My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

For general computer discussion & help, come here

Moderators: Bakhtosh, EvilHomer3k

Post Reply
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

Ok, for the last 1 1/2 years my pc has had its ups and downs. It started with random crashes where the mouse would just freeze the entire pc, as I was unable to alt tab into task manager. This oddly enough only happened while using a browser - it never happened while playing a game. Usually I’d get a blue screen with some worthless error message that research told me could be one of a dozen thing of varying complexity. What was strange about this is that sometimes it would happen one to four times per day for several days, and then it would just stop, and then it might go 2 to 3 weeks without a mouse freeze. When it was bad I’d think it was time for a new pc, and then it would start behaving itself and I’d drop the idea.

Then sometimes, I’d get in an endless boot cycle. The machine would boot up, never get into Windows, power down, then start back up again and go through the whole cycle again and again, till I powered the machine down. Strangely, I could just not turn on the pc for a couple of days and then when I’d finally power it up, it would start right off as if nothing happened. Note, this only happened two or three times in total during that period.

A month ago I tried a number of different tweaks from some things I had read online. Things seemed pretty stable with no crashes for month. Then it started again a couple of days ago, but not while just browsing, but now it was happening in games - and much more often, every 15 minutes or so. And the last crash may be the final one. After the last crash an hour ago, the pc will boot up, ( I can get into the bios if I want), upon booting up, I get the Windows symbol, with the little spinning image under that, but after a few seconds of that, the screen goes black, and it never opens to my desktop. The machine is running but nothing happens. I tried 3 times and I did get a message once asking me if I wanted to reinstall Windows - and I said no, continue, and Windows started but same thing happened, no desktop. I only got that message once, have not gotten it on subsequent tries.

So my question is this - can this machine be saved? Or is it time to use my stimulus check. All advice welcome.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
TheMix
Posts: 10903
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 5:19 pm
Location: Broomfield, Colorado

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by TheMix »

Out of curiosity, what tweaks did you try?

I ask because I tried the clean install of video drivers that AB posted a while ago. Except I forgot the crucial requirement to run the software as admin. I ended up hosing my video drivers. I couldn't even get to the bios or windows screen. But... while I was trying to figure out my issue, I did find a number of threads talking about getting a "black screen on windows start". So there may be some options for you.

That said, it really sounds like something is seriously wrong with your computer.

Black Lives Matter

Isgrimnur - Facebook makes you hate your friends and family. LinkedIn makes you hate you co-workers. NextDoor makes you hate your neighbors.
User avatar
TheMix
Posts: 10903
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 5:19 pm
Location: Broomfield, Colorado

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by TheMix »

This link has some keyboard shortcuts to try. I assume that's because you can't actually see anything. :)

Black Lives Matter

Isgrimnur - Facebook makes you hate your friends and family. LinkedIn makes you hate you co-workers. NextDoor makes you hate your neighbors.
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

TheMix wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 9:46 pm Out of curiosity, what tweaks did you try?

I ask because I tried the clean install of video drivers that AB posted a while ago. Except I forgot the crucial requirement to run the software as admin. I ended up hosing my video drivers. I couldn't even get to the bios or windows screen. But... while I was trying to figure out my issue, I did find a number of threads talking about getting a "black screen on windows start". So there may be some options for you.

That said, it really sounds like something is seriously wrong with your computer.
1). I read about some mouse freezes due to certain Firefox configurations and changed that
2). Updated to specific drivers for my mouse rather than some generic ones installed by Windows
3). Updated my video drivers
4). Used a program to identify and update all pc drivers
5). Used a system cleaning program to clean a bunch of junk files and bad registry entries
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
gilraen
Posts: 4312
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2013 7:45 pm
Location: Broomfield, CO

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by gilraen »

Is your Windows installed on an SSD or a platter drive?
User avatar
hitbyambulance
Posts: 10233
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:51 am
Location: Map Ref 47.6°N 122.35°W
Contact:

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by hitbyambulance »

Grifman wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 9:18 pm So my question is this - can this machine be saved? Or is it time to use my stimulus check. All advice welcome.
sounds more like impending/current hardware failure, but it would hopefully be contained to one module. likely to go either one of two ways...

