Will a Motherboard upgrade fix my problems ?

[IRONBATMAN]

Hi, for about 6 months now, I've been having numerous issue from my PC. At times the drives wouldn't be detected, the soundcard doesn't get detected, PC doesn't boot, and a strange squeeky rattling sound from the PC.

I'm on the verge of straight up selling my whole PC and buying a new one, but before I reach that stage, I want to find the lil' prick that has been causing this problems. I suspect that it may be my Asrock B75 Pro3-M which I cheaped out on. Would upgrading the Motherboard + CPU to maybe a MSI H97 Gaming 3 + i5-4590 fix all my problems ? Or would getting a new soundcard fix all the sound problems ?

I suspect that my current soundcard, the Asus Xonar DG might also be causing a few problems. I suspect that it may have a loose capacitor, hence the squeeky rattling sound as the capacitor might be vibrating at high frequencies or sth. And also since it has a faulty cap, it may not work at times, and that leads to driver issues in Windows, which then results to a lot more crap.

I'm really frustrated with my PC and I'd like the easiest fix.

Any input would be appreciated,
Thanks

 

[PapaWood]

Well you can take the sound card out and see how things run for awhile. see if problems go away.

Can you tell us what model your PSU is? I'd like to get an idea cause the motherboard may not be the culprit.

 

[Grimwinder]

First thing to do, as you suspect sound card issues, is yank it out and try using the onboard sound for a bit. The audio on most motherboards is actually quite good these days, and it would eliminate one possibility prior to changing other parts.

 

[IRONBATMAN]

I use Seasonic S12ii-520w . The reason why I don't want to use the onboard sound is because it doesn't have digital surround. I'm an avid CS player so hearing where the enemy is , is extremely important

 

[Grimwinder]

I understand you want better sound, but the first step is seeing if your current card is the culprit over the motherboard, if so then it's easier to change than the mb.

 

[IRONBATMAN]

The problem is, these issues are extremely irregular. Maybe it works in the morning, but not at night :/

For example, everything is fine now, except for the soundcard. It was a different story this afternoon where I was stuck on the Windows starting up screen. It worsened to the PC hanging and freezing at the starting windows screen, even before the Windows icon could form. I gave up but it seems to work now.

 

[PapaWood]

Ah i see, well really the best thing to do is just keep out your sound card for awhile, Or you can go ahead and replace the mobo and find the issue to still be there. Not worth it, best to just be patient and make sure the issue is narrowed down.

 

[IRONBATMAN]

Thanks for giving clear and informative answers I guess I'll never recommend the Xonar DG to anyone.

 

[PapaWood]

No problem you are welcome, let us know if that is the issue or not and we can march on from there