> Several years later I learned that Dell computers had larger-than-reasonable analog component problems because Dell sourced the absolute cheapest stuff for their computers; I expect that was also a cause.

Case in point: I was getting memory errors on my gaming machine, that persisted even after replacing the sticks. It caused windows bluesreen maybe once a month so I kinda lived with it as I couldn't afford to replace whole setup (I theoretized something on motherboard is wrong)

Then my power supply finally died (it was cheap-ish, not cheap-est but it had few years already). I replaced it, lo and behold, memory errors were gone

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versteegen 17 hours ago | parent [-]

I'm surprised "faulty PSU" is not on GP's list of common problems. Almost every unstable computer I've ever experienced has been due to either a dying PSU (not an under-specced one) or dying power conversion capacitors on the motherboard.

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chedabob 16 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Ye some of the weirdest issues I've fixed have been PSU related.

I had a PC come to me that would boot fine, but if you opened the CD drive it'd shut off instantly.

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urxvtcd 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There's a Polish electronics forum that's infamous because it's kind of actively hostile to them noobs. "Blacklisted power supply, closing thread." is a micro meme at this point.

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drob518 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I concur. A lot of “flakey” issues can be traced to poor quality power supplies. That’s a component that doesn’t get any attention in spec sheets other than a max power rating and I think a lot of manufacturers skimp there. As long as the system boots up and runs for a few minutes, they ship it.

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MrDrMcCoy 8 hours ago | parent [-]

Heck, even dirty power from the wall can contribute. I've seen improvements in stability from putting things behind power conditioners.

	▲	drob518 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Definitely that too, particularly in 2nd-world countries. I remember having a difficult time with dirty power for some hardware products I was responsible for at one time, where the customers were in the Middle East nd Africa in the 1990s. We ended up having to have the PS manufacturer do a redesign to help compensate for dirty power. It can be done, but it costs a bit more.

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likelystory 14 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I could see that:

- Firefox may be more prevalent on those using Linux, since FF is less “corporate” than Chrome or Edge.

- People using Linux are probably putting Linux on old machines that had versions of Windows that are no longer supported.

However, what I can’t say next is “PSUs would get old and stop putting out as much” because that doesn’t tend to happen. They just die.

Those running Linux on some old tower may hook up too many devices to an underpowered PSU which could cause problems, but I doubt this is the norm.

If it’s not PSUs, what is it? It’s not electromagnetic radiation doing the bitflipping because that’s too rare.

Maybe bitflips could be caused by low-quality peripherals.

People also don’t vacuum out laptops like they used to vacuum out towers and desktops, so maybe it’s dust.

Or maybe it’s all a ruse and FF is buggy, but they don’t have time to figure it out.

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sandworm101 11 hours ago | parent [-]

>> People using Linux are probably putting Linux on old machines

Maybe for linux noobs. But i would suggest that most linux users are not noobs booting a disused pentium from a live CD. They are running linux on the same hardware as windows users. I would further suggest that as anyone installing a not-windows OS is more tech savvy than the average, that linux users actually take better care of thier machines. Linux users take pride in thier machines whereas the average windows user barely knows that computers have fans.

As any linux user for thier specifications and they will quote system reports and memory figues like Marisa Tomei discussing engine timings. Ask a random windows user and they will probably start with the name of the store that sold it.

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PaulDavisThe1st 9 hours ago | parent [-]

Unix user for 35 years, Linux for 30+ years ... my case fan died during the summer of last year ... just took the side panel off and kept things running.

So much for taking pride in my machine :)

	▲	sandworm101 35 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		An exception to prove the rule. You fixed it yourself and are here proud of your machine. I did basically the same thing recently when I built an AI rig. I tried to put it in a sever rack case but the fan noise was too much. So I ditched the rack and put in an open mining frame.

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BorisMelnik 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

yeah dell consumer pc psus were so awful

	▲	mock-possum 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Which is kinda crazy to me, in light of how durable their business laptops have been in my experience. I’ve owned maybe 6 pc laptops in my career, and the only 2 that’ve survived that nearly 20 year space are both dells.