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What's the main cause of build/upgrade problems?

kranky

kranky

Elite Member
For you people with a lot of experience, what do you see as the number-one cause of the problems that people have with building or upgrading systems?

Would you say it's something the user did wrong? Bad hardware? Parts incompatibility?
 
As M4H says "PICNIC"=Problem in chair, not in computer 😉
 
Cheap power supplies.
Part incompatability.
Correctly setting and connecting the mobo.
Proper RAM and its installation.

Those 4 seem to be dominant in my experience.
A lot of folks need to update their BIOS and such but thats a quick fix and not really a problem.
 
After reading mechBgon's list, it's pretty clear - it's got to be at least 90% user error. That's a lot more than I would have thought. I figured parts incompatability would have been the top problem, considering how many combinations of devices you could put together and how complex the hardware is today.
 
Originally posted by: kranky
After reading mechBgon's list, it's pretty clear - it's got to be at least 90% user error. That's a lot more than I would have thought. I figured parts incompatability would have been the top problem, considering how many combinations of devices you could put together and how complex the hardware is today.
Click to expand...
Unless you are an early adopter even that is user error. You should always research extensively when configuring a build with hardware you are a virgin with. New stuff of course is always a venture into uncharted waters, and those people get my thanks for blazing the trail and providing us with that vital data we need :beer:
 
Originally posted by: kranky
After reading mechBgon's list, it's pretty clear - it's got to be at least 90% user error. That's a lot more than I would have thought. I figured parts incompatability would have been the top problem, considering how many combinations of devices you could put together and how complex the hardware is today.
Click to expand...
Well, with standards bodies like the PCI-SIG and JDEC, making something incompatible is almost something you have to work at(not to mention users are smart enough to avoid parts that may have issues). User error will always have the highest rate, as it's the easiest thing to do.
 
Originally posted by: kranky
After reading mechBgon's list, it's pretty clear - it's got to be at least 90% user error. That's a lot more than I would have thought. I figured parts incompatability would have been the top problem, considering how many combinations of devices you could put together and how complex the hardware is today.
Click to expand...

Actually, almost anything you throw together *should* work these days.

With only a handful of exceptions (mostly older motherboards that don't know about newer CPU core revisions), any CPU will work in any motherboard with the right socket and FSB. Most of the older boards can be 'fixed' with a BIOS flash to recognize newer processors.

DDR memory is pretty broadly compatible, and DDR400 is backwards compatible to DDR333 and DDR266. While it's possible to find MB/RAM combinations that won't work properly (or require tweaking timings or running at a lower speed for stable operation), mostly it just works.

4x and 8xAGP video cards are almost all compatible with every 4x/8xAGP motherboard (at least just in terms of plugging in and booting up). You can get into a little bit of trouble with older 1x/2x motherboards, but that's about it.

PCI expansion cards pretty much just work these days. And most motherboards have built-in sound and networking that's pretty decent, so most people don't need expansion cards for a basic system.

IDE drives just work as long as you have them jumpered correctly for master/slave settings. SATA's even simpler; just plug and play (and install extra drivers during a Windows install if you're setting up SATA as a boot drive).

Windows installation is almost foolproof; there are hardly any decisions to make beyond partitioning and choosing a partition to install onto. If you're not using SATA, the biggest hassle is setting up networking -- but if you're plugging into a DHCP router or cable modem, that's pretty much automatic as well.

My years of tech support and programming experience tell me one thing: most errors are caused by something the user did wrong. Human screwups are far more prevalent than hardware problems, in almost every field. Most of the time, PEBKAC (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair). 😛
 
Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
Unless you are an early adopter even that is user error. You should always research extensively when configuring a build with hardware you are a virgin with. New stuff of course is always a venture into uncharted waters, and those people get my thanks for blazing the trail and providing us with that vital data we need :beer:
Click to expand...

And their spendy ways help drive down the cost of the stuff that we buy. Another :beer: for the early adopters.

User error has definately got to be #1. Half of the newegg reviews that are negative I read on a product I've researched I can point out just from their description what is wrong. And then they RMA the board when they should have cleared the bios, or read the manual. I've never RMA'd anything until I've exhausted all options. Its a hassle and costs us all money in the end.

But I'd put ram incompabilies shortly after that however. Its understandable, I also learned the hard way that cheap ram is a total fvcking crap shoot...and that just because the machine posts with the stick doesn't mean the board likes it.

There's a lot of talk about bad PSUs...and while I've had a couple cheap ones fail, they usually seem to get the job done. Only on higher end systems do they really come into play, that and overclocking. IMO. That said, I always buy low end fortons because why the hell not? Newegg has them for only a nominal cost over some no-name-came-with-the-case model.
 
From reading posts on this forum (and my own experience) I'd say user error beyond a doubt. Take me for example. My build went very well except that I had boot-up problems at first. Turned out that a loose screw was lodged underneath the motherboard and was shorting it out. Luckily there wasn't any permanent damage.

A lot of problems come with inexperienced people tinkering with their systems in an attempt to "optimize" them and end up nuking parts.
 
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