• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Computer going downhill fast. *Solved. It was Humidity*

Northern Lawn

Northern Lawn

Platinum Member
It's an older computer but my main one and I use it for gaming...

-Intel core 2 duo e8400, Kingston DDr2 8500 ram, GTX 560ti and a ASus Striker II mobo.

So lately it has been freezing while play Bad Company 2, then it started doing it more and more often. I found out it froze with other games and now even with You Tube. Tonight it has actually frozen while I try to reboot. It has frozen when the windows logo comes on (win7 ultimate), and with a black screen etc.


It's not the video card because I monitor'd it for temp, it was fine. I even replaced the video card with an older ATI 4800. I did all the drivers over, I even reformat from scratch and it's still freezing to the point I have to press the reset button.


Should I replace the motherboard? Trouble is I can't find a LGA775 and DDr2 ram.

I'm wondering if this computer is too old, maybe I could get a new mobo with DDr3. Should I keep my old E8400 or try and upgrade to a quad core.

I'd like to spend as little money as possible but I do need a gaming rig.

Any advice?
 
Last edited:
Blow out all the dust.
Make sure all fans work as they should, and run Memtest overnight.
Check all PSU voltages with software (eg, HWMonitor), and if they are out of spec (+/- 5%) double-check with a multimeter.
 
No Blue Screen just complete freeze up. Totally clean also, I blew out and vacuumed plus I monitored both cpu and gpu temps.. I've never done the power supply and I'll have to try that.

Btw, I just had to reboot it now as it froze up again while just sitting there when I left it alone for an hour so I'm not sure it can even do a memtest. I did take out the ram and reseat it in each others slot, no change.
 
newegg has the Asrock Z77 Extreme 3 with 8GB RAM for $130 shipped. amazon has the Pentium G860 $70, newegg had it on sale for $60.
Any way the G860 benchmarks with the E8400, and the above is certainly uogradable.
Used I5 chips also show up (one was $120!)
 
Have you tried changing your hard drive cable (SATA I assume)?

If it's not the cable, it sounds like a failing hard drive or motherboard, from what you have described. What hard drive do you have?

If you find you need some new parts, I don't know that I would bother with that generation at this point. As you said, parts will be hard to find, most likely not new, and you would be wasting some money unless you know exactly what to replace.

If you don't have a lot of funds (who does?) you could do something like this on Newegg right now:

Pentium Sandy 68+
Asrock H77 70+
2x4 GB DDR 3 50=
$188 Total
 
infoiltrator said:
newegg has the Asrock Z77 Extreme 3 with 8GB RAM for $130 shipped. amazon has the Pentium G860 $70, newegg had it on sale for $60.
Any way the G860 benchmarks with the E8400, and the above is certainly uogradable.
Used I5 chips also show up (one was $120!)
Click to expand...

Funny we were thinking on the same lines there.
 
ketchup79 said:
Have you tried changing your hard drive cable (SATA I assume)?

If it's not the cable, it sounds like a failing hard drive or motherboard, from what you have described. What hard drive do you have?
Click to expand...
I have those skinny red cables with black... attachers? lol.

I have 4 1 tb western digital hds. My C drive isn't making funny noises but sometimes when it's loading, be it a reboot or a Game it really drags on and like I said I literally just finished a fresh reformat yesterday. It should be at top speed loading.

I might try that first?

If I do buy an upgrade, now that I know it's not the video card, I would probably buy a bundle so I know the cpu will fit onto the mobo. I found a nice one here.

In Canada btw, http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=71051&vpn=3570K & P8Z77-V Pro&manufacture=Bundle Deals at least then I would be half way to a real computer upgrade.
 
Last edited:
I look at it this way, your traditional hard drive has platters that spinning at 7200 RPM for every second the computer is running. So it is not that incredible to consider that something might go wrong with it. You could do some testing with Seatools if you have the time.

Your computer should fly on a fresh install with drivers, so if it is still pokey something may be amiss. With my Q6600 and the new Sandy Bridge, windows load time was quite fast on both with my Western Digital Black.
 
Disconnect the hard drive/s and boot a Linux Live USB (eg, Linux Mint). Watch some Youtube videos, surf a bit, install and play the World of Goo demo. That should rule out a hard drive or sata cable, if it continues to freeze. You can also run Memtest from the Mint boot menu.
 
Well I had a boot disc failure. I reformat and it took but took funny. It set my windows to 2073 so I had to activate it because they thought it was pirated. Then I was getting blue screens, memory managment. I fiddle with the ram etc.

But I was still having problems right until I turned on the Dehumidifier. It took a few days but now the computer is back to normal.


I remember last year I had humidity problems with my keyboard. It started typing 3 letters every time I pressed a key. It was useless and it was just about this time of year when I start using the dehumidifier.

So humidity really can do a number or your PC.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top