Spec me an upgrade, bitches

[mrbobbins]

My PC isn't very happy, it's not been very happy for a while with it's random freezes and crashes.

I've spent a lot of time trying to determine the cause, initially looking at memory, which was replaced, maybe heat but nothing seems to be particularly toasty, not enough PSU grunt?, possible but not convinced.

Anyway, the easy solution is a rebuild with new Mobo, Processor and memory, I don't need a new graphics card or any other bits so can do it on the cheap.

Which is the main consideration, cheap, was thinking something like this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... ubcat=2063

I looked at a 3570 bundle but it went over £300 and I really need it as cheap as possible but still be worth upgrading from what I currently have:

Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4ghz
2GB DDr2
Asus P5N32-E nForce 680

Can anyone recommend any other cheap options?

[fabyak]

You run a check on the hard drive?

[fabyak]

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ is your friend

[mrbobbins]

You run a check on the hard drive?

Hmm, no, good point.
Was thinking about an SSD boot drive so maybe I could do that before other upgrades.

[TezzRexx]

At work we had a problem that was hard to find with our PC, randomly crashing and sometimes taking forever to boot up. Turned out it was the SSD. Try your SSD or HDD

/helpful

[TezzRexx]

Also, what video card do you have?

[HereComesPete]

Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4ghz
2GB DDr2
Asus P5N32-E nForce 680

Unless you're wanting to play super shiny things that setup should be ok for a bit with an injection of more ram.

If you are looking to upgrade then taking the hit on the cost of a 3570 build will see you right for a good while, plus they currently cost a tad less than a 2500. And if you're not looking to overclock yourself then they perform better. If you are going to oc then the 2500k can attain some ridiculolous speeds.

I'd also couple it with a Z77 chipset mobo, costs slightly more than a z68 board but does a lot more for it. (unless someone with knowledge on the newer chipsets can point out a better one??)

[mrbobbins]

Also, what video card do you have?

GTX 460, er, I think.
I get confused as I didn't buy it, it was an RMA replacement for an old card. It seems to work alright.

that setup should be ok for a bit with an injection of more ram.

Having already shelled out for replacement RAM I'm not keen to put more money into it that I can't carry it over to a new system.
Plus I'm only running 32bit windows 7 at the moment.

Maybe I should get an SSD, clean install 64 bit and see how it gets on.
Or go straight to Windows 8?, is it good, is the crazy American right?!

[fabyak]

I don't plan to go to Windows 8 at home anytime soon as 7 seems practically bombproof and the last time MS made an OS that good it was still being used and supported over 10 years later so I'd go 64bit W7 if you have it for now

[FatherJack]

My PC isn't very happy, it's not been very happy for a while with it's random freezes and crashes.

I've spent a lot of time trying to determine the cause, initially looking at memory, which was replaced, maybe heat but nothing seems to be particularly toasty, not enough PSU grunt?, possible but not convinced.

Anyway, the easy solution is a rebuild with new Mobo, Processor and memory, I don't need a new graphics card or any other bits so can do it on the cheap.

Which is the main consideration, cheap, was thinking something like this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... ubcat=2063

I looked at a 3570 bundle but it went over £300 and I really need it as cheap as possible but still be worth upgrading from what I currently have:

Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4ghz
2GB DDr2
Asus P5N32-E nForce 680

Can anyone recommend any other cheap options?

I'd try and determine the cause before buying new stuff, as you might still get problems if they lie with one of the components you have retained.

For random crashes and freezes my list of probable causes are in order of likelihood:

1. A loosely-fitted component
2. PSU
3. RAM
4. GPU
5. Overheating
6. Motherboard
7. Another component

It's tricky to diagnose if it's random and you can't do something which *always* makes it crash and you don't want a PC you use in bits for long periods while you determine the cause, so I'll try and list tests in order of least impact.

7 can be checked by disconnecting everything not absolutely required, especially USB devices, but also CD drives and non-onboard soundcards. If that fixes it, it's either power or one of those devices - reconnect them in different orders to see if there's a tipping point of if one of them is the culprit.
5 can be checked by running with the case off, and grabbing diagnostic tools to measure temperature, such as http://addgadgets.com/ desktop gadgets. Check all the fans are spinning and aren't too furred up with dust.
Now you have the case off, 1 isn't so hard. Remove everything except the CPU, have a tidy up, and make sure everything goes properly back in. Cable ties will stop stray wires getting randomly in the way of fans. The usual heat-cycle of PC use can unseat components from time-to-time.

If it's still doing it, since you've changed the RAM (though do a memcheck just in case), it looks like PSU or GPU - neither of which you were planning to change. A GPU on its way out exhibits exactly this behaviour and a cheap, old or underpowered PSU can cause the same issues - even potetially damaging new components you power with it. If there's any possible way you can beg, borrow or buy alternatives, give them a go.


A cheap mini-upgrade would be £35 for a DDR3 775 Motherboard and around £25 per 4GB of DDR3 RAM. You could use your existing processor, and keep the RAM for a new motherboard when you could afford the expense to go to the new i-chipset ones.

[mrbobbins]

This is all excellent advice, thankyou.

I will give the trouble shooting another go rather than throw money at an unknown problem it might not fix, it's such a pain though isn't it?, I'd rather spend my evening playing a game than running Memcheck again, problem is it crashes when I try and play a game, or encode some video, or look at it funny.

Actually not the last one, it does seem to happen when it's doing difficult stuff, and not when internetting.
That at least should help me narrow it down.



and I bought an SSD anyway, to make me feel better. Then found out I don't have a 64bit copy of Win 7, can I 'acquire' a 64bit version and use my proper 32bit key?

[buzzmong]

Then found out I don't have a 64bit copy of Win 7, can I 'acquire' a 64bit version and use my proper 32bit key?

Yus.
I also seem to recall MS themselves have a site hosting the images.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

Yup, here

[mrbobbins]

Yup, here

[mrbobbins]

I think I might have solved my long running problem.
I hesitate to say for sure but I've been playing a lot of Skyrim so it's been fairly stressed and no crashes for a while.

I think it was heat, I moved HD's around, tidied up the innards, removed a fan (Weird I know but it was a case thing that sat on top of the GFX card and vented out the back) I figured it was big and might be getting in the way of decent airflow.

I also have a manually adjustable CPU fan that I never had on full (close but not on max) so I put that up to max as well.

Seems ok since, maybe my CPU fan was getting old and needed a bit extra oomph (Official technical analysis)

[TezzRexx]

Glad it's responding Ok now. Did you monitor heat levels at all before hand or since?

[mrbobbins]

I tried but couldn't find anything to easily record and log temps which I could view after a crash.

Ie. No, I was too lazy to look into it properly

[TezzRexx]

at least you're honest. It's worth keeping an eye on though (especially if it's actually your Graphics Card fan on the blink and not your CPU), and I think Speed Fan has decent inbuilt logging functionality should you ever need it.

Edit: Google found me this: http://www.pchelpforum.com/xf/threads/u ... es.102921/

[deject]

I like this one: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

[HereComesPete]

I like this one: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

+1.

I also use their CPU-Z dobber for stuff as well.