What do you think is the most unreliable part?

DocClock aka MadClocker · 12-22-02, 05:14 AM

For me it seems to be compact disk drives whatever flavor be it cdrw or cdrom, or dvd.

Why don't they last anymore? 1year seems to be the limit on theese drives.
I'm guessing it has something to do with the higher speeds required in todays drives.
I have a 52x cd; a 8x4x cdrw; and a dvd drive all less than 1 year old sitting in the "lost investment" pile.

A word to the wise....Keep your recipts!

BTW, this is not a rant, I just want to know what peeves you off in the peripheral department.
Merry Christmas!

cack01 · 12-22-02, 05:27 AM

By far Gainward 4200s are the most unreliable.

Its getting to the point that even new ones don't work anymore. Trust me.

BaldHeadedDork · 12-22-02, 09:02 AM

I agree with DocClock. I see more failed optical drives than anything else. Generic or off-brand models are the worst (even those reported to use a Lite-On drive) but even top end name brands don't last as long as they used to.

BHD

Malpine Walis · 12-22-02, 09:50 AM

Hit the front page on the gainward 4200 issue. Ed put up some info this morning.

cursor · 12-22-02, 09:55 AM

Well... I'm not sure I'd call them components, but probably fans. Then next maybe power supplies. The interesting thing is you can avoid most of these failures if you buy better quality components. That's what I get for being a cheapskate, I guess.

stompah · 12-22-02, 10:15 AM

PSUs definitely. I have yet to have a CD drive die that wasnt abused. I have had quite a few PSUs die on me for no other reason than normal usage.

TranceBear · 12-22-02, 11:46 AM

Darn memory

deRusett · 12-22-02, 11:53 AM

You guys are having bad luck with optical drives then

I my only failed drives are the ones I took apart for a mod that didn't work.

I have 6 CD rom drive ranging from 8X - 52X 2 CD RW 8X - 32X
1 DVD rom 16X admittingly the DVD rom is not yet a year but it is comming close,

my most unreliable product would be headphones! I have to replace my headphones every 6 months, lucky I have sony's replacment plan and I can trade them it at no cost to me.

I don't even abuse my head phones, I use them while gaming, and have them at the head of my bed at night when I watch a DVD and want the sound low so I don't wake people up

deathstar13 · 12-22-02, 01:07 PM

hmmm mabey im odd,but floppys always die on me.or will only work in one system and not my other one.

as unrelaibilty go keyboards are up there also.but thats becouse now they are made so cheap and we dont clean em.

Greasy Burger · 12-22-02, 01:28 PM

no parts ever failed on me

baqai · 12-22-02, 02:10 PM

CDROM drives .. i have changed my cdrom's more than anything else in my computer, i still remember good old 2x or 4x cdroms were simply rock steady new speedy drivers are good but they just dont last that long

n_ick2000 · 12-22-02, 02:20 PM

Hard Drives for me. The one I have been having problems with is an IBM deskstar 40gb. I bought it BEFORE I heard all about the IBM "deathstar" problems. But I am replacing it with a couple of WD's soon.

I.M.O.G. · 12-22-02, 02:29 PM

i have problems with optical drives and thats basically it, normal use and ive burnt two new ones up in three years. no modding or anything just normal use. can someone direct me to some reading i can do on the ibm deathstar problems? i just had one burn up on me the other day while i was defraging it. pos.

Disputant · 12-22-02, 04:18 PM

For me, it has been cd roms. I used to do a ton of gaming that used them for hours on end but I have burnt up more of those than any other component.

rogerdugans · 12-22-02, 04:42 PM

Most unreliable part of my computers?

The operator.

I have had very little die that I have any problem with: a few sticks of pc133 that were overvolted for a few years, and a few OLD hard drives (less than 2 gig) that ran on over-spec buses for a few years.

I have however, killed a chip by installing a heatsink when I was too tired to pay attention; froze my radiator killing cpu and mobo, and a few other "bonehead" moves

The biggest worry my hardware has is that I will mess with it some more!

