Computer Randomly shuts off?(Dell XPS 8100)

[TheRapperMCJosiah]

Ok guys. I have a Dell XPS 8100 with these Specs:

CPU: Intel Core i7-870 @ 2.93Ghz,
CPU Cooler: Dell Stock Cooler,
Ram: 16GB(Was 8GB, upgraded) of DDR3 @ 1333Mhz Each,
HDD 1: 1TB Western Digital Bluedrive 64MB Cache 7200RPM(Was 1.5TB Seagate Barracuda 64MB Cache 7200RPM, replaced),
HDD 2: 80GB Western Digital Laptop Drive from 2007 at 5400RPM(It was from my mom's old laptop, I hooked it up to my computer with a extra sata cord I got a few months ago so I could pull stuff off of it & on to my external hard drive)(This HDD also has Windows Vista Basic on it),
GPU: NVidia GT 730 2GB GDDR3(Was ATi Radeon HD 5700 1GB GDDR5, replaced),
PSU: 350W Dell OEM Power Supply,
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1/Windows XP Professional SP3/Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS.

I mainly use my computer for music production in FL Studio & Ableton Live, & basic video production & photography. I mainly have it as a music production rig. But sometime I do maybe some lightweight gaming, like old games or simple strategy games. The most intensive game I have is a freeware Space Simulator called "Space Engine" which I have to do on mid to low settings at 720p mainly with my GT 730. I also surf the internet with it, & do various other things too. Like store pictures & videos on my external hard drive & type up documents.

My computer has been having alot of issues lately. The computer randomly shut's off many times a week with no blue screen. Sometimes it might get a bluescreen(Which is starting to happen alittle more), but most of the time it just randomly restarts. There are times it completely freezes & just sits there & I have to unplug it too restart it cause nothing is resposive & it just sits there. My USB ports sometimes fail, & I have to unplug stuff, & awhile back the audio kept randomly glitching & becoming gritty & distorted(I don't even use the onboard audio, I use a Scarlett Solo Audio Interface), but now it has stopped doing that, & hasen't become distorted in a awhile. There are times where I'm working on CPU intensive projects in FL Studio, & the computer randomly freezes, restarts, & many times in these situations, both.

Do ya'll think I should just save up for a new computer(Like Hashwell E, I hate Skylake) or do ya'll think I should just keep my computer up on maintenance & try to fix these issues? If ya'll think I should just try to fix these issues, then what are the things I need to do to fix my computer?

Please no rude or unrelated answers.

 

[Multipack]

How long after you installed extra RAM did the problems start? Also try Dell's driver update utility and diagnostics tool.

 

[scout_03]

do you have a spare psu around for test .

 

[TheRapperMCJosiah]

How long after you installed extra RAM did the problems start? Also try Dell's driver update utility and diagnostics tool.

I'm not sure. The computer already a good amount of issues when I installed the ram. Mainly with software though. The computer was giving to me in the Summer of 2013, & I got the ram upgrade around March of 2015. Then I replaced the GPU in November of 2015, because the old one went out. Then in March of 2016 I replaced the Hard Drive because I've been dealing with a virus for many months & I replaced the Hard Drive to get rid of the virus issue. Hardware issues seem to appear about a few months after I installed the ram.

 

[TheRapperMCJosiah]

do you have a spare psu around for test .

I wish I did. The only spare PSU I have is this really old 250W Dell OEM Power supply I pulled from this old P4 Dell Computer a few months ago.

 

[scout_03]

then use memtest to check ram on each stick one at the time .

 

[Multipack]

Sounds like a clean OS install might be the answer.. but try Dell's own diags first

 

[Outrun1986]

I would personally save up for a new computer if you can afford it and need reliability (but then again I seem to like to replace the whole thing as soon as things start going wrong, other people obviously have different intentions), I have the Dell XPS 8100 too and mine is having issues, I am saving up for a new PC this holiday season. The XPS 8100 is from 2010 at least mine is so its 6.5 years old. Mine blue screened yesterday and I have been having issues with it starting up at the chkdisc screen. If you are doing all that stuff with it it seems like you would benefit from a new machine.

 

[TMalley5]

Sounds like your CPU might be having issues with overheating. Working on video and audio is very CPU demanding and the stock cooler you currently have installed might not be able to handle it. Does your computer make a lot of noise when you work? You could try cleaning out your computer, mainly your CPU fan. Your PSU could also be a problem and might need to be upgraded. As Outrun1986 said you might want to look into getting a new rig, it's an old model and might be on its way out, it happens.

 

[Outrun1986]

Yeah, no use spending a bunch of money on fixing an older PC when it will just be one issue after another (beating a dead horse), and that money could go into a much more useful and better PC for you. You aren't just surfing the internet or doing family stuff, you sound like you have some serious use for a good PC so I would save the money and just get a new PC.

If you have access to a bunch of parts for free or very cheap then you could try some stuff if you can't afford a new machine right away, unfortunately I can't guide you there, but if you are paying for parts at retail or online retail then you should definitely look at buying a new machine. The holiday season is right around the corner and prices should be where you can score a decent machine for a reasonable price.

I am just surfing the internet on mine right now but I plan on getting into video editing, photo editing and Steam games so I need to get a more capable machine. The fact that I was able to go 6.5 years with a single PC (daily use of 12+ hours a day, but nothing super strenuous like gaming or video editing) without any massive issues that would prevent me from using it and without making changes to it is a testament to how good these XPS machines are, I got my money's worth out of this computer and I am ready to move on.