Freeze when in sleep mode, occasionally won't start, etc

Hello,

(First of all, I don't have any BSOD codes and rarely get blue screens, but I couldn't find another appropriate category and I feel my issues are similar to BSOD. Please move if necessary)

I have a fairly Frankenstein-ish computer on my hands, consisting of old parts due to my financial situation. You can view the specs on my profile, but I run Windows 7 64-bit SP1, and the issues started when I quite recently installed a new motherboard I got from a friend, including the processor and RAM. I also installed a used graphics card:

ASUSTek Computer INC. M4A87TD EVO
AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 965
NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT 512 MB
4 GB DDR3

The computer ran fine at first, but then started to have some kind of hardware issues, which have had little consistency over the five or so months I've ran this system. I'll describe them below.

1) The most recent and most consistent problem is that the computer won't wake up from sleep mode, which started occuring after I let Windows install all the updates I thought would concern me (including SP1). When trying to wake the computer up, the screen remains black and nothing does anything (keyboard, mouse, power/reset button), and I have to physically switch off the power on the back of the PSU. When trying to restart, problem 2) below will occur. I tried to install the update Hibernation does not work or memory dump file is not created after you install Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 to fix hibernation issues after SP1, but it says it's not applicable on my system.

2) The computer won't power on. This also didn't happen from the start, and is the reason I started putting my computer to sleep instead of shutting it down. When I hit the power button, the drives and fans come on for a couple of seconds and then shuts down. After this, I have to plug out the power cord (!) and put it back in, and usually the third time the computer will start. I read that this could be a faulty PSU, but it worked fine for years with my previous components.

3) Sometimes, usually during Skype calls with my webcam, the computer freezes (no BSOD, everything just gets stuck) and I have to use the reset button to restart it. This seems to have decreased when I installed an extra fan for my graphics card, which was running quite hot. However, I reproduced issue just yesterday, with an online service using my webcam. After reboot, I successfully ran a two-hour Skype call.

4) Random "short freezes" occur when using the computer normally, for example starting or shutting down programs. I.e. similar to 3), but sound will keep playing, for example, and the mouse cursor will resume moving after usually a couple of seconds.

I'll include a log zip as described in the instructions. Hopefully someone can take a look at it, since my computer-troubleshooting experience with modern systems is very limited (not extensive with old ones either, but with Windows 3.1 and 95 I felt I knew what I was doing :)).

I run Windows 7 64-bit SP1, and the issues started when I quite recently installed a new motherboard I got from a friend, including the processor and RAM. I also installed a used graphics card

Had the 'new' parts been used by your friend? If not there should be a warranty to you but if they had been used there may be a warranty to your friend. It's my experience that adding in used parts changes the 'playing field' and diagnosing where the problems are becomes more difficult. I've seen a number of computers that didn't play well with Sleep and Hibernate, sometimes only took an adjustment in Power Options to help, other times nothing helped but turning Sleep and Hibernate off.

Berton said:

I run Windows 7 64-bit SP1, and the issues started when I quite recently installed a new motherboard I got from a friend, including the processor and RAM. I also installed a used graphics card

Had the 'new' parts been used by your friend? If not there should be a warranty to you but if they had been used there may be a warranty to your friend. It's my experience that adding in used parts changes the 'playing field' and diagnosing where the problems are becomes more difficult. I've seen a number of computers that didn't play well with Sleep and Hibernate, sometimes only took an adjustment in Power Options to help, other times nothing helped but turning Sleep and Hibernate off.

yes well, "new" was the wrong word perhaps. the parts were all used, but worked well. they were changed (and passed on to me) only to gain more performance.

if anyone's interested, turning hybrid sleep off seemed to at least change the sleep issue. only now it won't stay asleep, but wakes up almost immediately by itself. guess it's time to just save up for a new computer.

bump. sigh.

anyone willing to give me a hint?

i replaced the graphics card. also installed a SSD drive which now is my system drive. both components purchased new.

the computer now does the following, the first MORE than before:

1) shuts down. as in a complete power-off. only sign of "life" is the USB drives (if they are connected), will remain blinking and also make this rhythmic beeping kind of sound. not sure if it's mechanic or what. got quite scared the first time, but data seems to be intact even after this happening multiple times. i have to switch off the PSU or unplug the power cord in order to start the machine again.

2) random lags. i was convinced this was because of the old graphics card. but it still does the same, i.e. 1-20 second freezes, from which the computer then resumes. these occur both randomly and when performing tasks, particularly when closing applications.

what could it be?

PSU? i tried connecting everything to USB at once and spin all the hard drives - couldn't get it to shut down. thought this might reproduce it if it was a too-little-power issue.

RAM? from what i've read, RAM errors cause BSOD's, which is never the case. also, i've ran applications like memtest to stress different components, but nothing failed. instead, when for example only running firefox, it will shut down all of a sudden.