whats the best stress test for a cpu

[BigMoe]

whats the best stress test for a cpu and were do i get it

 

[Priit]

Cpuburn does a pretty good job heating up your processor.

 

[Cruze8]

well there are a good few first off is prime95 you can search the net and find it.... also si soft sandra is decent... then there is quake3... but it will also stress everything else... also you can get seti@home.... I have a special tourture test that heats up your cpu something god awuful.... it will definately test for stability and will also test your ability to cool your cpu... if you want it email me at cruze8@telusplanet.net and I will send it to you

 

[rogue1979]

Prime95 seems to heat up the cpu more than Seti, and it will definately error out the second something isn't right. I prefer to run Prime95 along with a complex screen saver to try and generate as much heat as possibe. The gpu is a big factor in heat output that can warm up your case considerably when under load, which in turn heats up the cpu even more.

 

[Wind]

<< Cpuburn does a pretty good job heating up your processor. >>


Use it b4..good CPU stressing.

 

[Cherub]

Honestly, I don't know what to think about Prime95 anymore. I used to use it as the ultimate test for CPU stability because it seems to be the most sensitive (and 3DMark2001 for memory testing, for the same reason).

But, as I'm writing this post, I'm running an XP 1800+ at 1725/150; Prime95 doesn't like it, but every other test I can find runs perfectly, and never over 115F/46C. CPU Stability test is running in the background right now in fact.

The question is, Prime95 may test the CPU in a way that is never actually relevant to real-world use.

If EVERYTHING runs fine and cool, should we care about one 7 year old program?

 

[oldfart]

From the help section.........

WHAT TO DO IF A PROBLEM IS FOUND?

-------------------------



The exact cause of a hardware problem can be very hard to find.



If you are not overclocking, the most likely cause is an overheating CPU or memory SIMMs that are not quite up to spec. Try running MotherBoard monitor and browse the forums above to see if your CPU is running too hot. If so, make sure the heat sink is properly attached, fans are operational, and air flow inside the case is good. For isolating memory problems, try swapping memory SIMMs with a coworker's or friend's machine. If the errors go away, then you can be fairly confidant that memory was the cause of the trouble.



If you are overclocking then try increasing the core voltage, reducing the CPU speed, reducing the front side bus speed, or change the memory timings (CAS latency). Also try asking for help in one of the forums above ? they may have other ideas to try.



CAN I IGNORE THE PROBLEM?

-------------------------



Ignoring the problem is a matter of personal preference. There are two schools of thought on this subject.



It is likely that most programs you run will not stress your computer enough to cause a wrong result or system crash. A few games stress your machine and a system crash could result. Stay away from distributed computing projects where an incorrect calculation might cause you to return wrong results. You are not helping these projects by returning bad data! In conclusion, if you are comfortable with a small risk of an occasional system crash then feel free to live a little dangerously!



The second school of thought is, "Why run a stress test if you are going to ignore the results?" These people want a guaranteed 100% rock solid machine. Passing these stability tests gives them the ability to run any program with confidence.

 

[Cherub]

Another point to consider. The tests are not always stable themselves. Prime95 may run to test 25 or 35 one run, then crash on the first test on the next run, and then complete the entire torture test when begun 5 minutes later.

Also, I've never seen CPU Stability Test crash a system. Ever. Even when the system is pushed way too far. Not good.

I've found 3DMark2001 to be the best memory specific test. It will let you know if your fsb is 1 MHz too high.

 

[oldfart]

Prime95 has been pretty good for me. I've found if I get Prime95 errors, I'll also crash after awhile in UT or Serious Sam. With no errors, I'm stable in games. I used it to test stability on my current setup which is running a 158 MHz FSB with 2-3-2 ram timings. I can go up 1 MHz FSB and get Prime95 errors unless I go to 3-3-2 ram timings. Nice way to fine tune settings.

 

[Cherub]

oldfart,

I can personally say your last point about Prime95 and game stability is not true in all cases. I can run Prime95 anywhere from 1 torture test to 25+ torture tests (with each "test" being a different number), but it will get a roundoff error after some period of time. Yesterday I had a roundoff error after about 5 minutes of Prime95, but immediately after played Serious Sam 2 for an hour with maxed setting and 1152x864 resolution, and never had a hiccup.

I've never heard of Prime95 really testing memory stability. I guess that does make sense. I still prefer 3DMark2001 as the most "real-world" sensitive to memory stability.

 

[oldfart]

Hmm...I've never seen the "roundoff error" The help says this:



<< The other two errors messages, SUMINP! = SUMOUT and ROUND OFF > 0.40 are caused by one of two things:

1. For reasons too complicated to go into here, the program's error checking is not perfect. Some errors can be missed and some correct results flagged as an error. If you get the message "Disregard last error..." upon continuing from the last save file, then you may have found the rare case where a good result was flagged as an error.

2. A true hardware error.

If you do not get the "Disregard last error..." message or this happens more than once, then your machine is a good candidate for a torture test. See the stress.txt file for more information. >>



If you can play SS for 2 hr with no crashes, that is pretty good. I'd call that stable.

 

[Migroo]

I use Seti@Home

 

[BadThad]

Definately SETI@Home! Plus, you can join the TeAm and have fun.

 

[Migroo]

<< Plus, you can join the TeAm and have fun. >>



Theres that, too!

 

[rogue1979]

I support Prime95 100%, it is also picks up on memory errors. It heats up my cpu 3-4c more than Seti or my favorite games. It is faultless for finding a strickly cpu instability problem. However, it will do almost nothing for video card stability. I have also noticed when stressing my computer in hours of Mech 4 or NFSP 5 that sometimes it will still be necessary to lower one or two memory timings to be stable. I don't know if this is because the gpu heats up the case and memory more or if a highly overclocked video card will put extra stress on the memory. But I put stability above speed in my computer set up. I will actually heat up the room to 80-85f to simulate the hottest possible day, then run Prime95 overnite and test my favorite games for 3 or 4 hours non-stop. If my computer passes this test then it is stable for me. I find that turning it down a notch doesn't have any noticable drop in performance, but one crash in mission critical game can really take enjoyment out of my computer experience.