Question Stress test necessary - Completed new build

[nutshellml]

Thanks to all just completed i7 13gen build with EVGA 750GT, 32GB DDR5 RAM, ASUS Z790 Prime, AK640 cooler and wanted to know if there are any “stress test” type applications to run to test all components? I’ve been leaving it on last few days and no issues, only thing is I don‘t see the PSU fan running, but it has this ECO mode. I haven’t added the GPU yet, 3060 Ti in route.

 

[thestryker]

OCCT is my favorite general test because it's straightforward and you don't necessarily have to run it forever.

 

[hotaru.hino]

A combination of Prime95 for the CPU and Furmark for the video card is the usual go to. However, they don't represent realistic stresses so to speak since nothing else does this. In addition, video card manufacturers gotten wise about Furmark, so it doesn't actually push as much power as other things might do.

These days I usually just throw a 10 minute Cinebench R23 run for the CPU and if I really want to, 3DMark's Time Spy stress test which loops through it 20 times, taking about 25 minutes.

 

[Misgar]

If you're not running a heavy overclock on your new system, you probably won't benefit from a prolonged stress test. A system running at stock settings should be stable for all normal programs. Half an hour's stress testing should be enough to heat up the case and test cooling.

WinRAR and Handbrake are real world programs that push your CPU hard.

The PSU fan won't kick in until you're pulling 225W (red line on graph). Until you install the 3060i, you probably won't hear the PSU fan start up.

 

[hotaru.hino]

I would also argue doing a battery of things you'd normally do would probably be a better test anyway since a prolonged workload is a constant stress, but doing things people normally do will cause the CPU to jump up and down in terms of power draw. Running games for the GPU can kinda be a similar story, but the jumps are usually less dramatic.

The above is a typical reason why people get confused when they manually tweak the CPU and it passes CPU stress tests just fine, but sometimes it crashes when they're doing nothing more than browsing the internet (it's because they set a fixed voltage and that wasn't enough to support the 1-2 core boost speed)

 

[geofelt]

Test your ram.
Run memtest86 or memtest86+
They boot from a usb stick and do not use windows.
You can download them here:

MemTest86 - Official Site of the x86 Memory Testing Tool

MemTest86 is the original self booting memory testing software for x86 and ARM computers. Supporting both BIOS and UEFI, with options to boot from USB.

www.memtest86.com

Memtest86+ | The Open-Source Memory Testing Tool

Memtest86+ is an advanced, free, open-source, stand-alone memory tester for 32- and 64-bit computers (UEFI & BIOS supported)

www.memtest.org

If you can run a full pass with NO errors, your ram should be ok.

Running several more passes will sometimes uncover an issue, but it takes more time.
Probably not worth it unless you really suspect a ram issue.

Stress testers used to be more useful a few years ago.
Today motherboard makers boost the processors as high as the conditions and cooling conditions permit.
Your apps are the best test.

As a simple test the CPU-Z stress test will exercise all threads.
Or, you can run the cpu-Z bench and compare the single thread and total performance metrics to what others have done.
For example, here is the result for a I7-13700K:

CPU-Z Benchmark for Intel Core i7-13700K (1T) - CPU-Z VALIDATOR

Best CPU performance - 64-bit - September 2023

valid.x86.fr