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C., 778d ago

March 08, 2023

what is the best software to stress test laptops

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Prime95

Prime95

Prime95 seems to be a popular choice for stress testing laptops as it is used to test CPU stability [1] . It is used by many reviewers and industry professionals for overclocking [7] , and it can be used for long periods of time [8] . It is also recommended by some who have experience in stress testing PCs [3] [5] . The software can be downloaded from the link provided in source 1.
AIDA64

AIDA64

It seems AIDA64 is one of the best software to stress test laptops. People say that it supports a wide range of hardware and technology [2] , and has the ability to stress the CPU, RAM and GPU [3] . It also has automated performance tests [4] , and provides information about the CPU such as utilization, frequency, temperatures, and whether thermal throttling was detected during the stress testing [4] . Compared to Prime95 which is used for CPU stability testing or FurMark which is used for GPU stability testing, AIDA64 seems more comprehensive in its approach as it can be used to test both CPU and GPU. Additionally, people say that it's better than Prime95 and FurMark in terms of its capabilities [7] [8] .
Unigine

Unigine

Unigine seems to be a popular choice when it comes to stress testing laptops. People say that it can be used for GPU stability testing, with all graphics settings on max to get 100% load on the GPU [2] . It is also mentioned in several sources as a benchmarking program used to evaluate physics engines and render visual effects [4] [5] . It is stated that it can be looped indefinitely for an extended period of time [4] , making it a useful tool for stress testing.
FurMark

FurMark

FurMark seems to be a popular choice for stress testing laptops as it is designed to stress test the GPU. It can be set to full-screen and your max resolution for your monitor [4] , and it also stresses the GPU by producing a complicated 3D image which can be looped indefinitely [4] . Additionally, it can be used in combination with other tools when overclocking [9] . People say that it is a good choice if you're looking to stress test your laptop's GPU as it is specifically designed for that purpose [10] .
HWMonitor

HWMonitor

I think HWMonitor is a great option for stress testing laptops. It's a free software that provides real time information about the onboard components such as utilization, temperature, clock speed, and power usage of the laptop [3] . This can be useful for keeping desktop CPUs under 70°C and desktop GPUs under 100°C, as well as laptop CPUs under 95°C [5] . CPUID HWMonitor is also mentioned in several sources as a tool to monitor CPU temps [8] [10] . It's lightweight and can be used to check the specifications of your CPU and RAM [5] , so it seems like an ideal choice for stress testing laptops.
All answers

All answers

  • Prime95
  • AIDA64
  • Unigine
  • FurMark
  • HWMonitor
  • XTU
  • Msi Afterburner
  • OCCT
  • HeavyLoad
  • MemTest
  • CPU-Z
  • Cinebench R20
  • 3D Mark
  • Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool
  • Intel Xtreme Tuning Utility
  • CPU/GPU Stability Testing

    Testing the stability of a laptop's CPU and GPU is essential to ensure that they can handle intensive workloads without crashing or over-heating. Good software to do this includes OCCT [1] , Prime95 [1] , FurMark [1] , HeavyLoad [1] , and HWMonitor [1] .

    Memory Testing

    Memory testing is important for detecting potential faults in the laptop's RAM. MemTest [4] can be used for this, as it can run for 24 hours to guarantee that there are no errors.

    GPU Intensive Workloads

    For GPU intensive workloads, Unigine Heaven [4] and 3D Mark [4] are two good options as they both render extremely detailed 3D scenes, and can be looped indefinitely. These programs will help stress test your laptop's GPU.

    Voltage/Temperature Monitoring

    Monitoring voltage and temperature levels of the CPU is important for stability testing. Tools such as HWmonitor [4] , Intel XTU [4] , and MSI Afterburner [4] can be used to monitor the voltage/temperature levels while running any of the aforementioned programs.

    BIOS Reset

    A BIOS reset may be necessary if there are any instability issues with a laptop's CPU or GPU. Resetting the BIOS will restore it back to its default settings, which might help resolve any issues that have arisen due to overclocking or other modifications made in the BIOS menu. Guides on how to reset the BIOS can be found on /r/overclocking [7] .

