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What component of your computer fails most often?

Check the components that you've had fail in one or more computers.

  • Processor

    Votes: 2 2.8%
  • Power Supply

    Votes: 24 33.8%
  • Mainboard/Motherboard

    Votes: 23 32.4%
  • Memory (RAM)

    Votes: 25 35.2%
  • Video Device/Graphics Card

    Votes: 17 23.9%
  • Sound Device/Sound Card

    Votes: 2 2.8%
  • Network Adapter/Network Card

    Votes: 3 4.2%
  • Optical Drive

    Votes: 16 22.5%
  • HDD/SDD Controller Card

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Hard Drive

    Votes: 25 35.2%
  • Solid State Drive

    Votes: 1 1.4%
  • Other

    Votes: 8 11.3%

  • Total voters
    71

SoF

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Joined
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I am not sure why but I lost a lot memory lately in all day systems. My GF's rig killed 2x1 GB ddr after running 2 years, my own now killed 1x 2GB as well as 2x1GB ddr2 within 2 years and last year I lost a tripple kit hyper during benching.

I am lucky with HDDs and GPUs for the past 5 years. Only one SSD decided to die, but there was no important data on it.
Mobo sometimes fail, but mainly due to my benching under LN2 or DICE...killed a TP45HP and RIIE far below -60°C so I must blame myself not the manufactures for that :p
 

panchoman

Sold my stars!
Joined
Jul 16, 2007
Messages
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Processor Amd Athlon X2 4600+ Windsor(90nm) EE(65W) @2.9-3.0 @1.45
Motherboard Biostar Tforce [Nvidia] 550
Cooling Thermaltake Blue Orb-- bunch of other fans here and there....
Memory 2 gigs (2x1gb) of patriot ddr2 800 @ 4-4-4-12-2t
Video Card(s) Sapphire X1950pro Pci-E x16 @stock@stock on stock
Storage Seagate 7200.11 250gb Drive, WD raptors (30/40) in Raid 0
Display(s) ANCIENT 15" sony lcd, bought it when it was like 500 bucks
Case Apevia X-plorer blue/black
Audio Device(s) Onboard- Why get an sound card when you can hum??
Power Supply Antec NeoHe 550-manufactured by seasonic -replacement to the discontinued smart power series
Software Windows XP pro SP2 -- vista is still crap
hopefully this poll shows that its neccessary to use quality psu's...
 
Joined
Dec 18, 2009
Messages
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Location
London, UK
System Name Slick
Processor Intel i5 2467M
Motherboard Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook
Memory 8GB Corsair Value
Storage Crucial M4 7mm 256GB
Display(s) 13"
Software Windows 8 Pro x64
Back in P45 days it was always Asus mobo failures and EVGA with X58. After those it's the Skythe fans, really good but 50% chance of failure so far.
 
Joined
Apr 8, 2009
Messages
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Location
vermont
System Name The wifes worst enemy
Processor i5-9600k
Motherboard Asrock z390 phantom gaming 4
Cooling water
Memory 16gb G.skill ripjaw DDR4 2400 4X4GB 15-15-15-35-2T
Video Card(s) Asrock 5600xt phantom gaming 6gb 14gb/s
Storage crucial M500 120GB SSD, Pny 256GB SSD, seagate 750GB, seagate 2TB HDD, WD blue 1TB 2.5" HDD
Display(s) 27 inch samsung @ 1080p but capable of much more ;)
Case Corsair AIR 540 Cube Mid tower
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply EVGA GQ1000W MODULAR
Mouse generic for now
Keyboard generic for now
Software gotta love steam, origin etc etc
Benchmark Scores http://hwbot.org/user/philbrown_23/
i have had more motherboards die then anything else but cpu's is a close 3rd gpu's is 2nd
 