Mr. $T$ · 12-22-02, 05:32 PM

Floppy Disks By far those thing fail for some of the wildest reasons.

T20 · 12-22-02, 07:01 PM

Hmm, hard to say, I would proabobly go with optical drives, since 2 failed me, while every other component failed me only once.

-Acer 123212A CDRW no longer could burn CDs, I constantly got the calibrating error.
-First GEN DVD drive died on me, the laser burned out, and it only reads CDR media now, any DVD media, and the drive literally fails, you cant even boot the system if a dvd is in the drive.

The rest:
LAN card

Acer 15" Monitor about 4 years ago.
Compaq PSU

Also, Floppies!!!! Good god, I had hundreds die on me. I am not kidding. And the actual floppy drives? Somewhere around P200MMX era I threw out my last floppy drive. If anyone still usess one, they are masochists.

john240sx · 12-22-02, 07:07 PM

floppy drives. they never last more then a year for me. after that would be mice, until recently i would have to replace my mouse every 3-4 months (i was very hard on them. now i have a logitec wireless optical, awsome mouse) then finally keyboards, i never had one last more then 6 months.

I.M.O.G. · 12-22-02, 08:28 PM

seems like optical drives lead the pack, followed by floppy drives... i don't use my floppy but to save a document on there every once in a while... who uses theirs enough for it to go bad?

itizme · 12-22-02, 09:13 PM

I have a real problem with the batteries in my mouse always going KAPUTZ when I frag. Anyone know where I can get some that won't do that??

12-22-02, 05:14 AM	Thread Starter #1
DocClock aka MadClocker Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Stockton Cal, USA, Earth	What do you think is the most unreliable part? For me it seems to be compact disk drives whatever flavor be it cdrw or cdrom, or dvd. Why don't they last anymore? 1year seems to be the limit on theese drives. I'm guessing it has something to do with the higher speeds required in todays drives. I have a 52x cd; a 8x4x cdrw; and a dvd drive all less than 1 year old sitting in the "lost investment" pile. A word to the wise....Keep your recipts! BTW, this is not a rant, I just want to know what peeves you off in the peripheral department. Merry Christmas! __________________ Cpu----Q6600(slacr)GO stepping @3006,1.310vcore Cooling----AC Freezer 7 Pro Mobo----GA-P35C-DS3R Ram----Kingston HX PC9200 CL5@501mhz 1.9v4-4-4-11 Video card----EVGA 8600GT 604core,803mem Power----Hipro HP-W700WC3 700w Big and heavy Generic white case Frankenputer-- Abit SH6>PIII700E@1136>mushkin PC150>Enermax 431 -450w>SBlive! XGamer> Alpha P3S cooler
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12-22-02, 05:27 AM	#2
cack01 Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: San diego or UC Davis	By far Gainward 4200s are the most unreliable. Its getting to the point that even new ones don't work anymore. Trust me. __________________ LianLi PC70 Dual PIII 1.0@1.2 (7.5*160) on ABIT VP6 768 PC-133 Geforce 4 TI4200 310/580 Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum 2x 40 GB Seagate 5400 w/Striping 1x 80 GB Seagate 7200 24X Yamaha CD-RW Sony 520GS 21"
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12-22-02, 09:02 AM	#3
BaldHeadedDork Member Join Date: Aug 2002	I agree with DocClock. I see more failed optical drives than anything else. Generic or off-brand models are the worst (even those reported to use a Lite-On drive) but even top end name brands don't last as long as they used to. BHD
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12-22-02, 09:50 AM	#4
Malpine Walis Disabled Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Banned Camp	Hit the front page on the gainward 4200 issue. Ed put up some info this morning.
	QUOTE Thanks

12-22-02, 09:55 AM	#5
cursor Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Seattle, WA USA	Well... I'm not sure I'd call them components, but probably fans. Then next maybe power supplies. The interesting thing is you can avoid most of these failures if you buy better quality components. That's what I get for being a cheapskate, I guess. __________________ This space intentionally left blank.
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What do you think is the most unreliable part?