1) PSU issue - maybe replace that and the problems disappear. or maybe one of the hard crashes corrupted the HDD/SSD. which leads to
2) HDD/SSD failure - if this is the case, can try to use Windows Repair, but don't hope for too much

if it's either of these, then replacing the part will fix it.

also check the motherboard for swollen or leaky capacitors.
Last edited by hitbyambulance on Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Anonymous Bosch
Posts: 10512
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:09 pm
Location: Northern California [originally from the UK]

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

Try following the steps provided in the video below, which should help you to correctly boot back into Windows 10 again (assuming you're not dealing with a hardware failure):

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." — P. J. O'Rourke
User avatar
Daehawk
Posts: 63524
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:11 am

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Daehawk »

Id fdisk and reinstall. And check fans and connections.
--------------------------------------------
I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

I can get to a screen that gives me options of repairing my startup, using system restore, using the command prompt (as in the video), etc. The problem is that if I choose any of those it then wants a password. I’ve typed in my MS password but it says it is not valid so I have no idea what password it wants. I’m stuck.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

gilraen wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:09 pm Is your Windows installed on an SSD or a platter drive?
SSD.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

Ok, was able to use my windows installation disk to boot up into some options. Tried using a system restore but that failed. Then tried startup repair but that failed. Going to try one more thing, then may just reinstall windows - I just hate that though mainly because I have some heavily modded Fallout 4 and Fallout NV installs that I will lose. But that may be the only solution if there is not a hardware failure.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

I’m pretty sure this is not a hardware problem but instead is a Master Boot problem as described in the video. I’ve gotten to a C:/ prompt and scanned my hard drive and find nothing wrong. However, there are some differences between how his example PC looks vs mine when I try to start his process. However, my PC does come with lifetime technical support so I am going to try that tomorrow before reinstalling windows.
Last edited by Grifman on Fri Apr 30, 2021 7:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
Blackhawk
Posts: 43490
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:48 pm
Location: Southwest Indiana

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Blackhawk »

Grifman wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:28 pm I can get to a screen that gives me options of repairing my startup, using system restore, using the command prompt (as in the video), etc. The problem is that if I choose any of those it then wants a password. I’ve typed in my MS password but it says it is not valid so I have no idea what password it wants. I’m stuck.
It should be a local user account with admin rights/admin account. I don't link my accounts through Microsoft (as hard as they push me to do so), so I'm not sure how that works if you have linked them.

Did you try just leaving the password field blank and hitting enter? If it's designed to prompt for a password and you never set one, the the password is nothing.
(˙pǝsɹǝʌǝɹ uǝǝq sɐɥ ʎʇıʌɐɹƃ ʃɐuosɹǝd ʎW)
User avatar
TheMix
Posts: 10903
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 5:19 pm
Location: Broomfield, Colorado

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by TheMix »

Grifman wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:57 pm Ok, was able to use my windows installation disk to boot up into some options. Tried using a system restore but that failed. Then tried startup repair but that failed. Going to try one more thing, then may just reinstall windows - I just hate that though mainly because I have some heavily modded Fallout 4 and Fallout NV installs that I will lose. But that may be the only solution if there is not a hardware failure.
Assuming these are through Steam, do you have a second drive? If so, then you should be able to move the installation directories via Steam. You may then have to have Steam re-validate them once you re-install, but you should lose them.

Black Lives Matter

Isgrimnur - Facebook makes you hate your friends and family. LinkedIn makes you hate you co-workers. NextDoor makes you hate your neighbors.
User avatar
Anonymous Bosch
Posts: 10512
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:09 pm
Location: Northern California [originally from the UK]

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

Blackhawk wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 9:20 am
Grifman wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:28 pm I can get to a screen that gives me options of repairing my startup, using system restore, using the command prompt (as in the video), etc. The problem is that if I choose any of those it then wants a password. I’ve typed in my MS password but it says it is not valid so I have no idea what password it wants. I’m stuck.
It should be a local user account with admin rights/admin account. I don't link my accounts through Microsoft (as hard as they push me to do so), so I'm not sure how that works if you have linked them.

