Find out how to easily locate hardware faults on your Windows 11 PC.
While it is true that computers have evolved to such a point of become real work tools Extremely powerful, capable of running games with realistic graphics smoothly, these are not exempt from presenting failures, which are not always related to the operating system, but rather to the hardware.
You should already know that computers are made up of many components and peripherals, which can also present failures, such as when the keys stop working, for example. Obviously, no piece of hardware is exempt from problems. And if you are interested in knowing how to locate component failures, you have come to the right place, because in the next few lines, we will tell you everything you need to know.
But we will not only list you hardware components that often failbut we will also delve into each one so that you know how to detect the source of the problem, although you can always use the help of programs to diagnose problems in Windows, as they are quite useful for monitoring the performance of these elements.
What are the components that usually present failures in a PC?
Discover what are some of the components that most often present failures in the computer
As we have mentioned, it does not matter that computers have become ultra-powerful super machines, since, having electronic components, these are not exempt from failures, what is more normal than you imagine. In addition, they can originate for different reasons, so you need to know how to detect them.
That is why, after an arduous analysis, we have come to the conclusion that the main components hardware that present failures in the computer are the following:
- motherboard
- Processor
- RAM
- Graphic card
- Power supply
- storage units
In the next lines, we will tell you What are the most common failures that these components present? and how you can locate the problems, as well as their origin and what you can do to solve them. But, obviously, we will not offer you miraculous or impossible solutions, but some practical advice that can help you.
What problems does the motherboard of the PC usually present?
The motherboard of the computer is one of the many components that can begin to present failures
The motherboard is one of the most important components of the computer and about which little is said, Well, the rest of the pieces will go on it.such as the processor, RAM and more. Also, being an electronic part, it can also present problems.
Motherboard problems are usually rare, and their source can be found quickly. This piece can suffer heating of its VRMcausing some instability in the system.
On the other hand, something that usually causes this overheating is the overclock that takes place in them, making you work more than you should and, consequently, that the heat concentrates and increases, being able to damage this and other parts.
So if you haven’t done overclock can you have a little more peace of mind. Although, obviously, it is not the only reason for its failures, since another may be related to an improper insertion of the processor, bending the pins. And if you want to make sure that this is not the problem, then you can manually check the motherboard and check its pins.
A very useful program that you can use is HWinfo or also Prime95since it shows you information related to the temperature that your pieces can reach.
Download HWinfo
Download Prime95
Most frequent processor failures
Processor failures are mostly related to problems with other elements associated with it
Although it is true that it is not normal for the processor to present failures directly or for its own reason, since, in general, these problems are caused by other parts that are connected to it. Besides, this is one of the most important components and that you must balance in terms of performance with other hardware elements to avoid the bottleneck problem on PC.
Regarding processor problems, you should know that you can detect them by looking at the performance of your equipmentespecially if suddenly the operating system starts to crash, freeze or slow down excessively and unexpectedly.
But if you have checked other components and they work fine, then you can assume that the error is caused by the processor. And you can corroborate it by pulling for programs that are be in charge of carrying out stress tests on this componentlike Prime95 with its Blend Test, AIDA64 with its FPU or RealBench, to name a few.
with these programs you can see the performance of the processor in stress scenarios and how much their temperature rises.
Download HWinfo
Download AIDA64
Download RealBench
The most common RAM problems
To avoid failures with RAM modules, you must make sure to fit them properly
Regarding the problems of RAM, which is another component that may start to show errors, whether by user participation or not; You should know that you can detect them quite easily.
First, if you recently you have been cleaning the components of your computerwhich is recommended on a regular basis, and after fitting all the pieces, you notice that the computer turns on, but it does not start, it may be because you have not adjusted the RAM correctly and it is making false contact between the pins and the motherboard.
If this is your problem, you just have to remove the RAM modules again and insert them correctly again. This should allow normal boot of the computer. But if what happens is that you are using your computer and it starts to have some instability, then you should resort to a third-party tool.
In this case, we have selected the tool MemTest86 with which you can carry out various stress tests and performance to your RAM. This is a very efficient way to detect whether or not hardware failures are related to these memory modules.
Download MemTest86
The most common graphics card failures
Graphics cards are designed to get hot, so they include fans as heat sinks, although sometimes they may not be enough and may fail.
The sources of graphics card failures are usually fairly easy to locate and detect, as they can manifest itself in a considerable drop in performance of the games and suddenly or directly that the operating system does not recognize it when it is connected and even that its temperature increases to such an extent that the equipment turns off to avoid thermal throttling.
If what happens is that the operating system does not recognize the graphics card, you can try to make sure it is well connected and that no connection component has been damaged. But if what happens is that you notice a considerable drop in its performance when you are playing, then the failure may be related to heating.
As you must already know, all parts of the computer get hot when they are working, which is normal. But if the temperature rises to critical levels, it may be due to the cooling system not working or some similar reason and if you don’t manage to correct this increase in heat, the components may burn out.
The graphics card is a component that is designed to heat up, since the graphics processor that it includes, especially the most powerful ones, has been created to process, despite the redundancy, a large amount of image data. That is why, by default, they include fans to regulate their temperature, although you can help with an additional cooling system.
If you have checked that the cooling system works fine, but it still continues to increase its temperature, you can use third-party programs like Unigine Valley or Unigine Heaven, which are responsible for stressing the graphics card and analyzing everything related to heat and thermal values. So they can give you an idea about the origin of the problem.
Download Unigine Heaven
Download Unigine Valley
These are the most common failures with the power supply
Even if you don’t know it, the PC’s power supply can also present failures that you must attend to
Regarding power supplies, which can also fail, you should know that these tend to show up as sporadic reboots, no matter if you are doing demanding work on PC or not. Or it may also be related to other components not starting when this one does.
The best way to confirm or rule out the failure of the power supply is by measuring the voltage of its main channels. AND You can do this with the HWinfo tool.which is free and allows you to measure this and other parameters of your computer.
In case you come to the conclusion that the problem is related to the power supply, ideally Would you replace it with a new one?since it could end up harming other components of the equipment.
Download HWinfo
These are the most frequent problems with storage units
Solid state drives can also fail to function, although not in the same way as HDDs
It is important to note that the failure of storage units it will depend on its type, whether you have a solid or mechanical storage drive. So, based on this, you will be able to notice certain details.
If you have a mechanical storage drive or HDD, then the most common thing is that present a failure in the SMART protocol. Or you can pay attention and try to listen if this component sounds strange when it is running. In this case, you can choose to take a look at the CrystalDiskInfo website, which will read said protocol to detect problems.
On the other hand, if you have a solid storage drive or SSD, the failures will not manifest as in the HDD, but rather you will suddenly notice a big drop in your functioning when you are reading or writing new data. And for this problem you can also pull CrystalDiskInfo, as it will detect strange situations in its performance.
Download CrystalDiskInfo