One Year Old PC locks up

[RossMadness]

Hello everyone, this is my first jump into the Linus Tech Tips forums and I need some help.

 

My friend's desktop is a year old. It's running this hardware:

 

CPU: AMD FX-6120 3.50 GHZ

RAM: 10.0 GB DDR3

OS: Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit

MOBO: Gigabyte 2AC8 (BIOS Version An2_705)

GPU: Radeon HD 7450

 

So this is my problem: He does an intense amount of video editing and 3D Modeling and he has run this thing into the dirt. BSODs in abundance and a 10 minute startup time (he has installed numerous redundant programs that he doesn't want removed because "I like them." Seriously, wall-to-wall icons). I installed System Mechanic and it took out most of the issues and it seemed like a new computer again. Then a new problem arose. It randomly hangs. Just stops and freezes. No response from keyboard or mouse. The computer sits almost silently and then four about 2 seconds the fan kicks into high gear then stops again. It'll sit, nonresponsive, for about 30 seconds then the fan kicks in again for 2 seconds. The cycle repeats until hard restarted.

 

I opened the case thinking it was heating issue due to the fan noise. Sprayed out the entire case with compressed air and checked that all the fans were properly mounted, all the vents clean, all the cables and memory properly seated and attached. Fired it back on, no problems. Then while running Hulu it froze. Same deal, same cycles of the fan.

 

Ran disk check (full thing, all five stages), checked for driver updates and after about an hour of it running (youtube this time) it froze again. I read online in the Maximum PC forums that people have been getting hangups while running Chrome so I'm trying Hulu and Youtube on some other browsers. 

 

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I'm trying to get as detailed as possible.

 

I look forward to your suggestions.

[Tofou]

The slow start up time may have something to do with the HDD. I would suggest getting a high tier SSD such as a Samsung 840 Pro or something of the sort. This should help with that problem. (Make sure to make backups of all of his video files). As for the "running it into the dirt" thing, the best thing to do would be to either replace the GPU ooorrr get a new fan/water cooling system. The card is probably dying out and may start crashing the computer due to improper heating treatment. For photo and video rendering, it definetely takes a toll on the card you are working with and NEEDS proper cooling. So all I can suggest is possibly a new, good air circulating case, a new card if yours is dying, and making sure you have appropriate cooling software. It should be able to stand up to 90C before completely shutting down the computer, so download something like MSI After Burner to check your core temps. You can change how high you let it get in the Bios if you would like. Goodluck!

[Genecidalic]

One thing that jumped out at me was 10gb of ram. Is he running multiple varients of ram. like 2(4gb) and a 2gb? ive read having multiple types of ram can effect the pc

[RossMadness]

Well, unfortunately, neither of us have the finances to explore the SSD option sufficiently. As far as the RAM, yes, it's that exact setup.

[BroKenFingers]

Check your CPU overclock..stock FX-8120 is 3.1 ..and what is your MB..?

What do you have for the RAM..brand, and clock ?(1333Mhz)..

Remove the orphan DIMMs and test with just the 2x4 DIMMs..

What fan spins ups..?..CPU, GPU, or case fans..or ALL fans..?

Check your USB devices for any updates..

Run a security check on your system with a bootable scanner..Kaspersky  has a free one:  https://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/rescuedisk#downloads

Good Luck..let us know how you make out..