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Thread: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

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    Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

    Hey,

    I intend on putting a PC together and wanted to know of any programs the community uses to test that their components are up to scratch.

    For example, testing sticks of RAM or video card memory.

    Any suggestions would be appreciated.

    Thanks.

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    Re: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

    Memtest86+ is the standard test for RAM. CPUs I use Prime95, but there are a lot of options there. For graphics cards, FurMark. For hard drives, HDTune.

    I think that's about all I use.

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    Re: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

    For monitoring..

    http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

    http://www.cpuid.com/

    For graphics card i use this, absolutely gorgeous benchmark tool

    http://unigine.com/products/valley/

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    Re: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

    Quote Originally Posted by snootyjim View Post
    Memtest86+ is the standard test for RAM.
    ...but make sure you get the 5.0 RC1. Version 4.20 one can download on memtest.org doesn't really work properly on modern systems (doesn't start, starts halfway (blue background with no text), or mis-detects millions of errors when the RAM is actually fine)

    http://forum.canardpc.com/threads/68...-betatesters-!

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    Re: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

    Forgot to mention. I used this to test my ssd speeds.

    http://www.hdtune.com/

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    Re: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

    HDTune is pretty useless if you don't have the Pro version. Plus all versions prior to 5.0 reset the power settings (monitor in standby after 20mins etc.) without user consent

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    Re: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

    Quote Originally Posted by Bambooz View Post
    HDTune is pretty useless if you don't have the Pro version. Plus all versions prior to 5.0 reset the power settings (monitor in standby after 20mins etc.) without user consent
    I wouldn't say that. I've seen errors picked up in the default one, and usually the speed checks show when you've got a problem.

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    Re: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds


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    Re: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

    My favourite tools are:

    prime95

    memtest 86+

    furmark/Folding/crypto currency mining for GPU test

    3dmark free - but this one could generate problems even if the HW is ok.

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    Re: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

    I use Msi Afterburner for my GPU Temps and Unigene Haven for strength testing. I use Prime95 for CPU and MemTest for Ram.

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    Re: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

    I use the same as Spambrie + Cristaldiskmark for HD/ SSD speed tests. Also within Afterburner I use Onscreen monitoring whilst gaming to show me real time Temps and memory usage of the GPU.

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    Re: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

    Thanks for all of the suggestions.

    I have used Afterburner before during its beta, will make sure to do so again. Unigine seems to be favoured along with fur mark.

    Memtest+ is the clear tool of choice for memory it seems.

    The Intel utility also seems pretty useful.

    Cheers

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    Re: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

    I'm finding prime faster than memtest for picking up unstable memory overclocks atm. The option where it says lots of ram tested :/

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    Re: Free (legitimate) software to test PC Builds

    ^ see post 4. Memtest86+ V4.xx is useless for detecting issues on more recent hardware (if it even starts properly).

    As an example, Memtest86+ V4.20 did not find any problems whatsoever (in about 6 hours (!) worth of runtime) with the 2x 2GB cheapo Team Group DDR3 RAM in a H61/Celeron G530 office/web browsing system.
    Said computer had seemingly random stability and program crash issues (First time I've ever seen IrfanView consistently crash. And I've been using IrfanView for well over 10 years..)

    Memtest86+ 5.0 beta 6 found the 2nd RAM stick to be bad in less than 15 minutes..

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