Internet Services

Website Development

Tech Hardware

12-22-02, 10:15 AM	#6
stompah Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Renton, WA	PSUs definitely. I have yet to have a CD drive die that wasnt abused. I have had quite a few PSUs die on me for no other reason than normal usage. __________________ HEATWARE I live ONE mile away from Fry's. Are you jealous?
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12-22-02, 11:46 AM	#7
TranceBear Big Daddy Bear Senior Join Date: May 2001 Location: Denver, CO	Darn memory __________________ AMD 9950BE Phenom 3.5ghz 1.47v 250x14 CPU For Sale Coolermaster V-8 41c Idle-51c Load Asus M3A79-T Deluxe 790FX/SB750 G-Skill 2x2gb DDR2-800 5-5-5-15-24 2x74gb Raptors-2x750gb WD Raid-0 Antec 1200 Case/ Antec 1000 Watt P/S What's Fragging? I Don't Play Games It's About Bragging Right's, Right? My Heatware 100% since 2002
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12-22-02, 11:53 AM	#8
deRusett Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Midland, Ontario	You guys are having bad luck with optical drives then I my only failed drives are the ones I took apart for a mod that didn't work. I have 6 CD rom drive ranging from 8X - 52X 2 CD RW 8X - 32X 1 DVD rom 16X admittingly the DVD rom is not yet a year but it is comming close, my most unreliable product would be headphones! I have to replace my headphones every 6 months, lucky I have sony's replacment plan and I can trade them it at no cost to me. I don't even abuse my head phones, I use them while gaming, and have them at the head of my bed at night when I watch a DVD and want the sound low so I don't wake people up __________________ Success is.. At age 4 .... success is .... not peeing in your pants. At age 12 .... success is .... having friends. At age 17 .... success is .... having a driving licence. At age 20 .... success is .... having sex. At age 35 .... success is .... having money. At age 50 .... success is .... having money. At age 60 .... success is .... having sex. At age 70 .... success is .... having a driving licence. At age 75 .... success is .... having friends. At age 80 .... success is .... not peeing in your pants At Any Age ... success is ... Folding for Team 32
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12-22-02, 01:07 PM	#9
deathstar13 FSB FRIEK Join Date: Dec 2001	hmmm mabey im odd,but floppys always die on me.or will only work in one system and not my other one. as unrelaibilty go keyboards are up there also.but thats becouse now they are made so cheap and we dont clean em. __________________ Alright Brain, you don't like me, and I don't like you. But lets just do this, and I can get back to killing you with beer. -HJS-
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12-22-02, 01:28 PM	#10
Greasy Burger Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Pimp City, United States of Burger	no parts ever failed on me __________________ <insert sig here>
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12-22-02, 02:10 PM	#11
baqai Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Karachi, Pakistan	CDROM drives .. i have changed my cdrom's more than anything else in my computer, i still remember good old 2x or 4x cdroms were simply rock steady new speedy drivers are good but they just dont last that long __________________ Processor : Intel Core i5 750 Mobo :Intel DP55WB GPU : HIS HD 5750 1GB PSU : Cooler Master 500W RAM : 2x4GB Kingston 1333 Mhz DDR3 Display :1x42" Panasonic C10 Plasma and Dell 23" 1080p LED Speakers :Onkyo 605 with Polk Audio 5.1 Setup
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12-22-02, 02:20 PM	#12
n_ick2000 Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Kent, Washington	Hard Drives for me. The one I have been having problems with is an IBM deskstar 40gb. I bought it BEFORE I heard all about the IBM "deathstar" problems. But I am replacing it with a couple of WD's soon.
	QUOTE Thanks

