Problems with the effin PC

[Pedrito]

Ok, so my desktop computer is not a year old and is giving me some fucking problems:

It hangs on in completely random moments after booting it (sometimes 3 minutes, sometimes half an hour); the block usually ends in a BSOD, but sometimes it simply restarts.
WHen it restarts, after the RAM check it says it can't find a bootable device.

Every clue points to a HDD error, but I never knew of discs that sometimes work, sometimes hang on after three minutes: usually either they're broken, or they're working...
Could be because it's a SSD drive?

I've thought about updating the BIOS, but the actual instability of the system could lead to a catastrophic crash in the middle of the update, and I don't want to have to recover the motherboard.

Ideas, anyone?

L.

[DontSayBanana]

Never worked with a damaged SSD before, but I have known damaged power supplies and motherboards to show similar intermittent problems.

[Grey Fox]

I feel it's either RAM or Power Supply.

[Pedrito]

  

Is there any kind of software that can help a n00b trace the origin of hardware problems?

L.

[Arvoreen]

To help try to diagnose memory issues, try memtest86+

http://www.memtest.org/

[Pedrito]

Well, damn...

I traced the problems to a failing SSD, got a new one and was merrily (...) reinstalling everything, when I decided to update the motherboard BIOS: something went wrong, and now the pc lock up seconds after completing the POST.

I strictly followed the manufacturer's instructions, and in the BIOS screen it seems updated to the newer version, but it doesn't work...

Dammit.

L.

[Arvoreen]

It might be that your BIOS config is corrupted.  There should be a mechanism to reset/clear any custom BIOS settings back to defaults (Often, you put a jumper in place, power up, then down and remove the jumper).  I would look in your manual (motherboard) and see if that is an option.