(PC build) How do you determine which component is faulty?

There's software you can run to test some components.

For RAM there's MemTest86 ( http://www.memtest86.com/ ). Bad RAM can certainly cause random lock-ups or crashing.

For CPU you can run a stress test like Prime95 ( http://www.mersenne.org/download/ ).

For GPU, try FurMark ( http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/ ).

You can also try BurnInTest( http://www.passmark.com/products/bit.htm ). Never used it myself, but it appears decent.

Make sure to set Windows so it doesn't auto-restart on blue-screens. That way you can take a picture of the error code and look for it online. Blue screens are usually caused by driver/hardware errors, and a strange video card defect could certainly cause that.

Motherboard/PSU testing is a little more difficult. I have had bad motherboards and PSUs in the past, but it kind of ended up being a process of elimination at that point and gut feelings.

"cybereality" wrote:


Make sure to set Windows so it doesn't auto-restart on blue-screens. That way you can take a picture of the error code and look for it online. Blue screen are usually caused by driver/hardware errors, and a strange video card defect could certainly cause that.

You can also use BlueScreenView to look up the error code. http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

Cool. Hadn't used that before but looks useful.

I personally wouldn't use furmark or any high stress test. Unigine and OCCT are my go-to stability tests for CPU and GPU. Memtest86, for memory.

BSOD info and event viewer can help pinpointing what went wrong.

If overclocking, testing stock config can show instable overclocking. PC components can degrade slightly with time, and overclocking becomes unstable.

For HDD and SSD, haven't searched, but there are a few around.

For PSU, I don't know of any either. I suppose running everything at the same time will do it.

And for the rest, don't know specifically (audio, motherboards). If instability, usually means drivers.

If the system is still unstable, double check all the connections. Data cables, GPU power cables, even kettle lead, or hdmi, USB, ect...

If overheating, CPU cooler may have become loose.

Can also be short with the case, very rare, but not impossible if the motherboard hasn't been seated properly.

PC are still bad at self diagnosis and stress tests. If it's motherboard, PSU, or audio, can be extremely hard to track down.

Thank you for the advice and links, guys.

I'm having a bit of a problem with my VR PC sometimes freezing after waking up from sleep. And sometimes the onboard audio just stops working out of nowhere. I'm almost certain it's the motherboard. That's because I slowly replaced all the parts except for the CPU and motherboard, yet problems still persist despite using a fresh installation of Windows 10 with all the drivers updated. And I originally bought the motherboard, cpu and RAM as a bundle off ebay. And when I received it, it was clearly used parts and the guy didn't even pack them well. Like the included RAM was just a single stick, with markings that showed that it was originally part of a matched pair. And the motherboard was placed in a box that couldn't even close all the way. I will no longer buy parts off ebay...

For instance, if your computer doesn't boot, check how many times the motherboard beeps. It may tell what's the problem.

The System Log in Event Viewer is a good resource (Windows Key + R, type eventvwr, or right-click the windows icon and select Event Viewer), the Application Log can help you with errors related to programs running on the OS. My gut feeling was RAM until you mentioned random audio dropouts from the onboard soundcard. It sounds like it's either a driver conflict issue, like Windows 10 doesn't have the right drivers for the motherboard chipsets, or the motherboard is failing. Do you know what socket type your CPU is (not manufacturer)?

Ive found a lot of issues over the years with computers resuming from sleep or hibernate and typically disable it just to get around them. There are various sleep state modes and there are some configurable settings in BIOS regarding them but I've never gotten around to actually learning what they mean, so it could just be a BIOS setting as well.