How often do receive dead components when upgrading?

Never had anything until about a month ago when I got a duff Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8Ghz. The multiplier was stuck at 6x so I had a 1.2Ghz Core 2 Duo! The world's first!

I'm reluctant to get another as I'm not sure if it was a problem with the CPU or the motherboard, plus it cost me £30 to get it, get the paste for it and send it back again.
 
The only thing DOA ive had was some ddr a few years back, a few things have gone after a few months usage, HDD's seem to die after a few years.
 
have had a few components such as hard drives die over prelonged 24/7 use but these were cheap excaliber ones from years ago....have still got a p3 450 @ 600 system that works that was built in 1999/2000 I think and all the components are still functioning and the overclock still going strong.
 
Forgot I've also had a hard disk enclosure arrive broken - how on earth a hard drive enclosure could half work I don't know.
 
Only once, an Evga i680 motherboard, couldn't get it too post no matter what I tried, so RMA'ed it, and got an Asus 975x mobo, which fired up first time. :)
 
Had 1 hdd from a competitor fail after 3 days usage, sent it back and got it changed.

Had 1 video card arrive faulty from OcUK, x800gto which was corrupted from the start, rang them, arranged RMA, sent card back and they sent me a better card because it was out of stock (256mb model replaced with 512mb model). New card arrived and was faultless.

Thats it, not had anything else arrive faulty or DOA.... fingers crossed... :D

Just to metion though, i play carefully with any hardware i recieve, i always ground myself... i don't care what anyone says about not doing it and never having problems, a little static can still cause problems later on, just because hardware doesnt fail from the start doesnt mean you havnt cause any damage via static buildup.
 
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A DOA P5N32-E m/board just a few weeks back and a Linksys router that arrived with a snapped aerial last year. Other than that, have had six Maxtor drives fail in the last 4 years. Refuse to buy Maxtor drives now.
 
jamoor said:
Has anyone actually ever had a computer die due to age or simply getting old?

I never have.
Click to expand...
It's nearly always the moving or stressed parts that fail - fans, HDDs and PSUs. The actual electronics just seem to keep going.
 
Snapshot said:
It's nearly always the moving or stressed parts that fail - fans, HDDs and PSUs. The actual electronics just seem to keep going.
Click to expand...
Yup thats right. Motherboards seem pretty indestructible these days except the ones that have been built using substandard caps, wish I knew enough to replace these things.

Most memory seems to last forever as well, the best was Crucial, their stuff never went wrong but then they went and released their BALLISTIX PC3200/4000 which lasted about 6-9 months before starting to fail.

The Hard-disk most likely to fail in my book is MAXTOR, the least likey is WESTERN DIGITAL or SAMSUNG, dunno what it is with the Maxtors?

The PSU is the one though, in general I think these should be replaced every two years, some people may disagree but I have seen a heap of computer problems the past 12 months caused either by a PSU failure or even worse when the PSU is half-dead (Undead PSU not nice).

As a hardcore rule of thumb, I would expect that a new component may well be faulty. so if possible make sure you have a backup plan (i.e spare stick of ram, spare hard disk etc). If everything goes smooth and you have no problems then thats a *bonus* just don't expect that things will go smooth :D
 
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