Joined
Oct 6, 2005
Messages
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Location
Granite Bay, CA
System Name Big Devil
Processor Intel Core i5-2500K
Motherboard ECS P67H2-A2
Cooling XSPC Rasa | Black Ice GT Stealth 240 | XSPC X2O 750 | 2x ACF12PWM | PrimoChill White 7/16"
Memory 2x4GB Corsair Vengeance LP Arctic White 1600MHz CL9
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 780 ACX SC
Storage Intel 520 Series 180GB + WD 1TB Blue
Display(s) HP ZR30W 30" 2650x1600 IPS
Case Corsair 600T SE
Audio Device(s) Xonar Essence STX | Sennheisser PC350 "Hero" Modded | Corsair SP2500
Power Supply ABS SL 1050W (Enermax Revolution Rebadge)
Software Windows 8.1 x64 Pro w/ Media Center
Benchmark Scores Ducky Year of the Snake w/ Cherry MX Browns & Year of the Tiger PBT Keycaps | Razer Deathadder Black
At the shop I work at, we replace a lot of HDDs and PSUs. A decent amount of motherboards as well. And of course laptop keyboards and displays. Almost all of them seem to be related to misuse, carelessness, or a badly assembled computer (underpowered cheapo PSU, no airflow over the HDD, too much dust to get rid of without causing everyone's allergies to flare up, and of course dropping laptops). I'd say about 90% of the problems we run into hardware-wise would be solved if the machines were taken care of properly.
 

Kursah

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 15, 2006
Messages
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Location
Missoula, MT, USA
System Name Kursah's Gaming Rig 2018 (2022 Upgrade) - Ryzen+ Edition | Gaming Laptop (Lenovo Legion 5i Pro 2022)
Processor R7 5800X @ Stock | i7 12700H @ Stock
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix X370-F Gaming BIOS 6203| Legion 5i Pro NM-E231
Cooling Noctua NH-U14S Push-Pull + NT-H1 | Stock Cooling
Memory TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 32GB (2x16) DDR4 4000 @ 3600 18-20-20-42 1.35v | 32GB DDR5 4800 (2x16)
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 4070 JetStream 12GB | CPU-based Intel Iris XE + RTX 3070 8GB 150W
Storage 4TB SP UD90 NVME, 960GB SATA SSD, 2TB HDD | 1TB Samsung OEM NVME SSD + 4TB Crucial P3 Plus NVME SSD
Display(s) Acer 28" 4K VG280K x2 | 16" 2560x1600 built-in
Case Corsair 600C - Stock Fans on Low | Stock Metal/Plastic
Audio Device(s) Aune T1 mk1 > AKG K553 Pro + JVC HA-RX 700 (Equalizer APO + PeaceUI) | Bluetooth Earbuds (BX29)
Power Supply EVGA 750G2 Modular + APC Back-UPS Pro 1500 | 300W OEM (heavy use) or Lenovo Legion C135W GAN (light)
Mouse Logitech G502 | Logitech M330
Keyboard HyperX Alloy Core RGB | Built in Keyboard (Lenovo laptop KB FTW)
Software Windows 11 Pro x64 | Windows 11 Home x64
I've seen RAM fail more than anything, GPU's being 2nd. Though my memory failures are almost all from the DDR2 era, one in DDR1 and I don't have a DDR3 setup yet.

I checked all items that failed one or more, but after this thread peters out...you should do one with a failure of 2+. I think that'll show the more common failures better for those that are curious. I've had one of almost everything on your list fail on me at one point or another. Though on 2 or more, I'd be limited to Memory and MB for my personal rigs.
 
Joined
Sep 20, 2010
Messages
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Processor AMD Phenom II X4 945
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H
Memory 6gb DDR3-1333
Video Card(s) Sapphire Radeon HD6870
Storage Seagate 1tb
Display(s) Acer AL2216W
Case Generic
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply Ultra LS-550
Joined
Sep 1, 2009
Messages
255 (0.05/day)
Location
Ohio
Processor AMD 5800X
Motherboard Asrock x570 Taichi
Cooling NZXT Kraken Z73
Memory G.Skill TridentZ NEO 3600@3800
Video Card(s) MSI Gaming X RTX3060
Storage ADATA SX8200 1Tb, Samsung 950 Pro 256Gb
Display(s) Acer XV240Y, Acer KG240A
Case Corsair 750D
Audio Device(s) SteelSeries Arctis 7
Power Supply SeaSonic Platinum 860W
Mouse Razer Mamba TE
Keyboard Corsair K95
Software Win11 X64
I've only really killed one kind, ram, Crucial Ballistix line both DDR and DDR2 , not sure why they died since they were always run at spec but stranger things have happened lol.
 
