How to test a PC for hardware problems?

[TechnoPro]

I'm working on a clients PC (HP Pavillion 752n) and he thinks that there is probably something wrong with it hardware-wise. It has failed several times before to the point where a service call was made and an in-home repair was performed (under warranty from Best Buy). From what I gather, the motherboard and other parts have been replaced. Unneccesarily, perhaps, as the system continued to endure problems.

The machine failed again, the client bought a new one, and I was given the PC to clean up for resale or to present to Best Buy for another warranty claim. It was infested with spyware/adware/etc. and crawled as a result. I did a reformat/reinstall and the machine works fine.

I want to throughly test the hardware to flesh out any problems - if there are indeed any.

My gameplan is Memtest for RAM, a drive fitness utility for the HDD, and Prime 95 for the processor. I've already verified the easy stuff (modem, video, optical drives.)

What are some other effective means of ensuring that the hardware is up to speed?

 

[Sonic587]

Throw in some 3dmark01 (10 looped runs.) for good measure, otherwise you have covered the tests I would suggest.

 

[farmercal]

Sounds like you already have a good plan. Good Luck.

 

[yankeesfan]

^if it doesn't fail from the tests above, you are fine^