Advice Needed (HDD replacement?)

AlexJD

AlexJD

AlexJD

Associate
Joined
2 Nov 2013
Posts
7
Hi,

Specs and then I’ll explain what the issue is:

Case - Antec Three Hundred
Motherboard - Gigabyte H55M-UD2H (socket 1156)
CPU - Intel i3 550 3.20 Ghz (Corsair Hydro liquid cooling)
GPU - Nvidia GTX 460
PSU - OCZ Stealth Xstream II 600W
HDD - 1TB Seagate Barracuda ST31000534AS
RAM - 4 GB (Corsair)
Soundcard - Asus Xonar DG Audio
Optical Drive - Samsung something-or-other
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

I’ve had this PC for around 3 years, but it is now starting to show signs of wear and tear. Issues range from slow to start up and to shut down, locking-up/freezing (sometimes a few seconds, sometimes upwards of 30 seconds), and a general sluggishness in all-round performance. I do use it for gaming and generally I’ve been able to run everything on decent settings without too much trouble, however I have experienced more crashes than I have in the past.

I’ve recently backed up everything important and done a clean install of Windows, but the problems still persist. I’ve always kept on top of maintenance, from regular scans, defrags, etc., and cleaning dust and dirt from inside the case every couple of months.

I think the HDD might be the primary - and hopefully only - source of the problems. It has been making some very unhealthy sounding noises of late. That said, what would be the best way to determine the cause? Is it possible that the RAM, CPU or GPU could be at fault?

If I had the funds I’d upgrade everything, but what I’m thinking is it would be a good idea to replace the HDD at the very least, so I’d appreciate a bit of advice on a new one that would be compatible with the rest of the rig (and fit in the case, of course). Plus maybe replace the RAM while I’m at it? Right now, realistically, I could spend around £200, though if my best bet is to replace any other components I could stretch that to around £400 in a few weeks.

If there’s any more info I can provide, please ask. Thanks.
 
Idleman said:
Download and install Seatools for Windows, this is good for diagnosing the health of your hdd.

http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. I've downloaded and run SeaTools, and ran the following tests:

SMART - Pass
Short DST - Pass
Short Generic - Pass

There's also a Long Generic and Advanced Tests, but I haven't tried those - the three tests I did run seem to indicate the HDD is fine (despite the odd noises its been making).

So, if I can rule out the HDD, any suggestions for what might be causing the lock-ups and general system sluggishness? Is there a next likely candidate if the HDD is apparently ok - RAM, CPU, GPU, or could the motherboard be causing the kinds of issues I've described?
 
You could try looking in the Event Viewer and see what it says, for the times it crashed. May give some hint as to the cause. You can also run Memtest86 to rule out the ram.
It`s just a case of elimination at the moment.

http://www.memtest86.com/
 
Idleman said:
You could try looking in the Event Viewer and see what it says, for the times it crashed. May give some hint as to the cause. You can also run Memtest86 to rule out the ram.
It`s just a case of elimination at the moment.

http://www.memtest86.com/
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks again. I'll give memtest a go and report back.

*Edit*

Right then, I won't even begin to pretend I understand what any of the numbers mean, but I let memtest run for 2 passes after it found a single error on the first pass. I'm assuming even one error is a bad sign, so I guess I'm looking at replacing the RAM - correct? If yes, would upgrading to 8 GB instead of 4 be a good move, and would 8 GB be compatible with the rest of my system? Also, is there anything else it would be a good idea to check/test before I start spending any money?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom