Physical hardware failures

[Tsutarja]

So has anyone here ever had a physical hardware failure of any sort in their computers? Whether it'd be a part of the motherboard malfunctioning, to a bad GPU, failed RAM, or even a dead PSU, what are your stories? Did you wind up replacing the computer on its own, or did you look around and shop for part replacements to keep the computer/laptop running?

 

[Legendary Silke]

I broke my laptop's lid and bezel, along with the hinges last August. :3 (Hey, at least I got it repaired.)

 

[Puddle]

I had a fried mother board, not on my computer, but on my ps3. Had to get a new one. I've been pretty lucky with my computer's life.

 

[Omicron]

Fortunately no, none of my computer's hardware has died on me. I need to replace my HDD's, though. They are over 6 years and my brother's main one failed last week.

 

[Cordelia]

I've had a bad power supply in my desktop but nothing was worse than when my motherboard died. OMG that was terrible haha. I had to find a compatible motherboard for all my hardware and the new one doesn't OC as well as the old one. I used to be able to go to around 3.0ghz on a 1.86ghz Core2duo. Now I only can get around 2.2ghz... but I don't OC it anymore.

 

[donavannj]

On my personal PCs, I've had power supplies die (last time was in July of last year when I think something plastic got stuck in my previous one and when I used canned air to knock it out since it already smelt like burning plastic, it probably shorted out the power supply), motherboards fail either completely or just to the point where they won't accept their own drivers no matter how many times you reinstall Windows, and hard drives die of old age to the point of hearing that steady "click, click, click, click, click, click" sound they make when they're dying. I've also managed to short out video cards and RAM, as well, but I can't recall specific instances.

What's real fun is finding a PC that's got so much dust, cobwebs, or humidity (pick any of the 3) in the power supply that when you try to turn on the PC, sparks fly out of it (had that happen with a few PCs at work).

 

[Burakki Tsuki]

I never had any issues with hardware thankfully, must be a lot of luck. I do quite a lot of research on every part and brand that I buy. If I did have issues I would asses and replace the part individually. I really enjoy building computers so it would be fun for me other than paying the money for replacements.

Although my ASUS Sabertooth would blue screen a few times on Windows 8. Switched to 7 and no longer have that issue or the random software issues.

 

[NeonMewtwo]

The original hard drive on the laptop I'm using failed. I remember it started to crash, and things got worse from there, to the point where Windows 7 could no longer load. I got the hard drive and motherboard replaced.

 

[Sylphiel]

I have multiple instances of this happening!

I had a desktop that I used for a few years back up until like mid-2003 that I had to stop using because something just...died, in it. It seemed to be working...well, I dunno about fine, maybe decently up until then (lol windows 98 and blue screens galore), but when I booted it up one day and it gave me errors, well, that was it. I forget what I used after that.

I think I might have accidentally melted the fan on a video card in that same desktop, too. I just remember going off to play something, came back, turned my monitor on, and oops streaking all across my screen.

Got a laptop either that year or the year after, the battery on that died after a while. First it wouldn't charge, it had to be plugged in all the time, then it wouldn't power on even with it being plugged in. I never found out the exact reason why it did that and even customer service couldn't figure out how to fix it, so I eventually got a new laptop out of that. That was around 2007 or so, I still have that same laptop even now even though it won't charge the battery up either. Also the fan died on it, or I thought it died, I don't even know by now because it actually seems to work again.

I had another desktop that I got from someone else back in...2009? Used it up until like 2011 or 2012, until the power supply went out. And since it had some weird supply (thank you, Dell) and wasn't one that could easily be replaced...yep, new desktop time.

(Which is what I'm currently using with few problems, thankfully.)

 

[Drayton]

I still remember the day I damage several including current one I'm using.. so let's start.

1. My Toshiba Satellite last year suffered a serious internal battery damage that prevented from being charged. I was really panic that time and asked my dad to fix it, and it make me worried that time. and I realize I should have unplugged it when not in used
   
2. My hardisk burned to a crisp after smacking down countless times and only option is replaced the disk (I did not back up anything important to external usb.) So all the data is lost
   
3. Placing a laptop on a unstable cooler and on top of the HIGH table, after I do some important things last year. After I got back. Laptop fell down and seriously damage causing it from working properly and all I heard is *beep* then taken to repair
   
4. Way back ago before I got toshiba, I broke the LCD screen. I was really mad that time and I felt bad. that make me shock to pounder. I never ever crack a screen again.

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

I once had an HP desktop shoot off sparks and refused to boot afterwards to the surprise of no one. It was pretty... spectacular.

 

[Guest123_x1]

I've dealt with my share of computer hardware failures over the years. Usually I am able to figure out what went wrong and replace the failed component to get back up and running.
On one of my old desktops (which I eventually gutted out completely for parts), I had so much of the hardware fail, including the motherboard, processor, RAM, and the hard drive-each of these went out one at a time.
However, last August, my old laptop died, and I couldn't figure out what went out on it. I removed and reinserted each component one at a time to find the cause-thinking either the processor or the chipset. When I took it in to a computer repair shop, they found it was the onboard graphics that failed. If I had my own diagnostic tools to hook up to ailing computers, I probably would have been able to determine this completely myself.

 

[Zortac]

It failed 5 minutes ago...