Joined
Oct 29, 2009
Messages
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System Name Old Gateway / Steam Deck OLED LE
Processor i5 4440 3.1ghz / Jupiter 4c 8t
Motherboard Gateway / Valve
Cooling Eh it doesn't thermal throttle
Memory 2x 8GB JEDEC 1600mhz DDR3 / 16gb DDR5 6400
Video Card(s) RX 560D 4GB / Navi II 8CU
Storage 240gb 2.5 SSD / 1TB nvme
Display(s) Dell @ 1280*1024 75hz / 800p OLED
Case Gateway / Valve LE
Audio Device(s) Gateway Diamond Audio EMC2.0-USB 5375U ($15 a long ass time ago), Valve
Power Supply 380w oem / 65w valve USB-C
Mouse Purple Walmart special, 1600dpi. Black desk mat
Keyboard SteelSeries Apex 100 / virtual
VR HMD Lmao
Software Windows 10 / Steam OS
Benchmark Scores It can run Crysis (Original), Doom 2016, and Halo MCC. SD LE 45fps
Emachines... (all components equally fail), cheap powersupplies, memory, laptop hard drives and optical drives....

my brother who punches his laptop's screen b/c he's mad it won't load something...
 
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Messages
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System Name Obelisc
Processor i7 3770k @ 4.8 GHz
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V
Cooling H110
Memory 16GB(4x4) @ 2400 MHz 9-11-11-31
Video Card(s) GTX 780 Ti
Storage 850 EVO 1TB, 2x 5TB Toshiba
Case T81
Audio Device(s) X-Fi Titanium HD
Power Supply EVGA 850 T2 80+ TITANIUM
Software Win10 64bit
For me it's mostly low profile graphics cards with weak little blowers and cpu fans. My pothead customers have the weirdest dust. I swear this one guy had some steel wool thing going on, fan's couldn't even be spun by hand.
 
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Location
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Processor i7-3770K
Motherboard Biostar Hi-Fi Z77
Cooling Swiftech H20 (w/Custom External Rad Enclosure)
Memory 16GB DDR3-2400Mhz
Video Card(s) Alienware GTX 1070
Storage 1TB Samsung 850 EVO
Display(s) 32" LG 1440p
Case Cooler Master 690 (w/Mods)
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium
Power Supply Corsair 750-TX
Mouse Logitech G5
Keyboard G. Skill Mechanical
Software Windows 10 (X64)
My main problem over the years has been bad or dying hard drives, but they seem to be getting more reliable in more recent years. Hard drives sucked in the 80's and 90's. (I'm old, hehe). Have dealt with some bad memory here and there too.
 
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Location
Australia
System Name Night Rider | Mini LAN PC | Workhorse
Processor AMD R7 5800X3D | Ryzen 1600X | i7 970
Motherboard MSi AM4 Pro Carbon | GA- | Gigabyte EX58-UD5
Cooling Noctua U9S Twin Fan| Stock Cooler, Copper Core)| Big shairkan B
Memory 2x8GB DDR4 G.Skill Ripjaws 3600MHz| 2x8GB Corsair 3000 | 6x2GB DDR3 1300 Corsair
Video Card(s) MSI AMD 6750XT | 6500XT | MSI RX 580 8GB
Storage 1TB WD Black NVME / 250GB SSD /2TB WD Black | 500GB SSD WD, 2x1TB, 1x750 | WD 500 SSD/Seagate 320
Display(s) LG 27" 1440P| Samsung 20" S20C300L/DELL 15" | 22" DELL/19"DELL
Case LIAN LI PC-18 | Mini ATX Case (custom) | Atrix C4 9001
Audio Device(s) Onboard | Onbaord | Onboard
Power Supply Silverstone 850 | Silverstone Mini 450W | Corsair CX-750
Mouse Coolermaster Pro | Rapoo V900 | Gigabyte 6850X
Keyboard MAX Keyboard Nighthawk X8 | Creative Fatal1ty eluminx | Some POS Logitech
Software Windows 10 Pro 64 | Windows 10 Pro 64 | Windows 7 Pro 64/Windows 10 Home
For me, with looking after this town with there computer issues this is what i have found to die the most for me, in order.

RAM
PSU
HDD
Optical Drive
Mobo

The rest seem to be ok.
 
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Messages
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Processor AMD Phenom II X4 945
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H
Memory 6gb DDR3-1333
Video Card(s) Sapphire Radeon HD6870
Storage Seagate 1tb
Display(s) Acer AL2216W
Case Generic
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply Ultra LS-550
Emachines... (all components equally fail), cheap powersupplies, memory, laptop hard drives and optical drives....

my brother who punches his laptop's screen b/c he's mad it won't load something...

