New Build, what test programs should I run?

[bgc99]

I will be building a new Haswell system in the near future and I would like to know which test programs and system info programs are currently recommended to test a new build. I'm not sure of the specifics yet but it will have an SSD which I've never dealt with before.

Thanks,
BGC

 

[Ayah]

Run things in a similar category to what you normally do.
Gamer = Game benchmarks
etc. etc.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Here's how things usually go down for me :


1) Test HDD in existing system with WinDLG

2) Test RAM using memtest86+ (you have to download version 5.00 RC1 for Haswell)

3) Fire up a live distro (eg. Knoppix) to test basic motherboard stuff (I/O ports) and hit it with Prime95 in *nix

4) Test all expansion slots (eg. moving vid card or test PCI/PCI-E 1x cards to different slots, moving RAM, moving HDD to different SATA ports, etc.)

5) Bring up your OS (Windows, *nix, OSX, OpenSolaris, etc.) on the ah heck


If it passes all that, you should be good.

 

[KentState]

I install Windows and start working. If every day use works, then I really don't bother going further.

 

[jkauff]

Buy a copy of Acronis True Image 2013, make a backup, and see if it verifies. This is especially important if you're overclocking.

I never bothered to do a verify on my backups, and one day an electrical problem bricked my SSD. I bought a new one and attempted to restore my backup, only to discover it was corrupted. Took me days to re-create the system and extract important documents, one by one, from the corrupted backup file.

 

[bononos]

I will be building a new Haswell system in the near future and I would like to know which test programs and system info programs are currently recommended to test a new build. I'm not sure of the specifics yet but it will have an SSD which I've never dealt with before.

Thanks,
BGC

The cpu forum has a sticky at the top on stress testing apps.

 

[bgc99]

Thanks, missed that.

 

[Zap]

I install Windows and start working. If every day use works, then I really don't bother going further.

For non-overclocked non-gaming builds, that's exactly what I do.

For overclocking, I run stress tests.