How stable is your PC?

[HotStuff]

Nearly 2 weeks ago, I made the decision to drop out of a COD4 clan game due to the instablilty of my PC. 20% of the time I powered on, it wouldn't load windows correctly, it just behaved oddly, when you clicked IE7, it would take like 2 mins to start. Yet 80% of the time windows loaded just fine and all games worked beautifully - I can't remember the last time a game crashed on me. It was just that 20% of the time that drove me mad!!! I ran hardware check utility "memtest86+" which checks that m/b, processor and memory are working with each other ok and it passed with flying colours. The obvious explanation that jumped to mind is that some software conflict(s) were causing issues. I then spent about 3 days coming up with a 37 step by step procedure for doing a clean install of windows. On sunday I took the plunge and reformatted the Hard drive and re-installed.

I have never been so cautious with a windows installation. My system now is working but very basic with motherboard drivers, soundcard, mouse, graphics, norton, directx, BT homehub, IE7 and office xp installed. Of course I have made a few backups at various stages using Acronis v11 during this careful process.

In short, my PC is in a state it would be if you were given a new PC at work.

Why am I doing this? because I want to be 100% sure that my system is working perfectly before installing games. Needless to say windows has was loaded up perfectly everytime since Sunday, but I still need more convincing. I am thinking of maybe Monday or Tuesday next week to taking the next step of maybe installing Nero or steam - not before making a further incremental backup first though.

So why am I posting? In terms of using a PC for excercising my game playing hobby, I think I am begining to percieve PC's as more of a nusiance than a pleasure. I am wondering what you guys think/feel about your PC, so please ask yourself the following questions/comment on my situation and post a reply if you wish.

How stable is your machine?

Do you accept it?

Why do you accept it?

Should we be accepting it?

What can we do about it?

 

[DocBot]

Well, since I replaced my RAM, HD, RAM(again), mb, PSU, graphics card and CPU (since it there were no new mbs with that socket), everything is super stable. But it took some time and some tears, as you might recall.

re: accepting it, well. It's a home built machine. I've had some utterly bad luck with the components (since I got everything replaced including postage + my actual money back in the end for some things I'm quite certain the company hasn't made much profit by selling me the shoddy goods). What else is there? If I want something guaranteed to work properly, I'll buy a dell or a mac. or something. With a proper service guarantee. In that sense, I guess you get what you pay for.

So that's why I accept it (in the sense that I accept that I have to replace some parts, or, in my case, all of them). I saved money by buying the parts separately and not having the prebuilt/tested/service guaranteed option. And that came back to bite me in the arse. Although after a year of trouble, I haven't paid any extra, and I have a much better comp than what I originally paid for.

Accepting it? No, we shouldn't. We should claim warranty. And that's about the only thing we can do about it, imho.

 

[Cookalarcha]

How stable is your machine?
Fairly stable but sometimes playing HL2 or any games ursing source engine + CoH i can get a Blue screen and need to restart....

Do you accept it?
Hell no. Unless i realy realy want to play that certain game

Why do you accept it?
I just said

Should we be accepting it?
Should it be happening!!

What can we do about it?
Not alot, but move to console gaming. at least your garanteed it will play the games
Also ther cheaper

 

[DocBot]

Not alot, but move to console gaming. at least your garanteed it will play the games

*cough*redringofdeath*cough*

 

[thatbloke]

How stable is your machine?
Very. Never had a single problem with it that I have not been able to resolve by updating a driver. Had the same windows install for over 3 years, never reformatted. Even though since the initial install everything except the Hard Drive has changed (been upgraded) at some point.

Do you accept it?
Of course, I never have any problems.

Why do you accept it?
Not really applicable...

Should we be accepting it?
When things go wrong? Hell no.

What can we do about it?
Try and look after your PC more? I know this may sound patronising but seriously... I have had NO PROBLEMS whatsoever with my windows installation. Ever. No hardware problems (well, I did have an overheating CPU once but that was due to not having cleaned the fan/heatsink for 2 years, allowing a layer of dust to grow inbetween the fan/heatsink).

I find that screwing around with things only makes you more knowledgeable in what your system is/is not capable of. I do not overclock my system as I know that this can be a big cause of hardware instability. I have a setup at the moment that I am happy with and (fingers crossed) has never failed on me.