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    Research

    Source: "21+ Programs to Analyze and Benchmark Your Hard..." (from web, www.techspot.com)

    • CPU-Z
      • Free software that provides a set of instructions to provide information about the processor, motherboard, and system memory.
      • Also contains a simple CPU benchmark and stress test
      • Available for Windows PCs and Android
    • GPU-Z
      • Free software that uses an instruction set to gather information about the specifications of the graphics card
      • No benchmark tool but can monitor and log the output from the settings and sensors on the card
      • Available for Windows only
    • HWinfo
      • Free software that provides a comprehensive summary of the hardware in a clean and informative way
      • Also contains active sensor readouts for the CPU, RAM, motherboard, graphics card, case fans, storage drives, and more
      • Supports 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows, and there’s even one for DOS
    • Speccy
      • Free software that provides a system summary
      • Has some sensor logging capabilities
      • Available for Windows PCs
    • AIDA64
      • 30-day trial of software that provides detailed information and stress testing and diagnostics capabilities
      • $59.95 to unlock all features, with technical support and updates for a year
      • Versions for Windows, Android, and iOS
    • HWMonitor
      • Free software that monitors temperatures, fan speeds, and voltages
      • Available for Windows PCs only
    • Open Hardware Monitor
      • Free software for monitoring sensor outputs
      • Available for Windows and Linux
    • I-Nex
      • Free Linux-only tool for providing specifications summary
      • Not updated as often
    • Cinebench
      • Free software for benchmarking using ray-tracing techniques
      • Tests CPU performance and does not use GPU
      • Available for Windows and macOS
    • SiSoft Sandra
      • Free ‘Lite’ version with a wealth of tests
      • $69.99 to unlock everything, with support and updates for a year
      • Available for Windows only
    • PCMark 10
      • Free ‘Basic’ version with a single overall benchmark test
      • $29.99 to unlock all tests, with additional features
      • Separate version for Android

    Source: "Best utilities for stress testing in 2020" (from reddit, r/overclocking)

    • Unigine Heaven
      • Set to maximum quality and run in a loop
    • FurMark / MSI Kombuster
      • GPUs tend to clock down due to power and thermal limits when running FurMark
      • Lower resolutions put more stress on the VRMs
    • Final Fantasy XV Benchmark
      • Set to maximum quality and run in a loop
    • MemTest64
      • Best run from safe mode without a pagefile
    • HCI MemTest
      • One instance per thread
    • Linpack Xtreme
    • MemTest86
    • Prime95 small FFTs
    • Prime95 custom run of FFTs from 512K to 1024K with 90% of RAM
    • Prime95 custom run of FFTs from 512K to 1024K with 80% of RAM + LuxMark or FurMark running in the background at 720p.
    • TestMem5
    • Karhu RAM Test

    Source: "How harsh is the Prime95 stress test compared t..." (from reddit, r/overclocking)

    • Prime95
      • It uses high intensity algorithms on specific instruction sets to find mistakes as fast as possible
      • Almost all high end benchers rely on Prime95 in combination with other tools when seriously overclocking
      • No other non-testing program is anywhere as “harsh” as Prime95
      • It is not the end-all-be-all of CPU stability testing
    • Other Software
      • Video transcoding or even rendering don’t tax your system as hard as Prime95
      • C-States and lightly threaded loads in games can cause instability that Prime95 won’t detect
      • Disabling C-States can help with stability issues

    Source: "I do not understand the results of the prime95 ..." (from reddit, r/buildapc)

    • Prime95:
      • Used to test CPU stability
      • Not the result from the software you’re after, but the side effect of running the software you’re after
      • If you can run Prime95 for hours and not crash, that’s a good sign your CPU is stable
      • Useful for testing overclocks
    • Lower graphical settings on GPU intensive, but ultimately less noticeable elements (like soft shadows, particles, etc…)
    • Reset BIOS
    • Check guides in /r/overclocking
    • Modify voltage to get it stable at stock clocks

    Source: "What is the best tool for Stress testing PC? No..." (from reddit, r/techsupport)

    • Prime95
      • Used to test overclocks
      • Can be used for long periods of time
    • Furmark
      • Used to stress test PC
    • AIDA64
      • Better than Prime95 and Furmark
    • 3DMark
      • Better than Prime95 and Furmark
    • Intel’s EIST
      • Disabling it and running at a constant clock speed would fix issue
    • CPUID HWMonitor
      • Used to monitor CPU temps

    💭  Looking into

    What are the potential risks of stress testing laptops?

    💭  Looking into

    What are the best practices for stress testing laptops?

    💭  Looking into

    What is the purpose of MemTest?

    💭  Looking into

    What are the features of HWMonitor?

    💭  Looking into

    What are the features of HeavyLoad?

    💭  Looking into

    What are the features of FurMark?

    💭  Looking into

    What type of software is Prime95?

    💭  Looking into

    What types of tests can OCCT run?

