# What's the best third-party hardware diagnostic utility out there?



## Crag_Hack (Jun 19, 2011)

Simple question - what's the best third-party hardware diagnostic utility out there? I've been looking at PC Doctor and Ultra X. I obviously prefer to use the native HP/Dell/Whoever diagnostics but a third-party one can come in handy for computers without built-in diagnostics.
Thanks!


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

Please specify if you mean for personal use or are computer repairs your business?


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## Crag_Hack (Jun 19, 2011)

Both!  Not in the mood to drop say $1k on some software though for my business at least not yet. What are the options for each scenario? Thanks.


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## tristar (Aug 12, 2008)

Imo, I would rather go with individual tools for diagnostics for each hardware, rather than a bundled app which may not be the best..


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## Crag_Hack (Jun 19, 2011)

How then do you deal with say intermittent motherboard issues or something like that, something other than hard drive or memory? Wouldn't an all-purpose diagnostic make things a lot easier to diagnose since you only need to run one utility? Thanks.


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## Deejay100six (Nov 24, 2007)

Crag_Hack said:


> Wouldn't an all-purpose diagnostic make things a lot easier to diagnose since you only need to run one utility?


I agree with Tristar, I don't think theres any such thing as an all-in-one hardware diagnostic but, if you find one, its very likely to be of dubious reputation.


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## tristar (Aug 12, 2008)

For Motherboard, the best is to get a Test card, plug it in the PCI slot and it runs diags and gives you an error code for you to use...

And I don't think there is a soft tool to diagnose a Motherboard issue... Speccy/CPU Z would be able to provide info regarding the motherboard slots and thermal info, beyond that, I don't think there is a tool that can diagnose a Mobo, I could be wrong, but logic tells me there isn't one..


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

Crag_Hack said:


> How then do you deal with say intermittent motherboard issues or something like that, something other than hard drive or memory? Wouldn't an all-purpose diagnostic make things a lot easier to diagnose since you only need to run one utility? Thanks.


If you're gonna try to find a faulty component amongst the sheer number of them on a motherboard, then "easy" is not the way it's gonna go. If such software existed, we would actually repair motherboards instead of replacing them altogether, don't you think?


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

I agree. I've not seen software which identifies specific components/hardware faults. That type of repair is performed by an experienced tech.

Software tools will typically provide hardware info and stats on components, for example, the audio chipset, or cards that are installed. Most of that info can be found anyway with a little work (such as pulling the card and looking at it). The tools just make it much easier.


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## SpywareDr (Jun 15, 2013)

A flaky/failing motherboard may not be able to even run software, or run it correctly anyway.


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