I'm in a bit of a predicament here. I bought a second-hand Acer Predator G5900 back in 2017, and it has been running fairly well until recently. Lately, I've been experiencing a bunch of problems, including blue screens and freezing, especially when I play games like Planet Zoo and The Sims 4. I documented some of the stop codes from the blue screens (like SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED and DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION), and despite running virus scans, cleaning up junk files, and physically cleaning the machine, the issues persist. I'm worried my CPU might be on its way out. I need my computer because I have tons of important data and family photos on it. Does anyone have advice on how to approach this situation? Here are the specs: Intel i5-650 CPU, AMD Radeon RX560 GPU, with a mix of RAM sticks totaling 10GB.
5 Answers
I would also recommend checking your RAM. Sometimes, faulty RAM can cause a lot of instability. Testing each stick may help identify if one is causing your issues, and thankfully, this won't affect data on your drives at all.
You should definitely check the thermal paste on the CPU and GPU. Old thermal paste can lead to overheating issues, causing crashes. Plus, consider using a cloud service for backups, just to make sure your important files are safe!
If you suspect it's the CPU, try researching how to adjust the voltage. Older CPUs can sometimes become unstable, and a slight bump in voltage might help. Just do your research first—overdoing it can fry the CPU!
It sounds like you've done a lot of troubleshooting already! Getting dump files from your crashes can really help pinpoint what's going wrong. If you can boot into Windows or Safe Mode, check for dump files in C:WindowsMinidump and upload them for analysis. It might give some clues to the BSODs you're seeing.
Honestly, it might be time to look into a replacement, especially since the PC is quite old now. You could be running into hardware limitations that just aren’t worth fixing anymore.
I really don’t want to risk anything without proper knowledge. Maybe it’s best to seek a professional, especially with all my important data on there.