    Source: "16 Best Tools to Stress Test Your PC (CPU, RAM,..." (from web, www.gearprimer.com)

    • HWMonitor (Free)
      • Real time information such as utilization, temperature, clock speed, and power usage of the onboard components
      • Keep desktop CPUs under 70°C and desktop GPUs under 100°C
      • Laptop CPUs under 95°C
    • Prime 95 (Free)
      • Utilizes the CPU to find Mersenne prime numbers and in the process, generates a very heavy workload on the CPU
      • An uninterrupted 6 hour run of Prime95 indicates that the CPU is good and will not have issues over its usable lifetime
      • Options to test Small FFTs or Blended test
    • Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool (Free)
      • Ability to set a minimum time for the benchmark to run and the test can even be set to automatically shut itself down if the CPU overheats
    • CPU-Z (Free)
      • Lightweight tool to check the specifications of your CPU, memory, motherboard, and RAM
      • Can run CPU stress test
    • Cinebench R20 (Free)
      • Tests the system’s GPU performance by rendering an extremely detailed 3D scene
      • Can be looped indefinitely
    • AIDA64 (Paid)
      • System Stability Test which has the ability to stress the CPU, RAM and GPU
      • Gives information about the CPU such as utilization, frequency, temperatures, and whether thermal throttling was detected during the stress testing
    • Memtest 86+ (Free)
      • Test if the memory will cause any problems
      • Can be loaded onto a bootable USB drive
    • Memtest 64 (Free)
      • Easy to use and operates in the Windows OS
    • Furmark (Free)
      • Stresses the GPU by producing a complicated 3D image
      • Extremely intense stress test
    • Unigine Heaven (Free)
      • Tests the system’s GPU performance by rendering an extremely detailed 3D scene
      • Can be looped indefinitely
    • 3D Mark (Free/Paid)
      • Renders extremely detailed 3D scenes
      • Stress your system using a collection of workloads that simulate real world use
    • Intel Xtreme Tuning Utility (Free)
      • Stress test the CPU, memory and GPU
      • Information about the CPU such as utilization, frequency, temperatures, and whether

    Source: "10 Best PC Stress Testing Tools for CPU, GPU, a..." (from web, thepcbuild.net)

    • AIDA64 Business Edition
      • Supports a wide range of hardware and technology
      • Memory diagnostics, monitoring, hardware monitoring graphs and data, sensor monitoring
      • Graphical user interface
      • Automated performance test
    • CPU-Z
      • Includes CPU and GPU stress test tools
      • Can find out when your BIOS needs an update
    • IntelBurn Test
      • Easy to use
      • Automated performance test
      • Supports both 32-bit and 64-bit versions
    • MemTest86
      • Test your system’s RAM before you buy more
    • Prime95 (Blend Test)
      • Shows all the right stats
      • Provides the best support for hardware bells and whistles
    • GPU-Z
      • Lightweight program that displays information about your video card in real-time
      • Monitors temperature and fan speeds
      • GPU database of hardware specifications
    • Heaven & Valley Benchmarks (Unigine)
      • Professional benchmarking program used to evaluate physics engines and render visual effects
      • Standard version includes five benchmarks and other features, Advanced version includes more than 14 different tests
    • 3DMark
      • Benchmarking program developed by Futuremark
      • Ramp up your computer’s performance until video card is under extreme load
      • Used by many reviewers and industry professionals to test performance of their systems and components

    Source: "Stress test and benchmark software...." (from reddit, r/buildapc)

    Source: "Best Stress test PC software." (from reddit, r/sysadmin)

    • Prime95
      • It is free and can be used to look for potentially defective hardware components.
      • It has been updated and used for over a decade.
    • Tron
      • It is a automation tool.
      • It is built by /u/vocatus/.
    • OCCT
      • It can be used to run stress tests on the CPU, GPU and PSU.
    • Built-in Diagnostics
      • Dell and HP hardware have inbuilt diagnostics which can be used to identify and resolve the hardware issues.

    Source: "Question about stress testing software" (from reddit, r/laptops)

    • AIDA64
      • Used for CPU stability testing
      • 100% load on CPU
    • Unigine
      • Used for GPU stability testing
      • All graphics settings on max to get 100% load on GPU
    • HWinfo or Hwmonitor
      • Used for voltage/temp monitoring
    • XTU
      • Used for Intel CPU and iGPU undervolting
    • Msi Afterburner
      • Used for GPU undervolt
    • Suggested running time between increments
      • An hour for GPU
      • 24 hours for CPU

    💭  Looking into

    What is the best laptop stress testing software?