Did you try just leaving the password field blank and hitting enter? If it's designed to prompt for a password and you never set one, the the password is nothing.
Also, if using a blank password does not work, the following procedure outlined by Professor Robert McMillen easily enables resetting the password:

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." — P. J. O'Rourke
User avatar
Z-Corn
Posts: 4894
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 4:16 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Z-Corn »

I agree with HBA, sounds like hardware failing and I would try swapping in a new power supply.

I've seen dirty power do all kinds of weird things to a PC.
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

TheMix wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 10:45 am
Grifman wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:57 pm Ok, was able to use my windows installation disk to boot up into some options. Tried using a system restore but that failed. Then tried startup repair but that failed. Going to try one more thing, then may just reinstall windows - I just hate that though mainly because I have some heavily modded Fallout 4 and Fallout NV installs that I will lose. But that may be the only solution if there is not a hardware failure.
Assuming these are through Steam, do you have a second drive? If so, then you should be able to move the installation directories via Steam. You may then have to have Steam re-validate them once you re-install, but you should lose them.
No my mods are Nexus mods using Mod Manager 2.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
TheMix
Posts: 10903
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 5:19 pm
Location: Broomfield, Colorado

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by TheMix »

Grifman wrote: Sun May 02, 2021 1:13 am
TheMix wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 10:45 am
Grifman wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:57 pm Ok, was able to use my windows installation disk to boot up into some options. Tried using a system restore but that failed. Then tried startup repair but that failed. Going to try one more thing, then may just reinstall windows - I just hate that though mainly because I have some heavily modded Fallout 4 and Fallout NV installs that I will lose. But that may be the only solution if there is not a hardware failure.
Assuming these are through Steam, do you have a second drive? If so, then you should be able to move the installation directories via Steam. You may then have to have Steam re-validate them once you re-install, but you should lose them.
No my mods are Nexus mods using Mod Manager 2.
That's just where you downloaded them from. But they get unpacked and installed in the Steam game directory. Though I'd certainly recommend also saving the mod directory.

Black Lives Matter

Isgrimnur - Facebook makes you hate your friends and family. LinkedIn makes you hate you co-workers. NextDoor makes you hate your neighbors.
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

Blackhawk wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 9:20 am
Grifman wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:28 pm I can get to a screen that gives me options of repairing my startup, using system restore, using the command prompt (as in the video), etc. The problem is that if I choose any of those it then wants a password. I’ve typed in my MS password but it says it is not valid so I have no idea what password it wants. I’m stuck.
It should be a local user account with admin rights/admin account. I don't link my accounts through Microsoft (as hard as they push me to do so), so I'm not sure how that works if you have linked them.

Did you try just leaving the password field blank and hitting enter? If it's designed to prompt for a password and you never set one, the the password is nothing.
I got the past this by by using my windows installation disk. But none of the various repair options worked.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

TheMix wrote: Sun May 02, 2021 3:22 am
Grifman wrote: Sun May 02, 2021 1:13 am
TheMix wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 10:45 am
Grifman wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:57 pm Ok, was able to use my windows installation disk to boot up into some options. Tried using a system restore but that failed. Then tried startup repair but that failed. Going to try one more thing, then may just reinstall windows - I just hate that though mainly because I have some heavily modded Fallout 4 and Fallout NV installs that I will lose. But that may be the only solution if there is not a hardware failure.
Assuming these are through Steam, do you have a second drive? If so, then you should be able to move the installation directories via Steam. You may then have to have Steam re-validate them once you re-install, but you should lose them.
No my mods are Nexus mods using Mod Manager 2.
That's just where you downloaded them from. But they get unpacked and installed in the Steam game directory. Though I'd certainly recommend also saving the mod directory.
No, that’s not how Mod Manager 2 works. It install the mods in their own directory outside of the game folder and loads them when you start the game.

