Real PC Stress Test

[yello88]

I have recently made myself a computer which I hope will remain a top of the line computer for some time. I purchased all the hardware individually and assembled the machine with some help from some of the IT people I work with. Now my problem is that usually it takes just long enough for warranty and RMA’s to expire before you find a problem with 1 of your RAM DIMMs. So is there a software, Utility, or something out there that will put my newly assembled machine through torture to see if it is up to what it’s supposed to be?

My machine build is listed in my profile.

 

[SNGX1275]

Nice setup.

Intel Thermal Analysis Tool will max your CPU. You may also want to try something like SuperPi for a pure CPU test. CPUs are rarely faulty, but these softwares will see if you have any cooling issues. SuperPi may also indicate if you have some RAM issues by throwing some errors the longer it runs..

Memtest86 is really what you should do to test your RAM, that is going to take forever to do with the amount of RAM you have, even with a fast setup. So this is definitely something you should start in the evening and check on the next day. The bad thing is you can't use your new setup during this time.

As for graphics, I'm not sure what people use for that. But until someone that knows more about it than me I'd just tell you to run whatever the newest 3dmark is and look for any issues developing over time (like screen tearing, weird colors or artifacts). Its a good idea to have the latest drivers before doing this.

 

[Technochicken]

A good one is OCCT, which has testing for CPU, GPU, Power Supply, and ram built in.

http://downloads.guru3d.com/OCCT-(OverClock-Checking-Tool)-3.0.0-download-1880.html

 

[dividebyzero]

As mentioned: OCCT for GPU, PSU and CPU , Prime95/Orthos/IBT for CPU, Memtest for RAM. The only problem being that each test will stress a component in isolation. Strange as it may seem, once I've built a system I will usually run through Crysis (esp. Paradise Lost chapter) at the highest playable level that the graphics can muster. The game effectively becomes a total system stress test -CPU/cooling,RAM,graphics, harddrive and PSU.

 

[Technochicken]

Actually the PSU stress test on OCCT runs all of its other stress tests simultaneously in order to get maximum power draw, so it actually does test your whole system at once.

 

[dividebyzero]

Actually the PSU stress test on OCCT runs all of its other stress tests simultaneously in order to get maximum power draw, so it actually does test your whole system at once.

Oops, my bad. Seem to have contradicted myself. -thought that OCCT stressed GPU, CPU and PSU concurrently. Didn't realise that it also includes the harddrive/s in the PSU test. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[yello88]

Thanks so much for the suggestions.
Okay so Intel TAT to test my Processor...
SuperPi has an update HyperPi for vista, so i take it Hyper Pi would be better to test that right?
memtest86 seems to be for x86 systems, while mine is set in x64. Would that make a difference? It seems to be like an OS of its own that runs "pre-boot" anyway.
3DMark to run the video graphics seems to be really good.
and finally OCCT Perestroïka 3.1.0 for the final overall grand exam.
Am I correct on all these solutions?

 

[SNGX1275]

In light of the other comments Super/HyperPi are probably unnecessary, but we do have a thread in the CPU or Overclocking forum where people post what they are using and the times they got. So if you get that, its probably more for fun since it seems OCCT does everything.

3DMark is also cool to look at, but again it may be unnecessary now.

Memtest86 is fine, it does run on boot, outside of Windows, and I still suggest running that.