Computer Freeze

[RAMChYLD]

Since my PC and his PC has the exact same spec, except the HDD where his is twice the size, I'm pretty positive this is hardware failure somewhere. After quite an amount of online searching, I came to a conclusion that the motherboard is the one at fault in this case, and it's getting worse as we speak.

I have ordered a new motherboard from the shop. Hopefully I will be right this time. Motherboard is very expensive.

Okay. Well, if you will take suggestions, I recommend Asus brand. They're touted to be really reliable. Failing that, go for Gigabyte. Only if you fail at those two should you consider the other brands like MSI or Biostar.

[huckleberrypie]

Vouching on ASUS boards too. Never had a busted cap or some other problem with those.

[cpd2009]

Since my PC and his PC has the exact same spec, except the HDD where his is twice the size, I'm pretty positive this is hardware failure somewhere. After quite an amount of online searching, I came to a conclusion that the motherboard is the one at fault in this case, and it's getting worse as we speak.

I have ordered a new motherboard from the shop. Hopefully I will be right this time. Motherboard is very expensive.

What brand is the current motherboard in both PCs?

[RAMChYLD]

Vouching on ASUS boards too. Never had a busted cap or some other problem with those.

I've gotten busted caps on way older Asus machines, although Asus has good support and service and will quickly repair them (they've improved by tons since the late 90s and early 2000s). They're also among the first to publicly admit to having the cap issues when it was discovered and offered to fix it for free at the time.

[Blackberry Bun]

It gets increasingly often again. I'll get the mb replaced tomorrow.

By the way, does replacing mb require OS reinstall? Some say yes, while some others say no, so I'm confused. The current mb is asus and it seems the shop will replace it with a different type of asus. To be specific, P8H77-M will be replaced with B75M-A

[huckleberrypie]

It gets increasingly often again. I'll get the mb replaced tomorrow.

By the way, does replacing mb require OS reinstall? Some say yes, while some others say no, so I'm confused. The current mb is asus and it seems the shop will replace it with a different type of asus. To be specific, P8H77-M will be replaced with B75M-A

In my case, no. I only had to install the appropriate chipset/audio drivers, though Windows may ask you to re-activate your license due to a hardware change.

[RAMChYLD]

It gets increasingly often again. I'll get the mb replaced tomorrow.

By the way, does replacing mb require OS reinstall? Some say yes, while some others say no, so I'm confused. The current mb is asus and it seems the shop will replace it with a different type of asus. To be specific, P8H77-M will be replaced with B75M-A

It depends. If the SATA chipset differs, then yes you will need to reinstall. I suppose it won't be needed since you're switching from one Intel chipset to another, but be prepared- back up your brother's data before handing the computer over.

I know you've already made up your mind so it's no point telling you this, but honestly, I'd tell you to not go for a B75. I just did research, the B75 chipset is for business use and is not a mainstream or gaming chipset- it will not perform well for games. I'd suggest asking them to try replacing the graphics card with one of the same kind and seeing if that fixes the issue first. If all fails, look for another H77 or a Z77 chipset one first before finally deciding on B75. Also, I'd ask you to check out other brands before getting MSI.

[Blackberry Bun]

I know you've already made up your mind so it's no point telling you this, but honestly, I'd tell you to not go for a B75. I just did research, the B75 chipset is for business use and is not a mainstream or gaming chipset- it will not perform well for games. I'd suggest asking them to try replacing the graphics card with one of the same kind and seeing if that fixes the issue first. If all fails, look for another H77 or a Z77 chipset one first before finally deciding on B75. Also, I'd ask you to check out other brands before getting MSI.

Uhh, could you be more specific on "Not performing well for games"? You've just made me kinda worried.

[RAMChYLD]

Well, as I said, B75 is a business chipset. It's designed to handle office work. It's not optimized for games, that's all. It lacks certain functions that the H77 has, but otherwise it will still run the games fine, just a bit slower, which can be offset by the graphics card so it makes little difference unless you're one of those who compulsively monitor the system bus and cry foul at the computer producing one or two frames per second less.

Hmmm... I just noticed this- the P8H77-M has built in video. Maybe that's what causing the computer to freeze? Did you disable the onboard video after installing the graphics card? You're not supposed to have both enabled at the same time unless the onboard card is used for the graphics and the added on card is used for GPU computing. Alternatively, try pulling out the graphics card and use only the onboard video and see if it crashes?

[Blackberry Bun]

Hmmm... I just noticed this- the P8H77-M has built in video. Maybe that's what causing the computer to freeze? Did you disable the onboard video after installing the graphics card? You're not supposed to have both enabled at the same time unless the onboard card is used for the graphics and the added on card is used for GPU computing.

I'm not sure about that. How to check that setting? That can apply to my own PC too, since it has the same specs.