How often do new builds go wrong?

marl

marl

marl

Soldato
Joined
16 Jun 2004
Posts
2,825
Hi guys.

I'd really like to build my own rig, (i intend to change after Xmas as should have saved the cash by then) and overclock it a little. However, the one thing that puts me off is the risk of component failure and what to do when things go wrong as i don't have access to other compatible components to swap across and test things with.

My own PC was built by a mate but not without diffs as follows-:

CPU would not run at its recommended speed without crashing about once every 2-3 hours. After a week of this system had to be reformatted. It ran fine if set a fraction faster or slower.

In same batch memory was faulty and had to be returned.

A couple of years later i got Radeon 9800 pro which also had to be returned.

Regarding the first system i owned, the monitor was replaced 3 times in its first year and a 4th time a week before the extended warranty ran out!

So although i'd like to build my own, i'm starting to think a pre-built system would be a lot less trouble!
 
iv never had a componant fail, touch wood. iv only had one fualt on a new rig and that was human error and im too embarassed to say what went wrong :P
 
Usually if something is faulty it fails early or from the get go, the problem is knowing how to diagnose a problem when it occurs, and understand if indeed the hardware is at fault or if you've done something wrong.

There's no easy way to do it, you learn from experience, and using the forums helps to...
 
If you feel confident dismantling your current mate-built rig, they you are very likely able to build one yourself.

A little research before hand.. i.e. a Spec post.. and patience when building it. It really should be a doddle, in fact it is much easier these days, when I were a lad... *incoherent mumbling*.
 
I would agree with t31os. Unless a component is DOA, if it works OK for a week, then it will usually run the course (IE. last). Not always the case of course!

I always think it's handy if you can re-use some of the existing components. That way you can be pretty much rule out certain components if you get problems right at the start.

Once you've upgraded / re-built a couple of times, you usually end up with enough bits to build a spare PC. That way you still have access to the Internet to get help and also handy to have another PC to try bits in etc.

My last failure was a 7900GS that went belly up after two days of decent use.


Besides forums like this, there a couple of half decent guides on the WEB that contain fault finding sections.

Be prepared should be your motto. Read up on your hardware, read some decent guise (hardware and OS) and print off certain things before hand (like the BIOS beep codes).

You'll have great fun building your own.
 
Chances are everything will go just perfect. But. Building a system when you don't have another as a backup isn't ideal, since in the event of things going pear-shaped, you've got no way to get online and search for solutions or help.
 
Nullvoid said:
Chances are everything will go just perfect. But. Building a system when you don't have another as a backup isn't ideal, since in the event of things going pear-shaped, you've got no way to get online and search for solutions or help.[/QUOTE

Good advice! However going on-line wont't be a problem as my current system is old spec and has no components i'd want to add to a new rig.
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Ah well that's great then, I wasn't sure if you'd be pillaging your old system for parts. You should go for it since you'll never get the same value for money out of a pre-built system (and booting your 'creation' up for the first time and having it all work perfect is pretty damn satisfying). :)
 
I've had 2 DOA motherboards for new-builds. Each time i've spent 2/3 days solid trying to figure out the problem. Got the board replaced and worked !
 
I've been building systems for nearly 10 years and in my experience things go wrong reasonably frequently. My last 2 builds have been disasters:

This year: Asus P5N-E SLI / E4300 / 2gig Corsair 5400C4 - complete refusal to post. Turned out Mobo was DOA.

2005: DFI NF4 Ultra-D / Venice 3000+ / 6800GT - Complete refusal to post. Returned CPU, tested as faulty. Still no POST with new cpu. Returned mobo which turned out to also be DOA.

It's really frustrating when you can't get a new build to even POST and have ruled out gfx card, RAM etc. I always buy new mobos and cpu at the same time, meaning I never have another of the same socket to use for testing purposes. Aside from the wasted time, it can also mean having to put all your old kit back together again so that you have a working system while waiting for RMA. I lost about 2 weeks this year, and a month back in 2005 (which was REALLY annoying, because I had a useless PCI-E gfx card sat around doing nothing, and by the time I got to use it the price had dropped by around £30! :(

That said, I wouldn't want to put you off doing it. Here's my key recommendations to ensure that you are able to cope with any difficulties:

1) Research before you buy - look for any potential incompatibilties.
2) While it is very tempting to simply throw all your kit together in the case and 'go for broke', the best approach imo is to keep things simple when you are first trying your new kit. Assemble everything outside the case and attempt to post with just cpu, ram and gfx card. This will make troubleshooting much easier.
3) Make sure you have plenty of space to work in with good overhead lighting - can be really frustrating peering around looking for pins, jumpers etc on the mobo
4) Have another system ready for internet access etc including supplier/order details.
5) Be patient and make sure you are connecting things together as they should be. I've done some pretty dumb things in the past due to impatience and poor lighting, such as wiring a floppy drive power supply up the wrong way round, trying to plug a floppy IDE cable into a hard drive, not putting enough screws in due to laziness etc
 
Millwall.FC said:
iv never had a componant fail, touch wood. iv only had one fualt on a new rig and that was human error and im too embarassed to say what went wrong :P
Click to expand...


lol you must tell us now!
 
i built my first rig about 1 year ago now, and nothing has ever gone wrong with it. Even when i was sick of the really loud fan on my GPU i (stupidly) on a hot day, un-plugged the fan. About 30-40mins later the monitor shut off and i couldn't get a screen back on. So took it apart thinking, oh cr*p i just destryod my card. So took side off, and the cooling duct that you get in the antec sonata II case. Went to plug fan back in and found (as should have being expected) the card was absolutley red hot, so waited for it to cool down. When cool i plugged fan back in, turned on comp and, touch wood, it's worked fine ever since
 
I've been building since 386DX40's and in all that time I've had around 4 systems go wrong.
Amazingly 2 of them were my own and both were PSU problems (Tagan).
 
As long as you know about the hardware adn where it goes then you cant really go too wrong to be honest. They look hard to build, but in reality they arent. They can be fiddly, but since you dont really have jumpers to set etc now its 100 times easier than it used to be.
 
Ye its just a matter of screwing a few things in here and there and connecting the right cables to their sockets, check everythings plugged in right etc and away. Building a pc just comes natural to me now, i dont have to stop and think about it.
 
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