motherboard's edge connector.  The motherboard in those Performas slides out the rear of the computer.  It has a long edge connector (with gold-plated pins) that engages a fixed slot in the computer's chassis.  I have found that oxidization of those pins can cause a "missing" hard drive scenario, in which the hard drive appears to be dead or absent.  Removal of the motherboard and a gentle scrubbing of that edge connector (top and bottom) with a soft whiter eraser will remove the oxidization.  After blowing off the rubber shavings from the gold-plated pins, the board can be re-installed.  This may solve the problem that you're having.  As for hard drive replacement, the IDE/EIDE drive that you purchased is installed from the front of the computer.  There are (2) recesses under the overhanging front bezel of the computer into which you insert a flat screwdriver and gently pry upward on the tab, alternating from left to right side, until the bezel pops free to pivot up and detach from the chassis.  The hard drive is concealed behind a steel cover, below the floppy drive.  Remove the phillips machine screw that secures the plate, to access the hard drive and disconnect its data/ribbon and power cables.  Once they're unplugged, pry upward on the center plastic tab on the hard drive's sled to slide it out the front.  Be sure that the replacement drive's configuration jumper is set to "Master" and not "Cable Select" (the Cable Select setting isn't supported), then transfer the plastic sled to it and slide it back into the bay.  If it hasn't been formatted for use in a Mac, you'll need to boot from the Performa CD and initialize/format the drive.  After that, the software can be restored.

It would likely be cheaper to find a working old Mac with better specs than to find a known-good logic board for a 6200. There were a lot of bad boards, many of which could not be identified with the Tester Utility. I checked mine against an article an Apple tech loaned me that listed the revision numbers silk-screened on a number of the chips used on the board.

If you could find a 7600/132 you would be miles ahead. Our 6200 never ran right in spite of having a known-good LB. The 7600 has the more effecient 604e chip, a faster SCSI bus for the hard drive, and can handle up to a Gig of RAM. It also has PCI slots for video cards, something the 6200 cannot offer.

By the way, what flight sim it it? I tested a bunch years ago and I might have specific suggestions.

Ann, so sorry to be late getting back. I had a total knee replacement surgery on the 17th and, as they say, some days are better than others! Had a couple of challenging ones Tues and Wed

F/A18 Hornet was one of my favorite sims. However it did not run well on our 6200 partly because of the low 64MB max RAM limit but also a crazy dual-speed system bus that confused a lot of programs. Not to mention some design considerations at Apple's end that should have cost some jobs. If our 6200 didn't crash at least twice a day, I thought the universe was out of harmony!

Before I bought a 7600/132, I tested F/A 18 Hornet on the same machine at work. The overall difference in performace outstripped the 80-percent advantage on the 7600 over the 6200's processor speed. In short, it was amazing,

Having owned and used both the 6200 and the 7600, the 7600 is the far better choice for Hornet and just about any other  computer tasks. Our 6200 was nothing but trouble--even with a known-good logic board. The 7600, bought in 1996, still works to this day.

This article gives a sad review of how one mess-up after another led to the 6200 being one of the worst Macs ever:

http://www.lowendmac.com/roadapples/x200.shtml

You dont have to get the exact 7600/132 model but it is a litlte workhorse. Other macs of the era would work BUT avoid models numbers starting 52XX and 62XX.  There were some "shared problems" about that time. Our 6100/60mHz ran circles around our 6200/75mHz. Likewise the 71XX, 81XX, the 6400s, the 95XX and 96XX machines were quite good.

Where are you located? I still have the LB out of our 6200 stored away and little need for it.

Purely for the sake of discussion, if you wanted to find a better-designed, old Power Mac that your husband could use that's compatible with a 1997-vintage program, I'd recommend the faster Power Mac 7300/200 desktop or the 8600 series mini-tower with a 200, 250, or 300 MHz processor.  A 1997-1998 beige G3 (desktop or mini-tower) would be the best choice, assuming that the program would have no problem with OS 8.0/8.1.  The last time I saw a desktop beige G3 in a thrift store about four years, I passed on it.  It was in mint condition and priced at $15, but I just didn't need it.  Purchasing any of these older computers would have to be done locally at a used computer retailer or thrift store.  Their value is well below the shipping weight/expense for any of them.  While once in great supply on the used market, these 15+ year-old computers are scarce now, probably because most have been e-cycled by now.  The IDE/EIDE hard drive that you've already purchased for your 6200 could only be used in a beige G3.  The "PCI Power Macs" (7200, 7300, 7500, 7600, etc.) use a SCSI hard drive, which is a different bus interface than that used in the Performa 6200 computer.

"I would love to find one of those G3s!"

Even though the last ones were manufactured in December 1998, I still use my upgraded beige G3s for different tasks with my pre-OS X software.  The desktop model looks a little like the 6200 in terms of case design, but any similarities end there.  The mini-tower case was probably one of Apple's best designs, in terms of ease of access for upgrades.  I prefer the beige G3's mini-tower to the subsequent Blue & White (should actually be referred to as "Blue and Ice") G3s, the G4 series, and the G5s.  Here are two examples of the beige G3s - a 266 MHz G3 desktop and a 300 MHz G3 mini-tower.  When they were sold in stores 15 years ago, I was using a Performa 6200.  Trying out the G3 at CompUSA was an experience, because it was so much more responsive than my 6200.  The high-end model with the optional DVD-ROM drive enabled watching DVD movies on the computer, which was the first Apple computer with that feature.  The price tag kept me from buying one then, but I made up for it over time when they became available on the used market.  Anyway, the earliest OS version that's supported on the G3s is OS 8 or 8.1.  Only the first wave of models produced in late 1997 shipped with OS 8.  Soon afterward, the OS was bumped up to 8.1, which had some beneficial improvements.  If you want a legacy "beige" Mac that can still be useful and not just a conversation piece, the G3 is the model to have.  Keep in mind that even though they're scarce, that shouldn't drive up the price like a fine antique.  I wouldn't pay more than $20-$25 for a working one today, because it is what it is - a 15 year-old piece of technologically-outdated hardware.