12-22-02, 02:29 PM	#13
I.M.O.G. Glorious Leader Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Rootstown, OH	i have problems with optical drives and thats basically it, normal use and ive burnt two new ones up in three years. no modding or anything just normal use. can someone direct me to some reading i can do on the ibm deathstar problems? i just had one burn up on me the other day while i was defraging it. pos. __________________ The OC Forums Way We are a team. We are a community. We are a fellowship made strong by mutual respect and shared dedication to the task of enriching all who come here. The OC Forums Thank You Thread Put your computer to work for our OC Forum Teams! Try out our POST TEMPLATES, they save you time answering common questions! I spend half my money on CPUs, GPUs, and Liquid Nitrogen. The other half I waste.
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12-22-02, 04:18 PM	#14
Disputant Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Chicago, IL	For me, it has been cd roms. I used to do a ton of gaming that used them for hours on end but I have burnt up more of those than any other component. __________________ Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz Lian-Li PC61 ASUS Rampage Extreme 2x OCZ Reaper HPC 2GB Western Digital VelociRaptor 150GB 2x Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Klipsch Pro Media 4.1 CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W Power Supply
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12-22-02, 04:42 PM	#15
rogerdugans Linux challenged Senior, not that it stops me... Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Corner of No and Where	Most unreliable part of my computers? The operator. I have had very little die that I have any problem with: a few sticks of pc133 that were overvolted for a few years, and a few OLD hard drives (less than 2 gig) that ran on over-spec buses for a few years. I have however, killed a chip by installing a heatsink when I was too tired to pay attention; froze my radiator killing cpu and mobo, and a few other "bonehead" moves The biggest worry my hardware has is that I will mess with it some more! __________________ Still overclocked and running linux on watercooled computers after all these years.
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12-22-02, 05:32 PM	#16
Mr. $T$ Member Join Date: Sep 2001	Floppy Disks By far those thing fail for some of the wildest reasons.
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12-22-02, 07:01 PM	#17
T20 Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Toronto, Canada	Hmm, hard to say, I would proabobly go with optical drives, since 2 failed me, while every other component failed me only once. -Acer 123212A CDRW no longer could burn CDs, I constantly got the calibrating error. -First GEN DVD drive died on me, the laser burned out, and it only reads CDR media now, any DVD media, and the drive literally fails, you cant even boot the system if a dvd is in the drive. The rest: LAN card Acer 15" Monitor about 4 years ago. Compaq PSU Also, Floppies!!!! Good god, I had hundreds die on me. I am not kidding. And the actual floppy drives? Somewhere around P200MMX era I threw out my last floppy drive. If anyone still usess one, they are masochists.
	QUOTE Thanks

12-22-02, 07:07 PM	#18
john240sx Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Prophetstown IL	floppy drives. they never last more then a year for me. after that would be mice, until recently i would have to replace my mouse every 3-4 months (i was very hard on them. now i have a logitec wireless optical, awsome mouse) then finally keyboards, i never had one last more then 6 months. __________________ CPU Intel E8400 EO @ 3.6Ghz Xigmatek HDT S1284 Motherboard Asus P5Q Pro Video Zotac GTX 560 1GB Ram 2x2GB G.Skill PC2 8000 PSU Corsair 650TX 650w HDD Western Digital 500gb 7200rpm Sata Case Coolermaster HAF 932 Heatware
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12-22-02, 08:28 PM	#19
I.M.O.G. Glorious Leader Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Rootstown, OH	seems like optical drives lead the pack, followed by floppy drives... i don't use my floppy but to save a document on there every once in a while... who uses theirs enough for it to go bad? __________________ The OC Forums Way We are a team. We are a community. We are a fellowship made strong by mutual respect and shared dedication to the task of enriching all who come here. The OC Forums Thank You Thread Put your computer to work for our OC Forum Teams! Try out our POST TEMPLATES, they save you time answering common questions! I spend half my money on CPUs, GPUs, and Liquid Nitrogen. The other half I waste.
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12-22-02, 09:13 PM	#20
itizme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Barrie	I have a real problem with the batteries in my mouse always going KAPUTZ when I frag. Anyone know where I can get some that won't do that??
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