# Tell Tale Signs of Component Failure



## GSAV55

This thread could potentially be something worth stickying.  I wanted to try to compile a list or a guide of how you can tell what component is failing if you are having a hardware problem.

What are common signs of:
-Power Supply Failure
--Sudden shutdowns/restarts
--Turning on but no post
--No power
--Magic blue smoke

-Motherboard Failure
--No post

-RAM Failure
--Bluescreens showing the exact same error
--No Post

-Processor Failure
--Shutdowns
--No Post
--Bluescreen

-Graphics Card Failure
--sudden black screen or "no display" screen appears during graphic intensive programs, especially
    games. However the computer will still be running.
--high temperatures
--flickering screen
--lines running through the screen, especially during gaming

-Hard Drive Failure
--constant freezing, especially during boot up (could be a number of things however) 
--a sudden sluggishness, especially when browsing through and accessing files. this can be due to a
    number of problems, but if it comes about real suddenly, and it's extremely slow, than it can be a sign
    of hard drive failure. 
--clicking, buzzing, whistling, or humming sounds originating from the hard drive
--the hard drive does not show up in the BIOS
--"boot disk not found"
--Click of death
--Bluescreens

-Anything Else You Can Think Of Failure

This cold be a great resource, and may eliminate repeated questions on the subject.  I will update this as I get responses and compile a list under each component.


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## Droogie

i have a few for video card that i experienced with an old 2600 xt and a few other cards.

-sudden black screen or "no display" screen appears during graphic intensive programs, especially games. however the computer will still be running.
-high temperatures
-flickering screen
-lines running through the screen, especially during gaming

all of these above problems were solved by lowering the cards temperature, by installing a third party VGA cooler. 

hard drive failure:
-constant freezing, especially during boot up (could be a number of things however) 
-a sudden sluggishness, especially when browsing through and accessing files.  this can be due to a number of problems, but if it comes about real suddenly, and it's extremely slow, than it can be a sign of hard drive failure. 
-clicking, buzzing, whistling, or humming sounds originating from the hard drive
-the hard drive does not show up in the BIOS


good idea on the thread btw.


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## GSAV55

Great start, thanks droogie.  Ill edit the op tomorrow and hopefully there will b more info by then too.


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## PohTayToez

Power Supply Failure:
Sudden shutdowns/restarts
Turning on but no post
No power
Magic blue smoke

Motherboard Failure:
No post

CPU Failure:
Shutdowns
No Post
Bluescreen

RAM Failure:
Bluescreens showing the exact same error

Hard Drive Failure:
"boot disk not found"
Click of death
Bluescreens


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## GSAV55

Great.  Thanks everyone.  If anyone can think of other signs, or more specific signs for certain problems post 'em up.  If you have any questions, post those up too.  And by click of death are you referring to HD making that clicking noise?


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## PohTayToez

Well, sort of.  All HDDs make some sort of clicking noise, be when it become louder or regular, then it's a sign of hard drive failure.


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## g4m3rof1337

I just wanted to mention that this is a great thread idea. A few months ago I was looking for signs of possible failure from a PSU and HDD.


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## GSAV55

g4m3rof1337 said:


> I just wanted to mention that this is a great thread idea. A few months ago I was looking for signs of possible failure from a PSU and HDD.



Thanks.  The same thing happened to me and I really never figured out what actually went wrong.  I tried searching and couldn't really find anything helpful, so I thought it'd be nice to make a compilation.


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## Euklid

RAM Failure:
- No post


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## Vizy

this thread is the first link on google when searching for

signs of component failure


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## GSAV55

Vizy93 said:


> this thread is the first link on google when searching for
> 
> signs of component failure



No wayyy, thats sick  . Hopefully it helps a lot of people.  It'll probably bring a lot of new people here as well.


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## linkin

When my RAM failed one time, i had symptoms of a failing gfx card.
I had lines on the screen, windows failing to start and constant restarts when RAM failed. Hope that helps.


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## GSAV55

yeah, I've started to notice that they have some overlapping symptoms.  What I'm about to do with my computer is pull out components one at a time until it works, then I'll know whats wrong with it.


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## linkin

i wonder if its becuase the RAM on GFX cards fails the most often than any other component?

I had a bad 5700 Ultra. same sypmtoms.


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## GSAV55

than any other component in the computer or the gpu?


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## PohTayToez

EDIT:
Whoa, posted in the wrong thread.  I guess that's what happens when you've been up for 36 hours.


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## GSAV55

Sounds like your brain got circumvented or cracked   lol


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