https://levelskip.com/how-to/Mod-Organi ... -your-mods
Mods are kept isolated. Rather than being installed all together in the game folder, instead they are installed in their own folders to allow mods to be un-installed quickly and cleanly.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

Well, it's not a hardware issue as the hard drive is working but I had to totally reinstall Windows with all the associated negatives. I seriously thought about buying a new PC with my stimulus money and some covid related savings but in the end I decided that since my PC can pretty easily handle 9%% of the games that I have, I'd be better off sticking with this for the next year, then getting a new one, especially since GPU prices/availability is pretty insane right now. So I'm back but I have a lot of work to do via Steam, book marks, driver, etc. But I am back - it's very hard to live without my pc for very long.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
hitbyambulance
Posts: 10233
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:51 am
Location: Map Ref 47.6°N 122.35°W
Contact:

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by hitbyambulance »

for sure run scandisk on that hard drive
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

hitbyambulance wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 6:08 pm for sure run scandisk on that hard drive
Done and no errors noted.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

Luckily I had all my Steam games except for Fallout 4, FNV and Skyrim on my non-Windows drive so those are still are there. Unfortunately, I lost those games all of their mods which I had spent hours downloading and installing :( I plan to get another PC in a year (this one will be 6 years old then) and will wait until then to even think about going through all that again.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

Well, my hate won out. Even after the Windows reinstall, I still get the mouse freezing and PC crashing. Not all the time but from my experience, it waxes and wanes, sometimes it will go days without freezing/crashing and the sometimes it will start freezing/crashing several times a day. So I know it's not Win 10 that is the issue but some other software/hardware problem. I really wanted (and should have gotten) another year out of this PC easily, but that's life. But the heck with it. I've since ordered my third Digital Storm PC as follows:

System Configuration:

Chassis Model: Digital Storm Lynx
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7-11700K (5.0 GHz Turbo) (16-Thread) (8-Core) 3.6 GHz (Rocket Lake)
Motherboard: ASUS Prime Z590-P / MSI Z590-A Pro (Intel Z590 Chipset) (Up to 2x PCI-E Devices) (No SLI Support)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 3200MHz Digital Storm Performance Series
Power Supply: 850W Digital Storm Performance Series (Modular) (80 Plus Gold)
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (500GB Seagate FireCuda 520) (NVM Express) (Gen4 PCIe)
Storage Set 2: 1x SSD (1TB Samsung 860 EVO)
Storage Set 3: 1x SSD (1TB Samsung 860 EVO)
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce RTX 3070 8GB (VR Ready)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex Liquid CPU Cooler (Dual Fan) (Fully Sealed + No Maintenance)
HydroLux Tubing Style: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
HydroLux Fluid Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
Cable Management: Premium Cable Management (Strategically Routed & Organized for Airflow)
Chassis Fans: Digital Storm Performance Series (RGB Fans)
CPU Boost: Stock Factory Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit)
Recovery Tools: USB Drive - Windows 10 Installation (Format and Clean Install)
Virus Protection: Windows Defender Antivirus (Built-in to Windows 10)
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

This should do me for a while. I had to get 2 separate SSD drives because that was much much cheaper than one SSD with the same capacity. :? I wanted a GTX 3080 but that was $700 more so I went with the 3070 which should be good for a while :)
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
naednek
Posts: 10866
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:23 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by naednek »

Grifman wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:29 pm Well, my hate won out. Even after the Windows reinstall, I still get the mouse freezing and PC crashing. Not all the time but from my experience, it waxes and wanes, sometimes it will go days without freezing/crashing and the sometimes it will start freezing/crashing several times a day. So I know it's not Win 10 that is the issue but some other software/hardware problem. I really wanted (and should have gotten) another year out of this PC easily, but that's life. But the heck with it. I've since ordered my third Digital Storm PC as follows:

System Configuration:

