Weakest Link

[leichaolan]

Just wondering about which component of a standard desktop pc is most likely to break down first. Also, what is the most likely cause of a power supply failure?(constantly being on, constantly being shut on and off, etc)
Any thoughts?

[Rick]

Drives and Fan are the most likely to fail
They are mechanical and or have moving parts.

I think the largest reason for a Power supply failing is the power source Voltage .
Brown outs and spikes can do more damage than power up/down and or leaving then on all the time

[hiredgoonz]

Agree with Rick...anything with moving parts isn't gonna last forever.

ALTHOUGH, I have burned out more network cards than anything else, killed two PCMCIA, one PCI and one ISA (the PCI got so hot, I almost burned myself, but the system is perfectly fine) guess maybe I just have bad luck with NICs.

But I have two hard drives (1.2gb and 1gb) that are 6 and 7 yrs old respectively, and they still work. Both have had almost constant use throughout their life. One's a quantum and the other is a Maxtor...

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When all else fails, read the instructions.

Microsoft Knowledge Base (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;rid;kbinfo)

Drivers (http://www.driverguide.com)

Google (http://www.google.com)

[NamelessHero]

I killed 4 hard disks (all were Quantum, differen sizes) due to a bad power supply. One of them burned right in front of my eyes! So guess, is the weakest link hard disks or power supplies?

[hiredgoonz]

I would say the hard drives, seems to me the power supply won that fight, killed 4 hard drives before it died, that's not bad... http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/tongue.gif

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When all else fails, read the instructions.

Microsoft Knowledge Base (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;rid;kbinfo)

Drivers (http://www.driverguide.com)

Google (http://www.google.com)

[iisbob]

As a system administrator for different companies over the years, i'd have to say hard drives have to be the most consistant piece of of the PC to fail that i've seen { this specifically includes SCSI }.


Though i'll have to agree with Rick and say power supplies are a close second.

Those and mice/keyboards used by inexperianced, frustrated " users ".

{in the IT world the term " user is akin to profanity } http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif



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iisbob

The man who sets out to carry a cat by its tail learns something that will always be useful and which never will grow dim or doubtful. -- Mark Twain.

[borgdrone1of2]

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif hello
a frend of mine has a rather old pentium 1 and till i used his computer a few months ago he happend to watch me shut his computer off by the start buton.that computer from the day it was new till than had been only shut off by the power switch.the thing has allaways run fine and still does althoughts shut down easyly now lol.so some times no mater what you do they work and some times you baby them and they dont http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif
have a nice day

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resistance is invigorateing lol