PC constantly freezes

daniel508

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Aug 23, 2010
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Hi Guys. here's the problem:
my computer has been working brilliant for the last year. then suddenly, it started freezing when I loaded any application up after windows had started. the nothing would happen at all and so I would have to turn it off and back on again.
thinking this may have just been a small problem, I did a system restore, started it back up and the same thing happened. so I went to the next stage. I restored it to a system image I had made of the computer a few months ago. I was confident at this point but it still didn't work. so then I reinstalled windows.
the first few times, windows reported an error on installation that there were some files missing and so the installation could not proceed. so I did another disc of windows and installed that. the problem was still there.
I then decided to try Linux. so I've put my ubuntu disc in, loaded it up and it freezes on loading the live version up.
I now know that this is nothing to do with the OS. I have also tried a spare hard drive that I know was working and the problem still carries on
there has been no overclocking or anything changed
the details are:
Asus M4A78lt-M LE
AMD Phenom II x4
4GB DDR3 @1333MHz
3x250GB HDD

thanks and please someone help! I'm thinking it might be the processor or motherboard? :S
 
The first thing I'd suspect in cases like that is RAM, but even if a stick has gone bad, the underlying cause of THAT could be the PSU. What brand and model, not just wattage, is your PSU? And, what video card do you have, if any?
Test your RAM, one stick at a time.
 

daniel508

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Aug 23, 2010
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The PSU is a GTX 480.
I have tried the RAM one stick at a time and it's still the same. it doesn't seem to freeze anymore, but nothing happens (when loading ubuntu, the dots keep appearing on the screen to show it's laoding. but it just keeps doing that... what could that be?)
 

jnlp31

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Jan 9, 2012
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Yeah sounds like the power supply is dieing. Unplug all non essential components ie:case fans, all but one stick of ram, cd rom,extra hard drives, video card if you have on board video, and see if it boots then. Or spend about 15 bucks and order a power supply tester from newegg.
 
A "PSU tester" will not tell you if your PSU is dying under load, only if any of its rails are outright dead from the start. They're good for identifying DOA units, but that's about it.