Is my motherboard failing?

[Titan]

I've been having some weird shit happening with my computer lately. I'm really thinking that its most likely a motherboard issue but I'm not 100% sure. I have a customized gaming PC which I use for my photo editing. Its worked fine up till now but had some little quirks in the past that were not really all that bad. I've been having some problems though lately that have went from quirks to me leading to believe a hardware component is about to fail. Here are some problems I'm having. And its not a virus or spyware because nothing comes up in scans.

1) my screen has been flickering. I posted this a few weeks back but that is a difficult one to diagnose cause it can be a lot of things
2) much slower boot times
3) system slow down. Could be a lot of startup programs running so I need to spend some time fixing that
4) just now, when booting up the computer (this was a quirk that happened from time to time but no issue. Used to just force shut down then start up and no problem. Now its a more regular problem), it chirps at the bootup screen with my motherboard manufacturer. It then restarts and starts over. I work around it by hitting Delete to go into the BIOS then exiting out which seems to work. Now, what it does, when I hit it, it goes to the BIOS screen and when I hit escape, it constantly flashes the screen asking if I'm sure I want to quit. When I exit, it'll boot up to Windows. I have no idea why it does this.

Based on what I said, I know its more than likely a hardware issue but does this sound like the motherboard or some other issue I need to address?

Oh one last thing, the first time number 4 happened, I called Cyberpower and they did some troubleshooting and he said it was a sign the motherboard was going. However, I tend not to believe Cyberpower because when I sent my computer for a hardware failure, they reinstalled Windows and then came to find out that it was just a bad card reader which I could have frickin replaced for 20 bucks.

Here are my specs:

Intel Core I7-950 3.06 GHz
2TB Seagate SATA III 6GB/s 7200RPM HDD
Corsair Dominator 2GB DDR3 x6 (12GB total RAM)
Asetek water cool system
12 in 1 card reader
ASUS P6X58D-E motherboard
Coolermaster Silent Pro 850W power supply
ATI Radeon HD 5850 PCI-E 16x 1GB
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1

[Paul2]

my laptop is doing similar things too.  over half a year ago, i think mine got a virus or something and i keep getting ads or when i open a page, it open an ad page instead.  so a week ago, i do a dell recovery and i back up my important files (music, videos, documents, ect.) to my laptop's hdd and it reinstall windows 7 i think.

after that, my computer keep slowing down.  probably because when i back up my important files, i probably transfer the virus with me too.  it eating up my cpu performances.  i check the image processes and it doesn't seem like there are any software that are being process but it eat up my cpu performance up to 25%.  probably some hidden viruses that is.

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

i'd start by cleaning out all the dust inside your pc, resetting issues can be due to overheating.

The mobo loop cycle could be a issue with the mobo or even the psu.  If you want, removing the bios battery and unplugging the pc from your mains will delete all the settings in your bios. Then after about 1 minute put the battery in and boot the pc. If it still does it then i'd say it a mobo or psu issue for sure.
If you can get your hands on another psu to test that i'd do that too.

Slow booting is normally from just years of crap building up in the pc and creating shit loads of reg keys and other strange issues. I reinstall windows once every year, so reinstall windows.
Also get a hd check program, something that tests the sectors on your hd, It could be failing.
Also use memcheck86 on your ram. Make sure that your ram isn't going.
if you've done everything then your mobo is screwed.


so in short in this order.
1. clean  all dust from pc.
2. test hd. test ram
3. remove bios batt and disconnect from mains. Then boot.
4. reinstall windows.
5. try different psu on pc.
6. get new mobo.

[Titan]

i'd start by cleaning out all the dust inside your pc, resetting issues can be due to overheating.

The mobo loop cycle could be a issue with the mobo or even the psu.  If you want, removing the bios battery and unplugging the pc from your mains will delete all the settings in your bios. Then after about 1 minute put the battery in and boot the pc. If it still does it then i'd say it a mobo or psu issue for sure.
If you can get your hands on another psu to test that i'd do that too.

Slow booting is normally from just years of crap building up in the pc and creating shit loads of reg keys and other strange issues. I reinstall windows once every year, so reinstall windows.
Also get a hd check program, something that tests the sectors on your hd, It could be failing.
Also use memcheck86 on your ram. Make sure that your ram isn't going.
if you've done everything then your mobo is screwed.


so in short in this order.
1. clean  all dust from pc.
2. test hd. test ram
3. remove bios batt and disconnect from mains. Then boot.
4. reinstall windows.
5. try different psu on pc.
6. get new mobo.

Thanks Souly. I called Cyberpower some months ago when it first started and we did the "paper clip test" and found my PSU is working fine. Took out the RAM and tested each one and all the modules seemed fine. Problem has disappeared and came back over the last year then just got worse. My computer is cooperating for the most part right now. Though I've been putting it in sleep mode.

How do I test the HDD?

[Titan]

I did an error check on my HDD from the properties on my C drive (did it in the boot menu). Took a few hours but came up with nothing. I'm a little reserved to reinstall windows right now because of games and photography files and programs on the hard drive. I haven't tried the battery yet on the motherboard. Prolly give that a try tomorrow.

[Paul2]

when you do want to reinstall windows, remember to back up your important files, video, music, documents, pics, etc.  just a reminder.  if you have external hdd, that would be a good way to back up your files i think.

[Titan]

I always keep my files like pics and docs on an external but all my programs and shit are obviously on my c drive. I know the benefits of reinstalling windows but I'd rather do it as a last resort right now. plus Paul I always back up my c and external hdd

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

Paper clip test only tests one thing with psu, that it turns on. Apart from that it does nothing.
The paper clip test is good for when your psu has gone pop or you think it has and you want to make sure it's only the psu that's stopping you from turning on the pc. The psu needs to be put under load to see if it has problems outside of this. 

Personally i put stresses on the rails to see if they struggle or starts to trip on thermal protections. That i won't advise you to do.

[Titan]

Ah gotcha. Guess I should have known better than to trust CyberPower tech support, lol. What would be a test for the PSU that I can try?

[Titan]

Hey Souly, do you think updating the BIOs will be a good idea?

[Titan]

Tried the battery thing. Now it went from quirky to completely insane

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

whats it doing?


bios updating is ok, what brand is the mobo? has it got a dual bios so if it fails you can attempt it again?

as for the psu test. Anything that puts a good load on it, it has 3.3v 12v -12v 5v rails. You need to read the side of the psu and see what Current (I or A) rating it has for each of these rails. Then you need to find with a multimeter which pins are which rails and test them with a load that is close to the max current ratings per rail. So something that uses 5v and draws that much current.. for example.

a Thermaltake psu would be
 
+3.3V: 25A
+5V: 25A
+12V: 70A
-12V: 0.3A
+5VSB: 3.5ª

now to find something that uses close to 70A on the 12v rail would be something like a motor or solenoid..  I can get them from work but i doubt you'd have access to something like that.. That's why said i wouldn't bother trying it.

[Titan]

I'm drinking in a bar right now. I'll get you models tomorrow