Freezing??

I would have posted this problem nearly two weeks ago, but i figured it must be one of the hardest things to solve online, as there are so many things it could be... but today i finally surrender... its this or chuck the PC away.
My Pc keeps freezing, not crashing but freezing when i am doing stuff, either online, or gaming, when ever it feels like it. Sometimes three times in five mins sometimes once in ten?? Always escalating to not being able to use the PC. (Sorry typing fast before it freezes). Always needs a restart with the restart button on front of pc, sometimes a hard restart from psu.
I have a Athlon 64 3800, windows xp (now changed today to Vista), 1.5gb ram, geforce 660 graphics, 200gb Hd. I think i have isolated it down to a hardware problem as after a week of trying a million and one things i changed operating system, and it still happens... I solved the problem with dlink and vista that could cause freezing... but it still is freezing, i thought it might be HD went to western digital to download diag tool but only runs on XP???? I tried disk check from within vista but that took two attempts to run and no issue. How would i check if it was motherboard/cpu? or Hdrive?
It worked ok until my husband put it in a new pc case.... since then it keeps freezing, he has took inside my pc apart and reseated it all at least twice, tried with onboard graphics (from motherboard) only, then with graphics card, both freezing....Please help me... is it mb or hd?? or something else??

 

You are cetianly correct because it can be a number of things causing your computer to freeze. Not that I'm anti-AMD, but I have noticed that AMD's tend to run on the hot side. Take the side panel of your computer off and blow out any dust that might be accumulating. Give that a try first.

 

There is no dust in my pc. The case has been opened a few times a day to test out new ideas. It is a new case with fans to keep everything cool. Cpu is at 31/35 usually. There is definitely no dust, although there was a bit when my husband changed cases LOL Shame it looks so pretty on the outside, when it doesn't want to work properly..

 

I think it is my HD i just ran a tool www.hdtune.com the free version.
and write error rate failed.... I checked it on my husbands pc just in case and his passed. What are the odds that my MB is broken too??:confused

 

Well if your hard drive is failing then that is most likely what is causing your computer to freeze. Also, check your SMART status on the drive, a feature built into speedfan that gives you the raw data, you can also perform "an online hd anylisys" which compares your hard drives to others just like it in age, if it scores real low or gives you a warning. Start backing up your data, because it will get to where your computer will not boot at all. You can replace your drive, infact it could be under warranty, what is the age of the computer, make and model.

 

I have just tried an old HD laying around and tried to get vista to install. I can't get into bios or any further than 'detecting array'??

The hd tune did have smart and it failed LOL at least i have some idea though now..

My HD must be about two/three years old no warranty now.

Thanks for helping

 

Re: Motherboard dying? freezing?

I have replaced the hard drive and it seems to be freezing less, but still freezing. Now i am not sure what the problem is i have wiped it down loads re put on vista done all updates etc and still freezing. I am worried i will kill the new harddrive with all the stopping and starting (43 times yesterday) What are the signs of a motherboard dying? or does it just not work? I just have no idea what to next. My husband is rebuilding it all AGAIN, but we don't know what to do next. Should i just close my eyes and buy a new mb and cpu? (money i would prefer not to spend) WHAT IF I STILL HAVE THE PROBLEM ONCE I DO THAT?? I put vista on my husband's PC and that has no issues at all, works great never freezes and his PC is slightly lower spec than mine.
Any tips or ideas would be appreciated, thanks!:cry

 

What kind of power supply do you have? (Brand/Power).

E

 

It is a Winpower? PSN-550S2. I think it is 550w, I just had the side off the case an it says max 450w and peak 550w.

One of the first things we did was change the power supply lead (as i have got caught out with that before LOL).

I do have a new 400 w not a great one here that came with a bundle i got when i got my cpu and motherboard. Should i try that or will it be to low in power?? Just to see if it is the problem. If it is i could just buy a new psu??

 

Try the other PSU using the onboard video. Should be enough to test it out.

I just reread your first post, and you said freezing, I was thinking your PC was crashing... Sorry

A bad/weak PSU can cause some odd problems. Would be good to eliminate it as a suspect.

E

 

Thanks. I have changed the psu over and will test it out. Sometimes it crashes straight away and sometimes it takes a bit of time. I will get back to you.