What do you expect from a $200 desktop? I don't even bother with disposable computers from any of the mass marketers anymore. I'd rather build my own with the level of upgradability and expandability that I want instead of having my options limited by a company that wants to keep me buying new computers year after year.
 
Last edited:
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May 11, 2009
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Location
Colorado
System Name not sure yet
Processor R9 3950X
Motherboard Asrock X570 Taichi
Cooling It's a secret for now..
Memory 64GB Vengeance
Video Card(s) 2080Ti FE
Storage 2x 1TB NVME, 3x 500GB SSD, 2TB SSHD
Display(s) Predator 27" 4k 144hz, 55" Vizio 4k
Case Lian Li O11-D White
Audio Device(s) Steel Series Wireless
Power Supply EVGA 1200W
Mouse Glorious D-
Keyboard GMMK 60% Red Box Caps
Software Windows 8.1 Profession x64
My OZX Onyx SSD died, the Agility they sent me plays hide and seek sometimes and is on its way out.
 
Joined
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Messages
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Location
State College, PA, US
System Name My Surround PC
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard ASUS STRIX X670E-F
Cooling Swiftech MCP35X / EK Quantum CPU / Alphacool GPU / XSPC 480mm w/ Corsair Fans
Memory 96GB (2 x 48 GB) G.Skill DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Suprim X 24GB
Storage WD SN850 2TB, 2 x 512GB Samsung PM981a, 4 x 4TB HGST NAS HDD for Windows Storage Spaces
Display(s) 2 x Viotek GFI27QXA 27" 4K 120Hz + LG UH850 4K 60Hz + HMD
Case NZXT Source 530
Audio Device(s) Sony MDR-7506 / Logitech Z-5500 5.1
Power Supply Corsair RM1000x 1 kW
Mouse Patriot Viper V560
Keyboard Corsair K100
VR HMD HP Reverb G2
Software Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Mellanox ConnectX-3 10 Gb/s Fiber Network Card
My motherboards have always been the most failure-prone component. Processors are the most stable, by far.
 
Joined
Oct 29, 2009
Messages
2,666 (0.51/day)
System Name Old Gateway / Steam Deck OLED LE
Processor i5 4440 3.1ghz / Jupiter 4c 8t
Motherboard Gateway / Valve
Cooling Eh it doesn't thermal throttle
Memory 2x 8GB JEDEC 1600mhz DDR3 / 16gb DDR5 6400
Video Card(s) RX 560D 4GB / Navi II 8CU
Storage 240gb 2.5 SSD / 1TB nvme
Display(s) Dell @ 1280*1024 75hz / 800p OLED
Case Gateway / Valve LE
Audio Device(s) Gateway Diamond Audio EMC2.0-USB 5375U ($15 a long ass time ago), Valve
Power Supply 380w oem / 65w valve USB-C
Mouse Purple Walmart special, 1600dpi. Black desk mat
Keyboard SteelSeries Apex 100 / virtual
VR HMD Lmao
Software Windows 10 / Steam OS
Benchmark Scores It can run Crysis (Original), Doom 2016, and Halo MCC. SD LE 45fps
What do you expect from a $200 desktop? I don't even bother with disposable computers from any of the mass marketers anymore. I'd rather build my own with the level of upgradability and expandability that I want instead of having my options limited by a company that wants to keep me buying new computers year after year.

I don't buy em... I fix em for the poor souls that do.
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2010
Messages
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System Name Eldritch
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 5800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF X570 Pro Wifi
Cooling Satan's butthole after going to Taco Bell
Memory 64 GB G.Skill TridentZ
Video Card(s) Vega 56
Storage 6*8TB Western Digital Blues in RAID 6, 2*512 GB Samsung 960 Pros
Display(s) Acer CB281HK
Case Phanteks Enthoo Pro PH-ES614P_BK
Audio Device(s) ASUS Xonar DX
Power Supply EVGA Supernova 750 G2
Mouse Razer Viper 8K
Software Debian Bullseye
The operating system, above ALL. It usually causes problems in other components.
 

