PC buying advice needed

Look, I'm definitely no tech guru, so I won't bore you with a massive list of specs
But my desktop has been acting incredibly sketchy lately. I mentioned before that one of my drives keeps locking up on me—it’ll let me access files, then suddenly freeze everything up so I can't copy or edit a single thing, and I have zero clue what's causing the drama or how to actually fix it for good..
Lately, even Word has been dragging its feet; I thought maybe it was because I was running stuff off an external drive, but then it’ll happen when I'm using the internal drive too, just hitting me with that "not responding" message before finally deciding to behave
And for a while now, the startup process has been a total coin toss; sometimes it just hangs there, forcing me to do a hard reboot just to get the thing to boot up..
Google is crawling, too. I clean out the cache constantly and I have an SSD, so it really shouldn't be this sluggish, but...
On Friday, it straight-up refused to boot. It felt like it got stuck during a memory check, but after two restarts, it finally kicked in. Yesterday and today started off fine, but after a few hours, the whole thing just went haywire
A little while back, I set it to go into sleep mode after an hour of inactivity, which worked great most of the time, but not today.. the thing stayed powered on for two or three hours when it should've been sleeping, and when I came back, it was buzzing like crazy, the screen was black, and neither the mouse nor the keyboard would respond (even though the keyboard is brand new!). Everything seemed totally fine, and then—bam—total meltdown

When I try to turn it on, there aren't any beep codes or anything; it feels like it's running, but the screen is dead—all I see is a message saying it's entering sleep mode while an orange light just blinks at me

So, here's my dilemma... People are telling me it's probably the motherboard or the CMOS—how do I actually verify that, and is it even worth fixing at this stage?
Should I grab a new motherboard? I've been wanting to bump up the RAM anyway (this rig is a bit over 3 years old), or should I just bite the bullet and buy a whole new computer?
If I do decide to pull the trigger on a new setup, what's the move?
Standard desktop tower or a NUC? Does anyone here actually use a NUC for real work?!
I don't have my laptop on me right now, so trying to navigate all this on my phone is a nightmare. Sorry if this is the wrong subforum...

Honestly, I'm pretty pissed. This is an unexpected expense I really wasn't planning for, especially since money is tight right now. I'd love to find a way to patch this up without breaking the bank... or dropping a fortune on a new machine immediately. If anyone knows a painless way to fix this, thanks.. also, I've been getting pushed toward getting a NUC instead of a traditional desktop for a while now, so I'd love to hear some real-world feedback. Saving desk space would be huge, provided a NUC can actually handle everything my current desktop does...

Thanks in advance for any help or advice! Sorry for the massive wall of text, hope it wasn't too much of a slog to read...

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First, list exactly what you're running here.

CPU

Motherboard model

RAM specs

Power supply, hard drives, how old they actually are, etc.

Second, try a clean Windows install with all the latest drivers. If it still glitches after that, you'll need to run some stress tests on the memory or the motherboard to see what's up. It might even be worth swapping out the power supply... Also, is the case clear of dust? What kind of temps are we looking at?

In my opinion, NUCs are just a waste of money. You can get way more bang for your buck by building a standard desktop instead... And as for desk space, just stick a trash can behind or next to your desk and call it a day...

Man, I wish I could give you the full rundown, but since this whole rig was built from scratch just three years ago, nothing is really "ancient" yet—though that 1TB hard drive might be showing its age while the SSD is still pretty fresh
I know for a fact there's 4GB of RAM, but honestly, I can't tell you anything else because I can't even get a signal on the monitor, so yeah, total blackout
They're telling me it’s either the motherboard or a CMOS issue, so I’ll probably crack it open later and hunt for that little reset button on the board
The guy and his dad are both IT pros, and here I am, totally clueless, begging for advice... it's kind of embarrassing
One of them won't be able to help until next week, and the other one is basically telling me to just junk the whole thing and buy something new 😁 great idea, really!
So, the tower is sitting right there on a stand under my desk, so space isn't the issue, but seeing how much people rely on laptops lately—especially with all these faster, better models hitting the market—has me second-guessing everything
What I actually need is a machine that's snappy and packed with memory; since I'm diving deeper into photography, I really don't want it lagging out on me whenever I'm running heavy editing software
I'm being pretty frugal 😁

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They’re suggesting you reset the BIOS. There should be a button right on the motherboard near the battery... if you can't find it, you might have to use the jumpers. Usually, the jumper is connected to two pins for normal operation, with a third one sitting right there. To reset, you bridge those two outer pins, pull the jumper, and move it to the other set of pins... Or, just pop the battery out and leave it for an hour. You could also try shorting the positive and negative terminals on the battery slot with a small screwdriver once the battery is out. Anyway, all of this is detailed in your motherboard manual. If you don't have it, just download it online...