Chassis Model: Digital Storm Lynx
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7-11700K (5.0 GHz Turbo) (16-Thread) (8-Core) 3.6 GHz (Rocket Lake)
Motherboard: ASUS Prime Z590-P / MSI Z590-A Pro (Intel Z590 Chipset) (Up to 2x PCI-E Devices) (No SLI Support)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 3200MHz Digital Storm Performance Series
Power Supply: 850W Digital Storm Performance Series (Modular) (80 Plus Gold)
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (500GB Seagate FireCuda 520) (NVM Express) (Gen4 PCIe)
Storage Set 2: 1x SSD (1TB Samsung 860 EVO)
Storage Set 3: 1x SSD (1TB Samsung 860 EVO)
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce RTX 3070 8GB (VR Ready)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex Liquid CPU Cooler (Dual Fan) (Fully Sealed + No Maintenance)
HydroLux Tubing Style: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
HydroLux Fluid Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
Cable Management: Premium Cable Management (Strategically Routed & Organized for Airflow)
Chassis Fans: Digital Storm Performance Series (RGB Fans)
CPU Boost: Stock Factory Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit)
Recovery Tools: USB Drive - Windows 10 Installation (Format and Clean Install)
Virus Protection: Windows Defender Antivirus (Built-in to Windows 10)
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

This should do me for a while. I had to get 2 separate SSD drives because that was much much cheaper than one SSD with the same capacity. :? I wanted a GTX 3080 but that was $700 more so I went with the 3070 which should be good for a while :)
May I ask how much?
hepcat - "I agree with Naednek"
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

naednek wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 2:30 pm
Grifman wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:29 pm Well, my hate won out. Even after the Windows reinstall, I still get the mouse freezing and PC crashing. Not all the time but from my experience, it waxes and wanes, sometimes it will go days without freezing/crashing and the sometimes it will start freezing/crashing several times a day. So I know it's not Win 10 that is the issue but some other software/hardware problem. I really wanted (and should have gotten) another year out of this PC easily, but that's life. But the heck with it. I've since ordered my third Digital Storm PC as follows:

System Configuration:

Chassis Model: Digital Storm Lynx
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7-11700K (5.0 GHz Turbo) (16-Thread) (8-Core) 3.6 GHz (Rocket Lake)
Motherboard: ASUS Prime Z590-P / MSI Z590-A Pro (Intel Z590 Chipset) (Up to 2x PCI-E Devices) (No SLI Support)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 3200MHz Digital Storm Performance Series
Power Supply: 850W Digital Storm Performance Series (Modular) (80 Plus Gold)
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (500GB Seagate FireCuda 520) (NVM Express) (Gen4 PCIe)
Storage Set 2: 1x SSD (1TB Samsung 860 EVO)
Storage Set 3: 1x SSD (1TB Samsung 860 EVO)
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce RTX 3070 8GB (VR Ready)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex Liquid CPU Cooler (Dual Fan) (Fully Sealed + No Maintenance)
HydroLux Tubing Style: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
HydroLux Fluid Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
Cable Management: Premium Cable Management (Strategically Routed & Organized for Airflow)
Chassis Fans: Digital Storm Performance Series (RGB Fans)
CPU Boost: Stock Factory Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit)
Recovery Tools: USB Drive - Windows 10 Installation (Format and Clean Install)
Virus Protection: Windows Defender Antivirus (Built-in to Windows 10)
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

This should do me for a while. I had to get 2 separate SSD drives because that was much much cheaper than one SSD with the same capacity. :? I wanted a GTX 3080 but that was $700 more so I went with the 3070 which should be good for a while :)
May I ask how much?
Sure, no secrets among friends - $2,763 before tax and shipping/handling. Most I have ever paid, I usually get a new PC for around $2,000 give or take. But the fact that we are at the start of a new generation of video cards + high prices due to Bitcoin hurts there - another reason I would have preferred to wait a year. But it is what it is.
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
User avatar
Grifman
Posts: 21196
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:17 pm

Re: My love/hate relationship with my pc may be over (Fatal Crash?)

Post by Grifman »

It's here! Now the always fun part of getting everything back up to speed!
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. – G.K. Chesterton
Post Reply