Symptoms of dying ga-ex38-ds5

[janja]

Hi,

My gigabyte ex38 ds5 freezes during the post and in bios.

i had the system on 24/7 for 4 years now. specs are cpu core duo e8400 with 4gb gkill f2-8500cl5d running at 1066 (2 modules). hdd seagate 1,5tb sata and xfx hd 5870. psu coolbox powerline f-650 (it says 2 12v rails with 18a each...)
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1. after 2 years of use, sometimes when restart it would not recognize hdd drive. other issue was post didnt beep and the screen wouldnt show anything.
problem happened 3 times in 3 years. solved by unplugging the computer for a day. once solved, i could use computer without problems, play 3d games, etc. it seemed like it wouldnt start due to static load, as i say, unplugging for a long time would completely solve the problem...

2. now: happened again, unplugging showed improvement, but system didnt manage to make it into windows. one time it did go into windows but freezed up after. after a couple more restarts it begin freezing inside the bios. seems that everytime i try, the mobo decays a little more
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i tried EVERYThing on internet. actually i concluded mobo is dead so im waiting for a new build....
a) resetted cmos, also pulled out cmos battery for more than an hour
b) temps under 40celsius
c) tried booting with only the essentials, unplugged cdrom and hdds, changed rams, tried each module separately
d) changed psu for a new corsair tx750
e) tried a different gpu, and now post and bios show pixel corruption
f) cheked for damaged capacitators, took the whole set out of the case looking for a short.
x) changed bios date to 2008 in case gigabyte does planned obsolescense   

tips: when left unplugged/ off for some minutes, it goes further or gives me more time before freezing. switching it on while unplugged to drain any residual energy from the capacitators also buys some time before freezing. if i only press resset it freezes very fast.

i didnt try different ram modules, but i heavily suspect bad psu underpower problems may have damaged the mobo. its not dead but it must be terminal.
maybe something related to dying capacitators??

opinions please, i would like to know why...

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome.

I would say that you have two main problems here. The first is that the powers supply unit does degrade with time and use so it will be less effective now than it was when new. It probably actually puts out somewhere around fifteen per cent less now. I would suggest purchasing a new PSU to replace it.

Never buy a cheap and nasty power supply they can go wrong and take out all you other expensive components at the same time. Purchase a good make like Seasonic, CWT, Corsair, Thermaltake, Enermax, Gigabyte, Coolermaster, Antec, etc and try and get one with a single 12V rail if possible. I would advise you to get one of about 650W minimum depending on your hardware demands.

Secondly if you have been using your current setup now for 4 years non stop it must have built up a load of crap (technical term) that is slowing it down and causing problems in places like the registry. Now would be a good time to do a clean fresh installation of Windows. If you do that and turn on Windows Update it will soon get you back to normal but without the accumulated junk.

Don't forget to install a good security program (anti-virus) as soon as you have finished the Operating System installation and again run the updater.