Cheap hardware and professional work don't exactly go hand in hand... It might pass for basic office PCs or simple terminals, but that's about it...

A 3G Star setup shouldn't actually be that bad. For your specific workflow, you'd probably just need to add more RAM and see which processor you're running with.

You really need to take a look at your exact specs first. It doesn't make any sense to go out and buy parts or swap things around blindly if your PC is already decent. You might just need to do a clean install of Windows or maybe just a simple upgrade, like adding more RAM or potentially swapping the CPU.

I would strongly advise you to back up everything that holds any significance to you onto external storage devices, ensuring you create at least two separate copies stored in two different locations. Once you have secured your data, you can proceed to format the partition or partitions and perform a clean installation of Windows. If you aren't already doing so, you might want to consider using Windows 7, as it is many times less of a headache than Windows 10, provided that you can successfully locate all the necessary drivers for your hardware.

Taylor Sanders4 said:Both my dad and I work in IT, yet here I am begging for advice, which is pretty pathetic
One can't help me until next week, so he's just guessing, while the other thinks I should just scrap this junk and buy something new 😁 great!

IT people are actually the worst when it comes to advice if they don't know their way around hardware 😁 I have many times had to fix mistakes made by programmers and "IT guys" who don't know much about hardware. Don't get me wrong—they're great at software, but when it comes to hardware, they're clueless.

Open up the PC and maybe take a photo of the inside so we can see the motherboard and power supply. If it’s only three years old, it’s probably not total garbage, especially since you mentioned it has an SSD and stuff. Check your receipts too; maybe some parts are still under warranty...

fadedorca66 said:IT guys are basically useless when you need actual advice if they don't know their way around hardware 😁 many times I've had to fix mistakes made by "programmers" and "IT specialists" who wouldn't know a circuit board from a toaster. Don't get me wrong—they're wizards with software, but when it comes to hardware? Total amateurs.

Just pop the case open and snap a photo of the guts so we can actually see what kind of motherboard and power supply we're dealing with. If the rig is only three years old, it’s probably not total junk, especially since you mentioned it has an SSD and stuff. Dig through your receipts too; you might still have some warranty left to lean on...

hahaha yeah, man, he's basically admitting he isn't a hardware guy and calling it a day...
My replacement just arrived—it's an NUC—but I'm not sure what my game plan is for the desktop yet. I'll test this thing out first and see where we go from there. I'm really crossing my fingers that my PC isn't completely dead, it shouldn't be that old..
Word is that a bunch of computers at the office started acting up right after that last Windows update... :/

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So, I finally fired up this NUC today, and honestly? It’s definitely not winning any speed awards compared to my desktop. I’m not exactly sold on it yet—browsing feels a bit sluggish, and while opening basic apps is fine, things get dicey when I pull up Mozilla. Trying to run that Facebook game room was a total nightmare; it was painfully slow.
I had a few tabs open in Mozilla—you know, the usual suspects like Facebook, Gmail, YouTube, plus a few other light ones—and throwing that game room into the mix at the same time was clearly a recipe for disaster. Now I'm wondering, how much can these little things actually handle?
It’s running an Intel processor at 2.16 GHz with 4GB of RAM. My desktop has the same amount of memory, but it actually handled multitasking way better than this thing does when I've got several things going at once.
My internet is fiber at 200 Mbps, so you can rule out the connection being the bottleneck.
The NUC is running a fresh install of Windows, whereas my desktop is still rocking the same Windows version from three years ago—it just got upgraded to 10.

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As someone else mentioned above, those NUCs are basically paperweights because the hardware is just too weak. Specifically, you probably don't have an SSD in there, and if you do have a hard drive, it’s likely one of those slow 5400 rpm models—plus, the CPU is likely a low-power version that can't handle much. It would be much smarter to just fix up the PC you currently own. Have someone take a look at it; like I said, you might just need to reinstall the OS or perform a simple upgrade like adding more RAM. Honestly, I have no idea what you'd even use a NUC for, but you're definitely overreaching here.

This NUC is just a temporary fix, definitely not my 😉 but I'm testing the waters in case my desktop stays dead—just seeing if a high-end mini PC could actually replace a full tower
Honestly, life has been such a total circus lately that my computer is the absolute last thing on my mind
The desktop is still sitting there untouched; neither I nor anyone else has even had a second to troubleshoot it
I’m sticking with this setup for now because I don't know how much I want to sink into this, and frankly, I'd much rather just grab a new motherboard and some extra RAM than shell out for an entirely new rig... ugh

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The main bottleneck with that NUC is just the weak processor—it’s basically a low-power version shoved into a tiny case with terrible cooling. Facebook, Gmail, and YouTube running in Firefox tend to eat up CPU cycles, so I guess that’s why you’re seeing those slowdowns.

