how do i stress test

[AndyBo2]

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i have a few programs that allow me to stress test, msi kombuster 3 and prome 95(p.s i have CPU z). i succesfuly overclocked my core i5 4690k to 4.2 ghz. now everybody is telling me to run stress tests to see if it is safe. But i do not know what "safe" is.When i am in BIOS at 4.2 GHz, my cpu is about 40 Celsius. So how do i know if 4.2 is safe?

 

[MeteorsRaining]

Download HWinfo and keep an eye on the CPU temps, monitor and see if they go beyond 80C, which's not exactly ideal.

 

[Ellis_D]

You want to run a Stress Test to test the stability of your system. A stress test puts maximum load on the CPU to test whether your voltage settings can sustain the overclock and to test whether your system is capable of cooling the additional heat put out by the overclock. If while stress testing, you experience extreme temperatures or system crashes, you'll know the overclock is not completely stable.


I personally do a three-step testing process. First, I use Intel Burn Test to see if my overclock is within the ballpark of being stable. This test is very brutal but only lasts a few minutes. If my system remains stable from that, I'll then run my system at 100% load for at least 12 hours using a program like Prime95, Aida64, or OCCT. There's debate on how long you should run for maximum stability, some recommending as much as 48 hours but most instabilities usually occur within the first hour or so of stress testing so I feel that length of time is very unnecessary. Lastly, I'll run my system at full load while gaming with a graphically intensive game. This Stresses both the GPU and the audio processor while stressing the CPU to reveal any issues in power-draw that would produce system instability. While performing all of these operations, you want to use a decent hardware monitoring software (HWinfo is good) to keep tabs on your temperatures.