PC buying advice needed

Look, honestly, forget those cheap little workarounds if you aren't absolutely forced into using them for some reason.

If your hardware has been cutting out on you like this, there’s a very high probability that it’s at least partially responsible for the issue. In my opinion—and I say this sincerely—it would be much smarter to find someone who actually knows their stuff, pay them a couple hundred bucks to run a proper diagnostic, and get a clear answer on what needs replacing. If you just keep guessing, you're going to end up throwing a ton of money down the drain on parts you don't even need.

It’s definitely a desktop situation; my laptop is just way too basic for what I need..
I’m not exactly an expert when it comes to building rigs from scratch, though I’ve popped the hood a few times to swap drives and watch how everyone else handles things. But honestly, like anything else, I don't want to hand over the keys to the kingdom to some guy just because he knows his way around a screwdriver. I want to learn the ropes myself so I can actually diagnose a problem without having to pester someone to come fix it every single time 😉
I don't even need a smaller case; my current one works perfectly fine 😉

Sent from my iPhone 6 using Reddit

Alright, here’s the latest update!
After basically wrestling everything out of it and plugging it into a PC just so the guy could take a look, the thing actually fired right up like nothing ever happened!
I gave it a deep clean too—man, there was so much dust... I honestly have no idea how I managed to totally forget about "dusting" it for three whole years. 😁
Everything is hooked back up and it's running fine, though I think I'll try a fresh reinstall of Windows, especially given what I mentioned about Mozilla; after several years, no matter how you slice it, a fresh start is probably the move! 🙂
The tech guy says it was clearly just being a total pain, but all that shuffling, turning it off, and letting it sit finally did the trick!
By the way, for those asking about the desktop specs:
Intel (R) Core (TM)2 Duo CPU; E6750 - 2.66 - 2.67 GHz
4 GB RAM
64-bit operating system x64-based processor

I’ll see how it holds up once I get Windows reinstalled..
Right now, this is where it stands (Facebook, YouTube, Gmail, plus GameRoom—which is the biggest CPU hog); Mozilla itself doesn't eat much CPU, but it definitely gulps down memory, and as soon as GameRoom is closed, it becomes the main CPU user again.
I have a ton of bookmarks in Mozilla, but I don't use any extensions—just AdBlock Plus and the standard stuff that comes with it, plus one background; I try not to clutter it up with useless junk.

What you’ve got there is actually 10G, not 3

That processor was released back on July 16, 2007

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_2...557E6750).html

It's not terrible for watching movies or browsing the web, but a cheap upgrade to a better CPU is definitely an option...

Like Bryan Taylor6 said, that thing is probably a decade old, not three 😁 You’d be better off swapping out the motherboard, CPU, and RAM—maybe even the power supply too. Let me know what PSU you're running (brand and model) and try to figure out a budget, then we can maybe suggest something.

Abraham Lincoln, I gotta admit, my PC was being custom-built back then, so I had zero clue how ancient the parts actually were! 😉 😁 😂
And yeah, regarding the upgrade, that’s pretty much what I figured needed doing, except I can’t exactly drop the cash right now since I’m out here hunting for a job—so for the time being, I’m just gonna ride this wave and hope for the best. Honestly, I was totally losing my mind when it crashed because the repair bill is basically a second mortgage 😲 😲 so my big plan is to just wipe everything and reinstall Windows, praying nothing else explodes before I land a paycheck...
Once things settle down, I'll definitely be reaching out to pick your brain!