Whenever you're ready to dive in and see what's actually going on under the hood of your PC to see what can be salvaged, just hit us up here. Maybe our little army of IT guys can actually make some progress for you. 😁

Would this be a solid setup for a quick PC refresh?

Intel Core i3 Intel B360 motherboard
Intel Core i3 Intel B360 motherboard
G. Skill Aegis 8GB DDR4 3000Mhz

It’s just for general everyday use, nothing too fancy...

Of course it is, just grab 2x4GB of RAM so you can run it in dual channel mode... then both the PC and the GPU will finally be able to breathe...

It’s alright, though I’d probably just grab this memory kit instead:

I guess dual-channel and slightly better chips would be worth it.

Thanks 👍

fadedorca66 said:The main thing holding that NUC back is the weak processor—basically an ultra-low power version shoved into a tiny little case with terrible cooling. Facebook, Gmail, and YouTube running in Firefox absolutely devour CPU cycles, and that's exactly where you hit the slowdown.

Whenever you're ready to dive in and actually see what kind of hardware you're working with so we can figure out what's worth saving, just shout. Maybe even our whole squad of IT nerds could swing by your place and actually get somewhere. 😁

If this were my actual job, I wouldn't be stressing over this at all; I’d just hire some pros to build me a killer setup, hand them the cash, and call it a day. Instead, it’s happening bit by bit.
I honestly only liked the NUC because it's tiny, but deep down, I much prefer a classic desktop. Not that I'm some expert on the differences between a NUC and everything else, I'll admit that.
I don't need a beast of a machine for work, and since I'm starting to dabble more in photography, nothing too insane should be necessary for amateur stuff.
Quick, slightly silly question: if I drop more money into a high-end, powerful NUC, is that even worth it, or can they never truly compete with a standard tower?
The thing is, I'm fascinated by the NUC for a few reasons—mainly the space savings—but I'm also totally unfamiliar with them and honestly prefer building my own rigs. I lean toward the classic route there; the idea of a NUC feels a bit too abstract to me, and I much prefer being able to crack a case open, swap parts, and fix things myself. The thought of even trying to take a NUC apart scares me...

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Pick up a Micro-ATX motherboard along with a case designed specifically for that form factor—or perhaps something even smaller, though I wouldn't really recommend going that route. You can certainly build a custom PC without much trouble; just be sure to double-check that the case supports a standard power supply. There is no need to overspend on a high-end unit or buy some cheap, used junk if your current one is still running fine.
Before you jump into a new build, I suggest taking your old setup apart and cleaning out all the dust and grime. It is likely overheating. If it continues to act up after a deep clean, then you are almost certainly looking at a hardware failure.

My current case is actually totally fine; my desk has plenty of room for a PC anyway, so there's really zero reason to swap that out. But honestly, my dad is just obsessed with this little tech marvel and hasn't stopped talking about it, so he's basically seeing this as his golden opportunity to talk me into it 😁 or at least try his luck! 🙂
I'll figure things out once I tear it down, but honestly, I don't care much if I'm doing this solo, and life is just pure chaos everywhere right now
For me, the desktop setup was working almost perfectly; lately I’ve been using Firefox and when opening Word, I’ve been cleaning it regularly—plus I got my high-speed fiber installed in the meantime, so the internet itself wasn't the issue
A few months back, I mentioned this one 1TB drive that kept locking itself up out of nowhere... like, I'd go to open it to copy or edit something and boom, it's stuck, over and over again, but that was pretty much it
I was thinking, if the motherboard is actually the culprit, maybe I should just grab a new one, a new processor, and some extra RAM. I'm sitting at 4GB right now, which feels like it should be okay, plus I'll obviously need to reinstall Windows—and I am definitely going to pester you guys for advice on that, so the more recommendations the better 🙂
The only thing bugging me is that drive (Windows isn't on it, it's on the SSD)... would a fresh install of Windows fix that, or is the drive itself just straight-up dying?
Having tons of storage is huge for me; I don't necessarily mean internal space, but extra stuff like external drives that I use via card readers, so I wouldn't mind keeping this 1TB one around, but if it's totally trashed, I'm too scared to keep using it. How can I check if it's toast?
So far, I've only had one instance where the hard drive died on me; I unplugged it and everything went back to normal!

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In my opinion, building a small ITX PC is a much better move than messing around with any kind of NUC (for the reasons mentioned above). Sure, you end up paying a premium for that compact form factor, even if it means fewer features, but at least you’re getting actual performance and the ability to upgrade later.

As for the issue you're facing, there is a 99.99% chance it isn't the motherboard's fault—assuming it actually boots at all. Usually, when a motherboard is faulty, the PC won't boot up whatsoever.