PC Not Working At All - Need Troubleshooting Help

[awesomesauwce]

**I apologize if this is in the wrong category, let me know if there's a better place I could put this**

I've had my custom pc for a few years, and it has worked great. However, a couple weeks ago, it randomly froze while trying to play a game, and it began to freeze earlier and earlier into the boot thereafter. There was a point where it froze in the BIOS, but that was only one time. Here are the specs of my custom build for reference:

i5 750 OCed to around 3.8 GHz (watercooled)
2 HDD (1 10,000 rpm drive [150 GB] and 1 7200 rpm drive [1 tb]
GTX 660
8GB RAM
EVGA p55 ftw mobo
520 W PSU

At first, the computer was not even letting me boot into the login screen to hold SHIFT to boot into recovery options and restore it and reinstall windows. When I was finally able to do that, the computer would freeze mid-restore or stop and say that the restore couldn't be completed. I have tried the restore for only one drive and have done both the quick restore and the longer, "recycle your PC" full restore. Both with no avail. Also, if you're wondering, I wouldn't think (though I could be wrong) that the high OC would be the problem (it's standard clock is around 2.67), but the temps are usually pretty low and it's been at that OC for a long time with no problems. Anyways, I tried pressing the physical reset button on the mobo which didn't fix it. Next, I pulled out the circular cell battery on the mobo to reset the mobo and BIOS, which temporarily fixed it. I was able to reinstall windows, reinstall all my programs, and even play a game (LOL if you're wondering). During this whole process (for about a day), the computer did not freeze at all. However, while playing LOL, the fps dropped significantly and abnormally to about 9, when it was getting around 350 a few hours before. The next day, I ran a stress test on the max setting, and it froze my computer. It wouldn't boot correctly and froze again, so I tried the same method as before -- pulling out the cell battery for a few minutes and trying to reinstall windows again. And this is where I'm at now. {and when I say reinstall windows, I've been doing that via a bootable flash drive}. When I access the recovery options menu through the bootable drive, I try resetting the computer as aforementioned and the process can't be completed. I also try reinstalling windows on BOTH drives, but it freezes during the install.

Now, I guess my question for all of you guys is if you have any suggestions at all for me to try to fix it, or if there's anything you could narrow down the problem to (like a specific part). I know that my parts are also fairly old, and I'm hoping this isn't due to my computer's age. I'll be happy to provide any more information if needed and try anything that might work. Thanks in advance.

 

[eggbrook]

My first troubleshooting step would be, reset the CPU to default clock speed. Doesn't matter how long its been overclocked.

 

[bgunner]

Run Memtest86+ from http://www.memtest.org/ run this for a minimum of 3 passes. the first pass will go quick and the rest will take some time to complete so give it the required time.

this sounds like a ram issue to me. Either way it can not hurt to make sure this part of the system is stable as it will make other parts seem unstable.

 

[Shaun o]

Trying to find a fault on a system where it worked perfectly ok, then started to degrade or the same symptoms it exhibited become more frequent can be tricky.

But it is all about the order you check things in, if you stick to a set procedure then you can eventually work out what the problem is or the main cause as to why the system has become unstable or crashes when a few years old.

The first thing you should always do is start right at the start.
In the case of computers it is always the power supply of the system you test first awesomesauwce.

Because every other component of the system required it to function properly or give the correct amount of power that other parts of the system require.

Replace the current power supply unit with a spare one, if you have one, or if you have a friend with a system ask to borrow there Psu for an hour or so, connecting it to your system to see if the power supply of your system due to age is degrading and becoming unstable causing the system crashing or resting.

On about average if a Psu has had a lot of use and been put under a lot of stress for many hours for about four to five years it starts to weaken in giving reliable power constantly.

It is the best way to check if the PSU is the main cause and if you can confirm it is the cause by using another and the system becomes stable running under a different power supply you have saved up to that point time, found the fault and know exactly what you need to fix the problem.

The next step also to do with power is to inspect the motherboard.
For the moment try the system with another power supply fitted to it.

If the problem still exists then checking the motherboard is the next step.
Try it first of all awesomesauwce before anything else.

 

[bgunner]

Trying to find a fault on a system where it worked perfectly ok, then started to degrade or the same symptoms it exhibited become more frequent can be tricky.

But it is all about the order you check things in, if you stick to a set procedure then you can eventually work out what the problem is or the main cause as to why the system has become unstable or crashes when a few years old.

The first thing you should always do is start right at the start.
In the case of computers it is always the power supply of the system you test first awesomesauwce.

Because every other component of the system required it to function properly or give the correct amount of power that other parts of the system require.

Replace the current power supply unit with a spare one, if you have one, or if you have a friend with a system ask to borrow there Psu for an hour or so, connecting it to your system to see if the power supply of your system due to age is degrading and becoming unstable causing the system crashing or resting.

On about average if a Psu has had a lot of use and been put under a lot of stress for many hours for about four to five years it starts to weaken in giving reliable power constantly.

It is the best way to check if the PSU is the main cause and if you can confirm it is the cause by using another and the system becomes stable running under a different power supply you have saved up to that point time, found the fault and know exactly what you need to fix the problem.

The next step also to do with power is to inspect the motherboard.
For the moment try the system with another power supply fitted to it.

If the problem still exists then checking the motherboard is the next step.
Try it first of all awesomesauwce before anything else.

Checking he motherboard involves checking all other components first. There is no one size fits all test for checking a motherboard. A motherboard will usually cause an error in multiple different components. While I agree a power supply can cause many different issues a motherboard is the very last piece you can condemn due to the difficulty of actually diagnosing a board as bad.

 

[awesomesauwce]

I would try memtest, but unfortunately, windows won't start or install at the moment. I'll try taking out and putting the RAM back in and resetting my oc. If none of those work then I will try the power supply trick. I will let you know if anything works. Thanks for all of your help and suggestions so far

 

[bgunner]

Memtest86+ does not need an OS (like Windows or Linux) to run. It has an UI all of its own. Either download it to a Disk or a Flash drive and run that media as a boot device it it will run. This is the very first program that should be run when building a system because it has its own UI.

Maybe I should have mentioned that before.

 

[awesomesauwce]

Ok, perfect. I was unaware of that but I'll try it, thanks.

 

[awesomesauwce]

I ran memtest, and no errors were found. However, I believe I discovered the problem. When I first ran memtest, my OC was the usual 3.8 GHz, and the program locked up after around 12 minutes. When I removed the OC and changed my clock speed to stock 2.67 GHz, the application did not freeze at all when I turned it off after 55 minutes. I am now attempting to reinstall Windows to see what happens. If my computer functions as normally at the stock clock speed, would you think that the CPU would be the problem, or could it still be the psu as @Shaun o suggested? I would at some point like to overclock it, but I obviously don't want to if my computer is just going to freeze. Do you think that getting a new PSU could be the fix, or is the damage irreversible due to the length of time by computer was OC so high? Thanks

 

[bgunner]

OK, there is the down side of OCing. The overclock wares on the CPU, this means that at some point degradation will happen. if the Voltage is higher than it needs to be then it and happen faster. IF the core frequency is higher than stock it will happen faster than it would be at stock.

From the sounds of it the frequency is to high to remain stable at that voltage. So either the voltage needs to be bumped one step up OR the frequency needs to be lowered. Either way tons of testing need to be done to ensure the CPU is stable.