Josh154

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Nov 5, 2010
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Location
Hartford SD
System Name 24/7 folder
Processor Intel core i7 920 D0 @ 4.0 1.216v
Motherboard ASRock X58 Extreme
Cooling Corsair H50
Memory G.SKILL 6gb 1600Mhz
Video Card(s) 2x evga 8800GTS 512mb SLI
Storage WD Caviar Blue 320gb
Display(s) Vizo 32"1080p
Case NZXT Lexa S
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply PC Power&Cooling Silencer 750w
Software Windows 7 home premium 64-bit
I'd say ram and power supplys. So many people cheap out on power supply's and then they randomely go bad along with PSU's from prebuilts.

RAM i've had go out many times on me in my laptop. No overclocking or anything either, it just finds a way to fail for no reason.
 
Joined
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Location
By the Channel Tunnel, Kent, England
System Name Benny
Processor Phenom II 1055t @ 3.3GHz; 300x11; 1.380v; NB 2700; HT 2400
Motherboard ASUS Crosshair IV Formula (2002 BIOS)
Cooling Thermalright TRUE 120 Black + 2 Xilence Red Wing PWM 120mm (push/pull) + polycarbonate fan holders
Memory 8GB GeIL Ultra 2133MHZ C9 running at 1600MHz @ 7-7-7-21 1T 1.5v
Video Card(s) MSI Twin Frozr II GTX470 @ Stock w/CPU fan cable-tied on, as one of the GPU fans broke.
Storage 60GB OCZ Agility3 (OS);500GB WDC Grn; 1x1TB WDC Blk (Backup)
Display(s) ASUS PA823Q
Case Silverstone Raven 2 (all cables custom sleeved with velcro mod on side panel...)
Audio Device(s) X-Fi (Onboard) + Harmon Kardon HK6100 amp powering JVC HA-RX700's with Zalman mic
Power Supply Corsair HX650W
Software Win7 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores No benchies so making this space useful! Corsair M90, Logitech G19. Phobya FlexLight LED's (gawjus)
RAM and HDD's. Always. Around the winter, I seem to always be replacing people's RAM. One of my mates lives in a crappy flat, and one time he bought his rig to me to fix and there was condensation on the CMOS battery and the RAM heatspreaders!!!
The same friend bought his rig to me another time, and I found a dead spider stuck to the bottom of his HDD, on the circuit board!!!
 
Joined
Sep 12, 2008
Messages
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Location
Denmark
Processor Intel Core i7-6700k - Stock, multi core boost enabled
Motherboard MSI Z170i Gaming Pro AC
Cooling Noctua NH-U14S + Arctic MX2 thermal paste, 2 case fans (front and rear).
Memory 2x8gb Kingston DDR4 2666mhz
Video Card(s) MSI Geforce 1060 GTX Gaming X
Storage 120gb Samsung 830 EVO SSD, 240gb Samung 840 Evo SSD, 1tb Seagate HDD, 960gb Corsair Force MP510B
Display(s) Dell Ultrasharp 1920x1080
Case Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX SE
Power Supply SilverStone SST-ST85F-P
Mouse Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0
Keyboard Steelseries 6Gv2 - Cherry MX Black edition
Software OS: Windows 10 Pro 64bit.
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R20 multicore score: 2249. Cinebench R23 multicore score: 5149.
Nothing really, it gets increasingly rare for anything to fail on me. I think for two reasons: Ive gotten better at buying quality stuff, and products in general are of higher quality.

BUT if i should say what has failed me the most over the many years ive built pc's, it has to be ram. Thats the part i have replaced the most.
 
Joined
Sep 21, 2010
Messages
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Location
Bali Indonesia
System Name New Comer...
Processor i7 3770k + fx6300
Motherboard Sabertooth z77 + GA 970 D3
Cooling Noctua NH-D14 + Thermolab Baram
Memory 2x4gb Ripjaws + 2x4gb Vengeance
Video Card(s) HIS 7950 + HIS 7770
Storage M4 ssd + 2x1tb Caviar Blue
Display(s) Samsung BX2450 24"
Case Stryker + Antec 900
Audio Device(s) OnBoard
Power Supply Seasonic p760 + Seasonic M12II-520
Software Windows 7 Ultimate 64
Hdd's n graphics 2 years and now motherboards but it's already 5 years i guess it's dat time already
 
Joined
Mar 24, 2010
Messages
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Location
Iberian Peninsula
since a couple of years ODD are shitty (and so cheap) they fail from day one (or are the discs worse?)

But a HDD failure is second most frequent and first most annoying! :rockout:
 
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