All problems are solveable, I think that perhaps in the computer stakes, you may have drawn the short straw.

And by the way there is still plenty of room in a CoD4 squad for you and anyone else that is interested

 

[Traxata]

How stable is your machine?
Very. Never had a single problem with it that I have not been able to resolve by updating a driver.

What about your new found colour issue ? ITS NOT MY PC!

 

[thatbloke]

What about your new found colour issue ? ITS NOT MY PC!

yes it frickin well is.

 

[waterproofbob]

errr well since I've had this latest build I've had no stability issues that weren't my own making.

I love PC OCing and hardware tweaking so I expect when I'm pushing it for things to fall over. Pushing a Q6600 to 3.8 for example without going through my usual rigorous voltage check and RAM speed tinkering routine and watching the PC post and then crash violently forcing the BIOS to reset itself and go ARGHH.

Other than self induced problems I get nothing that particularly bothers me with mine. I love building PCs so although it can be a short term annoyance I do enjoy diagnosing and fixing problems. Even if at the time I'm sitting there praying with all my might that it'll all turn on again in a few minutes. I've learnt a lot in the last few years about what not to do/buy in terms on computing and I'm loving my current build to bits.

I love my PC and as it is my build to my spec running exactly as I'd want it, with cable routing better than most custom builds I must admit I have no complaints. It's an arse when something breaks but it usually fixable and if it's not it's RMAable which can be a pain but is usual no big deal.

 

[Cookalarcha]

*cough*redringofdeath*cough*

I believe ive been supporting PS3 sonys amaizing console that surpases any xbox and red rings they oftenly seem to get

 

[Ronin Storm]

I've been building my own machines for over a decade and I've had very mixed experiences with them.

Currently I have three systems up and running at home that aren't work-owned: my desktop, Rojaws' desktop and one I use downstairs to play music/movies as I don't have a TV. That last one used to be my desktop.

My current desktop is rock stable. Almost bomb proof. I spent hours scouring the web to choose the components, checking for both positive and negative reviews before accepting a component into the build. I chose components that I've had high success with in previous builds and avoided ones from manufacturers who have let me down. I then did a four way price shoot-out to find the best prices and spent an entire day very carefully assembling the components bit by bit. I'm pleased with the results. It also took me a huge amount of time to achieve. Prognosis: 3 years to live, obsolete in 2.

My old desktop is dying. The components span various generations as some are five years old and some only two years old. I think something on the motherboard is dying as that system blue screens randomly, with no warning and no clarity to what causes the crashes. Microsoft's analysis never gives me anything aside from generic responses to unintelligible error codes. I've stripped it down to the bare bones and I'll run it 'til it dies. Prognosis: 6 months to live.

Rojaws' system is in better shape but the monitor is dying. The best of the components from the machine above went into her machine. Still, it is running slowly for the build and because it is from the pre-PCIe world the cost to upgrade is phenomenal: everything must go, pretty much. So, there's another system I'll run 'til it dies. Prognosis: 18 months to live, already obsolete.

I've had motherboard problems, hard drive failures, monitor failures, graphics card failures, sound card failures, PSU failures... you name it, I've had to replace it, pretty much. It's expensive and, by now, pretty tedious.

I do accept it but when it fails I wonder why. I need a PC for my work. Rojaws' needs some sort of system for her needs. I also appreciate PC games and PC control mechanisms (keyboard & mouse) more than the console controllers. Sure, the controller is particularly good at certain kinds of games but, for shooters, I wish for my mouse back. Still, the pain of maintaining home-build hardware is fairly high, especially when you get faulty components -- sometimes the fault is in their interaction, not specifically in the components themselves, so testing individual components fails to reveal the issue.

From the point of view of home-build systems, I feel I do have to accept that by cutting capital outlay corners I will need to put in time if it doesn't work; I can't just call Dell out and tell them to fix it. That said, PCs appear not to be particularly resilient overall. How many of you have needed to vacuum out your console? Now ask yourself the same question about your PC. Overheating is a big issue. Bad connections, shorts, underpowered components, components receiving choppy power supply... these are all fairly common problems in the PC world. I guess the big difference is that, with practice and experience, the amateur can resolve them where the console is a closed box; when a console fails, straight back to the manufacturer with it.

