Which of the following is a common symptom of failing capacitors on a motherboard?

Random system crashes are indeed a common symptom of failing capacitors on a motherboard. Capacitors are critical components that help to stabilize power delivery to various parts of the motherboard, including the CPU, RAM, and other integrated circuits. When these capacitors begin to fail, they can cause voltage irregularities that lead to instability in the system. This instability may manifest as random crashes, freezes, or unexpected reboots, particularly under load or during intensive tasks.

The other symptoms listed relate to different issues or problems. Frequent hard drive failures are more closely associated with problems related to the hard drive itself or its connections rather than the capacitors on the motherboard. Continuous antivirus alerts usually originate from software issues, malware, or other security-related problems, and not from capacitor failures. Lastly, if capacitors were indeed failing, it's unlikely for a system to run faster; rather, it would typically suffer from sluggishness and instability as a result of the inadequate power delivery.