PCBuild:

I am directing this question to the system builders on the list.  What s/w
and h/w packages do you use to burn-in & benchmark new systems, and
troubleshoot or test components.  I have noticed that component quality has
been taking a nose dive lately regardless of whether the part is oem or
brand name.  Therefore I have decided to beef up my burn in and testing
options:

In the past I have relied on Norton Utilities NDiags and CheckIt from
Quarterdeck(?).  This has worked fine, but I haven't updated either package
in a while so they have problems recognizing correct cpu, memory etc.  I am
leary of using Windows based testing s/w, since I want someting to test the
hardware at the hardware level.  I currently have a test hard disk that has
DOS and my testing s/w on it that I can hook up to any system.  I wouldn't
be able to do that with win95, since I have to set it up for each different
h/w configuration.  I have also looked into h/w testing packages from fore
systems, etc.  Does anyone have experience and/or a recommendation with
these types of products?

My question has been prompted by the trend I've seen in the rise of flaky
systems.  Used to be in the good old days (1 year ago), you could build a
system, and in general if a part was bad it was bad from the get go.  More
importantly, when you had a bad part it either worked or didn't work.
Lately I have been running into more and more instances of parts being
flaky: they work most of the time, but at random times you will get gpf's,
freezes, lockups, etc.  The amount of time it takes to t/s this kind of
problem can be more than the system is worth.  Is anyone else experiencing
this problem, and how are you dealing with it?

I know this is a wide open question, but I'm sure it's perfect for the
discussion list.

Thank you for your courtesy,

Richard Micko
Clipper Computer, Inc.

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