Certainly, if you can correctly diagnose the problem yourself (and, really, how sure of the diagnosis are you?) then you can claim on warranties and/or make the supplier take a return for refund or replacement. Thing is that it is a complex picture. I know DocBot sent back components only to be told they were fine...

But consoles just don't replace the gaming experience I find on the PC. Give me a console box with a PC control mechanism then I'll find a system that I can write code and do graphics on and leave gaming to a dedicated games box.

 

[DocBot]

PS3 sonys amaizing console

Shame it's surpassed by scientific calculators when it comes to available good games ;P

 

[DocBot]

I know DocBot sent back components only to be told they were fine...

Indeed, but if I can make a point here; they weren't. Which is part of the reason I got my money back, instead of just another set of RAM (which in turn made me spend that money I got back on stuff from that particular reseller (komplett))...

 

[Cookalarcha]

Shame it's surpassed by scientific calculators when it comes to available good games ;P

This year is its raise, most of its best games are coming out within the next few months. Everyone here knows im only lookin forward to MGS4 and MGO because Hideo Kojima's storys and games are amaizing, the amount of detail he uses he could be a good film director or script maker...
I wonder if he scripted the metal gear movie thats supposed to be gettin made???

 

[Colrob]

Mine likes to crash on cod4 now, leaving reboot as the only option. I think in my case it's due to a knackered graphics card. New pc will = fun fun fun

 

[KillCrazy]

*cough*redringofdeath*cough*

Behave DocBot! Microsoft's replacement xboxs' have been very good

I bought a dell XPS around January last year I think it was, and since then I've let slip a lot of rubbish thats been installed on it. So far it's been running perfectly. I had a few problems with graphics drivers and sound drivers, and the DVD drive not playing certain discs, but I got that all sorted with rolling back drivers and updating firmware. The only time I am gauranteed to get the blue screen of death is when I ask the PC to hybernate, for some unearthly reason it goes straight to the BSOD.

My older computer however, is a different story. It is still powerful enough to play such games as HL2, TF2, fear, etc, but it has been very unstable in its days. It was so difficult to determine what was wrong with it and to this day I still don't know why it is so unstable. It only seems to shut down, restart, or BSOD while running games, so this led me to believe that it was faulty memory, overheating, or some other hardware fault in general. However I have strong reason to believe that it is a faulty wireless card, as for a few days I used the PC with the card disabled it ran flawlessly. Also, I tried the card in my new XPS and that started to show some funny bugs.

Hardware is the most likely problem for system instability in my oppinion. I'd doubt very much if it was any software such as games that would be causing instability in your system HotStuff, but it is still very much possible. Also for that fact that your running norton, that could explain why some programs take ages to run on your PC, such as your IE7.

 

[thatbloke]

Also for that fact that your running norton, that could explain why some programs take ages to run on your PC, such as your IE7.

Don't even get me STARTED on that pile of shite that is Norton Internet Security.

 

[Colrob]

Don't even get me STARTED on that pile of shite that is Norton Internet Security.

Death to Norton!!!!!!! How do these cretins even manage to stay in business with their conflicting issue ridden software???

 

[SgtFury]

There is a new version Norton 360 that is just as bad. Had it installed as a trial version on a laptop. When I uninstalled it it was still saying it was acting as a firewall . Any program that needs you to download another program to uninstall it properly, is dodgy in my opinion.

As for computers I've had a mixed run. Desktops from Novatech... no problems whatsoever. Laptop from Evesham buggiest thing I have ever seen.

But compared to my Sky broadband its all minor .

 

[[THN]Buffalo_Hunter]

Stability - no serious problems regarding XP - the occasional software glitch that's easily fixed with my plethora (good word, that ) of utilities..

On the subject of Symantec, I have Norton 360 installed on 3 machines, two on XP and one on Vista. So far I've had no probelms (other than it want's do defrag my HD every week and I've not yet found a way to stop it) and it's not slowed any of the machines down.

 

[decky101]

I can also find no fault with Norton as of yet. I got a free trial with my laptop when I bought it, and besides from it occasionally running a virus scan at the most inoportune of times, I can see no fault. Unless it all goes pear-shaped after the 60 day trial, I've found it absolutely fine (nothing out of the ordinary mind you)