Do experienced system builders remember their first hardware failures?

[Plip]

Hey, 

I recently completed my first major system build (I've built low-end machines in the past), and I was experiencing complete system shutdowns after only 15-20 mins of heavy GPU load (more specifically, Star Wars Battlefront 2 in 4K ultra). After borrowing my friends pc parts we determined that the PSU was faulty under full load and I drove across the UK to buy a replacement. 

 

However, even though we ran every benchmark under the sun with the new psu (some simultaneously), and the pc passing them all with more than acceptable results and zero shutdowns, I'm still getting stupid panic attacks everytime I think about playing a game on it or doing my VFX work. (I have asperges which probably isn't helping)

 

I was wondering , for the people who have more experience, if at any point you got disheartened by your first failing part, or nervous to push a build to it's fullest, even though you knew it was most likely safe to do so? 

Or equally helpful, any tips or advice on how to help overcome these stupid fears?

I don't want a 1.5K paperweight! 

[dizmo]

They don't have mail in the UK?

Sounds like a personal problem. If it's passed the tests, hasn't crashed yet, and you knew that was the problem...what's your problem?

[Jarsky]

I would say my first hardware failure was possibly an ISA hard drive controller in my i486. 

I was about 9yo (~1993) at the time so it was a big deal. My uncle at the time that ran a Computer Store provided a replacement 

 

For context, "back in the day" motherboards needing expansion for everything.. It was basically a 'hub' that all of your card plugged into. You needed a controller card for everything except possibly an AT port for the keyboard. IDE controller for hard drives/cdroms, serial card for your mouse, serial card for your printers, audio card, etc...

 

Never been 'nervous' about a failing part, its just one of those things

 

As for your system panicking and shutting down in game, a common cause is overclocked memory. 
If you have XMP enabled, turn it off and see if that stabilizes the system. You can then troubleshoot further from there...its a good idea to check the dump logs for the actual error messages. 

[KarathKasun]

On my first builds, none.  I did OC a Matrox G400 to the point of memory failure.  I have also crushed a few of the old school CPUs that didnt have heatspreaders from the factory in the Socket 462 days.

 

Didnt keep me from overclocking and then holding the Rage 128 3D Mark record for a few months.

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

First PC I built I forgot the motherboard standoffs. Then later I killed the motherboard by unplugging the 24 pin without turning off the PSU.

 

RMAed the mobo, though.

 

After that my nerves prevented me from OCing my core 2 duo E7300, leaving massive performance on the table.

 

Years Later I OCed it from 2.66GHz to 4.0GHz. Oof. 

[Plip]

31 minutes ago, Jarsky said:

I would say my first hardware failure was possibly an ISA hard drive controller in my i486. 

I was about 9yo (~1993) at the time so it was a big deal. My uncle at the time that ran a Computer Store provided a replacement 

 

For context, "back in the day" motherboards needing expansion for everything.. It was basically a 'hub' that all of your card plugged into. You needed a controller card for everything except possibly an AT port for the keyboard. IDE controller for hard drives/cdroms, serial card for your mouse, serial card for your printers, audio card, etc...

 

Never been 'nervous' about a failing part, its just one of those things

 

As for your system panicking and shutting down in game, a common cause is overclocked memory. 
If you have XMP enabled, turn it off and see if that stabilizes the system. You can then troubleshoot further from there...its a good idea to check the dump logs for the actual error messages. 

Hah, dramatic tendencies of a 9yo, pretty much sums me up! 

 

Ta though, I do believe XMP is disabled but I'll double check that. The msi bios had PBO enabled by default (even though it's usually disabled), so there could be all-sorts that I've overlooked in there! 

[Plip]

40 minutes ago, HairlessMonkeyBoy said:

First PC I built I forgot the motherboard standoffs. Then later I killed the motherboard by unplugging the 24 pin without turning off the PSU.

 

RMAed the mobo, though.

 

After that my nerves prevented me from OCing my core 2 duo E7300, leaving massive performance on the table.

 

Years Later I OCed it from 2.66GHz to 4.0GHz. Oof. 

Oh wow, that's good you were able to RMA though! Thankfully with the lockdown, the store I bought the faulty psu from extended their returns window, so I was able to send it back no problem. 

 

One day I'll re enable PBO on my Ryzen chip once I know everything is stable, as that's a lot of performance I'm losing just there. 

[Plip]

47 minutes ago, KarathKasun said:

On my first builds, none.  I did OC a Matrox G400 to the point of memory failure.  I have also crushed a few of the old school CPUs that didnt have heatspreaders from the factory in the Socket 462 days.

 

Didnt keep me from overclocking and then holding the Rage 128 3D Mark record for a few months.

I get that from friends on their first builds that go perfectly, I'm the only one that seems to get doa/faulty parts everytime. Yet I'm the one with the anti-static bracelet, clean wall power, and a wooden table to build on. 

 

That's an impressive oc claim though! 

[KarathKasun]

3 hours ago, Plip said:

I get that from friends on their first builds that go perfectly, I'm the only one that seems to get doa/faulty parts everytime. Yet I'm the one with the anti-static bracelet, clean wall power, and a wooden table to build on. 

 

That's an impressive oc claim though! 

Heh, I build PCs in the dumbest conditions possible... on the carpet, on a bed, etc.  Never killed anything with ESD.

 

I have, at one point, had a PSU explode.  Put I was running a HD 2900 XT/Athlon 64 X2 on a dirt cheap 450w Logisys unit that I knew was terrible quality.

[TetraSky]

Fuck AMD in 2009 and fuck their hyper transport sync flood error. I still rage just thinking about it.

 

Went through so much cash and hardware TRYING to make that stupid AMD build work. IT NEVER DID. 

In the end, after 3 months... I just dismantled everything and went Intel, keeping everything except the AMD motherboards and CPUs(yes... Plural... I don't wanna talk about it)

 

Everything worked flawlessly with the Intel machine for 9 years after that until I went and bought a new PC last year.