Well, to be fair, it's already been like that for a long while, what with the blue screens of death. But now there's something new. Recently, my computer has been randomly locking up, mouse and keyboard included. Sometimes it'll break out of this lockup on its own, but other times I just gotta hit the reset button.

This is on the same level of inconvenience as the blue screens, but more worrying, because this means something in my computer is dying. If I remember correctly, the last time I dealt with lockup issues was a year after getting this computer, when one of my RAM cards died. But considering the RAM card that I think has been responsible for my blue screens of death is bolted under the central cooling fan, which I couldn't figure out how to get off, I'm not entirely sure how to handle this situation.

Ideally, I'd like to use this as an excuse to just get a new computer, but that depends on how much a computer a few years newer than mine would cost.

Depending on what you are willing to recycle, a new, nice computer could cost a max of around $800. If you are able to replace stuff like the case or video card, it could be significantly less.

Assuming you reused everything but your processor, motherboard, and Ram, you could get out with only spending a few hundred. I'm running this stuff right now:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009O7 ... ge_o04_s00

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008B6 ... ge_o04_s00

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-HyperX-F ... 06A9FA7B5W

That's all about 310 for what would be a brand new computer. 8 cores, 8 gigs of ram (I would suggest grabbing more, but for the most part 8 takes care of everything). And I can promise that the fan that comes with the processor won't obstruct your ram chips, seeing as that's currently a problem.

Assuming your power supply is at lease a 650 watt or higher, you should be able to reuse everything. Case, hard drive, powersupply, Rom, video card, all that. But yeah, those three items make it an entirely new computer. This would require you pull everything out of your old case and get the new parts in... and of course, reformat.

Lantis, the computer guy. Best guy.

You could also see if there's a local repair shop to replace your RAM and remove the tricky fan. I dunno what you have available, here, in the middle of nowhere, there's even a couple places.

A replacement 8 GB of RAM costs next to nothing these days.

A replacement 8 GB of RAM costs a copy of Yoshi's Wooley World.

Yup. 16 GB is roughly $115-120 right now, makes sense.

Didn't you say you were getting $140? Though, I do realize you probably need to put some back.

Tough situation, sorry you're in it.

All of that is going into this computer, now.

Good, good. It'll be worth it for that!

Super Mario Maker will still be a high priority, though.

Maybe I'll get another chance to get Yoshi's Wooley World, later. Since it doesn't have online Mag-tivities, it's not as high a priority.

In an hour, I'm gonna finish backing things up and send my computer off. I won't be around much while it's gone. Ideally, I'd actually take a break from the internet and get gaming and stuff done, but I'm sure I'll hijack my grandparents' computer at some point.

The funny thing is, after telling you guys about my computer trying to lock up, it stopped trying to lock up. Oh well, my computer was long overdue for an upgrade/replacement, anyway. Stupid blue screen faulty hardwares.

In a day you should be receiving your computer. It may look like your old computer, but it is, in fact an entirely new one. When I shipped it, everything was running in tip-top shape. I also installed a few programs I know you use.

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you that if I were you, I'd have a few choice things to say to the people responsible for your previous computer's build. I have never in my life seen such a poorly assembled PC. I went to remove your old video card and the entire motherboard started to come up with it. The board was only screwed down in two places (along the top) and those weren't even screwed down tightly. I can see this being a major cause for a lot of the problem you were having.

Also, that ram chip that you had problems with just came out. It kind of grazed the plastic ring around the processor fan, but it wasn't a problem at all. But seriously, if anything was wrong, it was how badly handled the motherboard was... and not the ram.

What's funny is that I recieved my computer a few hours before you made that post. =P

So, I'm wondering. You never update Windows. How do you get away with that? Do you just download the "important" updates, like the security updates? Or do you legit never download any updates of any type to Windows at all? 'Cause I'd be worried about someone trying to hack my computer.

Also, do you update stuff like graphics drivers and your antivirus?

I know you weren't asking me but, I never really update windows either. Most of the "security" updates are them trying to defeat piracy, not necessarily keep your pc more secure. I check for updates for antivirus and graphics drivers daily automatically.

By the way, it needs to be said: thanks for the help, Lantis. I'm still learning how much more capable this machine is over my old one, but at the very least, it's going to be so nice to not be dealing with those blue screens. =)

Edit: Put Second Life to the test. Despite earlier reservations about the graphics card Lantis offered me, it does a decent job running shadows. Woooo!

Yes, never update Windows.

Bot is a PC guru. Love him, listen to him.