Other Software to test hardware

Hi folks

I just acquired a secondhand motherboard / processor / RAM and I want to test them to make sure everything is nice and solid under load (I've had to replace some heatsinks and so on).

What I want to do is test everything before I install windows / linux again. I'm going to boot off cd and run memtest---is there any other (free) software of a similar nature that I should set loose on it to be doubly sure?

Cheers

Sam

 

occt would stress test the cpu to check your cooling

 

There are a few options:

Prime95
Fossil (Web Based)
IntelBurn Test (Intel specific)
OCCT

 

intel burn test is my personal choice can be used on AMD systems as well and will push system very very hard. Tell it to use all system ram , 10 runs , if it passes you should be stable.. Watch cpu temps though..

 

I'd agree the only surefire way to know is programs like Intel burn test (which I used to test an AMD system not long ago)

I've had Windows Memory Diagnostics report errors with my old ram that Memtest missed. It doesn't take long to install 7 and IBT will be useful as it doesn't take too long to run, If you want to do further testing then Prime64 Blend for 24 hours, but I doubt you'll need to if it's not overclocked.

Bear in mind these only really test the CPU and Ram, along with the relative parts of the motherboard. If you feel you want to test things like the PCIe slots etc then you'll need appropriate programs or games to test it with.

 

I am aware that there are programs to check your hardware temperatures but I do not know which one is the best to use, and while they do give me temp results I do not know if the numbers are good or not!!

 

I find Coretemp and Argus Monitor to be most accurate as they measure from the cores themselves.