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StressTest
This is a reprint from the January 2007 issue of TOE (The Outer Edge)
By Jim Thornton
In a recent article, I identified six computer maintenance freeware programs that came with the Intel Express Installer CD. These programs are StressTest, NTI Backup NOW!, Diskeeper Lite, Security Check, System Information, and AdminWorks Management. In this article, we look at StressTest by PassMark Software, a user-friendly computer hardware-testing program.
StressTest is a software tool that simultaneously and rigorously exercises all the major sub-systems of your computer for endurance, reliability, and stability. It tests your CPU, RAM, hard drives, CD/DVD, graphics, sound, and network connections. This can all be done simultaneously as the application is multithreaded or you can individually select certain components to be tested. In addition, you can display a warning message that the test is in progress; stop the test should any component fail, and set how many times you want to test each component - the recommendation is 70 as the tests are very quick. In addition, you can select the normal two-minute test or specify a custom test in one-minute increments starting from one to 9,999,999 minutes.
The results of the test are printable including the computer's name, the start and finish times as well as the duration, the current temperature of the CPU and of the two System Zones on the motherboard, and for the components, the report includes the number of operations (duty cycles) per device and description of all errors detected. Before you run the StressTest program, you can specific that the temperatures are in Fahrenheit or Celsius and whether the detection of any errors should stop the tests, beep and continue the test, or continue the test without beeping. The components to be tested include:
CPU (Central Processing Unit) - Tests the CPU using the standard CPU integer and floating-point mathematical tests, and numerous multimedia instructions and digital signal processing.
RAM (Random Access Memory) - Measures the read and write speeds of your RAM with varying data sizes (8 to 32 bits).
Disk - Tests read, write, and seek times of individual, selected, or all hard drives.
CD/DVD - Tests the read, write, and seek times of individual, selected, or all CD/DVD drives using music or data.
2D and 3D Graphics - Tests the video memory by drawing lines, bitmaps, fonts, text, Graphic User Interface (GUI) elements, simple to complex DirectX 3D graphics, and animations.
Sound - Tests your sound card by playing MP3, MIDI, and wave files. You can specify the files or use the program's files.
Network - Measures the speed between computers up to a maximum of four computers using TCP/IP.
StressTest, version 1.0, a freeware program, was developed by PassMark Software and is available as part of the Intel Desktop Utilities, version 2.1.9.66, a freeware program.
PassMark Software offers a more in depth version of StressTest called BurninTest 5.1 ($34.00 when downloaded) and this version provide serial, parallel, and USB loopback testing, advanced RAM testing, and video card testing options.
I find the program useful in ensuring that my computer doesn't have any weak or failing components. Very similar to taking your car to the dealer for an annual checkup.
